The Book Of Boba Fett continues to blur into The Mandalorian this week with an episode almost entirely devoted to Baby Yoda. Mando (Pedro Pascal) has flown off to Luke Skywalker’s Jedi school on Yavin-4 to give Grogu his present – something he feels like he has to do before he can help Boba win his gang war. Met by R2-D2 in the foundations of the new academy, Mando finds himself in the middle of a construction site manned entirely by robot ants building dry stone walls. Eventually Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) turns up, but that’s not who he’s here to see.
Deep in the nearby forest, Grogu and Luke sit meditating. Instantly distracted by a frog, Grogu manages to refocus. Is this an older, wiser Baby Yoda already? Nope, he just now knows how to use the force – scooping the frog up with his mind and flying it right into his mouth instead. Teaching him something about power and restraint, Luke levitates a whole pond full of frogs, finally convincing Grogu that the force might actually be worth learning.
The CGI on Mark Hamill’s digi-face is now better than ever – looking scarily real in the biggest test of the technology yet. This week’s episode gives him plenty to do too, teaching Baby Yoda to jump, backflip and balance using the same remote droid that he once learned from in The Empire Strikes Back. Yoda gets a mention here as Luke tries to pry into Grogu’s past, but most of his backstory is still kept under wraps.
Watching from a distance, Mando starts welling up. “Grogu misses you a great deal,” says Ahsoka. “If he sees you it will only make things more difficult for him”. Realising that she’s probably right, Mando leaves his gift and flies off – probably crying all the way home.
Flying back to Tatooine to help Boba (Temuera Morrison) with his Pyke problem, Fennec (Ming-Na Wen) lays out the situation – they now have plenty of muscle, but nowhere near enough numbers. Luckily, Mando knows a guy…
The prologue reintroduces us to the coolest gunslinger in the galaxy, Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant). Now crossing paths with the Pykes himself after he runs off a couple of drug dealers getting too close to his town, Cobb is willing to help Mando fight the syndicate by persuading the townsfolk to join the war. Or at least he was until he gets killed.
A beautiful Sergio Leone shot brings a distant stranger into town on the horizon. Dressed in a western crop-duster and black Bolero to look like Lee Van Cleef from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, an evil Pyke gunslinger squares off with Cobb before a quickdraw leaves the Marshal in the dirt. Is he dead? Maybe not, but the same probably can’t be said of Garsa Fwip (Jennifer Beals) and the hundred odd people who were packed into The Sanctuary club when the Pykes bomb it. Things are hotting up fast on Tatooine and there’s only one episode left now for Boba to strike back. Is now the time to bring the Rancor out of its cage?
More importantly, Baby Yoda has a choice to make. Back on Yavin-4 Luke unwraps Mando’s gift, revealing a cute little chain-mail beskar shirt. At the same time, he opens another box to bring out Yoda’s old mini lightsaber, telling Grogu he can only pick one. Choose the shirt and he goes back to Mando. Take the blade and he stays with Luke, becoming his first student and probably never seeing his old friend again. “Which do you choose?” It’s too much for the kid, just let him keep both!
Under the helmet
- The gunslinger who shoots Cobb is infamous bounty hunter Cad Bane – a fan-favourite from The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch who also happens to be Boba Fett’s mentor. The pair parted badly (Bane is the reason Boba has a dent in his helmet…), so expect a showdown when they meet up in the finale.
- The temple being built by the robot ants is the same one Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) later burns down in the flashback scenes of The Rise Of Skywalker.
- When Luke focuses Grogu’s mind on his past he sees three Jedi being overwhelmed by republic troopers during the purge. We don’t know who these hooded figures are yet, but there’s a chance one of them might tie Grogu’s past back to the prequel era canon.
‘The Book Of Boba Fett’ releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+