The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 6 - The Best Episode

The Book of Boba Fett delivers its best episode yet and lots of Star Wars fan service in Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger.

There will be spoilers throughout this piece so if you haven’t watched the episode, please do not read. That being said, it’s very telling that last week and this week are the best episodes of the season to date.

It’s most telling that the best episodes of The Book of Boba Fett are episodes that do not feature the titular character are barely even use him. We split time in this episode between Tatooine and the planet where Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is building his Jedi Academy. We do not know the name of the planet but its a forested world. Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) travels there to deliver of gift of beskar armor. R2-D2 leads him to the academy currently under construction. But instead of taking him to Luke, the droid takes him to Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson). It’s nice to know that both Luke and Ahsoka have interacted within the Star Wars universe. This had been a question of mine through the years.

If you ever wanted to know who built the academy, the answer is ant-droids. We know that Kylo Ren will eventually destroy the academy but Grogu is the first student. But anyway, this is just a side point in the larger picture. Luke, Ahsoka, and Din are not the only characters–or objects–to make their return. Back on Tatooine, Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) makes his return. He’s still the Marshal but Mos Pelgo’s new name is Freetown. While he promises Din to help him out, the Pyke Syndicate have other ideas in the form of bounty hunter Cad Bane (Corey Burton). When Luke makes Grogu choose between The Mandalorian’s gift or a lightsaber, it is Yoda’s saber. The same lightsaber we have not seen since Revenge of the Sith. I’m guessing that Luke either took it with him or came back to Dagobah?

If you’re counting, this episode gives us:

Luke Skywalker
R2-D2
Grogu
Ahsoka Tano
Din Djarin, The Mandalorian
Cobb Vanth
Cad Bane
Yoda’s lightsaber
John Williams’s themes for Luke Skywalker
Grogu’s training mirrors that of Luke’s training with Yoda, a callback to The Empire Strikes Back
What happened to Grogu at the Jedi Temple during Order 66
- I was really hoping for a Anakin Skywalker cameo but alas.

What more can fans ask for?!? I’m gonna be honest in that a solo Boba Fett movie would not work. I love, love, love Star Wars but The Book of Boba Fett had been its weakest series until Bryce Dallas Howard stepped behind the camera to direct. What does it tell you when the best episodes make very minimal use of Boba Fett? Also, where is the book itself? That’s a rhetorical question, don’t answer it.

The episode ends on a classic hero’s choice cliffhanger and I’m almost certainly that next week will be the best episode of the season. I thought last week was the best episode of the season and here comes Dave Filoni to say, “Hold your beer.” In a week that has been terribly shitty with a death in the family, thank you to Dave Filoni and company for this episode! I really needed the return of Mark Hamill this week so thank you for this, too.

One note about the credits: Scott Lang is credited as being the stunt double for the Jedi. In my headcanon, it’s Paul Rudd coming over from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Don’t forget that the Star Wars movies also happened in the MCU but nobody bothers to notice that Nick Fury looks like Mace Windu. Graham Hamilton is also a stand-in.

If Chapters 5 and 6 are any indication, next week’s season finale of The Book of Boba Fett is going to be epic.

DIRECTOR: Dave Filoni
SCREENWRITERS: Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni
CAST: Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, Pedro Pascal, Timothy Olyphant, Rosario Dawson, Jordan Bolger, Sophie Thatcher, Carey Jones, David Pasquesi, Corey Burton, Jennifer Beals, and Mark Hamill