Tag The Book of Boba Fett

The Mandalorian, “Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore” Review

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The Mandalorian, season 3, Bo-Katan poster, Katee SackhoffSERIES: Star Wars: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S3:E2 – “Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Katee Sackhoff, Amy Sedaris
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR:  Rachel Morrison
PREMIERE DATE: March 8, 2023
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian and Grogu journey to Mandalore for the first time.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!**

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I haven’t yet seen the majority of Star Wars: Rebels. But my understanding is that during the events of that show, Mandalore is mercilessly bombed by the Empire, to the point that the planet’s desert sands crystalize. Thus, the green crystal we saw Mando with last time. The Mandalorian has explained this to us before. But it bears repeating heading into this episode.

The episode kicks off on Tatooine, as we go back to Peli Motto’s hangar. We learn that it’s Boonta Eve. The only place I can recall hearing this term before is in The Phantom Menace, when Anakin entered the Boonta Eve podrace. It never occurred to me to look into what the holiday was about. Apparently it honors the rise of the hutt Boonta Hestilic Shad’ruu to godhood… Okay, sure.

Peli sells the droid R5-D4 to Mando, so that he can test the air on Mandalore before he breathes it. I was a little unclear on this, but I checked: R5 is in fact the droid from A New Hope that Owen Lars nearly purchases before it breaks down. It’s a small galaxy, after all.

I miss the Razor Crest. The repurposed starfighter is sleek and cool. But it’s also small, and feels kind of cramped. Especially now that they’re traveling with a droid.

I love the look of post-purge Mandalore. Especially the city portion beneath the surface. Very creepy. Very memorable. The bit of action between Mando and the cave aliens was great too. Mando came off legitimately threatened, overwhelmed, and outmatched.

I always thought Mando was controlling Grogu’s little pod thing via magnetization. But as Grogu is able to float away from the big alien robot crab thing, apparently there’s also a mode where he can control it himself. Good to know.

After he’s captured, Mando sends Grogu back to Bo-Katan Kryze on Kalevala. This thought occurred to me last time, and then again this time: What does Bo-Katan do all day in that castle? Is it just her and the droid? It looks like she just sits in that big chair and broods…

Grogu guides Bo back to the caves where Mando is being held. She starts to tell him that she knew Jedi back in the days before the purge. She doesn’t actually drop any names, though. There they go, teasing Clone Wars fans with references.

Incidentally, how old is Bo-Katan supposed to be? Katee Sackhoff is in her early forties. But. I think Bo might be older than that. Late forties? Early fifties, maybe?

As she’s talking to Grogu, Bo refers to Mando as “your dad.” I think that’s the first time we’ve heard Mando formally referred to as Grogu’s father. As he’s not with Luke anymore, I suppose it’s official now, isn’t it?

This episode is also the first time we hear someone refer to Mando simply as “Din.” That might take some getting used to.

And now for another timeline question: How long did Grogu train with Luke Skywalker? It seemed like it was only a short time. But Jon Favreau has indicated they were together for, get this…two years. I don’t know that I buy that, quite frankly. It was two years before Mando tried to visit Grogu? It was two years bef0re Luke brought Yoda up to him? It just doesn’t add up to me.

It would, however, explain how Grogu’s Force abilities are more advanced now, i.e. the big leaping somersault we see him do in this episode.

Am I detecting a hint of something romantic between Mando and Bo-Katan? Not sure how I feel about that…

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

The Mandalorian, “Chapter 17: The Apostate” Review

Rob Siebert 2 Comments

The Mandalorian, season 3 posterSERIES: Star Wars:  The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S3:E1 – “Chapter 17:  The Apostate”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers, Emily Swallow, Marti Matulis, Katee Sackoff
WRITER: Jon Favreau 
DIRECTOR:  Rick Famuyiwa
PREMIERE DATE: March 1, 2023
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian continues his journey toward absolution.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I know this gripe has been…uh…griped, by many already. But it must be said: This premiere should have been about how Din Djarin and Grogu are ultimately reunited after the latter’s time training with Luke Skywalker. Instead, they did that story on The Book of Boba Fett, stealing thunder that should have been reserved for this third season. Choosing to give us those critical moments under the banner of a different show was the biggest, and perhaps only major, mistake The Mandalorian has made thus far.

Simply put, The Book of Boba Fett should have been about Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, and the characters that show is specifically about. The Mandalorian should, conversely, be about Mando and Grogu’s journey together. Going forward, let’s not color outside the lines anymore. If they want these characters to appear in one another’s shows, be my guest. But events and moments that are critical to a particular show, should be done on said show. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Between this new season of The Mandalorian, and the success of The Last of Us on HBO Max, I think we can all agree Pedro Pascal is living his best life right about now.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought that opening sequence was a flashback to Din Djarin’s childhood. It would have made sense, given this episode, and apparently this season overall, are about him seeking redemption in the eyes of his people. Mando did get a nice entrance, though. So there’s the upside.

Vane and the other pirates want to break into an in-session school before being stopped by Mando and Greef Karga. That’s a nice heelish bad guy move.

I call BS on the notion that Mando thinks IG-11 is the only droid that can help him in his quest to find the living waters of Mandalore. IG-11 had a nice little story in season one. I even liked the statue in town being dedicated to him. We didn’t need to revive him for more.

Gorian Shard, the big lead pirate behind Vane and his crew, looked like, in Mrs. Primary Ignition’s words, “a swamp monster.” I did, in fact, get a Swamp Thing vibe from him. That’s not a bad thing. Just a thing. Either way, you know we haven’t seen the last of him this season.

Seasons one and two were largely held together by Grogu’s story. Mando’s quest to learn his origins, get him back to the Jedi, etc. This season, we don’t have that. So I’m very curious to see what they’re going to do with the Grogu character going forward. As fun as it is to watch him do cute things, there has to be more to him than that.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

An Andor, “That Would Be Me” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

SERIES: Star Wars: Andor
EPISODE: S1:E2 – “That Would Be Me”
STARRING: Diego Luna, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, James McArdle, Antonio Viña
WRITERS: Tony Gilroy
DIRECTOR: Toby Haynes
PREMIERE DATE: September 21, 2022
SYNOPSIS: Cassian must work discretely in the shadow of the Pre-Mor Authority.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

About 15 minutes in, I had to stop the episode because I was falling asleep. I think this is the first Star Wars movie or show to get me to do that. That’s not exactly an honorable distinction…

But let’s give it the benefit of the doubt and say I was tired.

Fiona Shaw plays Maarva Andor, Cassian’s (presumably adoptive) mother. She’s been in a variety of things. But Harry Potter fans will recognize her as the actress who played Petunia Dursley, Harry’s aunt.

If I’m not mistaken, Shaw and Warwick Davis are the only two actors to have been in both Star Wars and Harry Potter movies. Jude Law will join them when Star Wars: Skeleton Crew comes out next year.

Alex Ferns plays Sergeant Linus Mosk. He has a pretty decorated resume. Most people might recognize him as Commissioner Pete Savage in The Batman.

It’s a little frustrating that these flashback scenes with young Cassian don’t have subtitles. Generally they’re used when someone speaks a different language in Star Wars. I’m not sure why they aren’t being used here.

I don’t dislike the tribe stuff itself, though. Occasionally I’ve pictured young Anakin being from a tight-knit tribe and jungle environment like this in Episode I, as opposed to recycling Tatooine from the original trilogy. It might have been a very different movie. Perhaps a better one?

Stellan Skarsgård joins the Star Wars universe as Luthen Rael. He’s a solid addition to any cast. Granted, he doesn’t do much of anything. But he’s there…

That’s more or less the story of this episode, actually. Nothing really happens. We set a few things up, like the alliance between Syril Karn and Linus Mosk, Bix lying to Timm about what she’d been doing, etc. We also introduce Luthen Rael and Maarva Andor. But as far as the plot actually moving along? The spot we’re in at the end of this episode isn’t much different from where we were at the end of the premiere.

I can’t deny that there’s an audience for this darker, more gritty side of Star Wars. One might, tongue in cheek, call it “the dark side of Star Wars.” A lot of people liked Rogue One. And as we now have various Star Wars TV shows coming out, there’s a place for this kind of thing. But here’s one thing I’ll say…

Mrs. Primary Ignition is a casual Star Wars fan. She really liked The Mandalorian. She tolerated The Book of Boba Fett until it essentially became The Mandalorian, at which point she enjoyed it. She was initially interested in Obi-Wan Kenobi, but eventually lost interest. After seeing these first two episodes of Andor, I realized I can’t put this show on for her because she’ll fall asleep. I’m the big Star Wars fan in the house, and if it put me to sleep, what hopes does she have?

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

George Lucas on Star Wars: Boba Fett’s “Death”

Rob Siebert 2 Comments

***Think what you will about George Lucas, but in terms of Star Wars, it can all be traced back to him. That’s why I always find it so interesting to listen to him talk about it. His creative process, the reason certain decisions were made, and how these movies became the pop cultural staples they are. This space is dedicated to just that. This is “George Lucas on Star Wars.”***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Boba Fett, Return of the Jedi

The Scene: Han Solo accidentally smacks Boba Fett’s jet pack with a weapon, jump-starting his jet pack and sending him falling into the sarlaac pit below, presumably to his demise.

George Lucas Says (via the Return of the Jedi commentary track): “In the case of Boba Fett’s death, had I known he was going to turn into such a popular character I probably would have made it a little more exciting. Boba Fett was just another one of the minions. Another one of the bounty hunters and bad guys. But he became such a favorite … for having such a small part, he had a very large presence. And now that his history has been told in the [prequel] trilogy, it makes it even more of a misstep that we wouldn’t make more out of the event of his defeat. Because most people don’t believe he died anyway. I had contemplated putting that extra shot in where he climbs out of the hole. But I figured it doesn’t quite fit. The main character that ultimately dies in this scene is Jabba the Hutt.”

I Say: “It’s a little refreshing to hear George admit a mistake here. He’s a guy that usually sticks to his guns. But with almost 40 years of hindsight, it’s pretty tough to deny that Fett went out like a chump. Years after the fact, Lucas would make a similar admission about his decision to kill off Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.

It’s even more interesting that George acknowledges that the fans didn’t buy that as his death. It makes you wonder if he’d have made Fett part of the sequel trilogy, had he gone forward with his version of the movies.

Fett was, of course, brought back for various novels and comic books in the old “Legends” canon. And now, Disney has made his return official with The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. So I guess he didn’t go out like a chump after all…

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, “Part I” Review

Rob Siebert 7 Comments

SERIES: Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
EPISODE: “Part I”
STARRING: Ewan McGregor, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Jimmy Smits
WRITERS: Stuart Beattie, Hossein Amini, Joby Harold 
DIRECTOR: Deborah Chow
PREMIERE DATE: May 26, 2022
SYNOPSIS: Inquisitors arrive on Tatooine looking for Jedi. Meanwhile, Princess Leia is kidnapped.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Let’s kick this off on the right note: With gratitude. Ewan McGregor didn’t have to come back to play Obi-Wan Kenobi again. I’m sure his experience making the prequels was a mixed bag. And that’s to say nothing of how audiences reacted to the movies. (Much of the criticism was justified. But much wasn’t.) I actually spotted an recent interview he did with Rotten Tomatoes where he references the difficulties of making the prequels. So to have him come back nearly two decades after the fact is a major blessing for Star Wars fans.

And of course, that also goes for Hayden Christensen, Jimmy Smits, Joel Edgerton, and Bonnie Piesse returning as Darth Vader, Bail Organa, Owen Lars, and Beru Lars respectively. This may all be more than we deserve, quite frankly.

Age/timeline check: Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place 10 years after Revenge of the Sith. Which is to say, nine years before the events of A New Hope. So naturally, the young Luke and Leia we see in this episode are about 10. And, as I’ve always read Obi-Wan was 25 in The Phantom Menace, that would make him about 47 here.

Our director for this episode, and the series at large, is Deborah Chow. She’s widely known for The High Cost of Living and The Possibilities of Fireflies. But Star Wars fans will know her as the director of two episodes of The Mandalorian: “Chapter 3: The Sin” and “Chapter 7: The Reckoning.” This is the first time one of these live action Star Wars shows has had one universal director. It’s a tall task. But Chow also has a lot to work with here in terms of story, the talent involved (not to mention her own talent), and the experience she now has working in the Star Wars universe. I’ve got high hopes.

One of the downsides of having Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett come out back to back? That’s a lot of desert stuff. I can’t say I’m looking forward to Andor as much as some people are (mostly because I hated Rogue One). But one of the upsides, at least judging by the trailer that just came out, is that we don’t see any desert scenes.

The episode, and the series at large, kick off with a quick five-minute recap of the prequels. To some, that’s probably the best way to watch the prequels. They might be right, actually. The contrast between the all the CGI backgrounds in the prequels and the actual places and sets in Kenobi is a stark one.

I must confess, having not seen all of Star Wars: Rebels, my familiarity with the Inquisitors is limited. But as I understand it, most or all of them are former Jedi Knights who’ve turned to the dark side and joined the Empire to hunt for Jedi in hiding.

At face value I don’t like that. Never have.

Much like having a planet full of Mandalorians devalues Boba and Jango Fett, having a big group of Sith inquisitors decreases the novelty of Darth Vader and his turn to the dark side. It also devalues Order 66. How effective could the big Jedi purge have been if enough survived that they needed to bring in Inquisitors to hunt them down?

Of course, that’s to take nothing away from the performances of Rupert Friend as the Grand Inquisitors or Moses Ingram as Reva.

Having Leia play such a pivotal role in the series is a big surprise. Coming in, I think we knew Jimmy Smits was going to be involved as Bail Organa. So a Leia cameo wouldn’t have been out of the blue. But this? This is beyond what I think anyone would have expected.

Vivien Lyra Blair, who plays Leia, does a fine job by child actor standards. The character is, thus far, written fairly well. I like that she’s characterized as, no pun intended, rebellious. Blair and Smits were able to create a father/daughter chemistry that felt very natural.

I appreciate that Obi-Wan has a job while in seclusion on Tatooine. That might be an odd thing to appreciate. But it’s one of those things that you (or at least I) never thought about when it came to the original movie. The guy had to make ends meet somehow, right? It makes me wonder if he had a job at the beginning of A New Hope.

I liked cynical Obi-Wan, i.e. the guy who refused to help his fellow Jedi in need. It speaks to him having spent a decade being beaten down by the desert. It’s a different character than we’re used to seeing.

Owen Lars refusing to give up Obi-Wan’s location was a wonderful character moment for him. For so long he’s been seen strictly as an antagonist for Luke. And maybe he is. But it’s always been in the spirit of wanting to do what’s best for his nephew and surrogate son.

It must be said that the chase scene between Leia and the bounty hunters did not come off very well. I’m not sure whether it was the actors, or the direction, or the editing, something else, or a combination of all of it. I understand and accept the notion that Leia knew the terrain better than they did, and was also smaller and harder to catch. But the impression I got was that Leia was moving very slowly, and that the hunters could have caught her quite easily if they’d simply picked up their pace a little bit.

We see that Obi-Wan buried he and Anakin’s lightsabers in the desert, presumably years ago when he first arrived. This is a nitpick, but how is he able to find that box again so quickly? Especially after 10 years. Did he pick that specific a spot? It just looked like a bunch of sand to me…

Overall, a good first episode. I can’t say I was blown away, but I definitely enjoyed it. Judging by premiere episodes alone, I’d say Obi-Wan Kenobi isn’t quite as strong as The Mandalorian, but better than The Book of Boba Fett.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Primary Ignition‘s Star Wars Review Archive

Rob Siebert 39 Comments

The following represents the full archive of our Star Wars reviews, separated by season.

Star Wars The Clone Wars, Ambush, YodaThe Essential Star Wars: The Clone Wars
S1:E1 – “Ambush”
S1:E5 – “Rookies”
S2:E5 – “Landing at Point Rain”
S2:E6 – “Weapons Factory”
S2:E7 – “Legacy of Terror”
S2:E8 – “Brain Invaders”
S2:E12 – “The Mandalore Plot”
S2:E13 – “Voyage of Temptation”
S3:E2 – “ARC Troopers”
S3:E12 – “Nightsisters”
S3:E13 – “Monsters” Star Wars The Clone Wars, Brain Invaders, Ahsoka
S3:E14 – “Witches of the Mist”
S4:E21 – “Brothers”
S4:E22 – “Revenge
S5:E14 – “Eminence”
S5:E15 – “Shades of Reason”
S5:E16 – “The Lawless”
S5:E17 – “Sabotage”
S5:E18 – “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much”

The Mandalorian Season 1, archive imageThe Mandalorian, Season One
“Chapter 1: The Mandalorian”
“Chapter 2: The Child”
“Chapter 3: The Sin”
“Chapter 4: Sanctuary”
“Chapter 5: The Gunslinger”
“Chapter 6: The Prisoner”
“Chapter 7: The Reckoning”
“Chapter 8: Redemption”

Grogu, The Mandalorian S2, archive imageThe Mandalorian, Season Two
“Chapter 9: The Marshal”
“Chapter 10: The Passenger”
“Chapter 11: The Heiress”
“Chapter 12: The Siege”
“Chapter 13: The Jedi”
“Chapter 14: The Tragedy”
“Chapter 15: The Believer”
“Chapter 16: The Rescue”

Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, The Book of Boba Fett S1, archive imageThe Book of Boba Fett
“Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land”
“Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine”
“Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa”
“Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm”
“Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian”
“Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger”
“Chapter 7: “In the Name of Honor”

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Part I, Ewan McGregorObi-Wan Kenobi
“Part I”
“Part II”
“Part III”
“Part IV”
“Part V”
“Part VI”

Andor, Season One
“Kassa”
“That Would Be Me”
“Reckoning”

The Mandalorian, Season Three
Chapter 17: “The Apostate”
Chapter 18: “The Mines of Mandalore”

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches Boba Fett – Staying in Your Lane

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

The Book of Boba Fett, characters posterSERIES: The Book of Boba Fett
EPISODE: S1:E6. “Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor”
STARRING: Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, Pedro Pascal, Amy Sedaris, David Pasquesi
WRITERS: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Robert Rodriguez
PREMIERE DATE: February 9, 2022
SYNOPSIS: Boba Fett and his forces collide with the Pyke Syndicate.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

After Luke’s ultimatum in the previous episode, Grogu abandons his Jedi training, and elects to return to Din Djarin’s side. Ironic, isn’t it? Luke made a similar decision with Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back.

And thus, Luke’s first student winds up ditching him. Not a great start to a Jedi Academy that will ultimately meet a tragic end…

Boba Fett agrees to stop the spice (a drug in the Star Wars universe) from flowing through Tatooine to get the villagers of Freetown to fight for him. This, despite the fact that spice trade makes up a huge portion of his business. This, plus the fact that he and his crew are essentially defending Mos Espa from the bad guys, make Boba Fett seem much more like a Robin Hood figure than a crime lord. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Is that really the Boba Fett that people want to see?

I appreciate that Mando doesn’t look graceful or polished at all in his use of the Darksaber. It makes sense. He’s not a swordsman. So he should look like an amateur.

Boba Fett riding a rancor seems like the kind of thing a fanboy saw in a wet dream. Granted, it was pretty awesome. But still.

THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT

It’s a little surprising that they killed off Cad Bane. Granted, this is Star Wars. People in this universe can survive being cut in half and dropped down a pit. So there’s no hard and fast rule that says he can’t come back at some point. But this felt like it had a measure of finality to it. A fitting end for the character.

The fact that the episode and the season end not with a shot of Boba Fett, but Mando and Grogu, pretty much says it all. They wound up being what people cared about, not Fett.

Temuera Morrison has said that, in a second season, he’d like to see Boba Fett go after Mace Windu for killing his father. Eh…no thanks. It might be cool to see Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu again. But not in that context. I’m content to let him stay dead.

All in all, it seems like The Book of Boba Fett, the first season at least, will be remembered as a series that couldn’t support itself from a storytelling perspective. Thus, the need to borrow elements from The Mandalorian. It was awesome to see all that stuff. But it belonged in season three of Mando’s show, not Boba Fett’s show.

That’s not to say Mando had no business being there at all. He could have, say, come in at the end of episode six as a hook for the finale. That way we still get those scenes of Fett and Mando fighting off the Pykes together. But devoting two full episodes to him? To call that pulling focus is a gross understatement.

I guess sometimes you just need to stay in your lane…

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches Boba Fett – A Star-Studded Affair

Rob Siebert 2 Comments

Book of Boba Fett, Cad Bane posterSERIES: The Book of Boba Fett
EPISODE: S1:E6. “Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Rosario Dawson, Timothy Olyphant
WRITERS: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni
DIRECTOR: Dave Filoni
PREMIERE DATE: February 2, 2022
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian seeks out Grogu and Luke Skywalker.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

We open the episode with a surprise appearance from Cobb Vanth. Having Cobb Vanth in the show makes a little more sense than having Mando here. And it’s good to see Timothy Olyphant back. I like the character, and he comes off pretty bad ass here. But I won’t lie, I did roll my eyes a little bit when he showed up. First Mando, now this.

And in terms of holdovers from The Mandalorian, we weren’t done by a long shot.

Not only do we not know how Mando knows where Grogu is, we don’t even know anything about this planet. We saw it in flashbacks in The Last Jedi. But I think this is the only other time we’ve seen it. Certainly that’s the case in the movies and television. Maybe in the comic books somewhere…

Well, there he is. There’s Luke Skywalker. Inevitably, this CGI Mark Hamill sparked a big debate amongst viewers as to how right or wrong it was to do, whether actors are about to be replaced by lifeless CGI algorithms, how good the effect actually looked, etc.

I can’t say I have answers to any of those questions, accept to say it looked about as real as any other visual effect Star Wars has ever done. Especially since this time they had the character doing more. Running, using a lightsaber without the hood, and just generally having more screen time. As for how appropriate it is, one thing that eases my conscience a little bit is that Mark Hamill himself is involved here. It’s not like what they did with Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One, where they’re resurrecting a human being who’s long dead. It’s a little less creepy that way.

The Book of Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker

Incidentally, it’s only a matter of time until we get CGI Han Solo. I mean, is that even debatable at this point?

In an episode filled with surprises, seeing Rosario Dawson return as Ahsoka Tano was, for me at least, the biggest one. As Ahsoka was obviously Anakin Skywalker’s student, having her meet his son opens up a lot of intriguing storytelling doors. I’m hopeful we’ll expand on Luke and Ahsoka’s relationship, whatever it may be, once we get to her show.

It’s worth noting that Boba Fett does, in fact, appear in this episode of The Book of Boba Fett. Fennec Shand does most of the talking in the scene, so he’s almost a background player. But at least he’s there. That’s more than we could say about the last episode.

I must admit: I haven’t seen as much of The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch as others have. But I still knew the blue stranger emerging from the desert at the end of the episode was Cad Bane. He looks damn good, and has a nice foreboding vibe about him.

I have to say, I’m a little disappointed in Luke. He’s still going with this “attachment is forbidden” rule of the Jedi code, when that’s part of what led to Anakin’s fall, and the subsequent destruction of the Jedi Order. Luke has a chance at a fresh start. To create his own vision of the Jedi Order. Instead, he’s just going back to what they did before.

The Book of Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker, Grogu

What’s more, Luke has attachments, doesn’t he? He has his sister. He has friends. Hell, the love between Luke and his father is the key to the whole Darth Vader redemption story. This could be an interesting opportunity to expand on what a Jedi is and can be. They could illustrate how attachments and connections can actually make us stronger beings, and thus stronger Jedi. I hope some of that is addressed as time goes on.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches Boba Fett – Hijacking the Show

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

The Book of Boba Fett, Mandalorian posterSERIES: The Book of Boba Fett
EPISODE: S1:E5. “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Amy Sedaris
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Bryce Dallas Howard
PREMIERE DATE: January 26, 2022
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian gets a new ship, and learns more about the power of the Darksaber.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Let’s call out the elephant in the room. The big critique of this episode, as well as the following episode, is that they’re episodes of The Mandalorian shoehorned into The Book of Boba Fett. Whether anyone likes it or not, that’s a fair and just criticism. This is supposed to be a Boba Fett show, and he doesn’t even appear in this episode.

That’s not to say Mando has no place in this story. He could have come to Tatooine to help Fett in his fight against the Pykes. But this? Basically hijacking two episodes of Fett’s show to shift back to his story with Grogu? That’s too much. It’s good stuff, but it doesn’t belong here. It should have been saved for season three of The Mandalorian.

So what happened? How did The Book of Boba Fett get hijacked? I’ve got two theories…

The first is that the showrunners realized they didn’t have enough story with Boba Fett to fill an entire season. So they fall back on the Mandalorian stuff, which they knew fans would like. That doesn’t excuse it, but it’s a reasonable explanation.

The second is that the higher-ups at Disney and/or Lucasfilm said, “Mando and Grogu are popular. So put them in the show.” I’m not sure how likely that is, as Jon Favreau seems to have a good amount of control over the “Mandoverse.” But never underestimate the possibility of non-creative people trying to exert control over creative people. There’d be a sad irony there, as George Lucas fought vehemently against that sort of thing while making the original trilogy.

But to reiterate, even though these two episodes don’t belong here, they are pretty damn good. So let’s dive in…

The Book of Boba Fett, Mandalorian

Awesome entrance for Mando, not surprisingly. A sure fire way for a Star Wars project to impress me is to show us new and unique places in the Star Wars universe. “Return of the Mandalorian” manages to do that not once, but twice. We get this slaughterhouse in the opening scene, which is pretty cool. They could have gotten a little more creative with the fight and maybe had Mando and the goons smacking into bloody slabs of meat. But maybe that’s a little too much…

But what I really loved was the city of Glavis, which is situated on a gigantic ring structure in space. They could have just had Mando on another desert planet, or a jungle planet, or an ice planet, or whatever. But instead they got creative. Excellent.

Amy Sedaris is back as Peli Motto. Given her background, I’m curious if she has any input on what she says. That stuff about dating a jawa, for instance. Did she come up with that, or was it in the script?

Mando’s new ship is a modified Naboo starfigher, like the ones we saw in The Phantom Menace. It looks cool, but I miss the Razor Crest. This fighter doesn’t double as a home base the way the Crest did.

Mando has Mandalorian armor made for Grogu, and wants to deliver it to him personally. He apparently knows where Luke took him. But how? Luke didn’t exactly give a forwarding address. And you’d think he’d want to keep its location a secret. So what gives?

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches Boba Fett – He Kept the Ship?!?

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

The Book of Boba Fett, Fennec Shand posterSERIES: The Book of Boba Fett
EPISODE: S1:E4. “Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm”
STARRING: Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, Jennifer Beals, Carey Jones
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Kevin Tancharoen
PREMIERE DATE: January 19, 2022
SYNOPSIS: Boba Fett gathers his forces far war against the Pyke Syndicate.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Boba Fett, now wandering alone, finds a nearly dead Fennec Shand in the desert. He takes her for cybernetic augmentation, saving her life. He then recruits her to help him take his ship back from Jabba the Hutt’s palace.

Fett saving Shand means, chronologically, these flashbacks are now in the era of The Mandalorian. In other words, five years after Return of the Jedi. Thus, I must pose the question…why is the ship still at the palace five years later? What possible use could Bib Fortuna have had for it? Why not dismantle it for parts? Or auction it off as the last remanant of the great Boba Fett?

The real answer, of course, is that from a storytelling standpoint, Jabba’s palace is the last place we the viewers saw the ship. So it’s easiest to simply have them go back there and get it. But someday, even if it’s just in a novel or something, I hope we get some kind of answer as to why Fortuna kept it.

Incidentally, Boba Fett’s ship is called Slave I. For whatever reason, Disney doesn’t want it referred to by the name anymore. I imagine they don’t want the protagonist for one of their big TV shows riding around in a ship with slave in the name. But I’m old school. It is, and always will be, Slave I.

Some of these sequences are really, really dark. Not tonally. I mean it’s difficult to watch them during the daytime because they look almost pitch black in a sunlit room. The sequence in the previous episode where Black Krrsantan attacks Fett in the bacta tank was like that too. Does that make me sound like an old man? Yes. But is it still true? Yes.

The Book of Boba Fett, Fennec Shand

Why does Shand decide to stay with Fett after her debt to him is paid? What’s her interest in him? Is it professional admiration? Is it romantic? What’s the deal?

The visual of Slave I hovering face down over the sarlaac pit is pretty absurd. I get that it served the purpose of killing the sarlaac. But still, it was awkward.

This episode gives us some insight into why Fett wants to take over Jabba’s operation. He wants to run an organization that’s better than the ones he’s worked for. That’s…not the best answer they could have given. But it’s fair enough, I suppose.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.