How ‘Book of Boba Fett’ took us back to ‘Return of the Jedi’
There are two sorts of enduring thriller in the Star Wars franchise. The primary is the big-picture, galactic-level form that ought to ideally by no means be revealed, similar to the organic side of the Power ( you, midichlorians). Then there are the “what occurred to” form — character-based mysteries that deepen and enrich the galaxy far, far-off when lastly revealed.
So when the first episode of The E-book of Boba Fett dropped on Disney+ Wednesday with two “what occurred to” reveals, Star Wars followers had been delighted. One we would been form of anticipating; the different was the stunning return of beloved musical characters. Each had been callbacks to Return of the Jedi, the occasions of which took place 5 years prior to the current day in Boba Fett. However in our universe, practically 4 many years have elapsed — which makes these character mysteries the most enduring in Star Wars historical past. Let’s break them down.
Sarlacc shock
The Sarlacc on Tatooine: Hungry and exhausting to escape.
Credit score: lucasfilm
The truth that Boba Fett escaped his obvious demise in the Sarlacc pit is one thing we have recognized since Temuera Morrison’s beloved bounty hunter first reappeared a yr in the past in The Mandalorian Season 2, episode 1. What that present studiously averted answering was how he survived. The avoidance made sense, since none of Boba’s newfound pals in The Mandalorian would have recognized something about the Sarlacc incident. (And Boba, taciturn at the greatest of instances, was hardly seemingly to volunteer a narrative about the time a blind Han Solo unintentionally activated his jetpack and despatched him hurtling to his doom).
There had to be a great story to the escape, nevertheless, since we discovered in Return of the Jedi that the Sarlacc was not a creature to be trifled with. Successfully a hundred-meter-tall Venus flytrap nestled in the sands of Tatooine, the Sarlacc was mentioned to digest its victims slowly over a thousand years — “a brand new definition of ache and struggling,” as the ever-helpful Threepio put it. If it had been in any respect simple to flee, if anybody had ever finished it earlier than Boba, why would Jabba the Hutt go to the hassle of dropping his enemies there in the first place?
Here is the place the proven fact that Star Wars has a long-defunct set of comedian books and novels, now often known as Legends, turns out to be useful. In these no-longer-canon tales, Fett escaped the Sarlacc by means of his distinctive instruments — a flamethrower in his wrist gauntlet and the very jetpack that betrayed him in the first place. E-book of Boba Fett had its star escape utilizing the first of these instruments, after introducing an additional wrinkle: The physique of a long-dead Stormtrooper, whose go well with Boba used to provide himself with breathable air.
After burning his method by the guts of the Sarlacc, nevertheless, Boba seems to have merely clawed his method up by many meters of sand to the floor somewhat than utilizing the jetpack. Which is sensible for the story in a number of methods. He was coated in digestive juices, in any case; not all his gear was going to be in working order. Requiring such superhuman sand-digging effort additionally establishes the character’s grit. A jetpack escape would really feel unearned, and would not clarify why these pesky Jawas had been ready to strip his armor from his catatonic physique, leaving him a sunburned wreck to be picked up by Tusken Raiders.
Plus, in telling the definitive Sarlacc escape story, E-book of Boba Fett establishes that it’ll use a cinematic machine hardly ever seen in any Star Wars film or present to date: the flashback. We’re seemingly to get extra of them as the E-book unfolds, provided that episode 1 did not set up how Boba escaped his Tusken captors, or why he feels the want to rule the Tatooine crime scene in Jabba’s stead. This too is traditional Star Wars: the reply to a personality thriller ought to lead us to new character mysteries.
Tatooine supergroup
The unique Star Wars trilogy offered two Tatooine-based pop sensations. First got here Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, the band whose Benny Goodman-inspired swing music offered the backdrop to the spaceport cantina the place we first meet Han Solo and Chewbacca in A New Hope. Then in Return of the Jedi got here the Max Rebo band, which carried out a method of music formally and sadly often known as “Jizz.” Earlier than George Lucas tinkered with the music in the Particular Editions of 1997, Max’s band performed an experimental, quirky, synth-driven track referred to as “Lapti Nek” for the denizens of Jabba’s palace. Lucas’ alternative was a somewhat hectic tune (with apparently bawdy lyrics) named “Jedi Rocks.”
Whichever model you like, Max Rebo was the clear breakout star of the Jabba’s palace scenes. An lovely blue elephantine creature who hammered away on a primitive type of keyboard, Max stole the present from his lead singer, the stick-legged Sy Snootles. According to Lucasfilm, Max signed what could also be the worst music deal in the historical past of any galaxy; his band would carry out for Jabba for all times and get nothing greater than free meals in return.
However as soon as Jabba was killed on that sail barge, what was subsequent for Max Rebo’s band? The E-book of Boba Fett affords one thing of a solution. Max is seen enjoying at one other cantina in Jabba’s former empire. Sy Snootles and the relaxation of the band are nowhere to be seen.
However who’s that performing subsequent to Max? A Bith musician who could very nicely be a member of the Modal Nodes, even perhaps band chief Figrin D’an himself. If that’s the case, he appears to have branched out from his traditional horn to some form of area mandolin. The Modal Node connection is made clear by the proven fact that they seem to be performing a clean acoustic model of the traditional New Hope cantina music, that includes an astromech droid on drums (fortunately, it appears we’re gone the days when droids had been routinely banned from Tatooine cantinas).
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Might this be a sign that Tatooine’s two most well-known musicians have united to type a brand new supergroup? How acrimonious was the breakup of their former bands? Did Sy Snootles go solo? Are they engaged on new materials, or merely transforming the outdated cantina classics? This too is the energy of Star Wars: Even the sudden reappearance of background characters leads us to intriguing new mysteries. Here is hoping E-book of Boba Fett solutions them in later episodes.
