Boba’s mystical journey among the Sand People, train robbery, more underworld shenaningans with Hutts, the first appearance of Tosche Station where Luke once wanted to go to pick some power converters, and more cameos and easter eggs. That was in a nutshell the second episode of The Book of Boba Fett.
How’s The Series Going?
One episode alone was not a sufficient sample to say much about the series, but now we have two. The Book of Boba Fett very much resembles the first season of The Mandalorian. That, too, started with seemingly arbitrary stories without much of a plot besides “a tough guy walks in the desert silently”. You would not start watching it for the depth of characters or the story’s major relevance for the Star Wars universe or connection to other plotlines. But I am reasonably certain that especially the latter will come, knowing how the people at the helm operate.
The story of the second episode was rather simple. It drew on familiar tropes, bringing the warm and fuzzy feeling that we know where we are and that we have seen this before. Tatooine and Boba, as well as Tusken raiders and now also Hutts represent the “good ol’ Star Wars” element. Further connection was provided by the appearance of the transport train. The train robbery in Solo: A Star Wars Story was one thing even skeptical fans enjoyed and this was a good opportunity to repeat it.
More sophisticated links to the rest of the Star Wars franchise came in the form of the train’s crew: the Pykes (who also appeared in Solo, and before that in The Clone Wars). But the true easter eggs came in the form of Black Krrsantan, the Wookiee bodyguard of the Hutt Twins, and somewhat unexpectedly in the form of two human characters whom Boba accidentally saves from aggressive Nikto.
Camie Marstrap and Laze Loneozner, Luke’s childhood friends, hiding during a bar brawl at the Tosche Station.
“I wanted to go to Tosche Station…”
These two people are none other than Luke Skywalker’s friends from Tosche Station. That is the place where Boba stole the speeders from for the Tuskens. It was first mentioned in A New Hope when Luke complained to uncle Owen that he wanted to go there to pick up some power converters. His uncle correctly understood his true motivation to be to see his friends. Those friends originally appeared in the first cut of A New Hope, but the scene was removed before the film’s release – for a reason: it was rather pointless and nothing happened there.
Now we however got to see these friends. We already knew one: he was Biggs Darklighter, the pilot who died in Episode IV. But the remaining two now appeared in The Book of Boba Fett: Camie Marstrap and her boyfriend Laze Loneozner. One has to applaud the choice of actors – if you can, look at the deleted scene from A New Hope and compare their appearance to that of TBoBF actors (Mandy Kowalski, originally Koo Stark, and Skyler Bible, originally Anthony Forrest). The characters’ cameo also gives us the chance to see “common people” of the Galaxy and what their life looks like, which adds complexity to the setting.
The second major cameo was that of Black Krrsantan. The black Wookiee first appeared in the 2015 comics Darth Vader and resurfaced several times as the companion of Doctor Aphra. This is yet another example of the legacy of Dave Filoni’s team, creating bridges to other parts of the Star Wars universe. Will Krrsantan reappear? Probably, it would be a waste of a cool costume already made. Will someone else appear, perhaps Aphra? It would not be surprising.
And what of Camie and Laze? Since they were Luke’s friends, is this perhaps a subtle setup for HIS appearance? We dare not speculate!
Just like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett started with action scenes set in nostalgic-looking environment without much context. In the second episode we watched Boba again proclaim his interest in ruling Tatooine and saw him help the Sand People without first having much of a clue why should he care. Gradually we got to understand his respect for fellow warrior culture but also that he is learning to empathise with the denizens of Tatooine. Herein seems to lie the key for his future, and his involvement that even demands defying the Hutts.
