The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 3, The Streets of Mos Espa, is amazing, and I’m sitting here going, really, guys? You waited till episode three?
It’s rough out there in those streets. But I definitely feel like we’re at the turn, in terms of the act change and the structure of the storytelling, and I’m excited, man. Oh my goodness.
Boba’s Palace and the Water Merchant
The episode opens up with a really cool shot of the former Jabba’s palace, now Boba’s palace, and that little classic creature thing. It’s sort of a droid thing with a little red eye, and it looks almost like one of the spider guys from The Matrix.
As we go in, Boba and Fennec are getting an update on the daimyo’s territory. The droid giving it, and I don’t know if he’s a protocol droid or not, is in the background in Return of the Jedi, in the droid scene in Jabba’s palace. He’s actually there, this guy. He’s got a hologram up and he’s showing them what’s going on, and he basically says this is ultimately how Bib Fortuna survived. He split up the town between several families.
That’s around the time a water merchant comes in wanting a conversation. He’s one of Boba’s vassals, played by a really cool character actor we’ve seen a million times in a million things. And this guy’s like, I’m being robbed by these young people who use droid parts.
We’re talking about cyborgs. We’re getting cyborgs. I wasn’t a huge Star Wars Legends reader, so I don’t necessarily know how deep that goes. I’m sure they covered cyborgs, and obviously we’ve got Vader and some others, so we do know those exist.
So Boba, Fennec and the pigs go down there. Literally the pigs. I’m clever. And you see these kids just hanging out outside, and they’re literally kids. They’ve got these cool looking, I don’t know, space Vespas. I guess that’s the word. You can’t just add a sci-fi word to a car word and hope it means something.
The kids are kind of like, hey man, we’re not impressed, we know who you are. They give him some song and dance about the price of water and everything else, and he’s like, well, you want a job? He basically hires them. The water guy’s ticked off. He says they owe like 1300 credits, and Boba gives him 500 and says be happy. That’s it. Dude’s not happy.
The Pykes, and Smoke on the Horizon
Boba heads into town, and we see a scene very reminiscent of one we saw in The Mandalorian, which is Boba walking by stormtrooper helmets all erected on spears. Clearly the Empire’s been kicked off the planet.
In a blink and you’ll miss it moment, as he’s walking by you see a mechanic, a very friendly lady we recognize from The Mandalorian, followed by her little droid guys. They’re the ones who fix Din Djarin’s ship back in Mandalorian season one, and you revisit them again in season two.
So Boba gets to the Pykes, and he’s there to collect the money he’s owed. And they’re like, hey, we’re only going to pay protection to one person at a time. We’ve already got these other people laying claim to the land you’re claiming. He says don’t worry about them, I’m going to take care of it. Okay. Big bad man.
On his way back to the village of the Sand People, he sees smoke on the horizon. It’s not good. Tatooine is not friendly or nice when it comes to that kind of thing. It’s smoking wreckage, and I just feel for him. He sees the chief there is dead. Then he comes across a burned out tent, and there’s the symbol again. The same symbol he saw when the child Tusken had him and the Rodian out there and they saw the people being attacked, way back in episode one. That symbol got graffitied on the building, and I feel like it’s going to come back into play.
Black Krrsantan Does Not Need a Discount
At the end of this vision he wakes up, and he’s being yanked out of his bacta tank by none other than Black Krrsantan. I don’t say discount Chewbacca, because frankly this guy’s a bad man all on his own.
He rips him out, and I’m just like, oh my God, this guy’s dope. And he proceeds to whoop Boba’s butt in spectacular fashion. And again, I’m sitting here going, does nobody hang out near the man’s room?
So his teenagers come flying out, and one of them’s got a vibroblade and she’s stabbing him, and the other kids come out and they’ve all got weapons and they circle around him. Then the pig guys show up. So you’ve got the pig guys, you’ve got Boba, you’ve got the kids, and they’re all just fighting. Finally they go down the stairs into the main area, and Fennec runs in, hits a button, and poof. He falls.
So he’s in the dungeon. I think it might actually be the rancor pit, but obviously there’s no rancor, and there’s no way out either. He’s essentially captured, and he’s so mad. He’s great. It’s wonderful. Other than Episode III, Revenge of the Sith, it’s good to see another Wookiee who’s just awesome.
Danny Trejo Brings a Rancor
The next day, Fennec and Boba are sitting around eating, and Boba’s really ticked off. He’s like, we’ve got to do something about this. Before they can wrap it up, the twins come back. That’s right, Jabba’s cousins show up, and they have a gift.
That gift is none other than Danny Trejo bringing in a rancor. It’s a young one, like a calf rancor, and it’s all blinders and whatnot. I still think it’s cool as could be to see Danny Trejo as a rancor trainer. It’s dope.
The Hutts are like, hey, we’ve been lied to, both of us. The mayor is working with somebody else, and this area has been promised to another syndicate. So we’re going to give you this gift, we’re heading out, and we recommend you head out too. Boba tries to give them back Krrsantan and they’re like, no, we’re good, you can sell him back to the gladiators, whatever. So of course Boba releases him.
Then we get this really cool scene in the rancor pit, and you find out from Danny Trejo that there’s more to the rancors. More to the Sand People, more to the rancors, more than the two-dimensional things we’ve been fed all these years. Great. I’m excited. I’m here for it.
He says when you take the blindfold off, they imprint on the first human being they see. And Danny Trejo name drops the Witches of Dathomir. The Witches of Dathomir are important. That’s kind of an Easter egg, because those are the people who essentially helped rescue Darth Maul. He was kind of wayward without them, and eventually they found him and helped him up. They’re dark Force users, they’re awesome, and I used to love to role play with them when I was doing the Star Wars role playing game years ago.
Danny Trejo says the Witches of Dathomir used to ride them, and that immediately catches Boba’s attention. He’s like, oh, you’re going to show me how to ride these things. And all I see and all I want now is Boba Fett, full gear, mounted on top of a rancor, just like, I am the daimyo of Mos Espa.
The Mayor’s Office and the Power Rangers
That’s when the droid pops his head out and says the mayor’s office told him he’s busy for like the next 20 days. And Boba’s like, oh, I’m not waiting for an appointment.
So it’s him and his, I call them the Power Rangers now, because they all have these colored hover Vespas. There’s a green one, a red one, a blue one and a yellow one. They literally look like the Power Rangers.
They show up and the majordomo is there, and he’s like, oh, well, sorry, yeah, we’re busy. And Fennec’s like, you choose your next words very carefully, because this is about to get bad. So dude’s like, well, let me rearrange the schedule and find out. He goes into the mayor’s office and locks the door. And Boba’s like, brother, he just locked the door on us.
So they’re after him. He rushes out the side, and then it’s a street chase between Boba’s Power Ranger guards and this dude, who’s in a hover version of a Cadillac. The thing’s about as wide as the street. They chase him around, dude crashes, and they skid up on him.
Those cyborg kids, they’re amazing. Especially the girl. I can’t remember her name, but she’s so cool. I just love everything about what they’re doing.
Then we cut to the spaceport, and it’s very important. You see a starliner, which is basically an airline, a regular space travel vehicle you can buy passage on. And out walks about a dozen or more Pykes. So we’re definitely getting set up. Fennec ends the whole thing, and she’s like, we’re going to war.
Man, this episode. Bro. This episode.
What Happened to the Tuskens Is What Happens on Tatooine
I thought it was very interesting what they did when you get to the Sand People. God bless you, Favreau and Filoni. They give us such great, heartfelt stuff when it comes to the Tusken Raiders, only to have something so senseless as the way the whole village is just wrecked.
But it’s on point. That’s what happens on Tatooine. That’s what happened to Luke’s family. That’s what’s happened to numerous people and groups: one minute you’re here, the next minute you’re not, and it’s over something stupid like territory or water.
I was very pleased with that. We’ve gotten this warm fuzzy, we’re going to show you the background of these people and make you care about them more, and then you see the same kind of senseless violence we’ve always seen from the streets of Tatooine. But now it matters, because now you know these people had a culture and a society.
Great work. These guys are doing something that’s multi-layered. I want to see who starts kicking butt next. I really do.
Theory Craft: Boba Fett Builds a Real Family
We have yet to see the big family move from the trailers. I’m talking about the scene where Boba Fett’s standing at the head of a table and he’s talking to the other heads of the families.
This thing is very much becoming a gang war, a territory war. And I feel like what’s going to end up happening is Boba’s going to approach the houses and the families and essentially say, follow me, we have to band together. Because the Pykes want to take it back to how Jabba had it, which is one guy, one power, everything.
The families Bib Fortuna set up are probably super happy having control of their own little mini fiefdoms, their little territories. I imagine they’re going to want to defend that. Now obviously there may be some who jump ship and say, well, I’m screwed, we’ll go with the Pykes and help them. I’m thinking they’re not going to be long for this life. I’m pretty sure Boba’s going to put a stop to that.
And what you’re going to end up with is Boba Fett setting up a real and true Godfather style family situation. A family in more than name. Like, genuinely, these are the rules, this is how it works, you guys are going to follow my lead.
The Verdict
The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 3 is a 9 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index.
I’m trying my best not to be one of those guys who reviews stuff and it’s 10 out of 10, 10 out of 10, it’s amazing, it’s amazing. I read a guy who reviewed last week’s episode and went all the way to the top with it, and I’m like, really, dude? You have no discretion, no discernment, anything.
I like this episode. It had everything I wanted and more. I’m a fan, bro. It’s a good show, and I’m loving this thing.
So there you go, now you know, and if knowing is half the battle, then you’re halfway to being a know-it-all yourself.
My voice is getting back to normal, so I’m going to be able to start doing more and more stuff again. I’ve still got more of the 30th anniversary of Image Comics videos coming, telling some of the stories I grew up reading. I don’t know how much attention those are going to get, and I’m probably doing them more for my own pride and my desire to put something out there.
Never forget, everyone loves a know-it-all.
Tell me what you thought of the episode, and whether you think Boba ends this thing at the head of that table. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
