The Book of Boba Fett Episode 5 Return of the Mandalorian has finally been released
and let me just say this one of the greatest episodes of Star Wars live action every told.
We got a fantastic look at horrid events of the NIght of a thousand Tears, the reasons
why Bo Katan was doomed to fail as leader of Mandalore and Mando getting himself a brand
new ship. So, lets break down everything that went down in this incredible episode, and
how it connects to the other Star Wars books, comics, tv shows and games. As usual, remember
to leave your episode rating out of 10 in the comments and subscribe for a whole lot
more Book of Boba Fett content throughout the show!
So the episode begins inside of a butcher shop staffed by guys hwo looks like a kind
of sub species of Klatoonians with bulldog features. I don’t know about you guys but
the facial structure and sounds they made really reminded me of bulldogs. Either way,
Right out of the gate we get the appearance we’ve all been waiting for from the holder
of the Darksaber himself, Din Djarin. Surprisingly, Mando isn’t on the warpath to liberating
Mandalore with Bo Katan and the others, and is instead back in the bounty hunting game
looking for a man named Kaba Baiz… who is literally the man standing right in front
of him. The man refuses to hand him over so mando drops the infamous line “I can bring
you in warm, or I can bring you in cold” which is one of the first lines the character
ever said on screen, back in Mando chapter 1. Din Djarin then gets into a massive brawl
with the guards of Kaba Baiz and is forced to pull out his weapon, the Mandalorian Darksaber.
Now if you’re watching this show I assumed you’ve seen the Mandalorian, but you may
not have seen the Clone Wars where this artefact originates from. The Darksaber usually denotes
the current ruler of Mandalore and in order to take it by traditional rules you must defeat
the current holder in single combat. During the Clone Wars, Darth Maul defeated the holder
of the Darksaber Pre Vizsla and claimed the throne of Mandalore for himself. Bo Katan
Kryze who we saw in Mando refused to accept his rulership of Mandalore because he wasn
outsider, even though he won the saber fairly under Mandalorian tradition. The saber then
ended up with Sabine Wren from Star Wars rebels after she took it from Darth Maul’s lair
on Dathomir, before she gave it back to Bo to rule. At that point things get cloudy and
we don’t know how MOff Gideon stole it off her, but we of course know Mando defeated
Gideon to hold it.
After the brawl Mando then viciously slices the man he’s looking for alive, showing
us the other half of that quote. This time he is brought in cold, rather than warm like
he did in Mando episode 1.
After leaving the target’s office we discover that Mando is actually on a structure known
as an O'Neill cylinder, which is actually a real life concept where a rotating ship
provides enough gravity to sustain a colony in space. Obviously we haven’t hit that
technology level yet in the real world, but it certainly is a real world and science fiction
concept which is very popular. It also really reminded me of a similar structure from KNights
of the Old Republic. Either way, Mando is pretty badly injured from Mishandling the
Darksaber in the encounter and limps through the streets of the cylinder.
Mando then gets into an elevator with a strange alien, which is actually a a Caskgadag species
from the Force Awakens. Really cool little connection and one that is pretty deep in
the lore.
Following this he drops off the bounty to his client but refuses to take another one
because of his terrible injuries. He then returns to a nearby area of the cylinder where
the Mandalorian covert has now been moved to, denoted by a Mandalorian mythosaur. The
Mythosaur is a creature which once roamed Mandalore many, many centuries ago before
being wiped out. It quickly became the symbol of the Mandalorian people.
Inside we see the armor who clearly survived the earlier extinction of the covert on Nevarro,
but we also see that at least one other also made it out alive. One of the members who
survived the horrible events of that Day was actually Paz Visla. Paz Vizsla was the heavy
armored Mando played by Jon Favreau, the show’s writer and is almost certainly related to
Pre Vizsla from the Clone Wars series. At a minimum he is part of Clan Vizsla. House
Vizsla was often seen as the ruling house of Mandalore before the pacifist movement
led by Satine Kryze during the Clone Wars series. Satine became the pacifist duchess
of the planet during that war and was also the secret lover of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was
tragically killed by Darth Maul right in front of him… Very sad story and you should definitely
at least watch the Mandalore arc of the Clone Wars if you haven’t seen it before.
Paz Vizlsa then reveals that only 3 members of this covert remain, while the armor is
curious about what weapon could have caused such a wound. She is then shown the Darksaber
and realizes its impact and significance to the Mandalorian people.
The armorer then very clearly explains that the one who wins this blade in combat is given
the right to rule Mandalore, only if it won legitimately. She says that if however a person
does not win it in combat, but is handed the weapon, it becomes a curse unto the nation.
Mandalore will be laid to waste and its people scattered to the four winds. This is VERY
significant, because this is literally exactly what happened with Sabine Wren handing the
blade to Bo katan.
In Season 4 of star wars Rebels Sabine had doubts about her leadership ability, so she
handed the blade to Bo Katan to rule the people. She accepted the Darksaber and the Mandalorian
people bowed before her, but as we know from the Mando season 2 Mandalore was laid to waste.
The Planet was likely glassed and some believe it doesn’t even exist. This line from the
armorer is a perfect metaphor for what happened after the events of Rebels, and WHY Bo Katan
lost the darksaber.
After this, the Armorer gives Din Djarin a history lesson telling him that the Darksaber
was forged over a thousand years ago by the renowned Mandalorian Tarre Vizsla who was
both Mandalorian and Jedi. We have a pretty good history of him from both the Clone Wars
and Star Wars Rebels, although he is a figure still shrouded in mystery. We’ll definitely
get more story about that in the Mandalorian Season 3.
Right after Paz Visla asks Mando how he got the Darksaber and we find out that Moff Gideon
has been sent to the New Republic for interrogation. Now they aren’t too happy about Din keeping
him alive as he has the blood of millions on his hands.
The armorer then immediately warns Din that Beskar should only be used for armor and not
weapons, as it can pierce other Beskar armor, making it a threat to all Mandalorians. Mando
agrees and the prized spear of Morgan Elsbeth is quickly melted Down. Pretty sad honestly
as I loved that weapon, but it’s serving a better purpose now.
The armorer then immediately tells Mando the cautionary tale of Bo Katan Kryze. Obviously
her perspective is slightly slanted since the Children of the Watch are an extremist
cult of Mandalorians, but she claims Bo Katann lost her way because she claimed rulership
of Mandalore based only on blood and the Darksaber. Not on having won a traditional battle. As
we know from Rebels, the Darksaber was handed to her by SAbine Wren, not won in combat.
She then tells the tale of how Mandalore was completely oblitereated in the Night of a
thousand Tears which was first mentioned in the Mandalorian Season 1 by MOff Gideon. We
see thousands of Tie bombers completely savaging the planet, and what looks like its capital
Sundari City. In the shot we see the domed cities which were prominent in the Clone Wars
series, because the Mandalorians ravaged the planet in war over the years. Sadly these
cities were destroyed and K2 Units, the same as K2 so in Rogue One were sent onto the ground
to finish
the job.
The armorer then moves on to forging a specific item out of the spear for the foundling Grogu
and she then be heard chanting a traditional training hymn in Mando’a, which is the native
language of the Mandalorian people. We have seen it before in the Mandalorian Season 2,
but this is yet another instance of the language coming back onto the big screen.
During his training with the Darksaber Mando mentions that the Blade is getting heavier
with every move because he is fighting against the blade, not with it. This is a direct reference
to Star Wars Rebels, where it was established that the Darksaber gets lighter as you gain
affinity with it. This was particularly helpful to Sabine Wren in her training with it.
After this, Din Djarin is challenged for the Darksaber in a traditional Mandalorian duel
by Paz Vizsla, who wants it because it was forged by his ancestors in House Vizsla. The
duel ends in a very dicey victory for Din Djarin, but horribly he is then expelled from
the covert for having removed his helmet. Obviously,
Din wants to atone for his sin to the clan but can only do so by visiting the living
mines beneath Mandalore’s oceans, which he believes no longer exist due to the Empire’s
destruction of the planet.
Following this sad event, mando is forced to disarm himself completely to board his
commercial shuttle to Tatooine, which is piloted by a droid similar to REx from Star Tours,
if you’ve ever had the opportunity to ride it.
His ship then arrives on Tatooine and at the port you can see a few gates in the background.
These gates are actually the Ralph McQuarrie concept art gates which are seen in a lot
Star Wars media including the Force Awakens. Near the port at pelli Motto’s shop, we
also get a glimpse at a BD unit, which you might remember from Jedi FAllen Order, where
one was Cal Kestis’ companion through the game. Really awesome easter egg there. R5-d4
from a New Hope, which was the one with the broken motivator was also there, along with
the same Pit Droids from the Phantom menace.
As Mando makes his entrance to find a replacement for the razor crest, pelli Motto drops heaps
of references to Mando season 1 and 2, including the slaying of the Krayt Dragon, the issue
with Toro Callican and the roast that she gave Mando when he left with Frog Lady.
Either way, Pelli then offers Mando a replacement for his destroyed Razorcrest, which happens
to be an N-1 starfighter personally commissioned by the Queen of Naboo herself. We’re not
sure yet which queen this is, but it could definitely be when Padme was still in office,
or it could be the one after her, Queen Jamilla… Or it could even be Sosha Soruna who would
be the current reigning queen, but since it’s pre empire that’s not likely.
Now after this we get a couple more shocking reveals, being that Pelli Motto dated a Jawa
and Mando is a bit of a connoisseur for ships, he knows his stuff. These details will definitely
come into play later in the story, im sure.
As Mando is constructing the ship, the BD unit is able to project the position where
Mando needs to attach a part. This is exactly what BD does in Jedi fallen order, except
with maps of Planets and locations.
Towards the end of their construction of the N-1 starfighter, Pelli begins giving Mando
a picture of the Pykes and how they’re feared across Tatooine, not even law enforcement
will touch them. This is some definite foreshadowing for Mando playing a huge part in the gang
war between them and boba fett.
Due to mando’s… lets just say hatred of Droids, Pelli Motto chose to remove the standard
astromech port for the ship and in its place is pretty clearly going to be a place where
Grogu goes later in the series or the Mandalorian.
Mando then tries out his new N-1 ship and absolutely zooms through the streets of Mos
Espa before giving us a huge callback to Star Wars episode 1 the phantom menace, as he takes
to the same Mos Espa Circuit where Anakin raced in the movie. Or at least a similar
outcrop area. Mando even arrives in Beggar’s canyon, which we see in the Phantom Menace
of course and is where Aurra Sing is posted up.
Eventually mando goes up out of the Atmosphere of Tatooine and is pulled over for Sppeding
by two new Republic x wings, and Carson Teva from Mando season 2 recognizes his voice.
The guy in the other x wing was also Max Lloyd Jones who was the stunt double for Luke Skywalker
in the Mandalorian season 2. Thats awesome and hints that he’ll have more work to do
in this series if you know what i mean. Mando obviously doesn’t want to answer too many
questions so he jets off back to Pelli Motto and the two don’t want to fill out paperwork,
so they don’t report it.
And finally the episode ends off with Fennec Shand popping into the shop and hiring Mando
as muscle for her and Boba’s new crime empire. Mando agrees to join for free, but not before
he attends to one other little matter… that being finding Grogu
So next episode we will probably see mando team up with Boba and Fennec to go find Grogu
with LUke… Now I’m ABSOLUTELY HYPED for next episode. Let me know your episode rating
out of 10 in the comments below. Thanks so much for watching, really hope you enjoyed
the video. Cheers guys, hope to see you in the next one!