After hearing Mando’s instantly recognisable theme at the end of Chapter 4 of The Book of Boba Fett, I had a pretty decent idea of what was coming next. Or so I thought. I had a pretty clear image in my head of how I wanted to see Din Djarin join The Book of Boba Fett. My image could not have been more further away from what we got. It’s an interesting episode and that’s putting it lightly. Yes, the content itself is interesting and there’s a lot to unpack, but it’s the actual format that somewhat startled me. The only way to really sum up this episode is by saying that this wasn’t an episode of The Book of Boba Fett, it’s actually a prelude to Season 3 of The Mandalorian in disguise.
Now, this is both a good thing and a bad thing. Yes, it was a fantastic episode filled with brilliant action. Yes, it absolutely nailed that convergence between the Star Wars eras and yes it left us with an ear-to-ear grin as the credits began to roll. But… The supposed star of the show failed to appear. The common factor that seems to be running throughout each episode, especially after looking at each review, is that The Book of Boba Fett is moving very slowly. Nothing major has happened in the present day narrative, the flashbacks have been a huge driving force for this series, and then to top it off instead of getting an episode of The Book of Boba Fett we actually got a cracking episode of The Mandalorian. It’s almost as though they weren’t too sure what to actually do with Boba Fett.
The idea of a criminal turf war is excellent… But the build up has been way too gradual. So gradual that they actually felt the need to bulk the series up with a separate adventure of its own and with an extensive look at Boba’s past- which has been the primary highlight. Well, until now.
That’s not to say that I dislike this series. Look back at my previous reviews and you’ll see that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. However, with 2 episodes left it’s hard to say that this series has been particularly adventurous. It’s done a fantastic job at expanding Boba’s world, we’ve seen how he survived and we’ve seen him gradually ditch that bounty hunter mentality. But, they’ve definitely struggled to tell a fully fleshed out story. Even The Mandalorian struggled. Some episodes were just small quests that would result in Mando learning key information which would then be followed by a new quest with more information being dangled. However, that format worked. Let’s just say that The Book of Boba Fett has a lot to prove with just 2 episodes left.
So, let’s actually look at the episode itself. It was near perfection, honestly. The Mandalorian has absolutely excelled at exploring the weird and wonderful elements of the vast Star Wars universe, and this episode is a prime example of that ability. We got to visit some wonderful locations that really pushed the boundary of what is possible in the Star Wars universe. This episode also managed to nail that concotion of Star Wars eras, unlike Chapter 3 which struggled slightly. It almost felt as though this episode was a love letter to The Phantom Menance, and as someone who grew up in the Prequel era, it was simply wonderful. I could feel my smile growing and I could sense my level of investment skyrocketing. There are so many brilliant details that not only made this episode stand out, but also prepared us for what Mando’s next journey might entail.
My personal highlight would be the first half of this rather long episode, clocking in at just under 50 minutes. The second half is fantastic, but it focused more on the fan service side of Star Wars by surrounding itself with recognisable iconography rather than storytelling. The first half, however, used its time to dive into the Mandalorian mythology. More specifically, it guided us through the story of the Darksaber and even the tragic event called the Night of a Thousand Tears. It was fascinating to watch.
It was also great to see how this episode connected to other episodes of The Mandalorian, which feels like a century ago now. There are a lot of references and call backs that’ll appease even the most hardcore fans. What I loved most was how it connected itself to the finale of Season 1 in regards to the remnants of Din’s fellow Mandalorians. It’s clear that they still have a role to play, but it may not be in the way that we expect. This episode did a brilliant job at tying up loose ends while also creating new ends to chase.
Return of the Mandalorian is fantastic. It’s that easy. The action is there and better than ever now that Mando has the Darksaber, but there’s a deep history there and they play with the idea that this legendary saber is more than just a tool. This chapter gave us a really good idea of where Mando will be heading next as well as how he will be involved in the last episode (or episodes) of The Book of Boba Fett. While it is a shame that Boba Fett didn’t even appear physically in this episode, I am still hopeful that the last 2 episodes will tick every single box that we have prepared.
It’s clear that people aren’t quite sure about this short series and it would be great to end on a high. However, this episode proved that Din Djarin is one of the most refined characters in Star Wars. Not only is he adored by most, but even the creators seem to know what they want to do with him and how best to utilise his skill set.
We enter the penultimate episode next week. Let’s hope that Boba Fett makes an entrance that exceeds his epic arrival in Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
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What did you think of Chapter Five Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Don’t forget that Chapter Six will be dropping on February 2nd. Things are certainly ramping up. What’s next? Find out next week.
The Book of Boba Fett stars Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen. Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Robert Rodriguez, Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson are the executive producers. Karen Gilchrist and Carrie Beck serve as co-executive producers, with John Bartnicki producing and John Hampian as co-producer.
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