‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Episode 6 Recap: From the Desert Comes a Stranger

We’re back, with the penultimate episode of “The Book of Boba Fett.” After last week’s somewhat polarizing episode, which left many viewers channeling their inner Ian Malcolm to ask, “Is there going to be any Boba Fett in this Boba Fett show?,” and the threat on Tatooine seemingly still looming, how exactly would the show tie up all of its loose ends? Would it be another episode of “The Mandalorian,” or would it return to focus on our main characters, namely Boba Fett himself (Temuera Morrison) and his trusty sidekick Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), who at least showed up for a few seconds last week?

With this week’s episode, “From the Desert Comes a Stranger,” some of those questions are answered, many more posed, and the stage is set for an epic showdown. But before we say more, let’s get to our recap.

Major spoilers follow and you really want to watch this one before reading.

Boba-Free

This week begins on Tatooine, with members of the Pyke syndicate unloading spice from their speeder. But then, they’re interrupted – it’s Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant), who starred in the season two premiere of “The Mandalorian,” “The Marshal.” It was Vanth who purchased Boba Fett’s armor off the Jawas, and who ruled in part because of the armor. He’s still in charge, but now wearing a nicely textured sweater and matching bandana. “Do you know where you are, gentlemen?” he asks. The Pykes are fiddling with a mysterious chest.

They go on the defensive, at which point Vanth draws his blaster and kills all but one of the four. He tells the survivor to “think it through” and that he’ll be taking the chest. The surviving Pyke says that with the contents of the chest, he could buy the whole town. Vanth says that maybe he’ll retire. As the Pyke leaves he dumps the sand into the desert. It glitters as the breeze catches it.

After the title card, we see The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) flying in his ‘roided out Naboo Starfighter. He’s approaching a green and verdant planet. We see a satellite dish that rotates slightly; it’s R2-D2 (of course). The Mandalorian lands and seems happy to see R2, which reminds you how much he’s evolved from the droid hating maniac he was in the first season of “The Mandalorian.” What a guy. The Mandalorian tells R2-D2 that he’s looking for “Skywalker.” R2 beeps approvingly.

R2 leads him through a bamboo forest, to a clearing where spidery droids are moving large rocks and building a squat, domed building. The Mandalorian is looking around, clearly getting annoyed. Honestly, it’s not hard to sympathize with The Mandalorian in this moment, as we’re getting pretty far into an episode of “The Book of Boba Fett” with exactly zero Boba Fett. Anyway, one of the little spidery droids comes over and builds him a bench. The Mandalorian is going to be a while.

On an outcropping in another section of the planet, Luke Skywalker (accomplished via Mark Hamill, a body double, and a significant amount of Industrial Light & Magic manpower) and Baby Yoda aka Grogu are sitting meditating. Grogu uses the Force to levitate a one-eyed frog to his mouth, Luke opens his eyes and gets annoyed. Is he annoyed that Grogu is trying to eat the frog or that the young would-be Jedi is thinking so small? Luke levitates every frog in their area; they float suspended in the air like a reverse of the “Magnolia” climax.

Next, we see Luke and Grogu walking through the bamboo forest. Luke is kind of pulling/pushing Grogu along using the Force so that he can keep up with him. Luke tells him about who Grogu reminds him of – a Jedi master he knew named Yoda. He then asks Grogu what he remembers about his home planet, if anything. Grogu squeaks quizzically. “Would you like to remember?” Luke asks him, and puts a black-gloved hand on his forehead. (It should be noted that Luke is wearing his all-black ensemble, a variation of his costume from “Return of the Jedi.”) The flashback consists of an even smaller Baby Yoda, not on his home planet, but in the company of Jedi. Jedi who are being gunned down by Clone Troopers, clearly in the middle of Order 66 being executed. (Order 66 was the order to exterminate all Jedis; it was dramatized in “Revenge of the Sith” and in some of the cartoons.)

Back at the bus stop, The Mandalorian gets a visitor – it’s Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson)! Boy this is a real cavalcade of guests stars! Anybody in the galaxy can show up, besides, you know, the characters that this show is supposedly about. Ahsoka describes herself as “a friend of the family,” and tells the Mandalorian that Luke is building what will “someday be a great school.” There have been theories since Luke showed up at the end of “The Mandalorian’s” second season that Grogu would be enrolled in the school that was ultimately marred by tragedy when Luke attempted to stop Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and everyone wound up being destroyed. That theory seems to at least be potentially true (more on that in a minute).

Ahsoka and the Mandalorian walk and talk, like space Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay for this episode (in fact, it was written by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, who also directed the episode). She assures him that he’ll be safe on this planet with Luke. He tells her that he brought some armor. “He’ll be protected,” she reiterates. She says that she knows their bond is strong and that he wants to see young Grogu, but their interaction could be crippling to his training. He sees Grogu training with Luke. “He’s right there,” the Mandalorian says, mournfully. This is arguably the greatest moment of the entire episode. There’s so much heartache in Pascal’s vocal performance, and the situation is so bittersweet. The Mandalorian ultimately decides to leave. (No you’re crying!)

More, More, More (How Do You Like It? How Do You Like It?)

Luke and Grogu watch his enhanced Naboo starfighter take off. That’s the end of the overlong Luke and Grogu training montage, you think. But you’re wrong! Somehow, we get even more of this stuff. There’s Luke, with Grogu stuffed into a backpack (a callback to his training with Yoda in “The Empire Strikes Back”), Luke telling Grogu that he needs to learn how to jump, the reintroduction of the little training droid that helped Luke in the original “Star Wars” (why does he have it?), Luke with a lightsaber.

Honestly, this section was incredibly tedious and speaks to what makes Filoni so beloved to the die hard “Star Wars” fans and why he can be seen as a hindrance to those who want the storytelling to actually evolve, for new characters and ideas to be introduced, and for new precedents to be formed. Filoni is an amazing student of “Star Wars” and a true protégé of George Lucas, but in his efforts to deepen and expand the mythology, he often finds himself tripping on unnecessarily cumbersome plot mechanics and a desire to call back to some of his favorites that quickly grows tiresome. This might be an unpopular opinion, but there it is.

Ahsoka, a character created by Filoni in his “Clone Wars” animated show as Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan, tells Luke that he’s “so much like his father.” Because of course she did.

The Mandalorian is seen back at Tatooine. He enters the planet’s atmosphere and lands at Jabba’s Palace, now Boba Fett’s Palace. We’re getting closer! He tells the Gamorrean guard that Fennec Shand sent for him, and is led to the main chamber, where Boba Fett, Fennec, Black Krrsantan (Carey Jones), the mod squad (including Sophie Thatcher as Drash), and the mayor’s majordomo (David Pasquesi) are gathered. We didn’t see Matt Berry’s torture droid but hopefully he was there in the background.

Shand is explaining the situation: basically the other syndicates haven’t been making much noise. (Another brief aside: Yes, this still leaves the possibility of a Crimson Dawn appearance in the finale. Crimson Dawn is the syndicate that “Solo: A Star Wars Story” revealed was run by a very-much-not-dead Darth Maul.) But with the Pykes flooding into the planet, they are hopelessly outnumbered. In short: they’re boned. Shand turns to the Mandalorian. “We need foot soldiers,” she tells him. “I might be able to help,” the Mandalorian says.

Reinforcements

We see the Mandalorian returning to the Tatooine desert. He passes the Jawa Sandcrawler, presumably the one he interacted with from “The Mandalorian’s” second-ever episode (and still one of its best), “The Child.” This time, the skull of the Krayt dragon is affixed to the roof of the Sandcrawler. Finally, the Mandalorian touches down but is hassled about parking in the wrong spot by a young deputy. Cobb Vanth emerges and tells the Mandalorian that the deputy is new. Vanth asks where Grogu is. The Mandalorian asks if they can get a drink.

In the bar (which has the ribs from the Krayt dragon buttressing its walls), the Mandalorian lays out the situation and asks if Cobb can help. Vanth tells him that Tatooine has been relatively violence-free since the last time they met, and the bartender says that there’s no way the citizens of Mos Pelgo – now called Freetown – will lend a hand. “I didn’t think you were one to back down from bullies,” the Mandalorian growls. Somewhat hopefully, Vanth tells him, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Cobb walks the Mandalorian to his starfighter. He turns to the deputy and says to round everybody in the town up; they’re going to help after all. After he gives his orders, Vanth notices a figure approaching from the desert. This is the strange from the episode’s title. The figure is distorted by the heat ripples from the planet’s surface, but as he gets closer, fans of Filoni’s previous output will notice a familiar vibe.

It’s Cad Bane. If you’re unfamiliar, the character was first introduced in Filoni’s “Clone Wars” series. He’s a big bad bounty hunter who partially filled the power vacuum left in the wake of Jango Fett’s death (that’s Boba’s dad, we shall remember). He’s got a great look, with a wide-brimmed hat and a voice that sounds like Lee Van Cleef from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (original voice actor Corey Burton returns with his signature snarl). A very cool bad guy.

Cad Bane offers the marshal double to stay out of the upcoming skirmish. His young deputy says that Cobb Vanth never accepts bribes. Finally, there’s a good old-fashioned standoff (shades of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” again). The deputy is killed, Cobb is wounded (hopefully), and Cad Bane issues a statement to the townspeople who have gathered: “Tatooine belongs to the Syndicate.” And everyone should stay the hell out if it.

Meanwhile, in the Sanctuary, Mos Espa’s hottest cantina/casino, a pair of Pykes walk in and take a seat. It’s the usual hubbub, with the Star Tours droid dealing cards and all sorts of aliens mingling and having a good time. (None of our main characters are there, which will be very heartening in a few seconds.) The Pykes refuse to have their helmets buffed. Garsa Fwip (Jennifer Beals) is told that they’re acting strange. A droid notices that they have left their case behind. As the droid goes to return it, a bomb goes off. The entire club is destroyed as a giant fireball erupts into the streets.

But instead of following up on the carnage, we’re zapped back to the bamboo planet with Luke and Grogu. The little temple has been assembled and Luke and Baby Yoda are inside. Luke unwraps the Mandalorian’s gift – it’s a chainmail top made out of Beskar. Luke sets it down in front of Grogu. The chainmail represents Grogu’s emotional connection to the Mandalorian, which Luke is painting as a bug, not a feature. Then Luke pulls out a tiny lightsaber and says that it used to belong to Yoda. The lightsaber represents Yoda’s commitment to the Force, the Jedi order, and to learning things that could take an entire lifetime. At the end of the episode, Grogu is conflicted. “Which do you choose?” Luke asks. And it cuts to black.

Well, that’s it. The second-to-last episode of “The Book of Boba Fett” had about fifteen seconds of Boba Fett. That felt okay for a one-off episode, but two in a row is a baffling decision. And the series has about reached critical mass when it comes to callouts, references, and Easter eggs. Hopefully next week will just be filled with a ton of action, some surprises, and maybe, just maybe, you know, BOBA FETT.