‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Recap – ‘Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor’

Written by Joel T. Lewis

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season finale of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Throughout this series there has been uncertainty as to whose series it was. The charm and competence of The Mandalorian series and it’s echoes through this spin off cannot be denied and as it has neared its conclusion, I found myself saddened that this might be The Book of Boba Fett in name only. This finale. This arrival point erases all doubt that this is Boba Fett’s F-@#$ing book, and confirms that Boba is every bit as cool as we thought he could be. 
 
The stage is set for a final showdown between Daimyo Boba Fett, his ragtag collection of loyalists and the merciless Pyke Syndicate over the territory of Tatooine and its position as an illegal spice trade superhighway. Boba Fett, on the advice of the leader of the Mod Cyborg Gang, decides to make his stand bolstered by the promise of Freetown citizen foot soldiers on the site of the Pyke bombing in downtown Mos Espa. Cad Bane, who looks incredible in this episode, meets with the former Mayor of Mos Espa and the leader of the Pyke Syndicate assuring them that no support would be coming to aid the would-be kingpin Fett. The Pyke leader reveals to Bane that the Pykes were responsible for the murders of Fett’s Tusken Raider tribe which Bane in turn reveals to Boba Fett when they finally meet helmet to face. Boba, begrudgingly heeding the advice of Fennec Shand, bristles but resists drawing on his former mentor turned rival and now enemy and retreats to prepare with the knowledge that no one from Freetown will be coming. 
 
Betrayed by the families of Mos Espa, who take this opportunity to ambush Fett’s surveillance squads around the city, Fett’s allies must take cover from the Pykes, Trandoshans, and the newly introduced Scorpenek droids (two-story tall destroyer droids with massive blaster cannons and ray shields to boot!). 
 
Outnumbered and isolated Boba Fett and the Mandalorian defend their makeshift fort in a jetpack-ed, knee-blaster, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid sequence that pays off every western seed planted in these Disney Plus series to spectacular effect. Then as the newly returned Grogu reunites with Din Djarin in a rickshaw chase sequence, a surprise garrison from Freetown arrives, motivated by the brutal attack on their sheriff and their belief in Boba Fett’s plea for peace.  

Stumped by the Scorpenek droids, Boba tasks Mando with keeping them occupied and disappears to get help. When he returns, the music cue, the angle of the shots, and the final reveal of him astride his pet Rancor evoke their clear Godzilla origins and I. Lost. My. MIND! Just watch it. Go right now and watch it. If you hated every other episode of the series, if you wondered why they spent so much time leading up so slowly, this is it. This is the pay-off. And brothers and sisters does it pay-off! Boba Rides a Rancor Into Battle! That’s it. That should be the review.

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How do you react rationally to Boba Fett riding a rancor into battle against giant destroyer droids? How do you speak coherently when said rancor becomes naptime buddies with Grogu after Grogu soothes him to sleep with the Force? How do you continue to function when Cad Bane, after outdrawing Boba Fett one-on-one, (a toxic surrogate father figure btw) dies impaled by a Gaffi stick symbolizing the communal, even familial bond Boba Fett found for the first time among the Tusken Raiders of the Dune Sea? 
 
What do I write readers? This is my most sacred playground. The Tatooine sandbox is where I spent all of my imagination as a kid. Favreau and Rodriguez have dumped their toy box into that sandbox and I have loved watching them play. 
 
I don’t want to spoil anymore of the plot, or the post-credits reveal, so I’ll end my plot summary by reiterating that Fennec Shand is the baddest woman in the galaxy. I can’t call this a perfect show, but it made this Star Wars kid really happy. I got to see things rendered with startling realism that I’ve been playing out in my head for as long as I can remember. And they were so Wizard!
 
The fact that stuff like this existed made growing up as a nerd bearable. At the same time, it was one of the reasons I got made fun of and dismissed. Seeing what it’s become now, and how many people get to see it for how cool it all was to me back then, it really helps. It validates that part of who I was and who I am that I really needed to share. It seems that this chapter of the Book of Boba Fett is over, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for my favorite man behind the Mandalorian mask.

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