The Mandalorian Episode 14 - The Tragedy - A Spoilery Review

There have been many fan theories over the years concerning the death of our beloved elite bounty hunter Boba Fett. As we all diehard Star Wars are aware, Boba suffered as an unfortunate casualty during the rescue of Han Solo from the clutches of the notorious gangster known as Jabba the Hut. Additionally, in subsequent novels and the Dark Empire comic book series, it has been shown Boba himself had revealed to Han and Leia that he had indeed escaped from the Sarlacc pit Han himself had knocked him into. Debates on whether or not such appearances are cannon have raged on, although George Lucas himself had given his blessing for these publications. This is because Boba has not appeared “in-the-flesh” in any of the Star Wars movies since his apparent demise. That is until now.

Boba Fett is alive!!! And Twitter was set aflame with over 7,000 tweets heralding his appearance.

With our first look, we can all see that the years have not been kind to the infamous bounty hunter. Scars in various striations mar Boba’s face. There are also signs of discoloration. perhaps from skin grafts or burns he had acquired from the digestive juices from the tentacled monster known as the Sarlacc, which had made its home in a hollow called The Great Pit of Carkoon. on Tatooine. Now whether or not those scars were caused by the Sarlacc or received from actions that Boba took in trying to escape. One fan theory suggests that Boba used his jetpack to kill the Sarlacc and burn a passage through its body to escape. With little breathing room inside the beast, it is sure that he must have sustained many wounds during his survival. I don’t claim to be an authority on Boba Fett’s history after his escape from the Sarlacc, and the rest of this article is written without any foreknowledge of his adventures after Return of the Jedi as explored in other media.

However, this is not the same Boba we once knew. His trappings of office, green and red trimmed Mandalorian armor, for which he is was most recognized for, were absent. Fans already knew before his appearance that Mando had acquired the armor from Cobb Vanth, something of a sheriff of his hometown of Mos Pelgo on Tatooine after striking a deal to help defeat. Instead, he was dressed in the the garbs of a warrior monk. You almost might say he resembled something of a hooded Jedi.

We find that Boba has been tracking Mando for quite some time, likely since his altercation with Fennec Shand in episode 5, which is confirmed from the realization of Boba and Fennec’s team up against the duty-sworn warrior. Boba’s intention is simple. He has no interest in “the child”, now known as Grogu. His only desire is the return of his armor at all cost. My problem with this, however, is the question of how Boba lost his armor in the first place. We know that Jawas found the armor and that eventually it found its way to Vanth. What I don’t understand is that if the armor was so valuable and meant to much to Boba, what series of events led to his separation from it. After all, it was still encoded with both his and his father Jango’s genetic information. Why would he have parted with something so sentimental to him?

The trio, Fennec, Boba and Mando, next found themselves in a Mexican-standoff which was quickly shattered by the arrival of Moff Gideon’s imperial light cruiser and several squadrons of Stormtroopers.

It was through this interruption we were able to witness a whole new side to Boba. In the movies, The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi, we were only privy to seeing a Fett dependent on the abilities of his armor, and weapons attributed to him. There was little in the way of martial arts or hand-to-hand combat showcased in his movie appearances. A carbine rifle, grappling rope, and a short-blasting jetpack were the tools of his trade. Our newest appearance of Boba was a brilliant showcase of abilities and strength that we’ve only been able to dream of seeing on the screen, a Boba that truly is his father’s son. First, wielding a weapon that looked not unlike a disassembled weed wacker with a petrified pineapple husk attacked to both sides, Boba made short work of the first wave of Stormtroopers that had hit the ground to retrieve Grogu for Moff Gideon. The blunt-force weapon was as brutal and memorable just as any light saber strike I have ever seen. This weapon made its first appearance in the first released Star Wars movie, A New Hope. It is called a gaffi stick and it is the war club weapon that the Tusken Raiders use. The spiny masses on each end dealt concussive force to each Stormtroopers head that splintered and shattered their armor and helmets, sending sprays of Plastoid chips in all directions. *Note: Plastoid is the name of the fictitious material that all Stormtroopers armor is made up of, and is also the primary material of which Darth Vader’s helmet was comprised.

However, not all of the tweets on this new iteration of Boba were kind. Some fans thought it was poignant to point out that our robed-warrior had packed on a few pounds since the good ole days of the empire. The hashtag #bobafatt was on display in quite a few tweets, denoting how snug of a fit the bounty hunter looked when he finally discovered the location of armor and donned it off screen, setting us up with the money shot of all money shots in this episode, his grand appearance as the Boba Fett we have all come to know and adore. In truth, this Boba was a bit on the tubby side, but only a touch. It was obvious the extra weight did nothing to slow down his assault on the attacking Stormtroopers.

In fact, it was his frenzy that truly caught my attention. There was a definite palpable sense of hatred and almost frantic ferocity which accompanied every blow the bounty hunter delivered. One got the sense that Boba was not just defending himself, and his constituents. His eyes reveled in a degree of hate that I have only seen mirrored in one other character in the Star Wars universe, Anakin Skywalker, during his fated first and traumatic duel with friend and mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi. This makes me wonder what grudges does Boba carry for Stormtroopers in general, and what could have triggered such malice. It’s fairly obvious, despite his dealings with them in the past, he has no love for the empire. In his own words:

I am just a simple man trying to make his way through the galaxy, just like my father did. — Boba Fett

Many fans were quick to jump and call out that this was almost the exact same line that Jango used on Obi-Wan during their scene in Attack of the Clones.

I am just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe. — Jango Fett

However, many fans took note of something which made them reel in crazy disbelief, the director of this episode.

It was none other than Robert Rodriguez of Sharkboy and Lavagirl and Spy Kids fame. Responses ranged from amazement to shock and disbelief to surprise. Here are some of the tweets:

Yes, Robert was the director of such campy kid’s hits such as Sharkboy and Lavagirl, but is is really any surprise that he knocked it out of the park on this one episode? How quickly we forget the other movies he was in charge of directing: Alita :Battle Angel, El Mariachi, Desperado, Sin City, From Dusk til Dawn. The man has a pedigree in working on badass action movies and an impressive track record. Don’t let Spy Kids color your impression of him.

This week’s episode is entitled The Tragedy. What a horrible and ominous way to start watching an episode. The stake were raised so very high with this one in so many ways that we were left reeling in our seat even before the episode really got under way. I can imagine what was going through most viewers mind in the moment the title was stamped on the screen. I had already known that Boba was possibly finally making his new debut in this ep, and that already had my gears turning on whether they were planning to possibly kill him officially off. I suppose I was in my Game of Thrones brain, fearing the worst that a main character was going to meet their demise, hence fulfilling the call of the episode’s ominous title.

There was a clear moment, when Boba had just breached the clouds with his ship and came face to face with the bottom side of Moff Gideon’s light cruise, that I simply just had to hold my breath. I braced myself. In my cockles, I felt for sure that Gideon’s ship was going to lock on to Boba’s ship and fire, finalizing the bounty hunters’s death once and for all. However, fortunately, it didn’t happen. If not Boba, which would have been a horrible tease and steal from all of us viewers, I supposed it could possibly be Grogu. Would the writers dare to do such a thing? Grogu’s death, or as most have affectionately dubbed him, “Baby Yoda”, would have likely caused a great chasmic rift between the viewers and producers of the show. It would have ended Grogu’s arc as we know it, true, but would have left many unanswered questions concerning Moff Gideon and his intentions for the Mandalorian foundling.

The real tragedy of course came in two parts. Our first on-screen appearance of the Dark Troopers occurred, which have made appearances in several Star Wars video games over the last 20 years. They managed to finally secure our weakened Grogu perched on the Jedi rock and surge back up into the sky and into Moff Gideon’s cruiser. The other tragedy was the final death note for the Razor Crest, Mando’s beloved ship. Laser cannon blasts from above turned the Razor Crest into a blackened crater and the only things that survived the explosion was Mando’s Beskar spear and the shifter handle that Grogu adored (which is also suspected of being made out of Beskar steel).

While little information was divulged on Boba Fett’s survival or what he has been doing all of these years during this action packed episode, we do know that Boba does have a sense of honor that we have not previously seen displays of before in the little screen time he has been afforded. We know from his battle with the Stormtroopers, he has only gotten stronger over the years, and that he wields melee weapons with the finesse of a master. We have discovered that he takes his own word seriously and is willing to go the distance to help secure the safety of the child. He cares deeply for the armor that was returned to him as it was his last and only link to his deceased father. Family still has meaning for the man, which is why I believe he will put all of his heart into helping Mando reunite with Grogu.

My hopes for the next episode are to see some more onscreen character development for Boba Fett and some unleashed action sequences for the Dark Troopers. I want to see just what they can do and how powerful they really are. No doubt, they are going to be a legitimate force for Mando’s group to contend with as we hunker down for these last two episodes of the season.

Thank you for reading my take and I hope you enjoyed the read. Please follow and look forward to my spoilery review and thoughts on the next episode of The Mandalorian.

Your Wordsmith,

Matthew Leo