Headscratchers / The Book of Boba Fett

Credits, Where'd They Go?

So Boba Fett tells Shand that money is no concern of his, as he has plenty of credits (presumably from all his bounty hunting). So he offers to pay Din Djarin and Din declines, saying his services are on the house. Okay, great - they get an awesome fighter for free. So why not use the credits you just saved to hire some more goons? Tatooine is a planet known for having tons of street toughs and hired guns around so why not use them? If Boba has the credits, why not spring for swelling your ranks a bit, especially with how close the final battle ended up being?

• Boba may be less than keen on just hiring people for muscle. Remember, he wants to rule with respect and loyalty. He might be more keen on having a group of people he trusts, rather than just mercenaries who might turn on him.
• That and you know who else has money? The Pykes. Any mercenaries that Fett tries to hire could be hired for more money or scared off through intimidation, like how they tried to cow the people of Mos Pelgos. Fett wants not just people he can pay but people he can trust, and the latter are in short supply.

Boba Fett, Mob Boss!

• Why does Fennec Shand want Boba to rule like Jabba? Hutts are slow moving slug like creatures while Boba is a human that can fight.
  • Because it's about more than just strength. It's about projecting authority. Jabba was a giant slug creature and yet was able to rule through fear through those actions Fennec suggests.
    • Furthermore, because Hutts are an extremely long-lived and affluent species; they project natural authority wherever they go^note The Legends continuity has Blotus the Hutt; an even-handed Hutt administrator of several mining worlds that had applied for representation in the Galactic Senate 9000 years ago. Blotus would work up through the ranks being promoted to a Senator; and later becoming the Supreme Chancellor. The course of Supreme Chancellor Blotus' 275-year reign marked a golden age for the Galactic Republic where independent merchants were granted tax breaks, the economy of the Core Worlds grew, and marking an age of Hutt immigration and integration in the wider Galaxy. Blotus would die in his sleep at the ripe old age of 912 and was fondly remembered even in modern times for dispelling many of the notorious Hutt stereotypes with his actions. The influence of the Hutts is so great that not only do they have full control over a major quadrant of the Galaxy known simply as "Hutt Space", but Huttese is the second-most common spoken language in the Galaxy after Galactic Basic.
  • It appears Jabba's crime empire has gone downhill with Bib Fortuna in charge. There doesn't seem to be any entourage of lackeys, servants, and flunkies. Heck, not even a protocol droid. Fett's reputation seems to be somewhat tarnished. The details may not be public, but he failed in his role as Jabba's bodyguard and has been out of the game for five years. It doesn't help him that the New Republic has several high-ups that have a grudge against him (even if it wasn't personal for him).
    • A lot of Jabba's flunkeys died on his sail barge.
    • That, and the Gamorrean Guards' continued loyalty being so noteworthy would imply that a lot of Jabba's old subjects bailed when he was killed.
    • Consider the imminent arrival of The Twins. The underworld grapevine was certainly aware that they were coming to reclaim things for Hutt rule... undoubtedly many of the hangers-on and security personnel made themselves scarce before that happened. Heck, even Bib probably knew he'd have no choice but to hand everything over, so he may have intentionally pared down his remaining security detail so as to not look threatening when the two crime bosses dropped by.
  • Shand is right that there ought to be as much sense of continuity as possible. People are naturally scared of change, so if Fett were to rule much like Jabba then the population would be reassured by that sense of continuity and also not be so inspired to take action against him. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
  • Everything else aside, it's pretty common for folks within a culture not to deeply analyze their own cultural norms. Boba Fett is expected to be carried around by underlings and kill folks to make an example because that's what strong leaders do on Tatooine. It's clearly not the only way for strong leaders to act in the galaxy, as seen by other examples like Darth Vader (walks despite his injuries) or General Organa (notably inclined not to execute her subordinates), but it's the way most act in this particular corner. Compare to how Jabba reacted to Luke's polite approach, despite Luke being a well-connected Jedi knight who could (and ultimately did) defeat Jabba by force with only a handful of people helping.
• Where are Boba's and Fennec's guns? It's not like just because they're crime lords in their own right that they can walk around a dangerous place like Tatooine without them. Their blasters may not have helped against the ray shields but they may have been a little safer with, than without them.
  • Boba Fett was hardly unarmed, but when he tries to use one of his suit's built-in rocket launchers, he only succeeds in stunning himself and Fennec when the shields deflect the blast back towards them.
  • They seem to have reconsidered that decision in the following episode, paying a visit to the Mayor while decked out in sidearms.

Tusken Raiders

• The closed captions on Disney Plus state that the Tusken warrior that challenged and fought Boba during his attempted escape was female. Yet the Sandpeople have always been portrayed as a patriarchal and segmented society. With the men, women, and children having very distinct clothing from one another. So why does this particular tribe seem to be a lot more progressive in regards to their dress code and possibly even their gender roles?
  • Different tribes, different rules. This clan has a noticeably more “edgy” manner of dress, with extra spikes and black woven in their robes. It’s also been over 26 years in-universe since Tuskens were seen in gender-segregated dress; the clan seen in The Mandalorian had every member in the same type of garb. So they’ve had time to progress in terms of gender parity.
  • Given their smaller numbers shown, they may not have had a choice but to train their women as fighters to better defend what little they have left. This one has seemingly been confirmed due to the events of the second episode.
  • Another possibility is that she rose through the ranks by virtue of sheer badassery and sheer audacity, challenging and beating several others and being promoted through the simple fact that she kicked copious amounts of butt, leading to that particular clan changing their old ways due to the realization that female warriors are just as capable as any other.
  • Tatooine's a big planet - not all Tusken tribes need to have completely identical cultures. Perhaps Boba's tribe is less (or more) traditional than the others.

The Train

• Very cool action sequence and major nod to the influence of Westerns on this show and The Mandalorian notwithstanding, just what is the rationale behind a crime syndicate running a train across the desert? Where is it going and, more to the point, where has it been? If there is a requirement to regularly transport goods from one place to another on Tatooine wouldn't an aircraft or spacecraft be a better, faster, safer option, particularly as they have to pass through Tusken territory?
  • Considering that the train looks and sounds like a Greater Krayt Dragon, it is possible that the train is used an intimidation factor to scare off the Tuskens away from their destinations. Additionally, the train could possibly have a better time navigating through sandstorms.
  • In the Tatooine section of this page it's hypothesized that the Pykes actually mine spice on Tatooine. The train could very well have had a run that included a stop at some spice mining facility to bring it to Mos Espa for shipment offworld. Spice didn't seem to be the train's exclusive cargo or they'd have discovered that a lot quicker. Besides, one would assume there are only so many spacecraft the Pykes have slumming around on Tatooine, and they'd also require a large facility to handle their operation.
  • It's also possible that it is just plain cheaper to transport materials via train rather than aircraft. Aircraft require fuel and a lot more maintenance compared with trains, and presumably a repulsor train is cheaper in the long term compared with flying.

Boba the Just and Munificent

• How come Boba Fett is now noble, patient, and merciful? Boba was heartless, cruel, and 100% mercenary in his dealing and attitude. Sure, traumatic events change people, but THIS much?
  • Boba Fett is shown to have a heart in his early years back in The Clone Wars, to the point that an unmade episode would show Boba stand up to Cad Bane when he learns of innocents being in danger. It's just when the Empire came around, his worst attributes are encouraged because the Empire has no rules for Bounty Hunters beyond don't do disintegration because bodies are proof. Boba's change of attitude is likely the result of realizing his situation at hand. His cold-hearted professional career had led him to a humiliating near-death experience with the Sarlacc, loss of his armor to Jawas, and enslavement by the Tuskens to dig for water. All the money he's made as a bounty hunter as well as his reputation will not help him here. And during his fight for survival, he gets to witness firsthand the suffering of the people caused by the very crime bosses he worked for, suffering he turned a blind eye to when taking jobs for these criminals.
  • Fett is walking a tightrope. He's failed the Hutts, and he's made enemies of the rebel heroes who are (presumably) high ranking members of the New Republic. Running it quietly and with minimal bloodshed is safer than going big and noisy. Granted, the Hutts are already trying to take the territory back, but bloodbaths on Tatooine is a bad idea. It's Luke's home planet and he presumably still has friends there, not to mention his sister and brother-in-law having bad blood with him. He's better off being quiet and relying on the New Republic having bigger worries than a gangster fief.
    • Not to mention that the last time he tried seeking revenge against those who had wronged him, it ended up poorly. He won't make the same mistake twice.
• The way I read it, I think they're playing up the idea that Boba's defeat in Return of the Jedi was an extremely humbling moment for him. He was beaten by a bunch of rebels, a rookiee Jedi and a blind smuggler who beat him pretty much by accident. Then he gets robbed by a bunch of Jawas and enslaved by Tuskens. But after gaining the Tuskens' respect and learning their ways, I think it helped to mellow him out quite a lot. In the fourth episode that his time with them taught him the value of being part of a tribe. Plus he feels like Jabba's people left him for dead. I think he's starting to understand that working with people and having allies and even friends to count on is as much to his benefit as it is to theirs, so now he's trying to teach the rulers of Tatooine that same lesson.
  • Another possibility is that Boba's situation has changed, and he's able to be more true to his own morals. Working for the Hutts and the Empire as disposable mercenary labor, he had to push aside moral compunctions and personal beliefs, because his choices were either working for the powerful factions of the Galaxy, or joining up with what seemed like a doomed rebellion. Now that he has the opportunity to take power for himself, he's not having to maintain a hireable image (as an emotionless, amoral mercenary who completes any job given to him), and is able to do things HIS way, instead of the ones hiring him
• If you survive a near-death experience, have everything you own stolen, and are enslaved, you'd be re-thinking your life choices that led you to that moment. I think it was a mixture of the last two entries above mine, and Boba is not a man who likes repeating mistakes.
• As an addition to all of the above it's worth noting that even at his worst or most criminal Boba was always ruthless but efficient and pragmatic. You don't vaporize people if you're sadistic, it's too quick and causes little pain before death, so we have precedent that Boba is low on morals but does the job as quick and clean as he can the majority of the time. Now mix that with having been screwed by multiple bosses and a bit of time to take in the way his business works. Bounty hunting and acting as muscle for hire is profitable but highly inefficient particularly the way Jabba was running things, as Boba put it why fight when cooperation can make everyone involved rich? In short, being moral and upstanding is simply better business.
• Episode 4 has him go into more detail. His time with the Tuskens, coupled with his humiliation and suffering, made him realize that the crime lords and their violent, cruel, and ruthless ways were stupid and wasteful. More money can be made and lives saved if one didn't rule through fear, violence, torture, and murder. It is better business to be generous, magnanimous, and cooperative.

Hutts dragging their… uh, “feet”

• Why did relatives of Jabba wait six years after his death to attempt to claim his former territory? Judging by how quickly Bib Fortuna’s rule fell, the Twins would’ve met little resistance if they had just stormed the palace at any time before Boba’s takeover.
  • Possibly they had some sort of deal cut with Fortuna whereby he'd be the figurehead and nominal "Daimyo" but the Hutts were pulling his strings (and getting a cut of the profit.) Boba coming along and establishing a truly independent new leadership necessitates them re-enforcing their rule.
  • Plus, Fortuna was a loyal servant to the clan—Boba was nothing more than a hired gun to them. In their eyes, he's an outsider, and thus not fit to rule.
  • It's quite likely that either the Hutts were taking a modest collection from Bib Fortuna making the trip of going out to take over more trouble than it's worth and due to Fortunas incompetence they never realized the Pike Syndicate was moving in. As long as the credits keep flowing to Jabbas cohorts is there really a reason to make waves? The alternative is that when Boba claimed ownership of the territory the Hutts mistakenly assumed he'd known about and disposed of the Pikes meaning the territory was unclaimed again. When they realized the Pikes still held control of Tatooine they retreated not wanting to start a war between criminal organizations that could prove ruinous even if they won.

Armor in the Pit

• Small nitpick to a wondrous action scene, especially how it reconciled the original and special edition versions together, but after rescuing Fennec Shand why would Boba go looking for his armor in the Sarlacc pit itself? He escaped with it on and then the Jawas stole it some time afterwards. Based on what Cobb Vanth was wearing◊, the only things in there would be the codpiece and one of the kneepads. Unless he doesn't remember the finer details of his escape, shouldn't he be flagging down every sandcrawler he can find with the Slave I?
  • Like you said, it's likely he didn't remember the details. In the state he was in, he probably wasn't entirely aware of what was happening when he was robbed, and then likely dismissed it as a dream. Even if he wasn't 100% sure the armour was inside the Sarlacc, he probably figured it was worth checking there first, just in case.
  • A common side effect of being rendered unconscious by a concussion is short-term memory loss. Boba probably doesn't even remember waking up and being robbed by Jawas, just that he got out of the Sarlacc, passed out, and woke up being captured by Tuskens and without his armor.

Tatooine, the jewel of the distant edge of nowhere

• What is it exactly about Tatooine that makes it important enough to be the center of an interstellar power struggle? We have the Hutts, the Pykes, and a smattering of local crime families all fighting over whatever it has to offer. Boba Fett mentions the planet's wealth, but it's just not clear where exactly that wealth comes from.
  • Given the presence of the Pyke Syndicate and the fact that the Tuskens use spice in their spirit quest ritual it’s possible the planet has untapped reserves of the extremely valuable narcotic. That and it may have value as a port of call in an otherwise inhospitable region of space with no safe place to touch down for repairs or fuel.
  • May also be that Tatooine itself isn't of value, but its location is. It's a backwater planet, but possibly has enough access to major hyperspace routes that it's a valuable prize for any criminal group, giving them a port or operation base with multiple trade routes accessible. Think of it as having a port like Nassau or Port Royal in the golden age of piracy. Not someplace governments will look at, but with primo access to trading lanes. For a pirate organization who relies on raiding ships, lots of ships will pass through. For a more traditional crime syndicate like the Hutts, it can be used both to run goods to the black market and as a way of extorting any ships passing through. For drug runners like the Pykes, it's a place to hide their product with plenty of ways to distribute. All in all, it's a plum world for criminals, even if the planet itself isn't of much value resource-wise.
  • Even if Tatooine had substantially less wealth than most planets, it's still a habitable planet and therefore worth something. People want to own silver mines even though they're not gold mines.

Black Krrsantan's Tantrum Rampage

• OK, so Black Krrsantan is a mean drunk. Probably nursing a bruised ego, tipsy, and just generally in a very foul mood (even by his standards), it's easy to see how he could just snap and take it out on some Trandoshans who were getting obnoxiously loud. Wookies don't like them anyway, historically. But the big problem I have here is, NOBODY steps in. Sure, he's one scary dude, especially when mad, but a casino ABSOLUTELY will not tolerate acts of violence towards its guests, at least not a casino that wants to stay open. And for Garsa to offer to wipe out his debt if he calms down — that's utter lunacy, especially in a rough and tumble place like Mos Espa. Every thug is going to try this now. And of course there's no kind of municipal law enforcement to at least talk to the big guy of what he did. This makes ZERO sense.
  • On the other hand, as Garsa Fwip strokes his ego with, Black K is a legend and there is ZERO chance some schmuck two-bit thug is going to get away with that in the Sanctuary.
  • It wouldn't be the first time something like that went down with minimal fuss. Obi-Wan chopped off people's limbs with his lightsaber on two separate occasions, one of which was while he was trying to lie low as an exiled Jedi. Both times, everything resumed immediately after he put his saber away. The fact that Garsa is classier and more feminine than the other cantina owners we've seen doesn't change the fact that Tatooine is a notoriously seedy backwater of a planet. When you've got a P.O.ed Wookiee rampaging in your place, better to calm him down and get him out of there. Anyone else you can sic security on but not a 7ft. walking bearskin carpet.
  • This is Tatooine, a lawless society ruled by the most ruthless individuals. And would you really want step in with a Wookiee with an unpredictable behavior and with the reputation of always winning every gladiator battle?
  • Hate to play the race card here, but yeah. . . a pissed-off Wookiee is something very few people in the galaxy are prepared to deal with, in the same category as a Jedi with an active lightsaber and a Mandalorian with a mission. And note how Garsa talks him down, by specifically pointing out his fearsome history as a gladiator. Both appealing to his ego, and saying "I'm extending you this courtesy because I respect you and your reputation." Some no-name thug trying the same trick is going to get handled a lot rougher in all likelihood. She's making it clear that, in her eyes, Krrsantan has earned some leeway, even if his current behavior is unacceptable, but that does not automatically mean the slack she gives him in any way translates to any other patron. She also makes clear that she's not tolerating one of guests assaulting others, even if she's approaching Krrsantan calmly and peacefully, she's still telling him in no uncertain terms to settle down and behave or leave.

The Armorer and the Darksaber

• In The Mandalorian the assumption of the Children of the Watch was that they seemed to be an extremely cloistered tribe: Jedi are the stuff of bedtime stories and they follow rules that other Mandalorians view as archaic. If so, how can the Armorer know the finer details of Bo-Katan's possession of the darksaber, and know enough about the Jedi code to know that Jedi are forbidden from having attachments? Wouldn't it seem like if they've been on their own since the Clone Wars (missing out on the Second Mandalorian Civil War between Darth Maul and Bo-Katan, as well as Order 66) she wouldn't keep up to date on such things?
  • It seems like the Armorer's job, officially or unofficially, is to be the source of knowledge for the Tribe, and as such would make knowing things her business. Whether under the rules of the Tribe the Armorer is also supposed to have as much knowledge as possible to share with the Tribe as needed, or whether this particular Armorer has taken it upon herself to also be the guide and mentor for the Tribe, either way, she makes a point of learning all that she can that might be useful to the Tribe someday, but only reveals what she knows when it becomes necessary. As for the specifics of how she gets this information, there are all kinds of possibilities.
  • Maybe her knowledge dates from before she was a Mandalorian. We know foundlings can be adopted into the Children of the Watch, who's to say these foundlings couldn't first be padawans?
    • Adding to this, the Armorer may be a Zabrak herself (based on the helmet design). She may have been keeping tabs on the second Mandalorian civil war as a more personal affair.
  • Another possibility is that ALL Mandalorians KNOW the story of the Darksaber, but few care to commit it to memory (using a real world analogue, a lot of children hear tales of legendary weapons of their homeland (Durandal and Joyeause of France, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi or Yasutsuna Dojikiri of Japan, Excalibur and Arondight of England, etc), but such tales are largely considered "fairy tales" as we age). It may be that most Mandalorians hear of the Darksaber and Mandalore as foundlings, but most choose to file it away as childish nonsense when they grow up.

Whistling Birds are okay?

• So the Armorer explicitly states that the only suitable use for beskar are the crafting of armor and things like her tools and the Darksaber's hilt, since lightsabers cannot cut through the ore. With that in mind, why is it acceptable for Din Djarin to use the whistling birds? Aren't those forged from beskar, therefore capable of threatening the lives of fellow Mandalorians?
  • It could be that they fall into a sort of grey area in the code. By design, they don't seem to be powerful enough to pierce Beskar armor, and are, by nature, one-use weapons (as they explode). Or it could be that they're seen as an extension of the armor itself (since they're integrated into the vambrace), and thus fall under "armor" in terms of permissible use.
  • It's also likely that the Whistling Birds are simply not made of beskar.
    • Season 1 of The Mandalorian did specifically say that Whistling Birds are in fact made of Beskar. But I'm willing to buy the grey area argument.

Will the N 1 really work for Mandos lifestyle?

• Mando's original ship was large enough to be perfect for bounty hunting, as he could store multiple people. But the N-1 only fits him. Will he be able to bring in bounty's with it?
  • Probably not, but he may feel that having any ship at all is preferable to having none. He can always trade it in or sell it later, and at least he doesn’t need to take public transit any more.
  • The N-1 is basically a restored classic muscle car now and can probably fetch quite a nice price from the right person. Or hells, he might even gift it to the Mods at the end of the season, it's probably right up their alley, and Boba acquires a new gunship for him in appreciation for his help.
  • Another possibility is that he's planning to more or less quit being a full out bounty hunter, and instead focus on other things (such as his search for redemption, hoping to be a family with Grogu, and trying to make the galaxy a little better).
  • Also note the astromech bay has been removed and replaced by a plastic bubble. Wonder who'd fit perfectly in there.
  • Din was a bounty hunter first and foremost to help support the Covert. If they don't need him to act as a bounty hunter then he's free to do whatever he wants.

Why not both?

• There were plenty of Jedi who acted like they were the children of two worlds: Ki-Adi-Mundi was polygamous per his species' reproductive requirements ^Explanation  In Legends, Cereans had a very drastic division of the sexes, with there being 20+ women for every man; all male Cerean Jedi were betrothed before being give to the Order and required to go home and impregnate their wives as soon they came of age. , Rey forged the hilt of her lightsaber from her staff, Barriss Offee prayed to a Mirialan idol, and Tarre Vizsla was both a Jedi Master and the freaking Manda'lor! All those Jedi wore outfits that were unique to their native cultures, so why can't Grogu wear the beskar hauberk as a reminder of where *he* came from, while holding true to the teachings of the Jedi?
  • It's a test to see what Grogu truly wants. Luke can sense his heart is not fully into the Jedi path and he wouldn't want Grogu to not be given the choice to leave. So Grogu must be asked, if you can only choose one path, which would you choose? And depending on the path, Luke will accommodate the tools necessary for Grogu's path.
  • One could also take this absolutism as a character flaw on Luke's part. Whatever one's feelings on the sequel trilogy are, a large part of Luke's post original trilogy character arc is that he was a poor teacher. Him either not being aware of the fact that exceptions were made previously or not realizing & recognizing that the enforcement of the no attachments policy is as much to blame for the fall of the jedi as Anakin breaking it show that he hasn't reached the point he's at in The Last Jedi where he's become completely disillusioned with the order yet, and mistakes he makes with Grogu could end up being as big a part of that as how he handled the Ben situation.
  • Luke was a flawed teacher, but he didn’t seem to be an unemotional one. Old Luke in TLJ shows lots of attachments and no sign of disavowing them. He was shocked by Han’s death, he was stirred by seeing the old message from Leia, he exiled himself because he was afraid of making things worse for his friends, he couldn’t bring himself to destroy the Jedi books, and he took the time to bid Leia farewell when he returned for his final stand. If anything the dynamic of attachments-vs-no-attachments is inverted in the ST, as it’s dark siders like Kylo Ren who profess to have no attachments and that it makes them stronger.
  • From what we learn both here and in Shadow of the Sith, Luke did try to bring back no attachment rule. And yes as we see with Ben and Luke’s attidute it has bitten him in back like it did Jedi of the preguels. It also should be noted we have no idea when Tarre Vizsla was member of Jedi order, for all we know it could be before whole “no attachment” rule. Nonetheless true choice wasn’t between being Jedi or Mandalorian, rather it was between commiting to being a Jedi or being with his father.

Luke’s first student?

• It’s claimed that Grogu is Luke’s first student. But wouldn’t that be Leia? We saw a flashback of Luke training her in Episode IX. Although she quit before her son was born (so five or four years before this show), she got far enough to build a lightsaber, which Grogu hasn’t done yet, so she was definitely far along enough to be considered a genuine student.
  • He may not see her as a "student", per se. Could be that he saw training her as more simply passing along a family birthright, or doing a favor for a sibling and friend. Grogu is the first "proper" student he's had, someone to teach from the ground up and raise in the ways of the Jedi
  • Ahsoka actually says that Grogu will be the first student of the school Luke is building, not his first student in general.

Your Weapons Are Useless Against Me!

• Meta headscratcher... Beskar armor has shown, time and time again, to offer 100% protection against pretty much everything. In two episodes, Mando gets nailed in the back several times with blasters and gets back up with absolutely no ill effects. If the weapons don't hurt Beskar armor, the battles becomes completely pointless. He's going to win every time because the bad guys just can't hurt him. There's nothing at all at stake any time a battle starts because he's in God Mode. I don't get this...
  • I wouldn't say getting shot leaves him with no ill effects. While the armor keeps shots from penetrating, it still visibly converts them to physical force. Every shot the armor takes probably feels to Din like taking a painful punch. Take enough shots, and you get what we saw in the finale episode: a badly battered man, close to collapsing, inside a pristine armor.
    • This seems to be exactly the case. The armor can take pretty much anything, but the person inside it can't. As another example, after the E-Web heavy blaster explodes in The Mandalorian, Din's armor is only mildly dirtied, but Din himself is BADLY hurting from a close range explosion. Or, using another media example, the Gundam. The armor on it is nearly indestructible, but the pilot inside is still getting shaken by impact force. Plus, the only parts that are nearly indestructible are the actual plates of armor, as shown by Din burning his leg with the Darksaber. So while both Din and Boba are relatively protected from the front, there's plenty of exploitable weak points (their sides, legs, upper arms, neck, etc)
    • The amount of protection offered by beskar'gam varies. When you look at Jango's kit in Episode II in comparison to what Boba wears, you can see that he's got much less protection; no codpiece, no shin or thigh armor, and the cuirass is much higher than it was originally. He can shrug off blasters and lightsabers and move rather quickly, but is still very vulnerable to things like heavy weapons, blunt force, and explosives. All the scars and scratches suggest that the Fett family armor is of a lesser quality beskar than Din Djarin's. The things that seriously injured Din, like the exploding E-Web, would probably kill Boba.
    • With the change in armor coverage, it may be more a matter of personal preference. Boba deliberately uses a cut-down version to put more emphasis on mobility and speed (vital for a Bounty Hunter to run down a fleeing mark), with armor focused on vital areas based on decades of real experience (knees, center mass, etc).
  • Also, from what we've seen, a key component of Mandalorian combat training is learning how to effectively use whatever armor you have (notice that Din Djarin fights in such a way that the majority of hits aimed at him are deflected off his armor's plates via careful movement and positioning (making sure that an attacker is in a position where they're only going to have a clear shot at his armor, turning to catch blows with his pauldrons or cuirass, etc)
  • Less than half of Din's body is covered by beskar. The rest is covered by clothing. If someone can shoot him there, he can be hurt. Indeed, in episode 5 we clearly see Din wounded by his own Darksaber by accident when he strike a part of his thigh uncovered by beskar. Everyone shooting at him is hoping they can hit one of the unprotected parts of his body. We can also see in the final episode of the first season that the visors are not armored and if one can score a headshot it will likely burst right through.
  • Mandalorian Season 3 shows that even with beskar you can still get killed and it doesn't provide 100% protection. Both regular Mandalorians and Imperial troops equipped with beskar armor get killed by aiming for weakpoints, particularly the throat.

Carry-on luggage droids

• When we see the Pykes arriving on Tatooine, they’re coming from the starships that are shown to be the Star Wars equivalent of commercial airliners, complete with no weapons allowed onboard. How did they bring the massive and armed Scorpenek droids?
  • Probably in the cargo hold, like how Din checked his weapons. Possibly disassembled to hide what they were.
  • Alternatively, they brought troops via commercial flights, with the weapons and Scorpenek droids being brought in through smugglers and unregistered flights, to give an air of legitimacy to any claims of intending peace

What happened to protection?

• Wasn't the whole reason Mando was looking for a Jedi was that it was recognized Grogu wasn't safe with him around and Grogu would be dangerous to others if not properly trained. Sure, Mando doesn't need to worry about Moff Giddeon now but Bounty Hunting is a dangerous line of work and I'm sure Mando has plenty of enemies some of who would be interested in Grogu. So doesn't Grogu going back to Mando go against everything that was established in "The Mandolorian"
  • It wasn’t exactly Din’s idea that Grogu came back to him. He dropped Grogu with Luke, but Luke sent him back. Din can’t just abandon him on Tatooine, and we don’t know yet if he’s planning to keep Grogu with him or send him somewhere else.
  • Technically, his major motivation was more a dedication to the Way (he was either to return the foundling to their people or let them come of age and decide to follow the Code when they came of age), so he felt the better choice was to have Grogu go back to the Jedi. However, Grogu chose to follow him (as seen by the armor)

Honor? Nonsense!

• Why is Boba Fett suddenly an honorable criminal with a moral code? As far as the Disney Canon has shown us, Boba Fett is a remorseless bounty hunter, willing to kill anyone he wants. Has someone forgotten what he did the last time he visited Tatooine before the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon? Star Wars (Marvel 2015) shows us that he killed a Rodian, two Jawas, at least two moisture farmers and a farmer boy who told him what he wanted to know and now he says he wants to protect Tatooine? Is this a case of Depending on the Writer?
  • The general assumption is that marinating in Sarlacc stomach juices, losing your ship, armor, money, and the prestige that such things bring, nearly dying of dehydration, and being enslaved by the Tuskens, all in the course of what was, at most, a few days, was an extremely humbling and humiliating moment for Boba that caused him to rethink all the things in his life which had led up to that. He says to Fennec that the events of the past few years have caused him to realize that he is tired of working for people with no morals who send him into situations where he nearly gets killed, and he has decided that the criminal world needs some major reforming.
  • Piggybacking off of this are the flashbacks Boba has of Kamino and of seeing Jango's helmet in the Geonosis arena. Jango's backstory in Legends was one where every time he found a family they were stolen from him and he suffered for it, causing him to decide the only person he could rely on was himself. ^Explanation  In [1] his entire family was murdered by the original iteration of Death Watch and he was saved by Jaster Mereel and the True Mandalorians. Then, Jango was [2] as Jaster was betrayed and murdered by Montross. After that, the True Mandalorians were destroyed by the Jedi and Jango ended up being stripped of his armor and sold into slavery. Large chunks of this are still canon per infomation given in [3] and [4]. Boba has always subscribed to the same philosophy, preferring to work alone and not directly associating with anyone else for too long. It is only after being rescued and taken in by the Tusken Raiders that he realizes the strength and importance that can come from having a family, something he has not had in earnest since Jango's death nearly thirty years beforehand.
  • A big theme in the show is that Boba has completely rethought his life, renounced his cold and heartless ways, and discovered family. Sure, he had a father, but he wasn't really there for him, so Boba was alone his whole life, which hardened him into a heartless cynic loner. The "tribe" experience showed him what family could truly be. And his experiences with Fennec and the Gammoreans showed him how devoted people truly will be to you if you treat them with esteem and respect. The old Boba died when he fell in the Sarlaac. He is a completely different person now.
    • Adding to that, he may have had an epiphany prior to that in seeing the difference in Luke's group compared to his experiences. Whereas Bounty Hunters were seen as expendible by their employers, he saw a group of tight-knit friends willingly risk everything for each other and WIN. He saw the strength that can come from a group who are fighting for each other, instead of a paycheck from someone who would throw them aside in a heartbeat

Rancor ex Machina?

• Boba riding his pet rancor into battle in the finale was a really cool scene and all but...where did it come from? We last saw his rancor in the pit in Boba's palace, and neither Return of the Jedi nor this show really established....how they actually get in there. Or how people get in without being dropped in. Presumably there has to be a "staff entrance" of sorts somewhere. And is Boba's palace close by? Shots of the palace never show Mos Espa visible, and vise versa. Can Slave 1 handle the weight of a rancor (assuming that's how they all traveled to the city)? Additionally, Boba's training to ride one happened completely off-screen. He asks the trainer to teach him how to ride a rancor, and bonds with it. Then we see the rancor scaring the other crime families during episode 4. And...that's it. That's the last time we see the rancor until the finale.
  • Jabba's Palace probably did have an outside access door from the Rancor Pit — and if one didn't exist, Boba probably had one installed, since he planned to train the thing as a mount. Mos Espa is implied to be very close to Jabba's Palace — in walking distance, as Boba and Fennec routinely stroll into town on foot: and Rancors move quickly when out in the open, so it's not unreasonable to think it could close that distance in moments. As for Boba riding the thing like a pro after just a few days? Rule of Cool, admittedly.
  • This show plays fast-and-loose with previously accepted representations of Tatooine's geography. Every hitherto published map of the planet - in various official visual dictionaries and location guides - had Jabba's palace much closer to Mos Eisley than Mos Espa and certainly not within comfortable walking distance of either. Hence the recent hoo-hah about Mando taking off in his N1 from Mos Eisley and instantly ending up flying over the Boonta Eve Classic race course which, logically, should have been several minutes - at least - flight time away. Presumably it's a case of Lucas' maxim that only what is seen on screen is canon and everything else - no matter how 'official'- is just conjecture.
  • Actually, we have seen another entrance to the Rancor Pit: way back in Return of the Jedi, when Luke escapes through it and uses its vertical door to crush the head of that rancor.

Peli Motto's erm... Philandering

• Peli has hooked up with a Jawa (which I didn't imagine was biologically possible), and she seems to be taking a shine to the Mos Espa Majordomo (a Twi'lek). Do you get the feeling she has a "thing" for alien species? (Alien to humans anyway)
  • Given the weird stuff that humans in our reality are sometimes into, and acknowledging that humans in the Star Wars universe have co-existed with sapient non-humans for literally thousands of years it would be surprising if this trope wasn't more widespread. But a family show produced by Disney can only show so much. But even on a lesser scale, look at how accepting the human characters are of Grogu's rather disgusting (to us) eating habits. Humans in Star Wars (unless they're Imperials), just seem to be broad-minded about a lot of things.

Kintan Strider bikers... series Butt Monkeys?

• While these guys were rude bastards and raided moisture farmers... they technically didn't do anything to Boba Fett. Yet he trounces them in a bar and later wipes them all out from the air. I almost feel sorry for these guys.
  • Boba does have a sense of morality and he does need their speeder bikes to help the Tuskens take down the train. First time, it's just a little Laser-Guided Karma for the Kintan Striders being unpleasant bullies. Second time, Boba straight kills them because he believes they killed his Tusken family, giving us an idea of a vengeful Boba. Once the truth is revealed, one could only imagine what was going on in Boba's head when he realizes he killed the wrong group and the real culprits are the Pykes all along.
    • Even if he realized they weren't the main culprits, he saw them as a symptom of the problems of Tatooine. A group of violent thugs who took whatever they wanted, and beat or killed any naysayers. He likely would have gotten rid of them either way.
  • Note that in older times, banditry tended to carry a death sentence, and raiding farmers likely would result in a hanging in the American West, which is an appropriate comparison considering this is a Space Western. And they weren't just stealing; it was clear they were destroying property and physically assaulting the farmers when Boba Fett was observing them in the first episode. No one seems surprised that they would have killed the Tusken village; Shand was only surprised that they would have the numbers to have pulled it off.

New Republic presence

• We see there are New Republic squadrons in orbit above Tatooine. Why didn’t they respond to the mob war in Mos Espa?
  • 'Local trouble, they'll sort it out themselves. Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for Pyke smuggling ships, that spice is terrible stuff.'
  • Not even two Scorpenek droids rampaging in the streets? Seems like exactly the time for squadron intervention.
    • Could be that the Republic has a strict non-interference treaty going with planets outside their jurisdiction, to avoid the perception of trying to muscle in and subvert local authority like the Empire. So while Din's citation fell under their purview (interference with an interplanetary commercial flight), a gang war in Mos Espa isn't something they legally can interfere with, as it's purely a local matter
  • Mandalorian's third season shows that the Republic Rangers need authorization to intervene in conflicts. The Republic fighters likely did have clearance to do a pull-over when Din got too close to a civilian starliner right in front of them, but wouldn't have authorization to intervene in what was effectively a mob war on a planet they don't control.
  • Despite flying X-Wings, those guys seem more like cops than soldiers. They probably don’t have the training, equipment, or numbers to get involved in a war.

The incredible constitution of Black Krrsantan

• In the finale, we see Black K finally making it back to the group but he looks in very bad shape despite still taking it to the Pykes, with a heavy limp. He looks so rough, in fact, that Boba promises he can use the bacta tank later. Cue a series of scenes where he seems in good enough shape to fight, then not, and then back fighting. Wookies are pretty tough, but that tough? Does he have reserves of badass awesomeness? Not to take away from Black K's righteous ass-kicking ways.
  • One possibility is that he wasn't as severely injured as he looked, and his limping was mostly due to repeated injury (he KEPT getting hit again and again, which was what was causing him pain). So after a bit of hiding behind the speeder, he was recovered enough to get back up and keep fighting (at diminished capability), if only for short bursts fueled by raw adrenaline and protective instinct (his allies were in danger and he was willing to push himself past his pain to defend them). Think of it like a soldier who's been shot up but can, under the effects of a severe adrenaline rush, still muster the strength to pull off some impressive feats.

Krrsantan's "assassination attempt"

• So, Boba Fett is recuperating in a bacta tank. Black K is performing a surprise attack on him with the intent to kill. Of course, Chewbacca's Evil Counterpart was hired by Hutt Twins to remove Boba from power. Here's the thing though, both Fett and Krrsantan used to work together for Darth Vader himself (who, according to Marvel's comic run, gave them separate missions). Krrsantan got his behind kicked by Fett's cybernetic guardsmen, then he was trapped in the (empty) rancor pit - and he just gives up on killing his fellow bounty hunter after being released. Was this whole deadly ordeal a "test" for Fett?
  • Possibly. Krrsantan probably knows how dangerous Boba is, and maybe saw the bacta tank attack as his shot to take him down unawares, which now obviously won't work. It's also possible that the Hutts were planning to use him against Boba again, but they lost interest and just left Tatooine and left Krrsantan in the lurch (probably without paying him) when the Pykes invaded. At the end of the day, for a bounty hunter, a job's a job and not personal. I think Boba made that clear to Santo, and the big guy feels similarly.
    • Alternatively, after Fett let him go, Krrsantan had a bit of kinship with Fett. He realized exactly how Boba felt after surviving the Sarlacc pit. Most employers don't give a womp rat's ass about bounty hunters, and will throw them under the bus without a second thought. So when Fett offers him a job, Krrsantan takes him up on the offer, figuring that the man who let him go (with no strings attached) would be a much better employer then anyone else who'd just as soon figure out the way to get rid of him. That, plus a degree of respect (Boba managed to put up a respectable fight against Black K injured and without armor), and possibly a sense of a life-debt would make Fett an ideal candidate to accept a job from.

Hollywood Tactics and so much for your preparation

So, in the last episode Fennec Shand in details presents to Boba all their prepartions, patrolling and everything to prevent anyone from sneaking into the town. And then all those things go for nothing. Yes, the crime families betray Boba and his scouts get ambushed, but he gets ambushed by a large force which certainly comes as if the scouts had been taken out a day ago.

Also, Gamorreans are positioned with a cliff behind their backs (ok, this can be put down to their own fault). But Krrsantan is sent into Trandoshan territory which is certainly stupid given they might hold a grudge at him for mauling some of theirs in the Sanctuary.

And then two freaking massive tank-sized droideka appear out of thin air as well. Granted, the whole siege thing did take some time for Freetowners, droideka and Fennek to reach their respective destinations but still it ceratinly adds one more thing to all the preparations being futile.

So, is it just the straightest example of Hollywood Tactics or am I missing something? I mean, remember that episode from The Mandalorian which mirrored Magnificent Seven Samurai? Where is all of that?

• I think that's exactly what this is doing. Simultaneously deconstructing the idea (one small, fragmented group of characters isn't going to be successful against a full-scale, coordinated assault without help), and showing both the flaws and strengths of Fett's way of doing things (on the one hand, his willingness to trust the other families to keep their word about staying out of the conflict gave them a window to betray him. On the other, his crew stood fast and didn't even consider abandoning him and came to his aid, because of loyalty fostered through kindness).

Cad Bane in the Original Trilogy

• So Bane lived through the entire original trilogy and despite him growing older is still an extremely skilled bounty hunter. In-universe, why in space did Darth Vader not enlist him as one of the bounty hunters to go hunt down Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back (or why didn't Jabba hire him to hunt down Solo, for that matter)?
  • There could be many reasons for this. Maybe Cad was on another job. Maybe he didn't want to work for The Empire. Maybe the Empire had a bounty on HIS head if he turned up.
    • Could also be that Bane didn't want anything to do with Boba unless it was explicitly to face off against his former student.
  • Also, Vader himself had personal history with the bounty hunter. During the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker had encountered Cad Bane several times; for example, the cunning Duros was endangering the lives of Force-sensitive children while being on Mustafar - the very planet Vader chose as his home at the dawn of the Empire. Obviously, the Sith Lord wants to reject this memory about Cad Bane: it reminds him of his past.
  • But wasn't Boba also part of his past? He tried to blow him up along with Mace Windu using the Jango helmet and took part in his father's assassination attempts against Padme?.
    • Could be that Anakin/Vader doesn't REMEMBER Boba. When he last saw Fett, it was as a scrappy young kid with a grudge and no fancy gear. Now? There's a heavily kitted out Mandalorian bounty hunter. Cad Bane, though? Nothing changed about him. So Anakin might have been wary both because he KNEW Bane was the same one he'd fought (and humiliated) several times, AND not trust him because Cad might remember things about him.
  • Another logic reason why Vader didn't hire Bane was due to the fact that Bane is far more ruthless than Boba and "dosen't take prisoners." Vader specifically wanted them alive.

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