Boba learns more about the assassins who came for him and those who sent them, then recalls his time with the Tuskens.
Tropes:
- All Bikers are Hells Angels: The Kintan Striders — the Nikto swoop bike gang that Boba fights at the tavern — definitely have this attitude and aesthetic.
- Always a Bigger Fish: When Boba decided to take over Jabba's former empire, he thought he would have to deal with local thugs like the Mayor or the Trandoshans. Instead, he's now facing the Twins, a much more significant threat. If he doesn't deal with the Twins correctly, he'll attract the attention of the main Hutt Cartel, which has the power to smash him like a bug.
- Awesome Personnel Carrier: The Tuskens are attacked by a jet-propelled hover train loaded with Pykes.
- Bar Brawl: Boba lays out the Nikto thugs harassing Camie and Fixer in a good old-fashioned cantina brawl.
- Batman Gambit: Fennec believes the Night Wind assassins are overrated in their reputation and manages to prove it by dropping one into the empty rancor pit, betting the assassin would break at the mere thought of the rancor eating him.
- Bilingual Dialogue: Between Boba and the Tuskens, eventually. Justified, as neither side can actually physically speak the other's language.
- Call-Back:
- The rancor pit in Jabba's palace is still empty, after Luke killed it during Return of the Jedi. Apparently, Bib Fortuna never got around to replacing it.
- The huge door is apparently the sole entrance into Jabba's palace, as Fennec and the captured assassin enter that way, just as Threepio and Artoo and then later Luke did.
- Call-Forward:
- Back in The Mandalorian episode "The Gunslinger", Din Djarin and another bounty hunter, Calican, had to negotiate with some Tuskens for permission to cross their territory, and pay a toll for doing so (they paid with a pair of binoculars belonging to Calican). Here, we learn how the Tuskens began charging tolls in the first place.
- When Boba is pursuing the Dark Troopers in The Mandalorian episode "The Tragedy", Boba retorts at Fennec's disbelief that an Imperial warship is hovering over them, saying "This isn't a Spice dream". Turns out that Boba knows a thing or two first-hand about Spice dream hallucinations...
- The Cameo:
- The Wookiee shown working for the Twins is Black Krrsantan, who first appeared in the 2015 Marvel Comics run and makes his Live-Action debut here.
- Fixer and Camie (whose appearance in A New Hope was cut) finally debut on-screen (though obviously recast).
- Chekhov's Gunman: The swoop bike gang Boba saw raiding a homestead in Chapter 1 return, giving Boba the idea of taking their swoop bikes to take down the Pyke Syndicate train.
- Comically Missing the Point: Boba brings back swoop bikes to the Tuskens as a gift of his own, intending to use them to chase after the Pykes' hover train that shot at them. The Tuskens immediately start scrapping the bikes for parts and Boba has to hastily correct them.
- Continuity Nod:
- This isn't the first train job Boba has been on. Although that time, he was protecting the train.
- The Viking Funeral the Tuskens give to their dead recalls the way Obi-Wan and Luke treated the dead Jawas.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The assassin clearly thinks that being eaten by the rancor is worse than being beheaded, and tells Boba and Fennec who hired him so he doesn't get eaten.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- Boba, played by a Māori actor, helping Tusken Raiders retake control of their ancestral lands.
- The way the syndicate snipe the Tuskens' Banthas from the safety of train cars is similar to the "hunting by rail" tactics train companies used in the late 1800's
to kill bison for the purpose of weakening the indigenous tribes who relied on them.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: A biker takes some food and drink from Fixer and Camie's table.
- Exact Words: A twofer. When 8D8 claims that Night Wind assassins "fear no man", Fennec replies "Perhaps he fears the rancor" and drops him into the rancor pit. Sure enough, the assassin is terrified enough to start spilling the beans... except Fennec never said there actually was a rancor down there.
- Explosive Overclocking: Through the Traintop Battle, the train's droid conductor repeatedly turns the engine up to full blast, trying to either shake the Tuskens off by accelerating, or cook them with the exhaust flame. By the time Boba gets into the cab, this constant overclocking has caused the engine to catch fire, as well as a nasty case of Explosive Instrumentation.
- Failure Montage: Boba teaching the Tuskens to ride speeder bikes, and particularly the one he teaches to jump between them.
- Fed to the Beast: Fennec drops the assassin into the rancor pit when he won't talk. He's so terrified that he spills the beans, not knowing that Luke killed the rancor years ago.
- Flashback: Boba dreams of training with the Tusken second-in-command, learning to fight as they do. When an armored train attacks, he helps them fight back. In gratitude, he's made a member of the tribe.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: The Mayor executes the surviving Night Wind assassin with the explanation that the Order isn't allowed to operate outside of Hutt territory. Two minutes later, we learn that the assassins were hired by the Twins, who firmly believe that Mos Espa is Hutt territory.
- Foe-Tossing Charge: When the Tusken champion boards the train, she goes through a train car full of Pykes like a hot knife through butter. She then easily takes down the Pykes keeping Boba and the other Tuskens pinned down.
- Forging Scene: There's an extended scene of Boba carving his own gaderffii stick from the branch he found while on a vision quest. Unlike most forging scenes, this involves more woodwork than metal-forging — which is only used for the spear tip and bracing collars.
- Going Native: Boba learns the ways of Tusken combat with a gaderffii stick, starting off poorly but gradually getting better until he's able to disarm the Tusken second-in-command (though she puts him on his back seconds later). When Boba learns of a spice train that guns down any Tusken in vicinity, he uses his galactic knowledge to teach the Tuskens how to ride on speeder bikes and bring down their oppressor. He even acts as their unofficial ambassador to the Pykes running the operations, telling them exactly why they cannot use these routes to begin with (justified in that he's literally the only person present who can communicate with both factions). May count as a Casting Gag in the fact that Temuera Morrison is not only an indigenous man himself but has done many roles about their struggles.
- Groin Attack: One of the unlucky swoop bikers facing off against Boba takes a gaderffii stick right between the legs.
- Had the Silly Thing in Reverse: Despite Boba's lengthy instructions on how the speeder bikes work, the first Tusken to try one goes flying backwards.
- Implausible Deniability: The Pikes are a species whose singular occupation is spice production and trafficking. The leader of the train crew tells Boba he's never even heard of it, a dubious claim even before the Tuskens find the first box of it on the train.
- Implied Death Threat: The Twins tell Boba to "sleep lightly."
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Contrary to Obi-Wan's assessment in A New Hope, these Tuskens are fantastic shots, able to snipe the occupants of the sand train through the gunports while it's travelling at high speed.
- Language Barrier: A recurring problem with Boba and the Tuskens. Particularly rough because the Tuskens have covered faces and presumably don't understand Boba's facial expressions either.
- Mighty Whitey: Carefully downplayed to avoid unfortunate implications — Boba only teaches the tribe in technology they're unfamiliar with, and doesn't marry the chief's daughter or beat their champion. Having a Māori actor play the part doesn't hurt either.
- Murder, Inc.: The Order of the Night Wind, an order of assassins that operate in Hutt space. Fennec thinks poorly of them, believing they charge more for the fancy title than actual skill.
- Mushroom Samba: Boba goes on a vision quest by having spice blown in his face and having a lizard crawl up his nose. No, that doesn't make any more sense in context. On his vision quest, he conflates himself with his previously armored visage, sees the ancient oceans that used to cover Tatooine, and a dried up tree that ensnares him until he breaks free. When he comes back, he has a branch that will be carved into his gaderffii stick.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Gammorean guard who holds his shortsword to the assassin's neck hastily steps way clear of the trapdoor when Fennec triggers it. He probably remembers what happened to one of his comrades years ago when Luke was dropped down it.
- The Gaffi stick forge is based on a scene drawn by Ralph McQuarrie featuring the Tuskens.
- Not Me This Time: Despite the assassin's claim, the mayor denies any responsibility and directs Boba to Garza's Sanctuary, where he learns the Twins are the real perpetrators.
- Orifice Invasion: The Tusken chieftain presents Boba with a lizard that crawls up his nose when the chieftain blows spice into Boba's face. The combination of the two causes Boba's vision quest.
- Pragmatic Villainy:
- The Twins try to intimidate Boba into relinquishing Jabba's empire to them, but when he refuses to back down, they decide against forcing the issue then and there.
- Fennec notes that they'll have to ask permission to kill the Twins, as they'd risk starting a war with the whole Hutt clan otherwise.
- Rite of Passage: After helping take down the armored syndicate train, the Chief puts Boba through a Mushroom Samba. Boba goes out into the desert and finds a branch from a tree and returns with it. He's then dressed in the robes of the tribe and goes to make his own gaderffii stick from the branch, after which he takes part in a tribal dance.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Boba busts into the train engine and demands the droid conductor bring it to a stop, the conductor looks at the sparking control panel for a moment before diving out the window.
- Shout-Out: The looting of the wrecked train emulates the train looting scene from Lawrence of Arabia (except with many unharmed prisoners taken here), and one of the background paintings during the credits scene looks exactly like an imitation of a part of that scene. Another reference is both Fett and Lawrence being awarded a garb and traditional weapon when they are accepted as one of the tribe.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- An important part of the train attack involves a Tusken jumping between two moving speeders. When the speeders are parallel, this proves to be physically impossible, as drag causes the Tusken to lose momentum and land just behind the second speeder every single time. Only after they adjust for drag and move the first speeder slightly ahead of the second one is the Tusken able to make the jump.
- When interrogating the Night Wind assassin, Boba threatens the assassin with beheading, but the assassin doesn't budge since the Night Wind "fear no man". Fennec, however, suggests they "fear the Rancor", and drops him in Jabba's infamous pit. However, it's easy to forget and most people not native to Tatooine in the past five years don't know, but during Return of the Jedi, Luke KILLED Jabba's Rancor. The pit's empty because there is no rancor, and Bib Fortuna most likely didn't have the resources to get his hands on a Rancor egg before Boba Fett came for him!
- Another one related to Boba's takeover of Jabba's holdings: much like in Real Life, the relatives of the deceased are likely to demand ownership of the property they left (with legal justification), and the Twins turning up on Tatooine with documents means they are in fact technically in the right. It takes Boba standing his ground (with sheer Refuge in Audacity) for them to back down for the meantime. This leads to Fennec's aside with Boba after the Twins leave. As much as the two Villain Protagonist mercenaries-turned-crime lords would like to invoke Just Shoot Him and be done with it, they don't yet have the resources or permission to kill the Twins without provoking the wrath of the Hutt's criminal empire. This also probably explains WHY the Skywalker family has NEVER returned to Tatooine and Hutt Space, since the Hutts would come after them with everything they have for murdering Jabba, the Force be damned.note
- Suit Up of Destiny: After being accepted as a member of a Tusken tribe, a sequence shows Boba being dressed in the traditional Tusken garb.
- Too Important to Walk: The Twins are carried around on a litter, as noted last episode. Despite having more than a dozen doing the lifting, two Hutts weigh a lot and the poor grunts are visibly struggling.
- Torture Is Ineffective: Threatening the assassin with the rancor got him to talk, but he lied.
- Training Montage: Boba gets some lessons in fighting Tusken-style, and in turn they get training on how to use speeder bikes.
- Training the Peaceful Villagers: Played with (and a bit more reciprocal than others). While the Tuskens are anything but peaceful, they are woefully outdated when it comes to fighting against "outsiders with machines." Boba not only trains them in using speeders, but also helps organize them into a fighting unit capable of taking down the Pykes. In turn, they have also been training him in the ways of fighting as a Tusken.
- Train Job: Boba trains the Tuskens to raid the Pyke spice transport that's been firing on their camp, complete with a Traintop Battle.
- Traintop Battle: The Tusken Raiders try to heist a speeder train; made even more of an Interesting Situation Duel thanks to the large thruster mounted on the roof. The Tuskens only win because their best warrior goes inside the train and fights her way along the carriages until she gets to the Pyke soldiers who have their heads stuck out the roof hatches keeping Boba and the other Tuskens pinned down, and kills them from below.
- Translator Microbes: Mok Shaiz, the mayor of Mos Espa, is an Ithorian who wears a device on his head that translates his speech in real time.
- Viking Funeral: The Tuskens burn their dead in large pyres.
- Weaponized Exhaust: The train rocket sends an unlucky Tusken flying when the droid conductor puts it to full blast, and gets a Pyke not long after when the conductor does it a second time.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: After stopping the train, the Tuskens begin looting it for anything they can use, such as weapons, water, and metal, while ignoring the Sansanna spice that the Pyke Syndicate makes their business on. Justified since spice would be useless to the Tuskens, while water and weapons would be the difference between life and death on a world like Tatooine.
- You Have Failed Me: Subverted when Boba brings the surviving Night Wind assassin to the mayor, who he believes was responsible for hiring him. The mayor immediately has the assassin shot dead, suggesting this trope... then reveals that the Night Wind aren't allowed to operate outside of Hutt territory (and the execution is a strict enforcement of this edict), and that he wasn't behind the assassination attempt after all.
