Recap / The Book of Boba Fett S1E7 "In the Name of Honor"

Cad Bane: You're going soft in your old age.
Boba Fett: We all do.

Boba and his allies go to war against the Pykes.

---

Tropes:

• All for Nothing: The heads of the Mos Espa crime families siding with the Pykes has become for naught as the Pykes were unable to take Mos Espa from Boba Fett and get repelled. This causes the head of the Pykes to attempt a retreat from Tatooine; however, Fennec Shand makes sure that doesn't happen and kills everyone, including the crime heads for their betrayal.
• And the Adventure Continues: Once everything is said and done in Tatooine, Din and Grogu fly off in search of their next adventure in the former's new N-1 starfighter.
• An Arm and a Leg:
  • Once he gets inside the shield bubble, Din lops one of the gun arms off of the first Scorponek with the Darksaber.
  • Grogu hobbles the first Scorpenek droid by Force-pulling a joint linkage off of its leg.
  • The Rancor destroys the second one by ripping it limb from limb.
• At Least I Admit It: Bane mocks Boba's declaration that Bane is a killer, saying that it's "the Quacta calling the Stifling slimy". Indirectly, it shows that Bane has no problem with being called a killer; it's just he has a problem when other killers lie to themselves that they are better than that.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Boba and Din briefly get back to back while fighting the Pykes outside the Sanctuary. Unfortunately, they're quickly overwhelmed by the Pykes' superior numbers.
• Behemoth Battle: Boba's rancor vs the Scorpenek droids.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Shand stops on her way to the archive to rescue the Mods.
  • Just as Boba and Din are overwhelmed by the Pykes, the people of Freetown arrive to bail them out.
  • Later, as Din is battling in vain against one of the Scorpenek droids, Boba arrives riding his rancor and immediately turns the tide.
• Blatant Lies: When the X-wing arrives in Peli's hangar, she starts loudly claiming that she had just filed to register her business with the New Republic. This is immediately after telling her droids to hide some engine parts that were almost certainly stolen by Jawas for her, making it clear to the audience she hadn't registered for anything.
  Peli: Officer, I filed for my New Republic seal just as you were landing! Quite a coincidence, if you ask me!
• Call-Back: Bane and Fett both allude to the time the latter spent apprenticing under the former when he was a child.
• The Cameo: R2-D2 appears in the opening, piloting Luke's X-wing from the astromech socket to drop Grogu off on Tatooine and meeting Peli and her crew.
• Canon Immigrant: The Scorpenek Annihilator Droid from several Legends reference books, like The Essential Guide to Warfare, makes its canon debut here in this episode.
• The Cavalry: Just when it seems like Boba and Din are going to be overwhelmed by the Pykes at the ruined Sanctuary, the Freetown militia arrive as much-needed reinforcements (complete with Cobb Vanth's leitmotif in Triumphant Reprise). Moments later, the extricated Mod Gang comes charging in from the side. And another moment later, Krrsantan makes it back, hurling Pykes at each other all the way despite an ankle injury. The Pykes eventually counter this with the use of the Scorpenek droids.
• Captain Obvious: "We've got a Scorpenek droid chasing us!"
• Character Death:
  • Boba's Gamorreans are thrown off a cliff surrounding Mos Espa by the Klatooinians allied with the Pykes.
  • Boba kills Cad Bane at the end of their duel.
  • Fennec kills the heads of the Mos Espa crime families (Garfalaquox, Dokk Strassi, and the Klatooinian don), Mayor Mok Shaiz and the Pyke boss.
• Chekhov's Skill:
  • Upon being gifted his rancor, Boba asked to learn how to ride it. In the battle against the Scorpeneks, he does exactly that, and proceeds to completely turn the tide of the battle.
  • Boba uses the gaffi stick disarming and fighting techniques he learned from the Tuskens to defeat and kill Cad Bane during their duel.
  • We are finally shown why Fennec is called a master assassin. Up to now, she was mostly acting as a bodyguard for Boba and as a sharpshooter. Here, however, she infiltrates a protected hide-out and kills seven people in a small room, plus two exterior guards, all in the space of about a minute, with the only fleeting time she is spotted being when she wants it so, to misdirect her last victim's attention for a backstab.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Some Jawas are seen rummaging around a speeder that looks to be the same model as the one Luke had back in A New Hope. Later on, the Rancor throws another speeder just like it.
  • After taking Grogu out of the X-wing, Peli Motto refers to him as "bright eyes" the same way she did back when she first met him.
  • The Scorpenek droids are basically the Droidekas employed by the Trade Federation made much bigger.
  • Bane uses Boba's insult to Koska against him when Boba derides him as a killer.
  • Back in Star Wars Rebels, Sabine was instructed that the Darksaber responds to your emotions and, after working through her problems, remarked that it felt lighter. After reuniting with Grogu, Din has a much easier time with the Darksaber, even using it one-handed.
  • The Mandalorian Chapter 1 ended with Din rescuing Grogu from the killer IG-11 droid. Here, Grogu rescues Din from a killer Scorpenek droid.
  • Boba orders the rancor to rip one of the Scorpenek droids in half with a curt "Do it."
  • Rancors appear to have a preference for starting with the head and working their way down when devouring a victim, as first demonstrated by Jabba's on the unfortunate Gamorrean, and now repeated twice by Fett's — first on a Pyke, and then on Din. Except Din's beskar helmet protects him from the Rancor's bite, and then instead of trying to bite down on Din another way, it gives up and tosses him away.
  • As Bane is stabbed to death, his hat falls off, revealing the metal plate in his head previously seen in The Bad Batch and a reminder of the other duel they once fought.
  • Grogu is able to use his Force powers to calm the Rancor down and put it to sleep. Just like how Ezra could use his abilities to bond with animals and calm them as well.
• Curb-Stomp Cushion: The rancor is a massive and powerful animal whose presence marks a definitive turn in the battle against the Scorpenek droids, but said droids are still heavily armed war machines. The rancor isn't able to effortlessly destroy them and the droids are able to injure the beast more than once before going down.
• Cyber Cyclops: The Scorpenek droids have one big, ominous red-glowing sensor at the center of their bodies.
• David Versus Goliath:
  • Little Grogu goes up against the giant Rancor. Subverted, however, as instead of fighting, Grogu uses the Force to calm the Rancor.
  • Cad Bane calmly walks out in front of the snarling Rancor and roasts it with his flamethrower, causing it to throw Boba off its back and flee in fear.
• Deflector Shields: The Scorpenek droids have ray shields that block damn near everything, from lightsabers to rockets. Repeated shots point-blank from Krrsantan's BFG do manage to weaken it enough for him to push through, but the droid uses a leg to smack him aside before he manages to exploit the opening. A combination of a rancor pounding on it and the droid having to reallocate its partially depleted shield to face it similarly provides an opening for Din to break through and cut down a droid with the Darksaber. The other loses its shield when the rancor backhands it through a building, the shield collapsing under the strain of all the debris.
• Deus Exit Machina: Boba Fett using the Sanctuary's ruins as a base means that he can't get to his gunship when the Scorpenek droids prove too resilient for anything they have on hand. He settles for the rancor when he does get a chance to escape.
• Dog Pile of Doom: Several Trandoshans ganging up on Black Krrsantan seems to be overwhelming him, and it looks like it's game over for the wookiee as he disappears under his enemies. Nonetheless, he reappears later, tossing around Pyke goons.
• Don't Celebrate Just Yet: The Freetowners celebrate when they send the Pykes retreating... and then Din detects the approaching Scorpenek droids. Din even says the trope name verbatim when he does so.
• Double Take: When Peli reveals Grogu is in the rickshaw with her, Din Djarin, being primarily focused on the Scorpenek droid pursuing them, does a double-take upon seeing his adoptive son.
• Drugs Are Bad: Din tells Boba that the people of Freetown will fight for him if he agrees to keep spice out of their territory, which Boba agrees to. Fennec tries to convince Boba that the spice trade on Tatooine is too lucrative for him to abandon, but Boba is adamant about not using his organization to deal drugs, saying it will kill their clientele.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Finally averted. Everyone in town finally recognizes Boba not just as Daimyo, but as a benevolent ruler who fought for their homes and their lives.
  Boba: Why does everyone have to bow to me?
  Shand: Better than shooting.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After working hard to earn the respect of Mos Espa as Daimyo and facing fierce opposition along the way, Boba is shown in the end to have earned it in full by successfully driving the Pyke Syndicate off the planet.
• Eating the Enemy: One very unlucky Pyke ends up becoming the Rancor's meal during the battle. The Pyke boss's commentary about their staggering losses in the battle indicate that more snacking may have occurred off-screen.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Corrupt as the Mayor may be, he is horrified by the Pykes escalating the war against Boba to the point it could destroy the entire city, and objects to the bombing of Sanctuary.
  • Bane and the Pykes may be cold-blooded murderous gangsters, but they still go out of their way to respect Freetown changing its name. Of course, being off-worlders, they might simply be ignorant that it ever had any other name.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • Bane assumed that, after shooting down their beloved Marshal in full view of the citizens, the people of Freetown would be too afraid to fight back and stand down in fear. His cruel actions against their beloved town figure instead provoked them to throw their full weight against Bane and the Pykes.
  • While they face off, Bane asks Boba what his "angle" is in becoming Daimyo, clearly assuming that he was doing it for personal gain, rather than honor. He also gives his opinion that looking out for anyone besides yourself is a weakness, not recognizing or caring that nearly all of Boba's successes in the series came from him having kindly helped someone out without personal gain. He also seems to assume that Boba is a cold-blooded killer and nothing else; the ending shows that, after killing Bane, Boba settles in as Tatooine's Daimyo, beloved by the people of Mos Espa and embracing his fresh start and new life.
• Evil Mentor: Both Boba and Cad Bane allude to the fact they were once student and mentor, with Cad planning to impart his final lesson to Boba after seeing him having become "soft".
• Face Death with Dignity: Bane, seconds before death, only takes the time to brag that he was right about Boba.
• Failed a Spot Check: Peli fails to notice the Scorpenek droid bearing down on her and Mando until it's almost on top of them, despite the fact that its blaster fire is so loud she can't hear Mando's warnings.
• Family of Choice: If the concluding Season 2 episode of The Mandalorian left doubts that this would continue to be for Din and Grogu, here it's definite that they will continue to remain inseparable.
• Fantastic Slur: The Pyke lieutenant calls the majordomo a "tail-head". Being a practiced lackey, the majordomo just brushes it off. This contrasts with Peli complimenting his head tails later and protecting him.
• Feed It a Bomb: Din shoots his flamethrower down the rancor's mouth to make it let him go.
• Finish Him!: Boba orders his Rancor mount to finalize the destruction of one of the Scorpenek droids in such a manner.
• Fire-Forged Friends: The Freetowners, the Mods, and Krrsantan become this in the heat of the battle.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing:
  • Drash realizes something is about to go down when the Mos Espans around her gang start acting weird. Cue the ambush.
  • At the end of the episode, Boba explains his injured state by noting that the bacta tank is in use. He had previously promised it to Krrsantan, but then we see Krrsantan up and about. So who's in the tank? The Stinger reveals it's Cobb Vanth.
• Flashback: We don't see Boba Fett's expression when Cad Bane reveals it was the Pyke Syndicate who massacred the Tusken tribe, as he's wearing his helmet at the time, but we're shown instead a flashback of Boba finding out the razed village, making quite clear it hits him hard.
• Forced Sleep: Grogu uses The Force to induce the startled, rampaging Rancor to sleep in the middle of the street.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: In the previous episode, Cad Bane shot down Cobb Vanth and his deputy, Scott, but only Cobb is mentioned by anyone from Freetown in this episode. Adding insult to injury, Cobb survived, while Scott was unambiguously killed.
• Godzilla Threshold: The Scorpenek droids pose such a threat to Mos Espa that Boba has no choice but to bring in the Rancor to fight them... which then proceeds to do far more damage to the city than the droids did. And that's before Boba gets unseated and it goes on a rampage.
• Go for the Eye: The rancor drives a claw into the single robotic eye of the second Scorpenek droid to blind it in the process of destroying it.
• Good Guns, Bad Guns: Several of the Pyke soldiers are carrying drum-fed blasters, likely in reference to the Thompson submachine gun of Prohibition-era gangsters.
• Grievous Harm with a Body:
  • Krrsantan takes out a Pyke by throwing another Pyke at him.
  • The rancor finishes off the second Scorpenek droid by impaling it with one of its own severed cannons.
• Hanging Around: Fennec snags Mayor Shaiz in a noose and hoists him up off the ground. His feet flail about a bit before an audible crack is heard and he goes limp. His corpse is left dangling over all the other corpses Fennec made inside the Pyke Syndicate hideout.
• Headbutting Heroes: The Mods and the people of Freetown briefly snipe at each other when they regroup at the ruined Sanctuary.
  Skad: What are the sand scatterers doing here?
  Taanti: We came to help out some city rats.
  Boba: Save it for the Pykes.
• Home Field Advantage: Unlike the rest of the gang, the Mods are Mos Espa natives, and are the first to twig on to the fact that something is about to happen when the other locals start acting strangely.
• Honor Before Reason:
  • Boba and his crew using the ruins of Garsa's Sanctuary as their base is a nice symbolic gesture, but it proves far less defensible than Boba's palace would have been, as well as putting the Firespray gunship and the N-1 starfighter out of reach when the Pykes bring in the Scorpenek droids.
  • Boba finds Din's decision to remain behind and fight to the bitter end to be foolish, especially since he gives the Mandalorian a chance to leave since it's not his fight. Din states it's part of his Creed and while Boba still sees it as a bunch of bantha fodder, he nevertheless is appreciative to find allies willing to stick together no matter the odds.
• Hypocrite: Cad Bane accuses Boba of hypocrisy for calling the Pykes "gutless murderers".
• I Gave My Word:
  • Din Djarin refuses to abandon Boba Fett when they're cornered by the Pykes and their backup appears to have been wiped out, even quoting the trope.
    Din Djarin: It's against The Creed. I gave you my word. I'm with you until we both fall.
  • Likewise, Boba refuses to abandon the people of Mos Espa to the Syndicate, as he swore he would protect them.
    Boba Fett: This is my city. These are my people. I will not abandon them.
• Immune to Bullets: The rancor's hide is so tough that even the heavy cannons of the Scorpenek droids can't penetrate it, though they leave hefty burns. Ordinary blasters are completely pointless.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Bane meets his end at the tip of Boba's gaffi stick.
• Internal Reveal: Bane reveals to Boba that the Pykes massacred the Tusken tribe.
• In the Back: Fennec Shand finishes off the Pyke mob boss by stabbing him in the back with a knife.
• I Surrender, Suckers: When the Pykes surround the Sanctuary ruins, Boba pulls off an elaborate one using the majordomo as a proxy, sending him out with what he thinks are terms are surrender but is actually a long-winded "screw you" to the Pykes. While the Pykes stand there trying to process what they just heard, Boba and Din suddenly fly in and ambush them.
• It Can Think: The rancor shows considerable cunning during its fight with the Scorpenek droids, from using a discarded cannon as a shield against its guns, to catching and tearing off one of its legs when the droid tries stabbing it a second time and deliberately gouging its claw into the droid's electronic eye to blind it.
• I Was Just Joking: Upon seeing him arrive in an X-wing, Peli jokingly asks Grogu if they taught him how to fly a starfighter already. One of her pit droids tries correcting her, and she snaps back that she perfectly knows it was the astromech droid (R2-D2) piloting the X-wing.
• The Juggernaut: The Scorpenek droids are nearly unstoppable thanks to their deflector shields. Ordinary blaster fire has no effect, and stronger firepower such as Boba's missile launcher, Krrsantan's heavy blaster or Din's Darksaber only momentarily weaken the shields, and prove insufficient to take them down. It takes Boba on his rancor, Din and Grogu ganging up on the first one to finish it off after a drawn-out fight, and both only stop moving after being completely ripped apart.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Cad Bane avoided justice for all his crimes during the Clone Wars and survived well into the post-Imperial era, but he finally meets his end at the point of Boba Fett's gaffi stick.
• Karmic Death: The Pyke boss, the Mayor, and the crime family heads are killed in cold blood by Fennec Shand at the end of the episode. The Pyke boss for being responsible for murdering Boba's Tusken family; the Mayor for selling out Mos Espa to the Pykes; and the crime family heads for betraying their neutrality deal with Boba.
• Kick the Dog: Bane throws the slaughter of the Tuskens in Boba's face to try and provoke him into making a mistake. It damn near works, but Fennec as the voice of reason wins out.
• "King Kong" Climb: The rancor scales a tower after being driven mad by Bane's flamethrower and the townspeople trying in vain to stop it. Din uses his jetpack to reach its face and try to calm it but nearly gets eaten instead. The concept art shown during the credits even shows the tower-climbing rancor clutching a screaming Green-Skinned Space Babe, in a tongue-in-cheek nod to this trope.
• Knee-capping: While Din is on the verge of being on the wrong end of a Finishing Stomp by one of the Scorpenek droids, Grogu finally gets a Force-grip on a loose joint linkage in one of the droid's legs and pulls it with enough force that it knocks Grogu off his feet when he catches it. For the rest of its short existence, the leg that Grogu pulled the linkage off of is incapacitated, resulting in the droid floundering about.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: After Boba's forces wipe out over half of the Pykes' goons, the Pyke leader decides to just cut his loses and abandon the planet, much to the anger of the heads of the crime families. However, Fennec kills him before he gets the chance.
• Laser-Guided Karma: The crime bosses all decide to betray Boba in favor of the Pykes. Fennec murders them all in cold blood for their betrayal at the end of the episode.
• Last Chance to Quit: With the Pykes' soldiers closing in and most of his allies dead or under attack, Fett gives Din Djarin a chance to leave Tatooine and save himself. Din refuses, saying "I Gave My Word" and pledging to fight alongside Boba until the bitter end.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Peli complaining that "Grogu" is a terrible name and continuing to call him by her nickname for him is dead-on for a sentiment expressed by a not insignificant amount of viewers when Grogu's name was revealed. Even though "Grogu" had long since entered the public consciousness by the time this episode aired, many people still casually refer to him as "Baby Yoda".
• Leg Cannon: Boba uses his knee-mounted rocket launcher during the final battle against the Pykes.
• Lightning Bruiser: The rancor is powerful enough to rip apart what is essentially a Spider Tank, but it is also able to climb the buildings of Mos Espa with surprising speed and agility.
• Made of Iron: Krrsantan gets tackled by several Trandoshans and takes multiple blaster hits. All he has to show for it is a limp and no loss of fury. He also survives a vibroaxe chop to the head or back.
• Meaningful Rename: As Din did in the previous episode, Fett has no trouble accepting that Freetown has been renamed. Surprisingly, neither does Cad Bane.
• Mech vs. Beast: Boba brings in his tamed Rancor to fight the two Scorpenek droids.
• The Men First: Once again, Boba insists that Black Krrsantan (and later Cobb Vanth) use the bacta tank before he does. As a result, he has to reciprocate gestures to his grateful people with an injured arm in the denouement.
• Mighty Glacier: The Scorpenek droids are basically Droidekas on steroids. They're not as fast and can't Be the Ball like Droidekas, limiting their movement to a slow walk, but they have the firepower to take out tanks and much stronger Deflector Shields that remain active while the droid is moving.
• Mook Horror Show:
  • The Scorpenek droids are beyond anything Boba's allies have faced, impossibly tough.
  • Once the Skorponeks are dispensed with, Boba and company go on the offensive, with the Rancor still in fighting form... and he's hungry.
  • While they hardly count as mooks, Fennec Shand's murder of the mayor, the Pyke Syndicate leader, and the other crime bosses otherwise fits this trope to a T, complete with the Pykes' leader — the last one left — firing his blaster at the ceiling in a blind panic.
• Nerves of Steel: Cad Bane faces down Boba's growling, angry rancor without even wincing.
• Neutral No Longer:
  • Cobb Vanth was expecting to have a hard time selling the recruitment pitch to the Freetowners to answer Boba Fett's call. After Cad Bane guns Vanth and his deputy down in cold blood in the name of the Pykes, this galvanizes Taanti (the Weequay) and all the other Freetowners into throwing their lot in to Fett's side.
  • The crime families eventually decide to take a side... with the Pykes. Their betrayal does catch Boba by surprise and nearly rout his forces. But once Boba manages to turn the tide with his Rancor and the Freetowners, the heads of the crime families realize they backed the wrong side... and get assassinated by Fennec Shand for their blunder.
• Never Heard That One Before: Done with a bit of flair by the Majordomo when he's called a "tail-head" by the Pyke lieutenant.
  Majordomo: [laughing, points to his lekku] Oh because of these... haha! An enchanting sobriquet of which I never tire!
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • In the previous episode, the Freetowners weren't exactly on board with joining the fight against the Pykes, seeing it as someone else's war that wasn't worth the fight. Even Cobb Vanth admitted that he wasn't sure he could talk them into joining. However, by shooting Cobb in cold blood, Cad Bane managed to piss them off enough to join the war so they can avenge their beloved marshal.
  • He also tries to drive Boba Fett into doing something stupid by telling him the Pykes killed his Tusken family, but this just drives him to be unstoppable in his fight against the Pykes.
  • The other crime heads' decision to throw their lot in with the Pykes just means Boba has no competition claiming their territories once Fennec kills them.
• No Honor Among Thieves:
  • Despite a promise of neutrality, the heads of the other crime families in Mos Espa made a separate deal with the Pykes, and their mooks ambush Boba's allies when the gang war kicks off.
  • In a case of Laser-Guided Karma, the Pykes backstab those same gang leaders and make ready to flee Tatooine when the tide turns against them, leaving their erstwhile "allies" to Boba's tender mercy because they've deemed attempting to hold the planet not worth the cost. Both parties get what's coming to them when Fennec Shand shows up and kills them all.
• Not Quite Dead: Cobb Vanth survived his run-in with Cad Bane last episode, and is being healed in Boba's bacta tank with the Mod Doc standing by to operate on him.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: We don't get to see how Black Krrsantan manages to survive a mob of Trandoshans piling up on him, but it probably was epic.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Peli damn near panics when she sees an X-wing approaching her hangar, thinking that a New Republic officer is paying her a visit while she's not exactly up to code. Of course, anyone who recognizes the distinctive R2 unit in the X-wing will know exactly whose ship it is and why it's here.
  • The majordomo's expression just screams this when he realises that he is not actually negotiating a surrender but a rebuttal and is going to get shot. Luckily for him, Boba and Din were just using him as a distraction and make their move before the Pykes can kill him.
  • Din's reaction when he detects the incoming Scorpenek droid, which is doubled when the second emerges from another alley.
  • Peli immediately screams and has her rickshaw droid turn around when she sees a Scorpenek droid.
  • Mok Shaiz and the crime leaders go into panic mode when they hear blaster fire outside their meeting. It gets worse as they get taken out one by one.
• Old Soldier: As Boba notes, Cad Bane is an old man by this point. But that doesn't stop Bane from outgunning and nearly killing Boba, a man half his age, due to his very well-seasoned skills.
• Out-Gambitted: The Pykes knew that Boba was asking the crime families to stay out of the war, and paid them to betray Boba and ambush his forces at the worst moment possible.
• Overcrank: When the rickshaw pulled by a droid topples over, we see it happens in slow motion, with Peli sent flying, her pit droids folding on themselves, and Din catching Grogu in midair with a boost from his jetpack.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Despite the majordomo being both annoying and relatively useless, Boba and Din still save him from the Pykes after the distraction has served its purpose.
  • Downplayed, but Bane does have the grace to tell Boba that there's no shame in losing before preparing to kill him.
• Phlebotinum Overload: Din can't get through the Scorpenek's shield with the Darksaber. Boba's Rancor can't get through either but does stress it so badly it turns red. That's when Din jumps in, powers through with the Darksaber, and starts taking it down.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Instead of someone Offing the Annoyance, the majordomo surprisingly survives several near-miss attempts, plus Peli takes a shine to him, establishing him as this trope instead.
• Power-Strain Blackout: After calming the raging rancor down and putting it to sleep, Grogu slumps next to the beast and takes a nap too, as is common for him when he uses the Force for big yet necessary results.
• Primal Fear: The rancor, despite its size and nearly invulnerable hide, runs from fire even though it wouldn't be harmed in any meaningful way. It does take a couple shots from Cad Bane's flamethrower to get it going, however. Later it takes a blast down its throat from Din, but it's too enraged to flee by that point.
• Purple Prose: Played for laughs in Fett's terms of "surrender" to the Pykes.
  "The arid sands of Tatooine will once again flourish with flowered fields, fertilized with the bodies of your dead."
• Quick Draw: Bane once again proves the fastest draw in the galaxy, easily out-shooting Boba. Fortunately, Boba has beskar armor over his vitals and Bane has to get within melee range to score a clean kill, nullifying that advantage.
• Red Herring: The Freetown townsfolk speak of Vanth as though he is dead, but he turns out to be alive enough to take to the bacta tank.
• The Reveal:
  • It is revealed that the Tusken massacre was done by the Pykes themselves in order to avoid paying protection money, and the Kintan Strider symbol was evidence they planted to divert Boba's revenge rampage towards them.
  • Grogu chose the chainmail and chooses to return to Din Djarin to become a Mandalorian foundling rather than a Jedi.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Even though they might not make it, Boba wants the Pykes and the crime bosses of Mos Espa to pay and sends Shand after them.
• Robo Cam: We get a shot seen through Skad's cybernetic eye, which does include inlays and a zoom.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • Right after Cad lectures Boba about how soft he's become now relying on others as if Boba is still a scrub bounty hunter, Boba switches to his Gaffi Stick, a weapon bestowed to him by his sand people comrades, and thoroughly thrashes Cad, finishing with a Coup de Grâce. The symbolism of the gaffi stick's camaraderie combined with it being used to kill one of the most infamously and brutally effective bounty hunters in the galaxy shows that Boba has truly left that life behind for his new one as an Outer Rim lord.
  • The Rancor represents Boba Fett's power and potential to be a killer. Not coincidentally, it is a being born and bred to be a killer much like Fett himself. Initially, when he rides the beast to destroy the Scorpenek droids, the people of the city watch in both fear and awe at Boba's rancor, representing their feelings of Boba at the time. The rancor successfully coordinates its attack on the droids despite the punishment, representing Boba's control of the beast within. But when Cad Bane forces Boba off the rancor and successfully goads him to unleash his killer instinct, the rancor goes on a destructive rampage across the city, once again feared by denizens. It takes a young child's empathy to soothe the savage beast.
• Sacrificial Lion: Once the Pyke attack starts, one of the Mods gets gunned down and both the Gamorreans get thrown off a cliff.
• Screaming Woman: Peli lets out a long, panicked scream as they're pursued by a Scorpenek droid. She does it again when threatened by the rancor.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Amusingly, the majordomo joins Peli into screaming in terror before the snarling rancor.
• Sequel Hook:
  • We end with the reunited Din and Grogu flying off in their new ship together, setting up Season 3 of The Mandalorian.
  • The Stinger also reveals that Cobb survived his encounter with Cad Bane (after previously alluding that he died from his wounds). He's currently healing in Boba's bacta tank while the mod doctor is about to be give him new cybernetics.
• Ship Tease:
  • Peli takes an immediate liking to the majordomo, complimenting his head-tails and calling him "handsome".
  • Fennec and Drash seem to have a spark during their brief exchange after she saves The Mods from the Aqualish.
• Shout-Out:
  • The composition of the scene with the Gamorreans, where the train drops off the Klatooinian goons, is straight out of Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West.
  • The two Scorpenek droids masked by the smoke after Boba fires his rocket, and a single glowing red eye poking out of it, is similar to a scene of 1953's The War of the Worlds, where the Martian ships reappears the same way after an atomic bombing.
  • The Rancor appears from the side of a building with a theme reminiscent of Godzilla's theme and introduction. He also climbs the side of a building like King Kong. The concept art of the scene even has him carrying a Twi'lek girl in one hand.
  • Fennec taking out the mob bosses of Mos Espa, Mayor Mok Shaiz and eventually the Pyke boss plays out a lot like the first scene of The Professional, when Léon kills a mobster's guards (including one via strangling him from the ceiling, she does it to Mok Shaiz here) in total impunity, leaving the mobster (the Pyke boss here) alone, totally panicked and firing in random directions with his gun. Both Léon and Fennec take the mobster/Pyke boss from behind, only here Fennec is there to kill him instead of intimidating him.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Boba's response to Cad's Hannibal Lecture about how Virtue Is Weakness is to bust out his Gaffi Stick and start going to town on Cad.
• Skewed Priorities: Even though they're pinned by blaster fire from the Pykes and artillery fire from the Scorpenek droids, the Freetown folk and the Mods still find time to snipe at each other about their mutual dislike for one another.
• Smoke Shield: Boba fires his jetpack-mounted rocket at the Scorpenek droids, causing a big explosion and lots of smoke. However, after a few hopeful moments, they emerge from the smoke, unscathed thanks to their shields.
• So Proud of You: Downplayed, but Cad Bane's last words before Boba kills him is that he knew that Boba was a cold-blooded killer deep down.
• Spider Tank: The Pykes deploy a pair of Scorpenek droids, quad-barreled blaster cannons on four legs, as a trump card against Boba.
• Stealth Expert: Fennec kills the Pyke bodyguards, the traitorous gotra leaders, Mok Shaiz, and finally the Pyke boss himself without any of them getting so much as a glimpse of her.
• The Stinger: In the post-credits scene, Cobb Vanth is seen in the bacta tank healing, with the Mod doctor ready to operate on him.
• Stock Scream:
  • The Gamorreans' squeals as they're thrown off a cliff are reused from the acklay from Attack of the Clones.
  • Once Boba and company are on the offensive, one of the Pykes that the Rancor grabs gets promptly shot by Boba when he makes one last defiant attempt to shoot, and then is promptly tossed backwards with much force by the Rancor. As he flies off, the thrown Pyke lets out a Wilhelm Scream.
• Straight for the Commander: Fennec targets the main hideout of the Pykes on Tatooine, killing all of them and the traitors that sided with them when they had promised neutrality.
• Summon Bigger Fish: Scorpenek droids, meet Boba's rancor calf. Played with in that they're still heavily armed tanks with blasters that can still injure it and thus it's not a totally lopsided fight.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • The rickshaw droid overheats and breaks down when Peli forces it to accelerate for an extended period; machines will break down if overtaxed, especially in a scorching desert.
  • Boba's rancor, while loyal to him, is still an animal; it flees from Bane's flamethrower and reacts aggressively in the unfamiliar streets of Mos Espa without its master, especially when people start shooting at it out of fear.
  • Boba Fett spreads his forces around the city to try and cover all possible approaches while they wait for reinforcements from Freetown. As a result, his forces are easily ambushed and overwhelmed because they're spread too thin.
• Tempting Fate: When Boba asks if Din successfully got the aid of Freetown, Din says that he confirmed Vanth is raising a garrison even though Vanth clearly said he'd only see what he could do. To twist the knife further, when Boba tells Din to tell Vanth he'll honor a deal with them, Din tells Boba he can tell Vanth himself when he arrives. Bane shows up and actually does it too when he declares Freetown won't be coming to Boba's aid. And it's finally Subverted on both examples when the Freetown fighters do arrive to help Boba.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: When a Pyke thug tries to shoot at both Boba and Din from a rooftop behind them, they not only both blast him off the roof at the same time, but also shoot him another half-dozen times each as he falls.
• Threat Backfire: Cad Bane had assumed that making examples of Marshal Vanth and Deputy Scott would intimidate the people of Freetown into staying out of the Pyke Syndicate's way. All it did was convince them to join the fight for Boba Fett.
• Title Drop: "We'll both die in the name of honor" is said by Din as he and Boba are preparing to make their stand against the Pykes.
• Theme Music Power-Up: Boba overpowering Cad Bane with the gaderffii is accompanied by a variation of the show's theme song.
• The Tooth Hurts: Peli loses a tooth after falling on her face from the rickshaw droid overheating and collapsing, catapulting everyone onto the street.
• Tranquil Fury: After Cad Bane reveals to Boba that the Pykes murdered the Tuskens and framed the Kintan Striders, Boba is clearly furious. However, his helmet hides any facial expression during this revelation, and his voice remains calm if barely contained.
• Traveling at the Speed of Plot: There was never any firm indication of how far away Jabba's palace is from Mos Espa, but the palace's location seems very remote. Some critics have complained about how quickly Boba flies off, gets the rancor and rides back on it. It might be justified if we assume that entirely off screen, Boba made a holocall to the rancor keeper telling him to load the rancor onto a skiff and meet him outside of town.
• Underestimating Badassery: Cobb was expecting to have to make a hard sell to his fellow Freetowners to answer Lord Fett's call to arms in the previous episode... until Cad Bane showed up and gunned him down in attempts to scare the Freetowners into staying out of it. Quite the opposite occurred: the Freetowners saw Cad's brutal gunning down of their beloved Marshal as a casus belli and become The Cavalry when Boba and Din are in a tight spot.
• Unnecessary Combat Roll:
  • Skad does a pretty gratuitous twirl on himself before shooting a Pyke goon. Shouldn't be a surprise coming from the Mods gang, who seem to like the Rule of Cool.
  • Justified when Cad Bane rolls aside to avoid Boba's flamethrower.
• Variations on a Theme Song: The syllabic chanting in the show theme is replaced by shouts of "Boba Fett"; a Triumphant Reprise of sorts symbolizng his securing of power as an Outer Rim lord and earning the adulation and respect of his new people.
• Villain Ball: After outdrawing and disarming Boba, Cad Bane does not finish him off immediately and instead starts monologuing while approaching Boba so he can look him directly in the face before he shoots him. This brings him into melee range of Boba who still has his gaderffii stick with him. It is partly justified because of Boba's armor; Bane needs to get close to score a hit on Boba's unarmored side or knock off his helmet for a clean, confirmed kill. His mistake is to take a bit too long gloating while doing so.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After his forces are driven out of Mos Espa, the Pyke boss decides to abandon the planet. Unfortunately for him, Fennec gets to him before he can actually get anywhere.
• Villain Has a Point: Bane's not wrong when he describes Boba Fett as a killer, as Boba proves when he slays Bane himself.
• Villainous Valour: Cad Bane stares down Boba astride a rancor without a hint of fear, and manages to drive it off with his flamethrower before outshooting the younger and armored Boba. Bane even has enough grace to tell Boba that there's no shame in defeat, and even at the (literal) point of death, doesn't show a hint of fear or lose his cool.
• Virtue Is Weakness: Cad Bane sums up his personal philosophy after seemingly downing Boba; look out for "number one" above all else. Anything else is a weakness.
• Warrior Poet: Boba gets surprisingly creative in wording his false surrender terms on the fly, even throwing in some Added Alliterative Appeal.
• We Have Reserves: The Pykes get gunned down in droves, but there are so many of them that sheer force of numbers (and later tanks) is sufficient to overwhelm Boba and his allies. In fact, the Syndicate has so many foot soldiers on Tatooine that after the fight is over the Pyke leader mentions that he lost half his men, indicating that despite the massive kill count depicted on screen, he still has reserves. However, losing this many is enough to make the Pykes decide to turn tail, so they have their limits when it comes to this strategy.
• We Need a Distraction:
  • When the majordomo offers to negotiate on his behalf with the Pykes, Boba sends him out with a message that is supposedly a surrender. When read aloud, however, it's just meant to insult the Pykes while he and Din sneak out the back and then ambush the Pykes from the air.
  • Ultimately, the entire battle is one big distraction so that Fennec can get to the opposition's leaders and end the conflict with a single decapitation strike.
• Wham Line: Boba tells Bane he'll only negotiate with the head of the Pyke Syndicate.
  Cad Bane: You mean the same one that massacred your Tusken family and blamed it on a speed bike gang?
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Poor Din can't escape killer droids even in someone else's show. He actually cowers in fear when a Scorpenek prepares to crush him.

---