Boba Fett Dances with Banthas in "The Tribes of Tatooine."

The Book of Boba Fett has hit its stride with Chapter Two, “The Tribes of Tatooine.”  I find it a pity that the previous chapter was a slow burn.  You really want to engage to audience from the get-go by the end of the first episode, but allowances seem to be made for an established character that many people are already familiar with.  At least that is the case with fans of Star Wars.  That being said, on with the critique.

In the timeline where Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison)  establishes himself as a crime boss, he has difficulty in compelling the mayor of Mos Espa to openly acknowledge him as Daimyo.  In fact, when Fett throws a Nightwind assassin at the feet of the Mayor Mok Shaiz (voiced by Robert Rodriguez) and accuses him of trying to kill him, the mayor tries to pay him off as though Fett was still a common bounty hunter.

Boba Fett next finds himself confronting “The Twins” who are cousins of Jabba the Hutt, with whom he disputes ownership of the dead Hutt’s palace and business.  In a manner reminiscent of their deceased cousin, they give Fett a veiled threat against his life before they depart.

Fett’s lieutenant, Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), seems to be the more proactive of the two, using effective threats against the Nightwind assassin - such as feeding him to a monstrous (and presently dead) rancor - to divulge who employed him to kill Boba Fett.   Fett himself is learning that he can’t just march into someone’s chamber and claim supremacy.

Slumbering in his bacta tank, Fett recalls his past experiences living in the Dune Sea.  He trains with the Tusken nomads in their martial arts and way of life.  When a deadly “speeder train” owned by the Pyke  Syndicate picks off members of the tribe in order to keep them from “stealing their cargo,”  Fett conspires with his benefactors, coming up with a daring plan to stop future slaughter with a mixture of some stolen speeder bikes, Fett’s cunning, and native Tusken courage.

Having defeated the Pykes, Fett and the Tuskens pressure their former oppressors into paying a toll, allowing the gangsters to travel across the Dune Sea.  This leads to the Tuskens placing Fett on a vision quest to find the raw materials needed to build his own “gaffi stick”  - the traditional weapon of the Tuskens.

All of this leads to Fett’s newfound values of cooperation and respect that were taught him by the Tuskens.  He tries to apply these methods to his ascent as Daimyo, but those that he seeks to dominate follow a different credo:  Notoriety established through fear and subterfuge.  The question for Fett is:  Can he maintain respect in the manner he learned from the Tuskens, or must he revert to the brutal and cutthroat methods he grew accustomed to in his days as a bounty hunter?

Fett’s take over of Jabba’s criminal empire also stands on the shoulders of the deeds of Luke Skywalker and his companions as seen in Return of the Jedi.  While his competitors may not know the particulars of Jabba’s death, they are seeking weaknesses that my lie beneath Fett’s beskar armor.

The chapter’s final scene involves Boba Fett and the Tuskens in a ritual dance that involve their gaffi sticks.  The use of the gaffi stick appears to be based on the Maori taiaha.  As Temeura Morrison himself is Maori by descent, he may have contributed to the martial arts techniques used by the Tuskens.

After his torture in the sarlaac, Boba Fett must rebuild his life, both with and without his legendary armor.

- JJB

The Book of Boba Fett has a new episode released every Wednesday by Disney Plus.