‘The Book of Boba Fett’: How Boba Got His Ship

[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett Season 1 Episode 4, “The Gathering Storm.”]

If you’re missing Mando (Pedro Pascal), you might not have to miss him for much longer.

From that all-too-familiar theme music at the end—paired with Fennec’s (Ming-Na Wen) claim that Boba’s (Temuera Morrison) credits can “buy muscle”—it seems the stage is set for Din Djarin’s return. And that’s a darn good thing because Boba’s not getting any help from the other crime families in his war with the Pykes.

First, though, the show gives us backstory on how Boba and Fennec met and shows us how the former bounty hunter got his ship (now referred to by its model name, Firespray), back. Here’s how it happens.

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How to Save a Life (and Steal a Ship)

Whether you loved or hated the “mods” from last week, there’s no denying the technology came in handy; it’s how Boba saved Fennec. In the flashbacks, we see him glimpse the flares Mando used on his mission and go to investigate, only to find a near-dead Fennec lying in the sand. He picks her up and takes her to a mod parlor, where he pays handsomely for the owner to install lifesaving cybernetics in her abdomen while dubstep music plays (it fits the whole “mod” vibe).

When she wakes up, he explains what happened to her and makes her an offer. He needs to get his ship back from Bib Fortuna, but he can’t just walk into the palace or he’ll be killed. “If I help you, my debt is paid,” Fennec says, and Boba agrees.

Thanks to a little flying droid that Fennec has inside her rifle, they’re able to get a good count of how many guards there are at the palace and how to avoid them. They sneak in through the storm drain and then through the kitchen, where their progress is halted by a group of food-preparing droids (including one that spins all its utensils, like a meat cleaver and various knives, General Grievous-style). They take ‘em all out and head for the hangar, where they do battle again, this time against the guards. While Boba powers up the ship, Fennec takes down the goons and, with a well-placed blaster bolt, opens the gate. And just like that, they’re free… and Fennec decides that rather than heading off on her own, she’ll “go for the ride.”

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You Can Only Get So Far Without a Tribe

In retribution for what they did to the Tusken Raiders, Boba guns down the Nikto biker gang. He then heads for the Sarlacc Pit, convinced his armor is inside; guess he doesn’t remember the Jawas stealing it after he escaped? This results in an extremely close call for the duo, as the Sarlacc latches onto the ship and starts to drag it down—Fennec saves them by releasing one of the Firespray’s seismic charges, which kills the creature. “Next time, don’t touch my buttons,” Boba quips.

Obviously, the armor isn’t there. But in the aftermath of the unsuccessful search, Boba elaborates on his plans to his new partner. Bounty hunters, he says, consistently get killed because crime lords don’t think about the jobs they’re being sent on. He wants to change that. At first, Fennec wants to stick to her old ways, but Boba offers her something regular crime lords can’t: He swears that he’ll be loyal to her and give his life for hers if it comes to it. “Living with the Tuskens has made you soft,” Fennec notes (and echoes some fans’ criticisms of Boba’s character in the show). “No, it’s made me strong,” Boba answers. “You can only get so far without a tribe.”

From there, we get quick snippets of events that happened on The Mandalorian, like Boba taking the throne, and a droid pronounces him “completely healed.” Seems likely these are the last flashbacks we’ll get unless Boba winds up in the bacta tank again.

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Putting Together an Army

In the present, post-healing session, Boba heads to Garsa Fwip’s (Jennifer Beals), where he finds Krrsantan punching his way through a group of Trandoshans. She tries to cull the violence, saying “what was once celebrated in the bloodlust of the arena is now seen as horror.” Krrsantan listens to her, kind of: He only rips one of the Trandoshan’s arms off. Compromise! After he leaves the parlor, Boba makes a deal with him.

From there, he hosts a dinner with the other crime families in his territory. He asks them to join him in his battle against the Pykes, which doesn’t go over well: When one of them asks what prevents them from simply killing him, his new Rancor lunges up from under the floor, and that line of questioning ceases. The families still aren’t willing to go against the Pykes, but Boba at least gets them to swear neutrality in the conflict. Remains to be seen whether they’ll hold to their word…

One exciting development occurs in the episode’s final seconds. As Fennec and Boba stand on the palace balcony, Boba says he has “plenty of credits,” but he needs muscle to win the war. Fennec tells him credits can buy muscle, and The Mandalorian theme starts to play — so it sure seems like we’ll be seeing Din Djarin next week.

Other Observations

• Finally, Fennec backstory! It was neat to see how she was saved, and given the elaborateness of her cybernetics, it makes sense that Boba took her somewhere for the procedure rather than doing it himself.
• The fight scenes in the kitchen and the hangar were much, much improved from last week’s.
• The tiny droid in the kitchen — might’ve been a mouse-catcher droid, given how it was carrying a net — was both adorable and hilarious with how it just shut itself down when Boba caught it.
• So, Din’s likely showing up next episode, but who else might Boba recruit? Bossk? Dengar? Hondo Ohnaka? Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant)? Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and the Nite Owls, if they’re all still with Din?
• Rating: 4.5/5. Now that the flashbacks have (presumably) ended, it seems the present-day storyline will move at a faster pace. But it was good to see how Fennec and Boba’s partnership started and get an explanation as to why he wants to be a crime lord rather than a bounty hunter. And — Mando next week!

The Book of Boba Fett, Wednesdays, Disney+

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