The Book of Boba Fett has taken some unusual turns in the past six episodes since it aired. The first episode was solid without quite measuring up to The Mandalorian, the show that this series spun off from originally. The middle episodes began to sag, with the flashback episodes being a satisfying experience and the present-day storylines being relatively lackluster. Then something unusual happened. The entire focus of the show shifted away from Boba Fett and back towards Din Djarin and the storylines introduced in The Mandalorian, at which point the quality of the show increased sharply.
With “From the Desert Comes a Stranger”, an important piece of the puzzle returns to the series, and that is Dave Filoni. Filoni has apparently been less openly involved with The Book of Boba Fett than he has been with the main Mandalorian series, with Jon Favreau being more directly involved with writing and directing those episodes. With this episode, Filoni returns to the show as both co-writer and director, and this is likely a major reason why this is possibly the best episode of Book of Boba Fett to date. Dave Filoni, as a true disciple of George Lucas and the writer of the best Star Wars animated series on the small screen, has a presence on this show that is unmistakable. Moreover, we see much of Filoni’s handiwork in the storyline in this episode, both in terms of storytelling craft and in terms of the larger Star Wars elements present in the show. The Favreau/Filoni combination is greater than the sum of its parts, and we see that in this episode just as we saw previously on The Mandalorian.
Filoni excels at addressing Star Wars continuity and the greater myth arc, which is perhaps his greatest strength on Star Wars. He echoes past installments of Star Wars without repeating them verbatim, which is something that other Star Wars writers occasionally miss. This is particularly noticeable in the scenes at Luke Skywalker’s new Jedi academy. There are clear callbacks to Empire Strikes Back with the scenes between Luke and Grogu, but tailored more to the new dynamic between Luke and his new apprentice. It feels like a circle completing, evoking nostalgia while doing something new, which is where some of the best new Star Wars content shines. We see Grogu challenged in ways that Luke wasn’t, while Luke takes a different approach to training a young Jedi from the lessons he learned in the original trilogy. Although it’s likely we won’t see them together for much longer, it’s charming and endearing to see Luke try to reach out to Grogu as an apprentice and as someone who reminds him of his old master.
Beyond that, Filoni addresses elements of the Clone Wars into the post-Imperial narrative and in ways that feel logical and natural. He deserves credit for showing us a scene that likely many Star Wars fans have wanted to see for many years, an interaction between Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka as the bridge between Luke and Din Djarin makes sense in this episode, bringing Din and Grogu together without them meeting. It’s a beautiful way to show the way this adopted father/son relationship has grown while also keeping them at a distance, pulling at the heartstrings of the viewer. At the same time, it’s nice to see Luke having a proper conversation with someone who was both his father’s apprentice and someone who knew his parents in a way Luke never did. Still, even with these nostalgic scenes for Clone Wars fans, the story keeps its attention on Din and Grogu and their journey that will likely resume in Season 3 of The Mandalorian.
Most of all, though, this series finally addresses a serious problem with The Book of Boba Fett, and an introduction I wish we had seen episodes earlier. That problem is the lack of anything resembling a credible villain in this show. The earlier episodes attempt to tease one, between the Hutts and the Mayor of Mos Espa, but both of these fizzled. Black Krrsantan was briefly effective, at least until he was recruited by Boba into his service. However, the Pyke Syndicate by themselves were always a relatively minor threat even in Clone Wars, and there was never a clear face of evil that we could see opposing Boba Fett and his organization. That finally changes here, with the presence of “The Stranger”, who Clone Wars fans will recognize as Cad Bane. Bane is very much a credible villain, having established himself as one of the more memorable enemies in the Clone Wars series. Further, Cad Bane is a villain with a reason to hate Boba Fett, and he demonstrates himself as a deadly enough adversary to challenge both Boba and Din Djarin. Filoni introduces Bane in a classic Star Wars fashion, drawing on Sergio Leone’s influence to give a true Western showdown between Cad Bane and Cobb Vanth. Although the Leone influence gets somewhat obvious at times, it’s still an effective scene, casting Cad Bane into the Lee Van Cleef role. As Bane was influenced by Van Cleef’s Angel Eyes character in his design, this is an appropriate way to establish him for those unfamiliar with the animated series.
I cannot fault the cast in any of their roles, as this episode features one of the strongest casts we’ve seen in small screen Star Wars. The most criticism I can give is that some of them aren’t given much in the way of screen time. For all that they are the headliners of the show, Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen are unfortunately little better than cameos in this episode, but they do well with the little they are given. One of the real heroes of this episode is Pedro Pascal, who always shines as Din Djarin; Pascal’s strength is in his nonverbal, allowing his movements to convey the character’s real feelings. He’s quickly re-established himself as the hero of the series, even when he’s not the title character. The other main is Timothy Olyphant as Cobb Vanth, who plays the small-town sheriff with the right amount of swagger. Olyphant embraces the role of the Old West gunfighter in space, managing the twirl of the pistol with a casual ease. It’s good to see Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka again; she’s an actress I’ve enjoyed in many of her roles, but she’s made the character her own while respecting what Ashley Eckstein brought to the role. I was also pleased to see that Corey Burton once again provided the voice of Cad Bane, even though he was played by a different actor in live action. Burton always gives Bane the right level of menace, keeping the tone understated while still sounding sinister. Luke Skywalker comes across as the best I’ve seen him since Return of the Jedi, and the CGI deepfake of young Mark Hamill is better even than it was in Mandalorian Season 2. While I wish Mark Hamill had directly voiced Luke rather than using a program to simulate his voice with archival recordings, I am glad Hamill was appropriately credited and that they used Hamill’s voice in some way.
Although there are some small issues with this episode, “From the Desert Comes a Stranger” is the strongest episode of Book of Boba Fett that I’ve seen so far. Boba Fett has become a cameo in his own show since Din Djarin returned, but hopefully that will change once the battle with Cad Bane and the Pykes truly begins. Still, what this show does with the surrounding characters has been excellent, even if the past two episodes feel like The Mandalorian Season 2.5 in some respects. My hope is that Boba will reassert himself in a satisfying way, and that the remaining episodes of Book of Boba Fett will build on these last two. If the show can manage that, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will build just the right level of anticipation for Season 3 of The Mandalorian. If that proves to be the case, I’ll be here for it.
Score: 4.5/5
Director: Dave Filoni
Writers: Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni
Author Profile
- Steve Sellers had been a fan of superheroes ever since Superman: The Movie. But it took the JSA, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Dragonlance, Lord of the Rings, Twilight Zone, and Chris Claremont's legendary run on the X-Men to make him a writer and a longtime fan of comics, fantasy, and science fiction. Steve is the co-creator of WHITE DRUID & MICHAEL NERO and GUARDIANS OF ELAYIM for Omen Comics, and he is also the creator of BLITZ and SHOCKWAVE for Revelation Comics (an imprint of Omen Comics).
