‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Finale: Boba & Friends Do Battle for Mos Espa (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett Season 1 Episode 7, “In The Name of Honor.”]
In The Book of Boba Fett’s final episode (of Season 1, at least), Boba (Temuera Morrison) and his pals go to war against the Pyke Syndicate on the Mos Espa streets. There’s plenty of action, explosions, a huge death, and even an appearance from everyone’s favorite big-eyed, big-eared, green alien. Here’s how it happens.
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Boba and his friends decide to hole up in the remains of Garsa’s (Jennifer Beals) Sanctuary, because, as Drash (Sophie Thatcher) says, “The people need protection.” It’s there that they receive a visit from Cad Bane (Corey Reed), who drops a shocking truth on Boba: The Pykes, not the speeder gang, were responsible for the deaths of his Tusken family. He almost succeeds in getting Boba to duel him, but Fennec (Ming-Na Wen) advises caution, and Boba falls back.
Across the city, things go south for Boba’s forces. The crime families of Mos Espa have not, in fact, remained neutral — the mods, Krrsantan and the guards are all attacked. Hearing this, Fennec goes to attack the Pykes at their headquarters in hopes of “cutting the head off” the Syndicate, while Boba and Mando (Pedro Pascal) stay behind, and the Sanctuary gets surrounded. Boba gives Mando an out, saying he can leave. Din holds firm to the Mandalorian Creed: “I’m with you until we both fall.” This is the way!
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Using the mayor’s majordomo as a distraction, Mando and Boba strike the Pykes and manage to take down quite a few of them. But, after a valiant effort, they realize there are just too many. Thankfully, it’s at that exact moment that the people of Freetown show up, and the mods, and Krrsantan, and for a bit, that turns the tide.
Then the group runs into some problems, in the form of several deadly Scorpenek droids. Because they have shields, shooting at ‘em — or as Boba finds out, launching a rocket at ‘em — does no good. Realizing they need further reinforcements, Boba soars away, asking Din to protect their forces. And in the midst of doing just that, Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) appears. Earlier in the episode, R2-D2 and Grogu showed up at her shop; Grogu chose the chainmail armor, so he’s okay to go back with his dad rather than staying at Jedi training. So much for that being resolved in Season 3!
Din hops aboard Peli’s speeder, where she reveals Grogu is with her. They have a sweet reunion — Din hugs him, awwwww! — before the speeder explodes, courtesy of a blast from the droid, and they go flying. Things look bleak, but then, in what’s probably the coolest thing Boba’s had to do all season, he arrives on the rancor. He and the rancor damage the droid’s shield and Mando slips past it to cut off one of the scorpion’s limbs, Grogu uses the Force to further destabilize it, and the rancor kills it once and for all.
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Elsewhere, the people of Freetown and the mods are still fighting the other droid. They develop a plan, but really, all they need is Boba and his rancor. He destroys the last droid, and the Pykes are on the run. But then, Cad Bane shows up. He and Boba have the duel they were always destined to have, and Cad taunts him about “going soft” and abandoning his Tusken family. At one point, Bane appears to have him beat; then Boba strikes back with his gaffi stick… and stabs Cad. “I knew you were a killer,” he says, and then he dies.
Since Cad knocked Boba off the rancor, the beast is running free and causing havoc throughout the streets of Mos Espa. Din tries to distract it and nearly ends up becoming its dinner, but again, thankfully, Grogu is on hand to use Force Calm and put it to sleep. Good job, Grogu! Far from there, Fennec kills the Pyke leader, the mayor and the heads of the crime families that betrayed Boba. The battle is over.
After, the joyful citizens of Mos Espa bow to Boba and offer him gifts, which he graciously, if awkwardly, accepts. “We are not suited for this,” he notes to Fennec, who responds, “If not us, then who?” It appears that Boba and Fennec will be staying on Tatooine to rule, while Mando and Grogu soar away off to The Mandalorian’s third season.
A post-credits scene reveals Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) in Boba’s bacta tank, where the mod who saved Fennec (again played by Thundercat) prepares to work on him.
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Other Observations
- This was… fine. There was plenty of action, at least, and Boba riding the rancor was cool. But I can’t help pondering all the things that never really came back around; Boba’s bacta tank dreams about his father and Kamino, the warrior and child Tuskens (guess they were really dead?), the Hutt twins, etc.
- No Crimson Dawn, no Han Solo (Harrison Ford) or Ben Solo, no mentions of Omega, no acknowledgement that Fennec and Cad fought each other, no Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson), no Bossk, no Dengar. Much like Wandavision’s finale, this episode tanked a ton of fan theories. (I, personally, am mourning the lost potential of a Crimson Dawn tie-in for a second season.)
- I refuse to believe Cad Bane is dead. If Cobb Vanth can get saved via bacta tank, so can he. Plus, he’s too cool to die.
- The best moment of the episode was, in my opinion, Cad and Boba’s standoff. It was tense, and it offered some development for Boba, some nods to his past and a reminder of who he can still be. I wish this show had more of that. For a show about Boba Fett, it never delved all that deeply into his history, his trauma, his motivations or what drove him beyond surface-level explanations. Fennec got even less, unfortunately, despite being Boba’s second-in-command — and what a bummer that she was gone for most of this episode.
- Am I alone in wishing this episode didn’t feature Grogu in such a key role? Wait, hear me out! I’m okay with Din getting his adoptive son back… I just wish it had been saved for The Mandalorian’s third season. For a show called The Book of Boba Fett, its final three episodes felt more like they were about Din, Grogu and their story. Well, maybe Boba can have a standalone episode in Season 3.
- Rating: 3.5/5. “In The Name of Honor” was intense, but it was plagued by many of the same problems as the rest of the season — clunky dialogue, characters making silly decisions to move the plot forward, and slight character development.
The Book of Boba Fett, all episodes now streaming, Disney+
