'The Mandalorian' Season 2: How Boba Fett's return was perfectly set up despite death in 'Return of the Jedi'
Spoilers for 'The Mandalorian' Season 2 Episode 1 'The Marshal'
Boba Fett is, for reasons unknown, one of the most popular and undefined characters to come out of the original trilogy. Despite his minimal appearance, he was popular enough with the fans for 'Star Wars' to place him front and center in its vast mythology by making his father Jango Fett (Temeurra Morrison) the template for the clone army that began the clone wars and ultimately ended the Jedi. In this episode, he finally made his first unmasked live-action appearance - and the episode did a great job of setting it up.
The Beskar steel-clad bounty hunter Boba Fett appeared to have died in 'Return of the Jedi', but this episode, through various clues and throwaway comments, revealed just how he was able to survive and provides some inklings as to what happened to him afterward. While tracking down the Dragon of the Dune Seas, the Sand People help the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) find the Dragon's lair - an abandoned Sarlacc Pit. 'Star Wars' fans will immediately recognize the reference - the Sarlaccs are large creatures who form a pit in the desert, devouring everything that falls into it and digesting it slowly over, it is claimed, a thousand years.
The Sand People tell the Mandalorian that the only reason this Sarlacc Pit is abandoned is the fact that it was killed - by the Dragon, most likely - and its corpse devoured. This might explain just how Boba Fett survived. If the Dragon interrupted the Sarlacc's digestive process after Fett fell in, he would have been able to escape. However, it appears that he would have had to leave his armor behind - alternatively, he might have been able to crawl out but was too weak to resist the Jawas who stripped it off of his body. Either way, his armor was taken by the Jawas, who then traded it to Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) - who managed to put the armor to good use afterward.
Of course, all this ended up being a bit of a red herring for the Mandalorian himself, who was on the lookout for another Mandalorian to help him find a home for the Child. The show's Boba Fett tease was absolutely a bait-and-switch for those who haven't read the 'Star Wars: Aftermath' novels, revealing non-Mandalorian Cobb Vanth to be underneath the helmet. However, in the final moments of the show, we see none other than a man played Temeurra Morrison looking out from the desert - and there's no doubt that this is Boba Fett himself, given that Morrison played Boba's clone father from several decades earlier in 'Star Wars' canon.
Boba Fett is likely to be a big part of at least one upcoming episode - especially given that the Mandalorian has his armor - and the show has done an excellent job of setting up the stage for his return.
The next episode of 'The Mandalorian' airs November 6, on Disney+.