WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the series premiere of The Book of Boba Fett, now streaming on Disney+.
The Book of Boba Fett has premiered, and with it comes the expected collection of callbacks, homages and Easter eggs. A figure as storied as Boba Fett has strong ties to earlier entries in the Star Wars franchise, and Season 1, Episode 1, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” takes full advantage of them. Life on Tatooine – both ecological and social – takes center stage, but the callbacks touch every corner of the civilized galaxy.
Here’s a breakdown of all of the franchise nods in the first episode, arranged in order of the appearance on the show.
Boba Fett Uses a Bacta Tank to Heal
Despite only being in the Sarlacc’s pit a short time, the physical damage to Boba Fett is severe. The episode opens in the inner sanctum of Jabba’s former palace, now under Fett’s control. He’s sleeping in a bacta tank, the same device used to heal Luke Skywalker after he was attacked by the wampa in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. Fett’s version has been placed on its side, allowing him to rest while medical droids attend to him.
The Book of Boba Fett Has Memories of the Clone Wars
While Fett heals in the tank, he experiences troubling dreams which serve as a fulcrum for the episode’s copious flashbacks. That includes shots of Kamino where he was first born, as well as the memory of his father Jango’s death in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. More specifically, it centers on a young Fett holding his father’s severed head in his hands. Presumably, the series will deal with the loss of Jango and its lingering effect on Boba in future episodes.
The Sarlacc's Meals are Revealed
As expected, “Stranger” covers the details of Fett’s escape from the Sarlacc. Awakening somewhere in the creature’s digestive tract, he burns his way out first by appropriating oxygen from the armor of a semi-digested stormtrooper, then using his suit’s flamethrower to sear through the creature’s side. This runs counter to previous non-canon details about his escape, covered in the short story “A Barve Like That” in the 1996 anthology Tales from Jabba’s Palace. That version showed how Fett induced the creature to contract around his jetpack, creating an explosion.
The Jawas Have a Field Day in The Book of Boba Fett
Fett emerges from the Sarlacc’s pit a short while after Luke and his friends have departed the scene. Jabba’s sail barge lies in ruins and anyone who survived has fled the scene. A group of Jawas arrives once the sun has fallen, and are presumably overjoyed to find such a giant pile of salvage. They strip Fett of his armor as well as digging into the sail barge, leaving him helpless to burn in the Tatooine suns. The Jawas later sell the armor to Cobb Vanth, who uses it to keep the town of Mos Pelgo safe, as seen in The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 9, “The Marshal.”
The Book of Boba Fett Explores the Tusken Raiders' Lifestyle
After escaping the pit, Boba’s life is spared by a band of Tusken Raiders, who take him prisoner and force him to hunt for water gourds for the tribe. The episode goes into a great deal of detail about their lives, including the way they use captives to get water for them and their habit of keeping the lizard-like massif as guard dogs. Of particular note is the way they travel single-file on their Banthas when taking Boba back to their camp, echoing Obi-Wan’s observation on the subject in Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope.
Jabba’s 8D8 Droid Makes an Appearance
In lieu of a vizier or similar figure, Fett relies on one of the palace’s resident droids to introduce various movers and shakers who have come to pay tribute to him. The droid is 8D8, first seen in Return of the Jedi torturing a GNK power droid as R2-D2 and C-3PO are pressed into Jabba’s service. According to the Databank at Starwars.com, 8D8 is a smelter droid reprogrammed for sadistic torture under Jabba’s regime. The episode suggests that he was forced into his current duties because no one else in the palace was available. Fett openly expresses the need for a proper protocol droid.
Aqualish Are Involved in the Underworld
One of the first figures to give tribute to Boba Fett is an unknown Aqualish who presents him with a box full of coins. Neither he nor Shand fully understand the creature’s speech, prompting the need for a protocol droid. The Aqualish are the first in a long line of alien non-natives who nonetheless hold an important role in Tatooine society. Though they originate off-world, they made their first memorable appearance in A New Hope when Ponda “Walrus Man” Baba lost his arm to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber.
Trandoshans Continue Their Ways in the Book of Boba Fett
The Book of Boba Fett premiere's parade of off-world aliens continues with a Trandoshan, a reptilian species made famous by the bounty hunter Bossk in The Empire Strikes Back. Star Wars: The Clone Wars developed their background extensively, especially their rivalry with the Wookiees in Season 3, Episode 22, “Wookiee Hunt.” The individual in “Stranger” is identified as Dokk Strassi, who controls Mos Espa’s city center. True to his species' reputation, he presents an unidentified pelt of fur as tribute to Boba, who notes that he used to work for Dokk not too long ago.
Twi’leks Have a Big Presence on Tatooine
Bib Fortuna was just one of many Twi’leks in Jabba’s palace, and like Aqualish and Trandoshans, they are not native to Tatooine. They have been developed at length in earlier Star Wars properties, most notably with the Rebel leader Hera Syndulla in Star Wars: Rebels. “Strangers” presents a number of them, starting with the unnamed majordomo of Mos Espa’s mayor, who arrives to exact tribute from Fett. Fett refuses, setting up a potential conflict with the city’s legitimate authorities.
Twi’leks also appear in large numbers in The Sanctuary, the establishment Fett and Shand journey to once all of the tributaries have been heard from. The establishment’s owner, Garsa Fwip, is also a Twi’lek, as are many members of her staff, and she expediently provides Fett with the tribute she used to pay Bib Fortuna.
Gamorreans Are Tougher Than They Look
Star Wars’ infamous “space pigs” got off to a rocky start in Return of the Jedi, where they were best known for being Force choked by Luke when he first entered Jabba’s palace. “Stranger” continues their rehabilitation which started in The Mandalorian. A pair of them served Bib Fortuna, but pledge themselves to Fett in exchange for their lives. The bargain pays dividends when they leap to the defense of Fett and Shand during an assassination attempt, helping the pair fight off their attackers and repaying their new lord’s mercy with loyalty.
Max Rebo Lives in The Book of Boba Fett
Max Rebo, the elephant-like keyboard player who made a splash as the bandleader in Jabba’s Palace during Return of the Jedi makes a cameo here. He apparently survived the attack on Jabba’s sail barge, and found work in Mos Espa at the Sanctuary. He’s shown playing with a new band consisting of a Bith guitarist – possibly a former member of Figrin Da'n and the Modal Nodes, the band from A New Hope -- and an astromech droid playing the drums as Fett and Shand walk into the establishment. They’re playing a variation of the Cantina theme in A New Hope.
A Star Tours Droid Is a Card Dealer
The Sanctuary includes a droid acting as a card dealer for the establishment. It’s an RX droid, best known as the less-than-reliable pilots of the passenger shuttles on the Star Tours rides at the Disney parks. It’s an extremely deep cut, but it confirms the droids status as canon, which sometimes falls into question owing to their most prominent appearance on a theme park ride rather than a movie or television show. The droids also appeared in two episodes of Rebels: Season 1, Episode 3, "Droids in Distress" and Season 2, Episode, 8 "Blood Sisters."
A Rodian Betrays Boba Fett
The Tusken Raiders' other prisoner is a red-skinned Rodian, the species made famous by Greedo’s showdown with Han Solo in A New Hope. They have played a considerable role in galactic affairs, most notably Onaconda Farr who first appeared as one of Queen Amidala’s advisors in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and went on to become a Senator in his own right in Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The unnamed red Rodian in “Stranger” proves to be more like Greedo in temperament; betraying Fett to the Tusken Raiders only to be devoured by a lizard monster shortly thereafter.
To Anchorhead and Beyond
While Fett and the Rodian dig for water under the eye of a young Tusken Raider, Fett renews his offer to help the Rodian escape. He mentions Anchorhead, which is a small outpost in the Tatooine desert with connections to larger cities like Mos Eisley that offer transport off-world. Luke Skywalker mentioned Anchorhead in A New Hope, offering to take Ben Kenobi and the droids there before the murder of his aunt and uncle induced him to join the rebellion.
Created by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett stars Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen. New episodes are available on Disney+ every Wednesday.