The Book of Boba Fett - Review

This review contains spoilers for episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett, 'The Return of the Mandalorian’, now available to view on Disney+. To remind yourself of where we left off, check out our review of The Book of Boba Fett episode 4.

Just when you thought you were watching The Book of Boba Fett, writer Jon Favreau throws in an episode of The Mandalorian to keep you up to date on Daddy Din Djarin’s movements after his forlorn farewell to Jedi padawan Grogu in the season two finale. But while Chapter Five, aptly titled “The Return of The Mandalorian,” is the first installment to not actually feature our eponymous antihero, there are a few thematic throughlines that keep the story in touch with the overarching season narrative. 

The most obvious motif is the question: who are your people? For Mando, the answer was The Tribe led by the Armorer, which he finds his way back to after a couple of cracking opening fight sequences that sees the warrior wield the Darksaber. Bryce Dallas Howard does a great job directing and visualizing the combat, which is both claustrophobic and chaotic. Din has yet to master the blade created by Mandalorian-Jedi Tarre Vizsla but its deadly, destructive power is still effective even in the hands of a novice.

That influence manifests elsewhere as, in typical Mandalorian fashion, Paz Vizsla decides to lay claim to his ancestor’s weapon by challenging Din to a duel. It’s a brutal battle – Star Wars loves nothing more than a fight on a narrow walkway – and the thrilling tension really has you questioning if Din will make it out alive let alone with the Darksaber. The fact he overpowers Paz using his swift agility with a dagger suggests he still has a long way to go in understanding how to fight with the sword rather than against it. Who knows, maybe Mando will get some lessons from new friend Ahsoka or even Luke himself. He certainly needs to find new allegiances after being cast out from the orthodox convert for removing his helmet. It’s a reminder of just how easily tribal unity fractures within the Mandalorian community even though they claim “loyalty and solidarity are the way.” 

The Armorer gives a history lesson on the political disagreements – also involving the Darksaber – that led to Mandalore’s destruction and, in keeping with both the flashback tradition of this series and its ’90s sci-fi influence, the glimpse of The Night of A Thousand Tears massacre has a strong Terminator 2: Judgment Day feel. Droids descending on the devastation adds to the ominous tone of the episode but it soon loosens up as the now outcast heads to Tatooine. 

There are some lovely comedic touches, from Mando claiming religious exemption for his weapons on a commercial flight to the quippy return of Amy Sedaris as Mos Eisley mechanic and “local gal” Peli Motto. It’s a funny reunion and fits into the series’ theme of fixing up a classic; Boba has his Bacta Tank while Mando and Peli have this Naboo starfighter to make anew. But given the already slow pacing of the series these scenes play out for far too long. It might be a nice bit of nostalgia for fans of the prequel trilogy and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, especially when Din utters the phrase “wizard”, but, friendly reminder, this is a Boba Fett series. Only having Fennec Shand showing up for the final minute and Boba not at all means this episode serves more as a set up for The Mandalorian season three than progressing the plot of the current series. Maybe I’m just impatient, but given there are only seven chapters of The Book of Boba Fett, dedicating an entire episode to Mando seems rather indulgent. 

But hey, it’s a great episode of The Mandalorian and Pedro Pascal has turned helmet acting into an artform in and of itself. You can feel the fatherly love for Grogu emanating from his voice and posture at nearly every moment, as well as the melancholy he suffers because of their separation. If the way Din tilted his head down after observing a young child didn’t pull at your heartstrings, his wistful stare at the Grogu-shaped wrap gift of Beskar rings for his foundling son certainly did.