“The Book of Boba Fett” Episode 2’s Major New Villains, Easter Eggs, & Coolest New Character
The second episode of The Book of Boba Fett, “The Tribes of Tatooine,” delivered a slew of excellent new villains, Star Wars Easter Eggs, and the coolest Tusken Raider of all time. While this accounting isn’t even close to comprehensive, we do want to call out our favorite reveals from the episode. After setting up the return of the legendary bounty hunter (Temura Morrison) in the premiere episode, “The Tribes of Tatooine” went deep into the Star Wars canon, while simultaneously hinting at Boba’s biggest threats to come.
The Best Villains
The Twins
Boba’s nascent reign over the underworld of Tatooine is challenged by a pair of haughty, fleshy cousins of Jabba the Hutt. The Twins arrive to claim Jabba’s vacant throne, only of course it’s not vacant anymore, and Boba stands his ground and tells them if they want the throne, they’ll have to kill him first. From what we can tell, the Twins are new to the Star Wars world, but they come bearing family ties that link them to Star Wars films past. They could be related to Jabba’s uncle Ziro, who we met in The Clone Wars. They speak Jabba’s language, of course, Huttese, and they come with a very useful, very dangerous weapon…
Black Krrsantan
The Twins arrived on Tatooine with a Wookie bounty hunter named Black Krrsantan, who they bring out when Boba refuses to cede the throne. The stink-eye he gives Boba is one of the highlights of the episode, but for Boba, it’s not funny at all. Black Krrsantan has worked for both Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader, and his arrival on the scene means that Boba just gained a seriously dangerous new adversary.
The Best Easter Eggs
The Return of the Rancor
One of the most iconic beasts from the original Star Wars trilogy was the Rancor, a colossal monster that Jabba the Hutt kept beneath a trapdoor in his palace chamber and used to terrify and kill people who fell out of his favor. Well, in “The Tribes of Tatooine,” an assassin sent to kill Boba Fett is captured by Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) and brought before Boba to reveal who paid him. The assassin refuses to oblige, however, and curses Boba with “E chu ta.” This is the same nasty thing that the protocol droid E-3P0 curses C-3P0 with in Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. It turns out the assassin is part of the highly-paid, expertly trained Order of the Night Wind, known for their skills and refusal to talk to potential captors. So, Fennec triggers Jabba’s old trapdoor and voila, the assassin is dropped into the rancor pit. The ploy works and the assassin screams out that he was paid by the mayor of Mos Espa. The rancor’s cage is opened and what comes roaring at? A rat. It was a nifty trick, but here’s hoping we’ll see an actual rancor later in the series.
The Return of Star Wars: A New Hope Characters Who Never Made the Final Cut
The main thrust of “The Tribes of Tatooine” is Boba’s initiation into a tribe of the Tusken Raiders. Before he’s initiated, however, he needs to steal some speeders from a nasty biker gang terrorizing patrons at a bar. So Boba arrives at the bar, which happens to be Tosche Station from Star Wars: A New Hope, the very place that Luke complained he wasn’t able to visit. In a deleted scene from A New Hope, Luke is teased by pals named Laze “Fixer” Loneozner and Camie Marstrap, played in the film by Anthony Forrest and Koo Stark. In “The Tribes of Tatooine,” Laze and Camie get their moment, although now they’re played by Skyler Bible and Many Kowalski. These are the patrons being terrorized by the gang (we hear Camie’s name spoken) until Boba shows up and sets things straight. Thus, two long-forgotten characters get their chance to appear, and Boba gets those speeders for the episode’s big train heist.
The Coolest New Character
In the Tusken Raider flashbacks (they saved Boba after he burnt his way out of the Sarlacc Pit), Boba’s painful but prideful initiation into their tribe takes a lot of time and training. One Tusken Raider in particular trains him to fight. This Tusken Raider is particularly agile, tough, and patient as she schools Boba on how to fight their way, with their weapons. During the big train heist (the train, by the way, uses engine technology that looks exactly like what a young Annakin Skywalker built in The Phantom Menace), it’s this particular Tusken Raider who proves to be the most fearless fighter of them all. And the coolest part? The character is played by ace stunt performer Joanna Bennett. Bennett has been a stunt double for Gal Gadot in Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Wonder Woman, Karen Gillan in Avengers: Endgame, Brie Larson in Captain Marvel, Amber Heard in Aquaman, and a whole lot more. Although we never see her face, of course, considering she’s a Tusken Raider, she’s able to convey so much just with her incredible physicality. Here’s hoping we get more of Bennett’s Raider in future episodes.
Featured image: Boba Fett (Temura Morrison) in Lucasfilm’s THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.
