By Huw Fullerton

Published: Wednesday, 09 February 2022 at 12:00 am

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Welcome back to The Mandalorian season three…no, wait, sorry, The Book of Boba Fett…as we head towards the grand(ish) finale.

Yes, it’s fair to say that the last couple of episodes have been more interested in that OTHER helmeted Disney Plus bounty hunter (the one that sounds like Pedro Pascal), with poor old Boba barely speaking two lines as we grind towards his last clash with the Pyke syndicate. But who knows? With one last episode to wrap everything up, this could be where Boba finally gets to become the hero of his own story.

For this week’s episode we’ll be following all the twists and turns of the action, reacting in real time to what happens as soon as the new instalment drops on Disney Plus at 8:00AM GMT. And after the penultimate episode included cameos from Luke Skywalker, Ahsoka, Cobb Vanth, Cad Bane AND Grogu (aka Baby Yoda), it’s safe to say we’re hoping for even more familiar faces this time round. Check below for the latest updates!

09.14am:

Now, of course, the big question is whether there might be a Book of Boba Fett season two.

Based on how this episode ends, I’d say it could go either way. Boba has successfully “gone straight” and fought off bad guys, and become the beloved crime boss he’d always wanted to be. The story could end there (there are no loose ends) but the show also assembles a clear cast of colleagues around Boba (Krrsantan, the mods) hinting that perhaps we could see more of these characters.

And of course, there’s the Cobb Vanth of it all. Presumably, his recovery could be covered in The Mandalorian season three or another Star Wars series, but we suppose it’s possible that Boba will play a part in it – after all, Cobb is in HIS bacta tank.

09.11am:

So with the series in the rearview mirror, what are our thoughts?

Overall I’m giving it a considered “meh”. True, there were a couple of good episodes in there…but they were episodes of The Mandalorian where Boba barely featured. And yes this final episode was an action spectacular with plenty of cool scenes I’m sure I’ll enjoy revisiting (especially when I’m not writing it all up live), but I didn’t really care enough about (most of) the characters to make it all seem worthwhile.

09.04am:

I guess those rumours about Emilia Clarke or Samuel L Jackson turning up weren’t true. Admittedly they did seem like a long shot, but we had CAD BANE in live-action, so it seemed like bets are off really.

08.55am:

Post-credits scene! Looks like Cobb Vanth is still alive after all, and about to get some modifications…guess we’ll be seeing some more of Timothy Olyphant in the Star Wars Disney Plus universe.

Might have expected some more teases for what’s next, to be honest…

08:52am:

Finally, Boba’s getting some respect – and he’s still not happy. The Wookiee gets a medal, and nobody else, in a neat reversal…

But all we really care about is Baby Yoda getting to sit in his little seat in the Naboo starfighter, and bullying his dad into doing zoomies.

08.50am:

Hey, remember that Fennec was heading off to take out the Syndicate bosses? it took her so long that she basically doesn’t need to bother any more, but here she is anyway.

The Pykes were about to give up on Tatooine anyway and head off-world, but just in case they got any ideas about coming back…well, they’ll probably get the message. Same goes for the traitorous crime families.

08.48am:

Huh, turns out unleashing a massive monster on Tatooine wasn’t the best idea as it’s now destroying Mos Espa. As Boba moons around thinking about old times, presumably, Mando tries to get it under control…unsuccessfully.

Luckily, Grogu is here to step in and use a Jedi mind trick…or rather, animal friendship…and everyone survived.

08.46am:

Boba vs Cad…to be honest, I forgot he was still kicking around! Anyway, after a bit of macho posturing Cad managed to beat him in a shoot-out and lay out some lessons…until Boba’s Tusken Raider training kicked in for a bit of old-fashioned stick fighting.

If you’re confused at all by this pair’s backstory, Cad basically took Boba under his wing after his father died, as seen in The Clone Wars animated series – you can check out that storyline in the show on Disney Plus.

08.40am:

OK, now after some fireworks they’ve taken down the other droid too. The Pykes are on the run! Who knew Rancors made such effective war machines?

Or rather, were effective until Cad Bane shot a bit of fire in their faces.

08.36am:

OK, they’ve taken away one gun and the forcefield from the big droid, but it’s still dangerous…until Grogu uses the force to injure one of its legs a little bit. Cool, I guess?

08.34am:

Awh, Grogu jumped up to give Mando a hug! That was genuinely quite cute. Anyway the boys are back together, albeit under challenging circumstances.

Ah, of course Boba is riding the Rancor into battle…that makes a lot of sense. Should have seen it coming.

08.32am:

Mando is distracting one of the droid things, while Boba goes off somewhere to (presumably) rally some Tusken Raiders to his cause.

And now Peli Motto is here to add some comedy fun. Sure, you can’t hear him warn you…but didn’t you see the big towers of smoke and hear the blaster fire?

08.28am:

OK, they fought off some of the Pykes but now they’ve sent in absolutely massive Destroyer Droid-like robots, with big forcefields and no handy Jedi nearby to help fight them off.

I mean, if I were the Pykes I’d have sent those in straight away…could have saved a lot of lives. They’re not even scratching them so far.

08.24am:

Gasp, you mean the people of Freetown DID did come and rescue Boba/Mando in their hour of need? You astonish me…

Turns out that murdering the beloved boss of a whole town isn’t the best way to get them to back off. Also the mods are now here doing their thing, and Krrsantan survived too!

08.21am:

Predictably, the offer Boba gave to the Pykes is “nothing – you will leave this planet and your spice trade.” in flowery language, he says the arid sands of Tatooine will flower with their blood, etc.

All an excuse to have a double jet pack shoot-off from our Mandalorian friends. Hurray! Looks very cool.

Disney Plus

08.18am:

Mando is sticking with Boba anyway, because of his creed. Also he’s just a nice fella.

“OK then – we’ll both die in the name of honour.” I’m glad the mayor’s assistant stopped a downer of an ending.

08.16am:

It’s a trap! Love that I can use that unironically.

Anyway, turns out the other crime families didn’t hold up their non-aggression pact, and have attacked all of Boba’s forces. I genuinely feel quite sad for those poor loyal Gamorrean guards!

Fennec managed to save the mods, though Krrsantan didn’t seem to be so lucky.

08.12am:

I’m quite enjoying this tête-à-tête, but not quite sure why Cad Bane is influencing Fett to be even more annoyed at the Pykes. I guess to force him into a fight? Boba manages not to rise to it anyway.

“You’re going soft in your old age.” Has Cad Bane been watching the series?

8.09am:

Man, the mods with their little floating bikes really are quite lame aren’t they? Anyway, Boba and his pals have all avenues covered.

But Cad Bane has come along regardless to do some menacing. And he is pretty menacing, to be fair.

8.07am:

Did Grogu fly an X-Wing by himself? He is a little toddler!

OK, even if R2-D2 flew the ship Luke is still a Very Bad guardian.

Clearly, Grogu picked the Mandalorian shirt over the old lightsaber – he’s come to Pelli Motto (Amy Sedaris) to find his dad (aka the Mandalorian).

Was that a little dig over the controversy about Grogu’s name in The Mandalorian season two? “Terrible name…I’m not calling you that.” Sounds familiar!

8.05am:

Clone Wars baddie Cad Bane is kicking back in live-action again, with his cool voice and nice hat. The Mayor has some buyers’ remorse about his deal with him and the Pyke syndicate, it seems.

Also, did we know the Pykes killed the Tusken Raiders? It seemed fairly obvious as they said it but not sure if it was supposed to be a twist or not…

8.02am:

Alas, The Sanctuary was the first casualty of the war – here’s hoping Max Rebo managed to escape again.

Man, Boba really is not into being a crime lord. Now he’s scrapped the “spice” trade because he thinks it’d be nicer. Maybe he should have just tried to be Mr Mayor.

Anyway some pointless argument going on about which building they wait for reinforcements in.

7.59am:

The episode’s here! And an HOUR long, jeez. Looks like we’ll have a lot to get through.

Little recap reminds us of the general set-up of the conflict. Pykes vs Boba and pals, basically.

7:49am:

It’s funny to look back at complaints about how little Boba’s story moved forward in the first four episodes – little did we know that those were the glory days for Temuera Morrison’s bounty hunter, before he was sidelined entirely within his own show.

Overall, it’ll be interesting to see the shape of this series as a whole once the dust (or Tatooine sand) settles. Was it really just a stopgap between seasons of The Mandalorian, or was there a story to be told here as well?

Either way, we’ll have our answers soon.

7:30am:

After some decidedly Mando-heavy episodes, will this week’s finale be Fett to burst? That’s what we’re asking ourselves as The Book of Boba Fett gets ready to kick off its endgame.

Also, expect more cameos, intense action and (hopefully) teases for what’s next in the live-action Star Wars world. From what we’re heard, Mando and Boba are just the beginning…

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