After over a year of build-up, The Mandalorian spin-off The Book of Boba Fett has finally arrived, with episode one debuting on Disney Plus and showing off Boba’s (Temuera Morrison) struggle to take over as Tattooine’s new crime lord.
However, the first episode of the series also delved a little in Star Wars history, finally answering one of the biggest questions fans have been asking since the 1980s – how could Boba Fett have escaped from the Sarlacc Pit he accidentally flew in to during a battle in Return of the Jedi, where he was assumed to have been killed?
As it turns out, the answer is…fairly easily. Waking up in the monsters stomach (where he was presumably protected from the deadly acid by his Beskar steel armour), Boba soon wriggled free and used the oxygen supply of another digesting victim (a stormtrooper) to give himself a boost. Then, he just…punched through the stomach wall and let rip with his trusty flamethrower, barbecuing the Sarlacc from within.
The sequence closes with an exhausted Boba bursting from the sand around the familiar Star Wars location, having presumably clawed his way up through a hefty amount of sand. Sadly, the physical effort costs him dearly – his armour is nabbed by opportunistic Jawas, and Boba himself is captured by Tusken Raiders/Sand People to work for them as a slave.
So there you have it – one of the oldest debates between Star Wars fans, fan fiction writers and viewers in general is solved. Arguably, it’s not the most surprising way he could have broken free – who wouldn’t have gone for “shoots his way out”? – but it does fill a little gap in Star Wars canon. And Boba certainly took his lumps for that escape – it’s implied that he’s scarred by his experience physically, even through his armour.
Going forward, it’ll be interesting to see what other connections are drawn to Boba’s presence in the original trilogy of Star Wars films (does he still have it in for Han Solo, for example?) but for now, at least we can stop arguing about Sarlaccs. Assuming you were still arguing about them – it might have just been me.
The Book of Boba Fett releases new episodes on Disney Plus on Wednesdays. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.