Star Wars: 10 Major Mandalorian Plot Points In The Book Of Boba Fett

Critics and Star Wars fans alike had a mixed response to The Book of Boba Fett. Some aspects were praised, like Temuera Morrison’s performance, while others were criticized, like the disjointed pacing. Then, in the show’s fifth episode, “Return of the Mandalorian,” audiences were baffled when The Book of Boba Fett turned into a completely different show.

Din Djarin was expected to make a cameo appearance in The Book of Boba Fett, but he ended up taking over as the new series lead. As a result, Mandalorian fans had to watch Book of Boba Fett to get a bunch of crucial Mando plot points like his return to bounty-hunting and his reunion with Grogu.

10Din Djarin Is Banished From The Mandalorian Religion

One of the Mandalorian plot turns in The Book of Boba Fett is so momentous that when the Mandalorian returns in The Mandalorian, he won’t be a Mandalorian anymore. In the first Mando-centric Boba Fett episode, Mando meets with the Armorer and ends up admitting that he removed his helmet.

The Armorer tells him, “You are a Mandalorian no more.” So, the Mandalorian has been kicked out of the Mandalorian religion (and it didn’t even happen in The Mandalorian).

9Wielding The Darksaber

In The Mandalorian’s season 2 finale, Mando accidentally acquired the Darksaber – and, with it, the right to rule Mandalore – from Moff Gideon. Star Wars fans got to see Mando’s first Darksaber action in the opening scene of “Return of the Mandalorian.”

Mando’s early attempts to fight with the Darksaber are hilariously ungraceful. The blade is too heavy and Mando occasionally burns himself with it while he’s fending off enemy combatants.

8Moff Gideon Is Under Interrogation

The season finale of The Mandalorian left the fate of Giancarlo Esposito’s villainous Moff Gideon ambiguous (although it seemed likely that he’d be arrested by the New Republic).

Mando tells the Armorer and Paz Vizsla that Moff Gideon has indeed been arrested by the New Republic and he’s being interrogated in prison. This is just some off-hand exposition – the moff himself doesn’t actually appear – but it sets up a crucial development in the Imperial Remnants storyline.

7The Destruction Of Mandalore

Throughout The Mandalorian’s first two seasons, Mando and his Mandalorian cohorts have dropped a few hints about the tragic history of Mandalore. But The Book of Boba Fett visualizes that tragedy with a harrowing flashback.

This is an integral sequence filling out the Mandalorians’ backstory, providing key context for understanding what it means for Din Djarin to potentially rule Mandalore.

6Mando Gets A New Ship

In the last season of The Mandalorian, Mando’s beloved cargo ship – the Razor Crest – was destroyed by the Imperial Remnants. When he’s introduced in The Book of Boba Fett, he still hasn’t replaced his ship and he’s commuting between bounties via interstellar bus.

In the second act of the episode, Mando works with arguably his closest Tatooinian friend, Peli Motto, to fix up an old N-1 starfighter to replace the Razor Crest.

5Luke Trains Grogu

In The Mandalorian’s second-season finale, Luke Skywalker took Grogu under his wing as a new apprentice. After months of speculation about whether Luke training Grogu would be depicted in The Mandalorian, it happened in The Book of Boba Fett. These scenes are a fun inversion of Yoda training Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, but the computer-generated de-aged uncanny-valley Luke might not be able to withstand a full supporting role (the effects already looked a little shaky in his Mandalorian cameo).

It was great to see Grogu engaging in some Jedi action, even in a training exercise. He’s shown to be quicker and more agile here than audiences have ever seen him before.

4How Grogu Survived Order 66

Yet another crucial flashback sequence crammed into The Book of Boba Fett is Grogu’s experience of the Great Jedi Purge. Ahsoka had already teased that Grogu was being trained as a padawan at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant when Anakin Skywalker and his army of Stormtroopers slaughtered the entire order.

In a Book of Boba Fett flashback sequence, a frightened Grogu can be seen sitting in a baby carrier while a handful of other surviving Jedi Knights fend off gunfire from the turncoat clones.

3Grogu Would Rather Be A Mandalorian Foundling Than A Jedi

In the penultimate episode of The Book of Boba Fett, Luke presents his new apprentice with a tough decision. He can either take Yoda’s lightsaber, continue training as a Jedi, and probably never see the Mandalorian again, or take Mando’s gift of beskar chainmail and return to his care. The beginning of the Boba Fett finale reveals he made the obvious decision to return to Mando.

The bombshell plot developments in The Mandalorian’s season 2 finale suggested that the show would never be the same again with radical, game-changing twists and an immense feeling of closure. As it turns out, the show has gone back to its status quo before season 3 has even begun.

2Grogu Shows Off His New Force Powers

The Mandalorian has never shied away from showing off Grogu’s impressive Force abilities. It’s already been well-established that he can throw Stormtroopers around a room and hold mudhorns in mid-air with the wave of his little green hand.

But in The Book of Boba Fett, he shows off how much he’s learned after just a few lessons under Luke’s tutelage. In the Boba Fett finale, he puts the rancor to sleep like Ann Darrow calming down King Kong.

1Mando’s Reunion With Grogu

In the midst of The Book of Boba Fett’s climactic battle sequence, with a rancor on the loose and the Pykes firing from all directions, Mando is surprised to bump into Grogu, who flew all the way to Tatooine to reunite with his helmeted father figure. Grogu jumps up and gives Mando a big hug.

It’s a really sweet moment – but it shouldn’t have been in the spin-off; it’s momentous enough that it should’ve taken place in the flagship series. Mando’s reunion with Grogu feels like an afterthought jammed into the final battle of The Book of Boba Fett.