At the beginning of its run, the title character of The Book of Boba Fett was the de facto series lead. For the first four episodes, the series jumped between Boba’s present-day takeover of Tatooine’s criminal underworld and the backstory of how he escaped from the Sarlacc Pit and became a more sympathetic figure.
But in the fifth episode, aptly titled “Return of the Mandalorian,” Din “The Mandalorian” Djarin took over as the series lead. From wielding the Darksaber to reuniting with Grogu, Mando stole the spotlight in The Book of Boba Fett.
When He Literally Took Over As The Series Lead
The most obvious way that Mando stole the show in The Book of Boba Fett was by literally stealing the show in “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian.” This isn’t a Boba Fett episode with a Mando cameo; it’s a Mandalorian episode crammed into Boba Fett’s run.
“Return of the Mandalorian” might as well be The Mandalorian’s season 3 premiere. This meant that Mandalorian fans couldn’t get away with skipping The Book of Boba Fett, because they’d be lost going into The Mandalorian’s next season after Boba Fett’s bombshell plot developments.
When He Wielded The Darksaber
In the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, Mando unwittingly acquired the Darksaber from Moff Gideon in combat. This meant that he was technically the new ruler of Mandalore, a position that Bo-Katan was hoping to claim, so she could be a villain in season 3.
When he returned to bounty-hunting in The Book of Boba Fett, Mando wielded the Darksaber. But he’s still getting used to it. He burns his leg because the blade is too heavy. This Darksaber action was pure fan service.
When He Fought Paz Vizsla
After slaughtering a bounty and his cronies in a meat locker, Mando pays a visit to the Armorer and her burly Mandalorian sidekick, Paz Vizsla. This scene provides the shocking plot turn that Mando is “a Mandalorian no more,” banished from the religion for removing his helmet.
Vizsla fights Mando for the Darksaber so that he can rightfully take the throne of Mandalore like Mando did from Gideon. This fight sequence – suspended over the vacuum of space – is one of the episode’s most thrilling action scenes.
When He Took His New Ship Out For A Joyride
The titular tragedy in The Mandalorian episode “Chapter 14: The Tragedy” was the abduction of Grogu by the Imperial Remnants. But a close second is the tragic destruction of Mando’s beloved cargo ship, the Razor Crest.
In The Book of Boba Fett, he’s shown to be taking the intergalactic bus from bounty to bounty. He finally gets a new ship – a souped-up N-1 starfighter – and takes it for a spin. He even quotes nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker: “Wizard!”
When He Made A Gift For Grogu
Nothing melts Star Wars fans’ hearts like the father-son relationship shared by the Mandalorian and Grogu. It was heartbreaking when Grogu left Mando behind to train as a Jedi under Luke Skywalker’s tutelage. In The Book of Boba Fett, Mando makes Grogu a gift: chainmail armor made out of beskar steel.
Luke presents the kid with a Lone Wolf and Cub-style choice: take Yoda’s lightsaber and become a Jedi, or take Mando’s armor and become a Mandalorian.
When He Visited Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy
After he was banished from the Mandalorian religion and wielded the Darksaber in the fifth episode, the sixth episode of The Book of Boba Fett continued to burn through massive Mandalorian plot points as Mando took a trip to Luke Skywalker’s Jedi academy to visit Grogu.
This narrative detour explored the construction of Luke’s academy, the wisdom he’s imparting to Grogu, and all the Jedi skills that Grogu has learned while training under Luke.
When He Chatted To Ahsoka Tano
There were a bunch of fan-service cameos in The Book of Boba Fett. Audiences were expecting Mando to appear. At a stretch, maybe Grogu would appear, and if he did, his new master Luke would probably appear with him. But on top of all those cameos, Rosario Dawson’s live-action Ahsoka Tano appeared, too.
Ahead of her own spin-off series, Ahsoka goes to Luke’s Jedi academy to talk about her relationship with Anakin. She assures Mando that Luke is the right teacher for Grogu, not her.
When He Recruited Cobb Vanth
After taking the spotlight for the entire fifth episode and the first half of the sixth episode, Mando finally joined Boba’s storyline on Tatooine in the second half. Boba needs more gunfighters, so Mando sets off to recruit Cobb Vanth.
Although Vanth turns down the offer, it was a joy to see Timothy Olyphant reprise his Mandalorian role as the marshal (especially since it led into the mind-blowing live-action debut of none other than Cad Bane).
When He Teamed Up With Boba In The Final Battle
As usual, The Book of Boba Fett’s storylines came together with a big climactic battle sequence. Boba and his hired muscle team up to take on the Pyke Syndicate and their own hired muscle on the streets of Tatooine.
The Power Rangers-style cyborg bikers drag this sequence down, but it’s always great to see a gun-toting Din Djarin in action – especially alongside his armor-clad predecessor.
When He Reunited With Grogu
In The Book of Boba Fett finale, Grogu flies to Tatooine, showing that he chose Mando’s chainmail gift over Luke’s lightsaber gift (and, by extension, chose to be a Mandalorian foundling over being a Jedi apprentice). When he finally reunites with Mando, Grogu jumps up and gives him a big hug.
The wrap-up of Boba and Fennec’s storyline feels like an afterthought as the finale’s closing moments focus on Mando and Grogu’s continuing space adventures.