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When Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) finally returned to the Star Wars universe for The Mandalorian on Disney+, it had been more than a decade since the character's last appearance in live-action (where a younger version was played by Daniel Logan for Episode II — Attack of the Clones, with Morrison playing the role of Boba's "father" Jango Fett), not to mention the years in-universe where the clone and bounty hunter had been presumed dead after falling into the Sarlacc pit during the events of Return of the Jedi. A post-credit scene for The Mandalorian Season 2, however, revealed that Boba Fett would be getting his own spinoff series, paired up with his trusty Master Assassin Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), who had herself experienced something of a resurrection after seemingly dying in the first season.
The Book of Boba Fett is Star Wars' latest streaming venture on Disney+ and wastes no time in revealing what happened after the post-credits scene at the end of The Mandalorian's Season 2 finale — but the first episode titled "Chapter 1: Stranger In a Strange Land" finally dives deep into the question that fans have been wondering since the character's survival was confirmed: How exactly did Boba survive his seemingly doomed fate in the Sarlacc pit on Tatooine?
How Did He Get There?
Boba Fett first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back as an adversary to the heroic trio of the original films. A bounty hunter wearing Mandalorian armor, he sought to collect the bounty on Han Solo (Harrison Ford) that had been set by Tatooine's crime lord, Jabba the Hutt.
The clone doesn't seemingly meet his maker (well, not his actual maker) until Return of the Jedi. When Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and Han Solo are sentenced to execution via the Sarlacc, a carnivorous creature that lives in a pit and is able to keep its victims alive but essentially paralyzed for at least 1000 years as it digests them. When the prisoners (including Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia) unsurprisingly fight back, Solo knocks into Fett's jetpack, unwittingly sending him into the Sarlacc's mouth.
How Does He Escape?
The following sequence of events is revealed in The Book of Boba Fett via dream sequence while Boba Fett heals in a Bacta tank after he and Shand have assumed control over Jabba's now-abandoned palace on Tatooine. (It's not the first instance that we've seen a character make use of these restorative devices; Luke Skywalker used one to heal from injuries he sustained in Empire Strikes Back, while Darth Vader [James Earl Jones] similarly used a tank to meditate without his life support systems.) While in the tank, Fett flashes back to his past, and finally to the belly of the Sarlacc where he initially comes to.
Discovering a dead stormtrooper shortly thereafter, Boba gets a first-hand look at his potential fate. Their suit is eroded and it appears that they've been in the creature's stomach for some time, the soldier having been partially digested by the Sarlacc. Fett struggles to breathe at first, but despite the beginnings of the Sarlacc's neurotoxins taking their effects, he manages to break off the Stormtrooper's oxygen to use it for himself.
Fett also activates a flamethrower gauntlet which burns an opening through the Sarlacc's belly, enabling him to claw his way through this hole and push up through the hot sands of the planet — perhaps the most memorable scene of the episode. But even if Fett is able to escape, his journey doesn't get much easier as the rest of "Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land" details the immediate aftermath of his escape, including the theft of his Mandalore armor by Jawas and his capture by Tusken Raiders that serves as an interesting insight into their culture.
Although Boba Fett's tenacity proves remarkable and he makes his way from Sarlacc dinner to the newest crime lord of Tatooine, his escape is only a small part of the legendary character. His survival raises more questions than it answers, ones that The Book of Boba Fett looks to explore as it jumps between his past via his Bacta dreams and his present as he attempts to assert control and order with his newfound position.