It's been a while since The Book of Boba Fett ended, and, while the consensus is that it could've been better, it still has some pretty cool moments. The series as a whole was indeed a little confusing, lost in an attempt to tie diverging parts of the Star Wars universe instead of focusing on its own story. When it did so, it shined. That's the case of its sixth episode, "From the Desert Comes a Stranger". With a deeply chaotic structure, it's the perfect example of what could have made the series great, while also sporting blaring evidence of why it's so confusing.

"From the Desert Comes a Stranger" is set in three different locations: the small town of Mos Pelgo in Tatooine, the Jedi Academy in Ossus, and Jabba the Hutt's Castle, also in Tatooine. The Mos Pelgo storyline is divided into two small parts, one shown at the beginning of the episode and the other at the end - and it's also the best part of the episode, easily making it one of the best pieces of Star Wars television. Despite not featuring Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) – he wasn't the focus even on his own show, poor guy – it leads directly into the main plot, while also bringing back fan-favorite characters and drawing heavily on the original franchise's influences.

This Episode Is the Series Remembering It’s About Space Mafia

Timothy Olyphant featured
Image via Disney+

"From the Desert Comes a Stranger" begins in the outskirts of Mos Pelgo, among its moisture vaporators, as a group of Pykes hauling spice. It's not a lot, just a camtono, but it's enough to draw the attention of Marshal Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant). He intervenes and, in the middle of negotiations, shows the outlaws why he's the quickest draw this side of the Dune Sea, killing three of them and leaving only one to run back to Mos Espa. A while later, he gets a visit from his friend, the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal/Brendan Wayne/Lateef Crowder), who warns him of the danger the Pykes pose to Tatooine and how Boba Fett needs his help to get rid of them. Vanth promises to do his best to convince the people of Mos Pelgo - now rebranded as Freetown - but, before he can do so, he is challenged to a duel and shot by Cad Bane (Corey Burton), this being not only retaliation for earlier but also a show of force by the Syndicate. They know their line of business is consolidated through strength, and you have to show it to believe it.

Before becoming something like The Mandalorian Season 2.5, The Book of Boba Fett was really supposed to be a mafia show in a sci-fi Western setting, which sounds awesome. Since Jabba the Hutt's demise in Return of the Jedi, Tatooine's underworld has been left in a power vacuum, with no local gangster being able to fill it. For Boba Fett, that's the ideal opportunity to leave his life of servitude behind and start being the one calling the shots, but, since chaos loves a vacuum, he's not the only one to have had the idea of filling it. Soon, the Pyke Syndicate arrives in Mos Espa to expand their galactic-wide operation, with a huge contingent of soldiers and mercenaries to fight for them.

The Freetown sequence is interesting because is one of the few moments the show actually makes an effort to bring a little more depth to its plot. The two scenes with Cobb Vanth perfectly capture the idea of the power struggle in Tatooine. After he dispatches the Pykes in the beginning, he gets a visit from Mando, who asks for his help. The citizens of Freetown are not sympathetic to the idea, but their Marshal promises his friend to do what he can. The town was founded by former slaves of Jabba the Hutt, so no one there is eager to join any fight right now. When Mando leaves, however, the Pykes' enforcer arrives in town: Cad Bane. He kills the local deputy and wounds Cobb Vanth, making clear that, should the people of Freetown not pick a side, the Pykes would pick one for them.

Jennifer Beals as Garsa Fwip in The Book of Boba Fett
Image via Disney+

This is a recurring topic in gang and mafia stories: how innocent people always end up paying for conflicts between mobsters. Although Boba Fett's approach to the businesses in Mos Espa is indeed confusing — he should've really decided between being a ruthless crime lord or a paid protector before setting up shop — it's in the fringes that these things can really get bloody. The sort of protection he offers Madam Garsa Fwip (Jennifer Beals), for example, is never presented to Freetown, and they are easily subject to a character like Cad Bane taking away the only person that protects them in retaliation for a few dead goons. Not only is Cobb Vanth shot and nearly killed for Boba Fett's sluggish indecision, but Garsa Fwip is also killed in her Sanctuary bar in a bomb attack by the Pykes. There's no being on the fence when you deal with the mafia. Despite being a galaxy class hitman, Boba Fett is clearly out of his element against the Pykes.

RELATED: 'The Book of Boba Fett' Actually Makes 'Return of the Jedi' Worse

The Episode Draws Directly From Original ‘Star Wars’ Influences

Cad Bane in The Book of Boba Fett
Image via Lucasfilm

It's no secret that Star Wars is hugely influenced by classic Westerns and samurai movies, which are, in essence, very similar genres. Three very common tropes to them are the defenseless village in the middle of nowhere, the lone lawman trying to maintain justice by himself, and the stranger who arrives to wreak havoc on a small peaceful community. They are all present in "From the Desert Comes a Stranger", and are wonderfully conducted.

The episode is directed by Dave Filoni, who's seen by most fans as the natural heir to franchise creator George Lucas. The duel between Cobb Vanth and Cad Bane is an example of Filoni's vision as a filmmaker: back then, he was still transitioning from animation directing to live-action, and seems to be quickly picking up the trade. The scene is heavy with tension, taking its time to let it build up to the climax. We were reminded at the beginning of the episode of how quick Cobb Vanth is on the draw, taking out three Pykes before they could even think. Now, though, he's met someone quicker, in Cad Bane.

Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka in The Mandalorian
Image via Disney+

Filoni had already directed a very similar sequence in The Mandalorian Season 2, when in the episode "The Jedi" we see both Mando being quicker on the draw than mercenary Lang (Michael Biehn), and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) challenging Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) to a duel. The first is a typical Western scene, while the second is straight out of samurai movies, but they have both the same structure and tension.

Filoni brings all this experience to the duel between Cobb Vanth and Cad Bane, which starts in typical Western fashion with just a blurred silhouette visible far away. The Duros gunslinger, almost a blue version of Lee Van Cleef's Angel Eyes in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, doesn't introduce himself, he just states his business in cryptic fashion and doesn't even care to show his eyes initially, that's how little he cares about Freetown. He only raises his eyes when talking about Boba Fett, his nemesis, Cobb Vanth only an obstacle on his way to the new daimyo. When these two storylines clash, the weight is all there, and you don't even have to know about Cad Bane beforehand to feel it. The only thing that's truly missing is an Ennio Morricone theme playing in the background.

This whole sequence in "From the Desert Comes a Stranger" in deeply rooted in what makes Star Wars the iconic franchise it is. The episode may be short and attempt to shift the focus from Tatooine to the Mandalorian's personal journey, but the Freetown duel is so good, the episode ends, and we barely even remember Mando was even there. Perhaps if The Book of Boba Fett had spent less time parading cameos and alternative storylines and focused on its own plot, we could have had more moments like this.