Wednesday, January 26, 2022

3. Tyler B. - Boba Fett and proof that people can change.



Making his return to the series in season 2 of the Mandalorian, Boba Fett started out as a bounty hunter, who was tasked with finding Luke and his gang and bringing them into Darth Vader alive. Compare that what we see in his return, making a deal and promising to honor it by helping Mando save the child from the hands of Moff Gideon in exchange for his old armor, the old Boba would have gotten his armor back and then ran off, instead he stays and honors his word. In the new series focusing on him we see Boba’s story after we see him “die” in Return of the Jedi, he is later captured and enslaved by the Tusken Raiders, or sand people. During a scene where he and another prisoner are sent out with a Tusken child and his hound to dig for “black melons” (little balls and contain water and are found by digging around in the sand) they other prisoner wakes up a huge monster that eats him. Before having a chance to eat the child, Boba kills it and returns to the Tusken camp a hero and is welcomed into their group as one of them. Now if this was the Boba from before he would have left the child for dead and headed straight for the closest town, but instead he protects his enslaver, which is the start of a new life for Boba. He is then taught the ways and culture of the Tuskens and by the end of his time with them, he becomes one, being dressed in their robes and more importantly, is trusted enough to create his own Gaffi stick, which are signs of great respect in their culture and is specific to each Tusken. 


Moving on to the “present day” of the show, Boba has become the resident crime lord, taking over Jaba’s palace after killing Bib Fortuna, who took over Jaba’s place after he died in The Return of The Jedi. But Boba wants to be different from the lords before him, where Jaba ruled with fear, he intends to rule with respect, visiting businesses in Mos Espa and fighting to make the streets safe again, free of corruption and exploitation. He earns this respect in many ways, such as walking side by side with his guards, as opposed to being carried the way Jaba was, and hiring outcasts and rejects of Mos Espa like The Mods, a gang of people who replaced parts of their bodies with robotic parts, or Black Krrsantan who tried to kill him after being hired by Jabas cousins who wanted the throne. He also shows the compassion he has learned when he is gifted a Rancor for the pit below his throne room, and as opposed to treating it like a mindless animal created only for slaughter and entertainment, he treats it like a dog, with kindness and care, by doing things like petting it and talking to it softly and calmly. 

I believe that the writers of this show are trying to tell us that everyone can change like Boba Fett, who went from heartless bounty hunter to a simple man making his way throught the galaxy to a respected lord of Mos Espa. Showing us that a character originally seen as base and 2D can become a complex and intriguing enough to become a main character. They want to show us that every person is capable of change, they just have to be willing to.

Word Count: 585


No comments:

Post a Comment