The Mandalorian season 2 has been pretty revelatory so far. Of course, last week clued us in to what Ahsoka Tano has been getting up to since The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. There was even the small matter of Baby Yoda’s real name being revealed. Now, in Chapter 14, we have some crucial new info that reframes the history of a prequel character.
Spoilers for The Mandalorian season 2, episode 6 follow…
So, Boba Fett’s back! He and Mando face-off on Tython this week and, while it's predictably tense, Din manages to tease out some history from the bounty hunter.
During the quarrel over Boba Fett’s armour – which, as you may remember, Mando picked up from Cobb Vanth during the season 2 premiere on Tattooine – Boba mentions that “the armour was given to my father, Jango, by your forebears.”
Not only does that chart the previously-untold origins of the legendary set of armour, both Boba and Jango Fett are officially confirmed to be Mandalorians, with Jango being named as a foundling – a child adopted by Mandalore, much like Din was.
Thanks to the ‘chain code’ in Boba’s armour, Mando is able to take a peek at the history of the Fetts – including that Jango fought in the Mandalorian Civil War, which saw the more traditional members of the Mandalore creed exiled from their homeworld.
Why is that all so important? Jango (and by definition, Boba) were not officially recognised as Mandalorians in canon because of Almec, the Prime Minister of Mandalore (as seen in The Clone Wars). That's a big, integral shift right there.
Now, we know that Jango and Boba Fett have every right to be seen as Mandalorians – and we know where that armour comes from. There’s even a tease of deeper history, one which we might hope gets explored one day, in terms of Jango Fett’s involvement in the Civil War.
By the time we meet Jango in the prequels, we now know he is a man scarred by his proud history, and it’s a past that Boba is clearly desperate to reclaim. That sort of character development has us itching for the reported Boba Fett spin-off, especially as we now know he's a more complex figure than we first thought.
For now, though, we’ll have to make do with Boba getting his armour back as the rescue mission for Grogu begins.
Find out when the next episode drops with The Mandalorian season 2 release schedule.
