Why The Starfighter In The Book Of Boba Fett Chapter 5 Means More Than You Think
Contains spoilers for "The Book of Boba Fett" Chapter 5.
It's no secret that many fans are not enjoying "The Book of Boba Fett." The series has faced criticism for its agonizingly slow pacing and convoluted plotlines, and at this point, it seems like there's no way the series can live up to its predecessor, "The Mandalorian" (via The Hollywood Reporter). That said, perhaps those critics will find Chapter 5 a bit more to their liking, as it is a story entirely focused on the Mandalorian himself, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), and does not feature Boba Fett at all.
The episode picks up after the events of "The Mandalorian" Season 2, with Djarin now wielding the iconic darksaber. After a brief (and surprisingly eventful) visit with his old friend The Armorer, Djarin returns to Mos Eisley and reunites with Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) — looking to buy a new ship, now that the Razor Crest is gone for good. Motto presents him with a small, junky starfighter that looks so pitiful that Djarin asks for his money back almost immediately. Though it might not look like much at first, longtime "Star Wars" fans will recognize just how important this dumpy little ship actually is.
Mando's new ship may have once belonged to Anakin Skywalker
As Motto explains in the episode, the ship is an N-1 starfighter, "handmade for the royal guard and commissioned personally by the Queen of Naboo" — the exact model that Anakin Skywalker flew back in "The Phantom Menace." In that movie, an 11-year-old Anakin stuns the rest of the Naboo royal guard when he commandeers a starfighter, flies it into space, and single-handedly destroys the droid armada (despite the fact he had never even driven that kind of ship before).
Obviously there's a massive timeskip between "The Phantom Menace” and "Attack of the Clones," and we're never given a concrete answer of what happened to that ship following Anakin's little solo flight. Motto even makes a big deal about the fact that the ship is "pre-empire" and completely off the grid, meaning there's a possibility that this ship is the same one that Anakin once flew. Perhaps he brought it back to Tatooine before leaving the planet forever, and it's just been collecting dust ever since.
After giving it a fancy new coat of paint and some special modification, Djarin takes the starfighter as his own — and it's definitely interesting to consider how the story of that ship has come full circle since Anakin took one up into space.