Did ‘Book of Boba Fett’ Give Credence To A Previously Debunked Dark Boba Fett Fan Theory?
I think everyone will remember their first time laying eyes on the dreaded and revered bounty hunter Boba Fett. Whether it was from the “holiday themed show,” which shall not be named, or from the epic movie Empire Strikes Back, people naturally became enthralled and drawn in by this character. Ever since his untimely demise in the sands of Tatooine, fans have been trying to build the legacy of this epic character. In the pre-Disney era, there was a lot to be said about Boba Fett and how he fit into the galaxy far, far away. Fans are always trying to figure out how to connect the world. With the new Book of Boba Fett series, a dark fan theory has resurfaced. However, is there any basis to it or just a bit of wishful thinking from the fan base? Did Boba Fett kill Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru Lars?!
To get to why this theory has resurfaced, we need to look back on its history. A great article behind the theory overall can be viewed here. The basics of the theory is that in Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader, when speaking to all the bounty hunters hired to find Solo and the Millennium Falcon specifically said to Boba, “No disintegrations.” What did this mean? Boba, as we have come to learn in the prequel movies and other sources, was a Mandalorian and part of their arsenal were flamethrowers and thermal detonators. So, Vader, remembering from his time as Anakin, probably knew that if given the chance, Boba would use that flamethrower option on the suit to capture his bounty. Fans then started to wonder how it was such a strange statement for Vader to make.
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Flash forward to the re-release of A New Hope with the resurrected scene of Han Solo meeting Jabba the Hutt in the hangar, and hanging around is our friend, Boba. This means that he had been on Tatooine for a little bit, so why not pick up some extra work on behalf of the empire. In the 2017 book Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, which Disney has deemed canon, the story “Added Muscle” confirms that Boba did pick up a job to hunt down the missing droids on Tatooine, which led Boba along the same path as Luke. First, he began by visiting the Jawa sandcrawler, and then moved on to the Lars’ moisture farm. However, when he arrived, Boba found “sizzled hicks.” This meant he possibly could not have been the man behind their deaths and ultimately kicked off the whole series. But as we noted, Darth Vader was not a fan of disintegrations. So, what if things went south for the bounty hunter and he was left with no choice? Rather than face the wrath of an angry Vader, it was probably just easier to lie and say it was already done.
Let us fast forward to episode 1 of The Book of Boba Fett. In the flashbacks, we learn how Boba escaped the Sarlacc pit and was captured by the Tusken Raiders. On one of his outings with the Tusken Raiders, they came across a moisture farm which looked eerily like Owen and Beru’s house near Mos Eisley. As Boba watched the thieves raiding the farm and ultimately setting it ablaze, you notice that Boba seemed to wince at the scene. This has led many people to say that he was reliving his encounter with Luke’s Aunt and Uncle a few years before. It is a fine explanation to the reaction, but I do not think it really holds a lot of water now (pun intended).
In the last 24- 48 hours, Boba had been through quite a bit of activity. He has suffered, and had everything taken from him. He was dehydrated, confused, and concussed. Seeing any type of violence probably would cause a bit of wincing on his part. Even if it was just a “damn, that guy has it easier, you know, dying and all while I endure this fresh hell.” Secondly, not everything has to be connected within this universe! Just because Boba was on Tatooine at the time of the Lars’ murder did not make the two connected. If this was a trial, this case would have been tossed out due to lack of evidence. It is a great theory for sure, but without further expansion even within the Legends (pre-Disney) era, we should just trust our friend Obi-Wan when he said that the Imperials got to them first.
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Source(s): Screen Rant, Culture Slate