Why Cad Bane's Death Was Perfect In 'The Book of Boba Fett' Finale
"You can only get so far without a tribe."
When Boba Fett said this line in Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm, it was the moment I finally understood where The Book of Boba Fett was taking its (mostly) central protagonist. Though Boba started out with his own team of bounty hunters known as the Krayt's Claw in The Clone Wars, he would become far more of an independent mercenary in his adult years. Going it alone and taking down anyone who got in his way, Boba cared not for the well-being of others and killed whoever he needed to in order to achieve his goals. That was until the sarlacc.
After just barely freeing himself from the creature's maw and being stripped of his armor and weapons by the local Jawas, Boba was taken in by the Tuskens. Then, after proving his worth against a massive sand monster, he was fed, trained, and cared for by the Tuskens, who slowly started to treat him as one of their own. But the moment Boba's relationship with the Tuskens was solidified was when he helped them fight against the Pykes, who had come to Tatooine to utilize the planet in their spice trade. Following this, Boba was fully inducted into the Tusken tribe, being donned with desert robes and guided in forging his own gaderffi stick. Boba's familial bond with the Tuskens not only saved his life, but made him a better person than he had ever been before, inspiring him to form his own tribe in Mos Espa and guide the city towards a better future as a firm but just ruler.
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Enter Cad Bane; the polar opposite of Boba's new outlook on life. The true definition of a bounty hunter, Bane had always been out for himself since his debut in The Clone Wars. From kidnapping children for Darth Sidious, to freeing a ruthless gangster, to staging a prison breakout on Coruscant, Bane didn't share his bounties with anyone and didn't care who got hurt or killed in the process. As he says himself in The Clone Wars, "As long as I get paid, it makes no difference to me." This would eventually bring him into conflict with Boba, who Bane would train in the art of bounty hunting in a still uncompleted arc from the aforementioned series. Said arc ends with Boba turning on Bane when his mentor begins killing innocents, which Boba at that point is still strongly against. This culminates in an old western style standoff in which Bane and Boba are both incapacitated, Bane's survival later being confirmed by The Bad Batch and Boba receiving the famous dent in his helmet during the fight.
This brings us to the finale of The Book of Boba Fett, where the now adult Boba is confronted by the now elderly Bane, decades after their first encounter. Bane taunts Boba with the loss of his Tusken family in the hope of spurring him into combat. Luckily, Fennec Shand is there to keep him focused and hold off on the rematch until Boba is fully ready. Disappointed, Bane heads off while Boba and his Fett Gotra prepare to drive the invading Pykes from his city once and for all. Throughout the following battle, we see Boba and his newfound tribe working together against the Pyke Syndicate's attacks; a fight which Boba would have certainly lost if not for all of his recently acquired allies. It's here where we see all of the show's storylines and characters coalesce into a spectacular climax. But its ongoing theme of family doesn't truly come to a head until Boba and Bane finally have their rematch in the streets of Mos Espa.
In their final duel, Boba and Bane start off fighting as they did before; like bounty hunters. But this doesn't work out for Boba as he is beaten by Bane twice in succession, once in a quickdraw and again when Boba attempts to use his flamethrower. With Boba on the ground, Bane stands over him and throws his helmet aside. Then, while pointing his blaster at his former student's face, Bane gives Boba his final lesson. "Look out for yourself. Anything else is weakness." To this, Boba draws his gaderffi stick, using it to disarm the aging bounty hunter and knock him onto his back. In a final act of defiance, Bane sneers at Boba, saying "I knew you were a killer" before attempting to burn him with his flamethrower, just as the Pykes burned his Tusken tribe. But Boba dodges the attack and, in a declaration of his kinship with the Tuskens, stabs Bane through the chest with his gaderffi stick, avenging his tribe and killing off the last remaining vestige of the man Boba used to be.
Cad Bane's death signifies Boba Fett's growth from the cold-blooded killer he once was, rejecting the man who taught him to kill and embracing the Tuskens who taught him to protect. Bane may have been a better bounty hunter than Boba, but Boba was the better man, putting the needs of others before his own. At this point, Bane had only himself, having killed, betrayed, or alienated everyone else in his life. But Boba had a tribe of people he looked out for and who looked out for him in return. That is how Boba became a better person and how he was able to defeat Bane in the end. The primary message of Star Wars has always been to put others before yourself and Bane's death is one of the most perfect examples of that. Bane fought like a bounty hunter, but Boba won like a Tusken.
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