It feels like only yesterday that Boba Fett first landed on Disney+ in his Starship, but somehow, The Book of Boba Fett is already drawing to a close, with the series only being six episodes in length. And the fourth one certainly wastes no time in building anticipation for the finale, which leads us nicely onto 'that' ending...
"Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm" finds us back in the bacta tank with Boba (Temuera Morrison), as a flashback shows him spying on Jabba's Palace. But, of course, the Hutt isn't in charge at this point - he's long dead, with Bib Fortuna now on the throne. But why Boba is undertaking some recon is yet to be revealed.
"Not today, Ogo," he tells his Bantha, "Too many guards." Later that day, he feeds his Bantha at a campfire, and has obviously bonded with the creature. But his quiet evening is disrupted when he sees a light in the distance, at the source of which he discovers an unconscious Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) lying in the dirt.
Yes, we're now crossing over with The Mandalorian Season 1's "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger", at the end of which Fennec is shot and left for dead! And as we know from that show, Boba Fett and Fennec end up joining forces. But it's clear that "The Gathering Storm" is about to tell us exactly how that came to pass.
Boba takes Fennec on his Bantha to a 'Mod Parlor' on the outskirts of Mos Eisley, where individuals can have droid parts fused to their body (like the Mod Gang who were introduced in last week's episode). Fennec's gut-shot has left her in a fatal condition, but after some modifications, her life is saved.
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Back at the campfire, Boba tells Fennec that he knows who she is - "You are the master assassin Fennec Shand of the mid-rim," he says. He then asks her to help him in retrieving his Starship from Jabba's Palace, and that if she does, her debt to him for saving her life will be paid in full.
After releasing the Bantha to the Dune Sea, Boba and Fennec send a miniature probe droid into the palace. Fennec asks Boba what's next for him, and he tells her that he intends to kill Bib Fortuna for double-crossing him, and that he will take the throne. He adds that he's "tired of working for idiots" who are going to get him killed.
The probe soon returns and projects a schematic hologram of the entire complex, revealing Boba's Starship to be in a heavily-guarded hangar. Upon breaking into the palace, Boba and Fett battle two droids in the Palace kitchen, and soon reach the ship in the hangar, where Boba acts quickly to get it started.
After Fennec battles several guards, she joins Boba on board and they leave through the hangar exit. "How's the ship?" she asks him, before telling him she knows of a good workshop on Tatooine. "I'll do the maintenance myself," Boba tells her. "There's an advantage to people thinking you're dead."
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"Your debt is paid,." he tells Fennec. "Where would you like to be dropped?" Fennec asks him where he's headed, and Boba tells her he has a "few scores to settle", and Fennec decides to stay. Moments later, in his Starship, Boba locates the biker gang who he believes slaughtered the Tusken Raiders, and obliterates them on the sand!
He then returns to the sarlacc pit, convinced that his armor is still down there (although we know that he was stripped by Jawas while he was unconscious on the sands above after escaping the pit, as seen in the first episode). Fennec tells him his armor would have dissolved by now, but Boba reminds her that it's made of beskar.
Upon investigating the sarlacc, to their horror, the creature is still alive, and it uses its enormous tentacles to grab the ship and pull it downward. Luckily, Fennec releases an explosive device into the creature's mouth and destroys it. Outside, Boba emerges from the pit again, having searched for his armor, which he now realizes is long gone.
Fennec tells him he needs a bacta, as the creature's acids - which he's covered in from head to toe - will cause him great injury. When she asks him whether or not he's serious about forming his own house, Boba tells her that he's tired of their kind [bounty hunters] dying because of the "idiocy of others".
"Living with the Tuskens has made you soft," she tells him. But he corrects her - "No, it's made me strong. You can only get so far without a tribe." Following a flashback of Boba's death, we cut back to the 'modern day' timeline, where Boba is told by his aide UK2-B (Matt Berry) that his skin has now completely healed from the bacta.
Fennec reports that there are still no signs of the mayor, but that the Mod Gang is covering the streets. Boba visits the Garza Sanctuary, where he witnesses Black Krrsantan beating a group of partying Trandoshans. The Twi'lek Garza tries to calm him down, but he proceeds to dismember one of the Trandoshans.
Out on the street, Boba offers Krrsantan a job. Later, Boba meets with all the family heads of Mos Espa, and asks each of them to remain loyal should the Pyke Syndicate- who have absorbed Tatooine into their spice trade and drained it of its wealth - approach them. The heads all agree to remain mutual, and leave the palace.
Out on the balcony, Fennec asks Boba how many credits he has to his name. Boba says, "What I need is muscle", to which Fennec replies, "Credits can buy muscle if you know where to look." And before we get a chance to figure out who Fennec might be alluding to, we hear a riff of the now-iconic theme tune from The Mandalorian!
We then cut to the credits, but it sure looks like the next two episodes of The Book of Boba Fett will be pretty exciting! And as we previously theorized, it looks like there will be a crossover between The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian! Whether or not Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) will appear in the penultimate episode or the finale, though, remain to be seen. But here's to hoping we'll see him in both!
The next episode of The Book of Boba Fett streams on Disney+ on Wednesday, January 26.