If you’ve started watching The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+ it could mean that you’ve seen a few things that make a lot of sense, and some that might still need a bit of explanation as the most popular and possibly deadliest bounty hunter in the galaxy has returned. Escaping from the belly of the Sarlaac that swallowed him and several others whole, Fett took over Jabba’s empire from Bib Fortuna, the Hutt’s former majordomo who was, well, not really equipped to do more than warm the seat before Fett returned. But while he was in the throne room, accepting tributes and a vague insult and possible threat from the mayor’s advisor, he was also given something that was probably recognizable to many Star Wars fans., The Trandoshan crime boss that came to offer tribute, and utter a thinly veiled threat that was apparently meant to be taken as a blessing, brought Fett a shaggy pelt that could have only belonged to one creature as far as anyone has been thinking since the first episode aired. That’s right, it was a Wookie pelt, and people have been showing their shock since it aired.
It’s dark, there’s no doubt about that since it means that a sentient being was killed and skinned alive. But if people are really that shocked they might not be recalling how dark some of the Star Wars stories have managed to get in the past. I could mention that a Wampa was saving Luke Skywalker for a snack in The Empire Strikes Back, but folks might think that’s too akin to a grizzly bear attacking a human, which some would attribute to natural behavior. That does make it amusing though since the Trandoshans and the Wookies have been mortal and ancestral enemies for so long that the things they do to each other don’t really come as a surprise to fans that have been around for a while. The idea of killing and skinning a sentient being is disturbing, but hell, there’s been a movie of people who have eaten human beings, and no, I’m not talking about zombie movies.
It’s possible that the shock could come from the sheer audacity of just throwing the pelt in there as a tribute, something that’s tossed to a crime boss in order to keep them happy. But the fact is that Wookies have been mistreated in the Star Wars movies and animated shows for quite a while, and despite the fact that it’s horrible and doesn’t set a great scene, it’s actually quite necessary and deepens the story quite a bit. When one stops to think about it, the issues between the Trandoshans and the Wookies isn’t that big of a deal since it’s one ancestral hatred out of many within the Star Wars universe, as many species tend to hate each other with a passion and will go to great lengths to destroy each other in the most imaginative and absolutely creepy ways. One thing that is true about Star Wars is that by Disneyfying it, the Mouse House would make a huge mistake since this is a rough and tumble universe that’s far more Darwinian in nature than anything else, since the strongest tend to survive, and those that don’t rise to the occasion usually don’t.
It might not make any difference, but Wookies have actually ripped the arms from other sentient beings, including Trandoshans, so despite being peace-loving sentient beings, they’re capable of great violence as well and have used these abilities in the past. True, they don’t tend to fight unless they have to since Wookies do tend to have a lot more honor and dignity than many other beings. But given that Fett is trying to rule an underworld empire, he’s not joining an intergalactic version of the Boy Scouts or even the Oddfellows or Eagles club. This is a guy that’s made a living from capturing or killing bounties and yes, he’s even taken down Wookies in the past. A single pelt is a bit of a shock to some folks since they might not have thought that Disney would go there, but in the long run, it’s one out of many Wookies that have perished at the claws of the Trandoshans. The fact that this small moment caused a bit of an uproar is actually rather amusing since it means that people might be reacting in a very different way to a lot of what The Book of Boba Fett has to offer. It’s easy to think that it’s not going to get bloody, but it could very easily continue to be violent and show how Boba will need to resort to greater violence to keep everyone in line. He might want to be a different ruler than Jabba, and that’s all well and good, but he’s going to have to learn that at least some fear of him is necessary to keep some criminals from thinking he’s an easy target.
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