Boba Fett's Death In ROTJ Makes More Sense After Seeing AOTC

As the title suggests, I recently pondered over Boba Fett's death scene after watching Return of the Jedi again, and it makes more sense after taking into account the events of the prequel trilogy, especially Attack of the Clones. Towards the end of AOTC, a young Boba Fett watches a great Jedi, Mace Windu, attack and then subsequently behead and kill his "father." Now I am aware that in respect to the Boba Fett character as originally portrayed in the Original Trilogy was that he was basically a limited-appearance background character, and Lucas never envisioned the incredible cult following he would receive from a few select scenes of him walking around and a bit of fighting, and so killed him off in a relatively silly manner. Most people have come to view Boba Fett as a ruthless bounty hunter who is the best at what he does, and would never have "gone out like a punk" by an unwitting pole in the back by a blind Han Solo. This notion of Boba Fett is only reinforced after seeing his "father" Jango Fett in action during the prequel trilogy. However, it also sheds new light on Boba Fett's alleged demise (this is not an argument as to whether he died or not in the Sarlacc Pit, that is for other threads), as at the time of being struck by Han Solo's pole, he is focusing on Luke Skywalker. It is reasonable to believe that seeing as a Jedi murdered Boba Fett's "father," he would, for maybe the first time in his bounty hunting career, let his guard down enough to forget about his surroundings as he focused on trying to kill someone who in his mind is about as close to Jango Fett's killer as is possible. And it is fitting that in the single moment that he allows his personal feelings to dictate his actions, as opposed to operating with a cool-headed "just business" attitude, he would find himself caught off-guard long enough to be hurled right into the mouth of the Sarlacc.

 

Yes, that does sound likley to what happened.

 

Hmmmmmmmmm, Never thought about it that way but, yeah, I can see that happening.

 

I like your description of Fett being distracted by Luke -- it's a very plausible explanation as to why the ruthless manhunter "goes out like a punk".

But I also want to correct a couple of historical inaccuracies you made in your opening post. First is your misstatement that Fett was always meant to be a "limited-appearance background character". While this may be true insofar as the OT goes, Lucas had developed an entire back-history for Boba Fett as a kind of super-soldier, the original stormtrooper from which all others were cloned. (Lucas describes this in a 1979 issue of Starlog magazine, which used to be available on-line, but now I can't seem to find it.) Lucas knew Fett would be a major character in the prequel films if he ever got around to making them. (Of course, he changed the character to Jango Fett and made Boba his first clone, but the idea is still there.)

Second inaccuracy is that by the time ROTJ was written, Lucas did not know how popular Fett had/would become. In fact, ROTJ was written in 1981 and 1982, well after the release of ESB. Fett had already gained notoriety as a fan favorite by that point, and in fact had been very popular since the Holiday Special in 1979 and the release of the special Fett action figure that same year.

Also, it's of note that Lucas now regrets his depiction of Fett's death. In the ROTJ commentary, Lucas considers it a misstep that more of an event wasn't made of Fett's defeat. He even considered adding an extra shot where Boba Fett crawls out of the Sarlacc, since "most people don't believe he died anyway."

 

He was totally distracted by Luke, the whole battle he eyes only for Skywalker and after TESB you'd think it'd be him and Solo squaring off but Fett wanted that Jedi. Obviously Luke caused the most damage at that moment and realistically speaking he'd be a far more profitable bounty for Fett to take to Vader. However it makes you wonder if maybe Lucas had Mace kill Jango because of what you posted. Perhaps the Maker is greater than we realize...

I do agree with that thought about your take on Boba Fett's reason for an alleged death.

 

I've wished that would happen nowadays; an easy way of doing it would be copying the placement of the Outrider in ANH. Just add in the Slave 1 taking off during the Tattooine part of the victory celebration.

 

Thanks for clearing up the inaccuracies...I kind of rushed to the board to post the thread while it was still fresh in my mind, so most of the background was from my memory which does not always serve me as well as I'd like...I never knew that Lucas had created a whole backstory for Boba Fett before the Prequels. It's interesting that he already had the idea of stormtroopers being cloned from a Fett back then, I always just assumed that was thought up while he was making the PT to sort of surprise the audience when the clones were fighting with the protagonists. Do you happen to have a link to the article in the 1979 Starlog? I searched for it on google but I can't seem to find it. I'd love to read it. Thanks again for the info

 

IIRC some of the Boba backstory is in the TESB novelization.

 

Boba Fett's Death In ROTJ Makes More Sense After Seeing AOTC

Not really. I mean, the Fett's just aren't co-existant with lightsabers and Jedi's apparently.

Oh, and where's the EU defenders? Boba Fett isn't dead! He just can't be!

 

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He's dead, Jim.

 

Boba Fett is alive.

 

We know he's alive. We're just letting this topic assume he is so the thread isn't derailed

 

Whether or not Boba Fett is alive or dead really doesn't matter within the context of the post...I used the term "death" because for all intents and purposes in ROTJ, the scene was a "death scene" as he did not reappear again in the movie. Whether he was gobbled up and digested over a thousand years or found a way back out doesn't change the events that led up to him going into the Sarlacc's mouth, and I hope every can agree that he did in fact go into the Sarlacc. Dying or living doesn't change the fact that I believe he was distracted due to his history with the Jedi, and let his guard down which was uncharacteristic for the galaxy's top bounty hunter.

On a side note, whenever I come up with theories I try to poke holes in them so I can make sure I look at as many angles as possible, and so I started wondering whether Boba Fett would have considered Darth Vader an enemy since he was a Jedi once. But then I decided that from what the movies show, it seems most of the galaxy, save Obi-Wan, Yoda, Bail Organa, Luke, Leia, and the Emperor, have no idea who Darth Vader really is. As far as Boba Fett was concerned, Vader was and had always been a member of the Sith, and since Jango Fett was hired by the Sith and acted as Count Dooku's bodyguard, Boba Fett would most likely view the Sith as allies, or at least not the faction that killed his father. This would allow the theory to remain intact as he would have been able to work with Vader and yet still be distracted while fighting a Jedi.

 

Right the moment Boba dies it's like a Father Son moment. Not as glamorus because they both died. But, it's clear that Boba watched and learned from his Father. You have a job to do it may cost you your life but do it anyway.

 

If you go by the EU he doesn't retrieve Slave I after getting out of the pit. It's left abandoned in orbit as another sign that he is dead. (He gets it back some years later). However, a long shot of the sarlacc pit showing a figure blasting upwards using a jetpack would work.

EU Source - Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy

 

*shudders*



... *violently*

 

Does Boba Fett living make more sense after seeing AOTC?

 

It would've been a cool reference to AOTC if Luke went to swipe at Boba's head, and he ducked.

Then he could sigh and wipe off some collecting sweat on his helmet and say "That was a close one."

 

I don't buy Boba Fett is trying to 'kill his father's killer' - too much psychology considering Luxas had not even invented Jengo Fett being killed by Mace Windu yet, if he even created Jengo at all......

Boba is just focused on the Jedi causing havoc.

And, the best fighter can get easily killed in the heat of battle as chaos ensues.

 

Regardless of whether it was Lucas' intention, I feel that taking into account the events of all six movies, the theory is a very plausible explanation. As with everything, it is open to interpretation, and your suggestion that it was just a heat of the moment thing and he was focusing on Luke for the sole reason that he was the most dangerous opponent is also very plausible. I also doubt Lucas had created Jango Fett before making Return of the Jedi, but the great thing about the Star Wars movies is how new interpretations can arise organically as they add more and more stories to the universe, and I think it is interesting to go back and make those sorts of connections, especially since there are definitely unintentional ones, although looking at all the movies you can tell that Lucas is a fan of creating parallels and making connections between characters that may seem almost outlandish, especially when it comes to fathers and sons. Just look at the whole situation with the droids, where he made Darth Vader create C-3P0 and be very close with R2-D2, which is another thing I doubt Lucas initially intended.

 

I disagree. I think Boba would have killed his Fathers killer had Mace lived. I think he was a Bounty Hunter first but he would have acted had he had a run in with Windu.

 

Very true, the great Achilles went out in a similar aspect in the sense that you never saw that sort of abrupt, almost silly ending for a great warrior or in this case bounty hunter.

 

If it were left in orbit, wouldn't that imply that he never made it down to the planet in the first place?

 

The books establish that he can communicate with the ship and bring it down from orbit remotely. (He does it at one point to kill off some bad guys threatening him, Dengar, and Neelah.) It stands to reason that he could have it land, get off, and send it back as well.

 

I think it makes perfect sense even without AotC. I mean, if you kill Han Solo, shoot Luke Skywalker in between the eyes, take down 62 out of 80 Jedi and get ambushed by the remaining of course you would give up and jump down into the Sarlacc pit...