Friends, we've made it to the end of "The Mandalorian" season 2.5 "The Book of Boba Fett"! There weren't as many Easter eggs in this week's episode as some of the others, but there were still quite a few.

As always before we begin, let me warn you about SPOILERS! I'm holding nothing back here, so if you haven't watched the episode yet, go do it now. You might as well. I was spoiled for something before I got a chance to watch this week, and it's going to happen to you, as well. That's what we get for loving a show that is released in the middle of the night while also having jobs. Someone has to pay for all that rancor food!

To give you a bit more space while you decide if you want to spoil yourself for this week's episode, I'll say this; While I did have a few issues (disco spinning shootout from one of the mods, for one), overall, I loved it. I know a lot of people don't feel the same, but whatever. Let me enjoy this piece of "Star Wars" fun before everyone piles on.

Ready to go? Let's (in the worlds of both the Emperor and Boba Fett in this episode) do it! (Yes, that was an Easter egg.)

Sanctuary Was A Good Name For That Bar

When we last left our heroes, Garsa's Sanctuary had been blown up by the Pyke Syndicate. Well, now it's a sanctuary for the Boba gang, which includes Mando, the mods, Black K, and a hanger-on in the form of the Majordomo. They decide to stay in the city and not go off-world, which is something Boba wanted to do back in the early episodes when he was a prisoner of the Tusken Raiders.

Though we didn't really see Boba's arc the way we should have with all those messy flashbacks, that alone tells us that he's changed. He loves this place, dry and dusty as it is. Later in the episode, he does mention what he'd been told by the Tuskens, namely that the planet had once been fertile. That and the spice make a nice nod to "Dune," which had a huge influence on George Lucas, a once lush planet turning into a desert is a big nod to Arrakis in the Frank Herbert novels.

There is a theme here. Everyone is banding together, from the Freetown gang to the mods to the bounty hunters trying to save their planet. Boundaries like city and desert no longer matter, like the boundaries between "The Book of Boba Fett" and "The Mandalorian."

I'm throwing in a couple of notes here about creatures. One of the mods calls the Freetown folk "sand scurriers," referencing the little creatures that Pelli kept safe in their nests in her workshop while she was building Mando a ship. We also heard that Drash grew up a "womp hop" from where they're held up. Obviously, that's the hop of a womp rat, a creature that's been mentioned since all the way back in "A New Hope."

Welcome Back, Baby!

Disney heard the fans cry "I want to see the baby," and Grogu has made his choice! Of course, he chose Mando, and when Luke Skywalker's X-Wing fighter lands at Pelli's place with R2-D2 piloting, he's wearing his tiny widdle chainmail shirt! He missed Papa! He's home, and he wants to see Mando right now! Papa is coming, little guy! Papa loves you!

Sorry, sorry.

It's interesting that Pelli mentions an "officer" when the X-Wing lands, as the last time we saw Republic pilots, they were acting like space police officers. I guess everyone has to get new licenses now? Ah, bureaucracy. Ain't it grand?

A bit of a nod to the fans happened when Pelli says she doesn't like the name Grogu. No one did. I'm glad someone said it. I sort of love that he eats grub worms, and for some reason, I got a flash of when Yoda teases Luke about what he eats. "How you get so big eating food of this kind?" Well, Yoda, maybe grubs, frogs, and blue cookies aren't the best in terms of nutrition.

Making Deals

As we know from last week, Cad Bane was hired by the Pyke Syndicate. We know from earlier that the three families of Mos Espa were supposed to be neutral so Boba could take care of business. Not only was that a lie as they attack the mods, Black K, and the Gamorrean guards (RIP, my oink-y friends), but the Pykes set up the slaughter of the Tusken Raiders and made it look like the Nikto speeder bike gang. Cad Bane decides to tell Mando to rile him up, but it did come across a bit like a villain monologue. Maybe we don't tell our enemies everything?

From the dialogue during the final showdown, we learn more about Cad Bane's past, but more on that in a bit. He knows that the Freetown people aren't showing up, leading us to believe that Cobb Vanth is dead. He's not, as we saw in the mid-credits scene. He's in a bacta tank, healing, and likely getting modded by Thundercat, aka Modifier. It's clearly Boba's tank which is getting a whole lot of use, though. I just hope they cleaned Black K's fur out of it before they put poor Cobb in. I'm sure wet Wookie hair is worse than wet dog fur.

A quick note about honor among thieves (I guess outlaws is a better way to put it): Boba and Mando decide to stay and fight to the death because of honor. Boba may not have been raised as a Mandalorian, but he's following the Mandalorian code. This is the way. The people of Freetown do as well, and the mods stay to fight for their city.

Fine. I guess Tatooine is a good place to be. I'm still not booking a vacation hut there.

Also, if that line from Cad Bane — "Well, if that isn't the Quacta calling the Stifling slimy?" — sounds familiar, it's because we heard Mando use that in "The Mandalorian" season 2 when he's talking to Koska Reeves and Bo-Katan. This is the "Star Wars" version of the pot calling the kettle black.

When Do We Get The Jetpacks We Were Promised?

The episode was very battle-heavy, but there were some really cool things in there. First off, the action was faster than what looked like a stage combat rehearsal in the first episode. Second, we got to see both Mando and Boba using their jet packs at the same time. We saw the Mandalorian knee rocket dart launcher and the whistling birds. The battle does not go well, though, despite everyone's super cool weapons. Even Mando's darksaber can't quite penetrate the shields. Now, whether this is because, as we saw two weeks ago, Mando is too conflicted to use it properly, who knows? Even Black K using his implanted knuckle dusters with their zappy electricity can't quite make it work. That poor guy is all sorts of banged up. I love that Boba uses his nickname "Santo" when he's offering up his bacta tank.

Now, those droids we saw all shielded up are Scorpenek annihilator droids. They're terrifying, but they do have a red eye, and gamers know that if things light up, that's probably the weak point. It obviously was here as well.

I'm Not Crying, You're Crying

Pelli heads into town and right into the heat of the battle with little Grogu on the litter we remember from "Attack of the Clones" when Anakin and Padmé rode it. We've also seen it before in "The Book of Boba Fett." Then the moment … PAPA MANDO AND GROGU! The reunion had me unabashedly weeping. Pedro Pascal's ability to act through a beskar helmet is impressive, and to a puppet, no less. I hugged my own Grogu doll, and so did you, so shut up.

This is the reunion we've been waiting for since the end of "The Mandalorian" season 2, so I just want to take a moment to revel in it. We pretty much knew what choice he was going to make, but Mando's delight in seeing Grogu in his tiny armor shirt was priceless.

This gives Mando his mojo back, and as Pelli tells her droid to go faster (calling the litter driver a "bucket of bolts," something Princess Leia called the Millennium Falcon), he's fighting harder to keep his baby safe.

Pelli also mentions how the Force works in mysterious ways, and any mention of the Force from a non-Force user is going to gut me, always.

King Kong Has Nothing On Our Baby Rancor

Boba has run off to get someone, and though for a tiny moment I wondered how he got a mythosaur (the skull of which is the symbol of the Mandalorians and something we saw him ride in the "Star Wars Holiday Special"), he was riding our baby rancor! I knew they wouldn't kill off Grogu, but I wasn't so sure about this guy. I'm so glad he's okay! Watching Boba ride him was pretty fantastic, and sure, it was a setup from the very first time we saw him with Danny Trejo, but I don't care. I'm happy it paid off. I believe I said this in an earlier Easter egg article, but I was heartbroken as a kid, watching the rancor trainer in "Return of the Jedi" weeping over his lost pet. This was a balm to my kid soul.

It was also a direct ripoff homage to "King Kong" and other kaiju films when the rancor climbs a building then grabs a speeder like Luke's from "A New Hope" and bites it like a plane out of the sky. The rancor helps destroy the droids, but he has to be taken down himself. He almost eats Mando, but he can't bite through beskar, I guess. Then our little baby uses the Force to calm him and put him to sleep. The animal connection with the Force is something we've seen Qui-Gon Jinn and Rey use before. It also tuckers the poor little dude out and he curls up with the baby rancor to sleep. We've seen how using the Force can tire him out before in "The Mandalorian."

In the midst of the fight, we learn two things. One is that "Star Wars" continues to use the Wilhelm scream as they did here with a Pyke. Two is that Pelli doesn't really have a type as she hits on the Majordomo. I wonder if the Jawa who hit on her last week will be jealous.

The Past Catches Up With You

There was a lost episode of "The Clone Wars" that didn't end up getting finished that let us know Cad Bane was in a battle with Boba Fett and dented his helmet. Cad Bane was also shot in the head. It appears that this lost episode is canon, as we see what appears to be a plate in Cad Bane's head where he'd been shot. A tip of the beskar helmet to our own Peter Sciretta for this one!

We know that Cad Bane taught Boba Fett, as mentioned in last week's post, and it's confirmed here. Cad says he's known Boba a long time and asks what his angle is. I guess Cad hasn't been watching the season with a kinder, gentler Boba? He does say that Boba has his father's blood in his veins, and "I knew you were a killer." Did we, though? Ahem. Well, he was right about Boba, because he stabs Cad with his gaffi stick from his time in the Tusken raiders. Nice callback. The showdown scene between them comes right out of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

Fennec takes down the heads of the three families, and the head of the leader of the Pyke Syndicate, showing who the real bounty hunter is. I wonder if she goes rogue at some point in the future. She's clearly more of a killer than Boba is.

Someone Give Black K A Medal!

So the Pyke Syndicate is gone, and all is well. No sign of Qi'ra or a de-aged Han Solo as many people were speculating. (No shade. I wondered as well.) The gang is all together, including the LEP droid from Boba's palace who must have eventually turned himself back on. In my head, he's a bunny droid and no one can tell me differently. Mando has flown off with little Grogu who really wants Papa to go into hyperspace, which he does, because who can resist Grogu?

A few stray thoughts:

• I love that the Stormtrooper helmets on pikes that we saw in "The Mandalorian," and the episode of "The Book of Boba Fett" where he passes Pelli are still there.

• It was fun to see a random Gonk droid just wandering around the spaceport.

• It's the sweetest that Mando had that little silver ball to give back to Grogu as though he were holding onto it, just in case.

• I'm very much wondering what sort of mods Thundercat is giving Cobb. Just don't touch his pretty face, okay?

• Did R2-D2 just fly off as soon as he dropped off the baby?

• I wish that Fennec had more to do this season than give exposition and a few shots to the heads of bad guys. This is Ming-Na Wen we have here. Give her more stuff to say!

• I still think the mod in the cape looks like a refugee from Hogwarts.

• I didn't realize that I'd be so happy to see Mando and Boba flying with jet packs together, but I was.

• The citizens of Mos Espa hand fruit to Boba and Fennec, and it happens to be a melon. A big juicy one, not the buried black melons from the beginning of the series that were the Tusken raider source of water. I guess the fruit has more of an arc than Boba has.

Final Thoughts — IS This The Way?

Now that Grogu has left his Jedi training, he's rejected Luke's dealing in absolutes. You know who else does that? The Sith do that, Luke. This was Yoda's issue as well. Did you forget that your connections and attachments to your sister, your friends, and your dad are what saved the galaxy and got you that medal? (Chewy was robbed!)

In "The Mandalorian" season 3, we're going likely to see Mando go back to the mines of Mandalore to cleanse himself like the Armorer said he needed to for showing his face. The Mandalorians deal in absolutes as well, though Tarre Vizsla who created the darksaber was both a Jedi and a Mandalorian. He must have found a balance. The High Republic books have shown that some Jedi can have attachments. Will the combo of Grogu and Mando prove to be the change that Mandalore needs? Will Mando be able to show his face? I'm really curious to see how this changes the rules of Mandalore, or if it does at all.

May the Force be with you until we comb a show for Easter eggs again, friends. Just say no to the spice.

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