The fourth episode of The Book of Boba Fett had hinted that we could see a familiar face (well, helmet) in the next instalment, with sneaky soundtrack clues suggesting Pedro Pascal’s Mandalorian would be teaming up with Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett to help him keep control of Tattooine’s underworld.

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However, instead fans were treated to a surprise – episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett didn’t just feature a Mandalorian cameo. Instead, the aptly-titled Return of the Mandalorian was essentially a new episode of The Mandalorian itself, following Pascal’s bounty hunter as he picked up the pieces of his life after the events of the Mandalorian season 2 finale.

The Book of Boba Fett narrative was sidelined entirely, only referenced in the very last scene when Fennec (Ming-Na Wen) arrived to recruit Mando. Before that we followed Din Djarin as he tracked down the remaining Mandalorians in his “covert” (last seen in season 1), picked up a new quest, worked on repairing a ship with regular Mandalorian guest star Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) and learned more about the darksaber he now wields.

And of course, there were plenty of nods to The Mandalorian’s breakout star Grogu, aka Baby Yoda. During the episode Din mentions him numerous times, has... something... made for him from Beskar steel and appears to be going to visit him before he teams up with Fett once more.

Altogether... it was just an episode of The Mandalorian, hidden within The Book of Boba Fett! It was all Mandalorian characters, picked up storylines and themes from the end of season 2 and even largely featured the theme music from the earlier show in slightly new configurations.

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Fans of the main Boba Fett story may grumble – now we just have two episodes to wrap everything up – but for most, it’s a welcome surprise after not expecting to revisit the world of The Mandalorian for many months yet. And who knows? Based on what’s said in the final scene of the episode, we may even see Grogu sooner than later.

The one issue in years to come may be where this episode is placed on Disney Plus’ internal system. Is it really The Book of Boba Fett episode 5? Is it part of The Mandalorian season 3, or 2.5? Answers on a bounty hunter beacon…

The Book of Boba Fett releases new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year.

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For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.

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