Boba Fett’s End-Credits Song Repeats Star Wars’ Real Low Point

WARNING! Contains SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett episode 7.

The Book of Boba Fett episode 7 concludes with an end-credits song that repeats Star Wars‘ real low point, the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. Boba Fett was first introduced as a character in the Holiday Special, making his live-action debut in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. But it wasn’t until the prequels (where Temuera Morrison played Jango Fett and Daniel Logan played young Boba Fett) that Boba’s character was developed beyond the lone bounty hunter trope. The Book of Boba Fett further developed the character, but the series finale’s end-credits song almost seems to return to the much simpler Star Wars Holiday Special tone.

The Star Wars Holiday Special proved to be a disaster in multiple ways, thanks to its controversial innuendos, scattershot narrative, and outright strange musical numbers. George Lucas had little involvement in the film as he was focused on Star Wars: Episode V, so the production went to CBS. Lucas famously said (via Stacker): “If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it.” However, the Holiday Special has Boba Fett’s first Star Wars moment: a 9-minute cartoon where Boba Fett enters on the back of a Paar’s Ichthyodont and promises to help Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) with a virus. R2-D2 eventually finds out Boba is working for Darth Vader, and Boba is forced to leave before he can hand the rebels to his boss. While the plot makes a good introduction to Boba as “the best bounty hunter in the galaxy,” the cartoon is just as bad as the rest of the special, from a tonal point of view.

The Book of Boba Fett did an excellent job at turning a cartoon bounty hunter riding a pink dragon into a complex character with a painful past and great political ambitions. Boba Fett even made Pedro Pascal’s Mandalorian better, by exploring the theme of free will as both characters free themselves (albeit in different ways) from their bounty hunter creed. The Book of Boba Fett episode 7 shows Boba at his best, wielding Tusken weapons and using his bounty hunter suit skillfully until the Pyke threat is eliminated. The end-credits song is thus a pretty strange choice: it almost sounds like a Holiday Special parody. Its playful and jokingly-glorious tone is precisely what made the Holiday Special stylistically bad, and in this case, it risks turning Boba Fett back into a joke figure, whereas the entire show has worked against that by trying to develop his character.

Humor has been a consistent element throughout the Star Wars saga, and director Robert Rodriguez has not been adverse to not-so-serious moments throughout The Book of Boba Fett (Skad’s unnecessary 360 twirl in episode 7 included). Boba Fett himself shows lighter moments, such as adopting a cute rat-catcher droid or sending his Bantha friend off to “make baby Banthas.” But Boba’s character arc is predominantly a serious one, following his difficult past and near-death experience in the sarlacc pit as well as his current struggles in the Dune Sea. Ultimately, The Book of Boba Fett goes against the jolly, trivial nature of the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Ending The Book of Boba Fett season 1 with that song (following a mid-credits scene which sets up season 2) seems to return Boba Fett to the Holiday Special tone, which is Star Wars‘ lowest point (according to Lucas, actors, and fans alike). While unclear if it’s a parody, an ode, or an unfortunate accident, The Book of Boba Fett episode 7 end-credits song repeats the Holiday Special‘s stylistic errors right as the season wraps up. However, the story has just begun for Boba Fett, as his Daimyo position is no longer threatened and he can create the peaceful and prosperous planet he wants – The Book of Boba Fett season 2 has time to make up for anything the end-credits song has ostensibly destroyed.

About The Author