3 years later, The Book of Boba Fett has started to have something of a resurgence within the Star Wars fandom, and revisiting it has helped me to finally understand one of its strangest decisions. Despite the hype it received following Boba Fett's iconic return in The Mandalorian season 2, The Book of Boba Fett was far from what viewers expected. In fact, half the show was dedicated to Din Djarin of The Mandalorian himself rather than its titular character.

Above all else, however, the most controversial aspect of The Book of Boba Fett had to do with how it handled the flashbacks to Tuskens on Tatooine. These flashbacks took place while Boba, in the present day, was healing in his bacta tank. Many viewers disagreed with this bacta tank decision, insisting that the extended time spent there made him seem weaker than he really was, but I've finally started to understand why this specific creative choice was made.

Boba Fett's Bacta Tank Resembles The Tube He Was Born In

It's Reminiscent Of His Earliest Origins

What's significant about the bacta tank in The Book of Boba Fett is that it's different from the other bacta tanks we've seen in Star Wars, which typically stand vertically rather than horizontally. Of course, this could be a result of advanced technology by the time of Boba Fett's story, which takes place quite a few years after the events of the original Star Wars trilogy. More likely, however, is that this bacta tank setup refers back to Boba's past.

Boba is one of only two genetically pure clones made by the Kaminoans, requested specifically by Jango Fett as a part of his agreement to become the cloning model for the Grand Army of the Republic. While Boba would go on to be raised as Jango's son, and thus denounce much of his clone origin and brotherhood, this doesn't mean he wasn't born like the other clones. He, like the rest of the clone babies we see in Star Wars, was born in a tube.

The other genetically pure clone is Omega, who made her debut in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

These tubes look strikingly similar to Boba Fett's bacta tank. Given the fact that The Book of Boba Fett opens with Boba experiencing flashbacks that include Kamino while he's inside his bacta tank, it's clearly a thought that's on his own mind, too. This imagery, at least to me, is no mistake, and I believe that it plays into the larger theme upon which Boba's story in his TV show is based.

The Book Of Boba Fett Is The Story Of His Rebirth

How His Experience In The Sarlacc Truly Changed Him

The story of The Book of Boba Fett sees Boba being essentially reborn after his experience in the Sarlacc, which is symbolized by his bacta tank. Because it emulates the tube within which Boba was born as a clone, it's an even more intimate symbol of how Boba's currently being transformed by the experience that nearly took his life in Return of the Jedi. He's once again inside the tube, becoming a reformed person with a whole new life ahead of him.

Because it emulates the tube within which Boba was born as a clone, it's an even more intimate symbol of how Boba's currently being transformed by the experience that nearly took his life in Return of the Jedi.

The flashbacks are an essential part of showing this process for Boba. It may not fit well within the greater structure of The Book of Boba Fett, but through this lens, it makes complete sense. Boba's time with the Tuskens as seen in the flashbacks, as well as his first meeting with Fennec Shand, are experiences that facilitate his current rebirth. The reason why he still needs these reminders, even long after his survival, has everything to do with his present-day storyline.

The Daimyo Storyline Shows Boba Fett's Second Failed Quest For Revenge

Boba's Had To Learn Twice That Revenge Is Not The Way

It was ultimately a long quest for revenge that resulted in Boba's near-death experience in the Sarlacc pit. After Jango's death at the hands of Mace Windu, we saw in Star Wars: The Clone Wars how relentlessly a young, angry Boba went after the Jedi, and this bloodlust was something that was never quenched, not even after Windu's death. He made a living from this pain as a bounty hunter, following in his father's footsteps.

This is what Cad Bane taunts Boba about during their showdown in The Book of Boba Fett's finale, insisting that Boba is nothing more than the killer his father used to be. Boba, however, kills Bane not in the name of revenge, but - as the episode's title suggests - in the name of honor. Boba is protecting those he has while he still can, rather than living in the past and limiting himself to what happened back then.

Prior to this, however, Boba is failing as a daimyo whilst he's experiencing flashbacks, a position he took out of his desire for revenge against Jabba the Hutt. Things don't go in his favor because Boba has to learn that revenge is not the way to fulfillment. His flashbacks remind him of that, especially once he realizes in the present day that the speeder bike gang he thought had killed his Tusken tribe was actually set up to look guilty by the Pyke Syndicate - and he murdered them all for nothing.

Boba Fett's Flashbacks Allow Us To Understand The Journey That Brought Him To Change

They're How He Truly Learned This Key Lesson

Ultimately, the controversial bacta tank and its flashbacks were truly essential to helping us, as the audience, understand how exactly Boba is learning all these lessons in real time. We didn't have any insight prior to this show into what Boba's life was like after surviving the Sarlacc; up until its opening sequence, we didn't even know how Boba survived the Sarlacc. These are pieces of the puzzle that we really needed.

This contrast between the flashbacks that continue Boba's rebirthing process and the present-day storyline that shows why he truly needs his rebirth is an absolute necessity.

How I like to think of it now, after understanding this, is that they were pieces of the puzzle that unfortunately fit into the wrong places, though I understand why they were arranged the way they were. This contrast between the flashbacks that continue Boba's rebirthing process and the present-day storyline that shows why he truly needs his rebirth is an absolute necessity. It was simply the imbalance between the two, and the pacing, that made it so hard for the audience to grasp.

Overall, this view of the rebirth of Boba Fett in The Book of Boba Fett makes the show more significant for me, but also makes me wish that it had been done its proper justice as well. I'm at least glad I have more appreciation for the bacta tank now, especially with it tying uniquely into Boba's origins as a clone of Jango Fett. Even if it took 3 years for me to understand, it's nice to know I can revisit The Book of Boba Fett with a more nuanced perspective.