Everything you need to know about ‘The Mandalorian’ if you didn’t watch ‘The Book of Boba Fett’

Some of the best Star Wars content we have seen in the last decade has come from The Mandalorian, which follows bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), and Grogu, a force user of the same species as Yoda. But, before heading into the third season of the hit show, you might not know that Din and Grogu have had adventures in another series, The Book of Boba Fett.

Jon Favreau has mentioned in the past that he wants the Disney Plus Star Wars shows to connect with one another, as they are all in the same time period. So, it isn’t totally surprising that our Mandalorian pops up in The Book of Boba Fett, but what was surprising is just how much of Grogu and Din’s story the spin-off series featured.

If you haven’t watched The Book of Boba Fett you might be wondering exactly what you have missed out on that will impact the story of The Mandalorian going forward. So, here’s everything you need to know about Din and Grogu’s journey if you didn’t watch The Book of Boba Fett.

Boba Fett

The original man in the Mandalorian armor, Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), reappeared in season two of The Mandalorian, setting up his own spin-off. In case he pops back up in season three, it’s worth taking a look at how Fett fared on Tatooine. At the end of The Mandalorian, he and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) killed Bib Fortuna and took over Mos Espa as the Daimyo aka the crime lord.

The Book of Boba Fett starts off with Boba Fett as the Daimyo, attempting to rule Mos Espa with a creed of respect rather than fear as Jabba the Hutt had. We find out through flashbacks how he managed to get out of the sarlacc pit, and how he managed to survive. Boba was found by some Tusken Raiders, after his armor was stolen by Jawas, and he survived with them for a while. After he stopped being their prisoner, Fett learned how to use the gaderffii stick, the main weapon of the Tuskens. 

While with them, he noticed that a hovertrain run by the Pykes was taking out the Raiders. He helped them advance their ways, and together, they took down the train and disrupted the Pykes spice distribution. The Raiders clan is then massacred, and at first, Boba thinks he was the cause as he had stolen speeders from a local biker gang, but it is later revealed by Cad Bane that the Pyke Syndicate was behind it.

This is not the way

If you cast your mind back to the end of The Mandalorian’s second season, you will remember that Din managed to win the Darksaber off of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) much to the disappointment of Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff). Shortly after, Luke Skywalker helps them out of a jam and offers to take Grogu away for his Jedi training. Not wanting to stand in his way, Din accepts Luke’s offer and the surrogate father and son part ways. 

So, in the fifth episode of The Book of Boba Fett, Din is hunting a bounty alone, with his Darksaber. We find him looking for The Armorer, now that Grogu is no longer with him. He finds her and Paz Vizsla on the Glavis Ringworld after she had left Nevarro. After she notices that he has a nasty wound that couldn’t possibly be the result of the blaster, the pair discover that Din is in possession of the Darksaber. 

Din spends some time training with the blade to avoid a mishap in the future. Paz Vizsla is annoyed that Din has the Darksaber because his Mandalorian ancestor was the one who forged it. The two duel in single combat, and Djarin manages to make it out victorious. But The Armorer asks him if he has taken off his helmet since, and unfortunately, he had done so multiple times. She then says he is no longer Mandalorian unless he manages to bathe in the living waters in the mines of Mandalore, which is now a ruin, undoubtedly setting up the next season of The Mandalorian.

Razor Crest

Following Din’s encounter with The Armorer, Din travels back to Tatooine on public transport in search of a ship. He visits Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris), and he paid for a new Razor Crest. But, it is not a Razor Crest she has for him; instead, it is an old, yet modified N-1 starfighter, like the one Anakin Skywalker used in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Together, they fix the old starfighter up, complete with an empty droid compartment. 

Father and Son 

With his new ship complete, Din had a gift he wanted to give Grogu, a shirt of beskar chainmail the armorer made. So, he ventured to Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Temple on Ossus with the hope that he would be able to give Grogu the gift in person. Unfortunately, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) stopped him. She claimed that Grogu would have to let go of all attachments and that his connection to Din could cloud his Jedi training. 

So, he left and went back to Tatooine alone, where he reunited with Fennec Shand and Boba Fett, agreeing to help them in their fight against the Pyke Syndicate. But they did not know that the Syndicate had hired Cad Bane, one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy, to fight for them. Bane first ventured to Mos Pelgo, now named Freetown, to stop Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) from fighting for Boba Fett.

Vanth was presumably killed in the ensuing duel, and he would have been if Boba did not retrieve The Marshall’s body and put him in the Bacta Tank. He then received life-saving implants from The Modifier, which is also what he did to Fennec Shand. In the final fight, Din and Boba attempt to battle some Scorpenek droids. 

Unfortunately, even Din with the Darksaber could not defeat the droids, and they were forced to retreat. Peli Motto arrives in a rickshaw, allowing Din to make his escape. But with her is Grogu, wearing his beskar armor. Luke offered Grogu a choice, either he could close off his connection with Din, or he could go back to him and let go of his Jedi training. He chose to go back, so R2-D2 piloted him back to Tatooine.

Ultimately, Boba uses a rancor to destroy the droids, and he manages to take out Cad Bane as well. The rancor rampages its way through Mos Espa, and Grogu uses the force to calm it down. Din and Grogu part ways with Fennec and Fett after Boba defeats what remains of the Pyke Syndicate, setting up the third season of The Mandalorian. 

That’s everything you missed in The Book of Boba Fett to catch you up on The Mandalorian. They really did manage to pack in some major story beats for Din and Grogu in the spin-off. Let’s just hope they don’t take three episodes of this upcoming season to focus on Boba Fett.

You can watch The Mandalorian on Disney Plus.