The Book of Boba Fett Finale Faces The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Book of Boba Fett — Chapter 7 “In the Name of Honor” Review

With two weeks of diverging from the crime lord’s presence, The Book of Boba Fett has reached its end and is ready for war–or at least, according to its characters. With a lackluster development between Boba Fett’s conflict against the Pyke Syndicate and even more interest in Din Djarin’s adventures on the minds of viewers, can the final episode save The Mandalorian’s first spin-off from the prior problems it established? The obvious answer is no, but audiences are left with plenty of satisfying moments throughout the hour-long runtime of “Chapter 7”. From the finale’s beginning to its end, The Book of Boba Fett faces a lot of good, some bad, and a handful of ugly moments during “In the Name of Honor”. After the show’s first four chapters, the series ends where viewers more or less would expect it to.

Editor’s Note: Spoilers for the final week of The Book of Boba Fett! If you have not seen “In the Name of Honor” yet, this is your last chance to turn back while you can!

In the final episode of The Book of Boba Fett, the crime lord returns to the streets of Mos Espa after the Pyke Syndicate began causing chaos across Tatooine. With the Mandalorian back for battle and the rest of the crew assembled, Boba Fett embraces a fidgety final showdown between his empire and the Pyke Syndicate’s forces. “In the Name of Honor” wraps up the majority of The Book of Boba Fett’s loose ends while hitting a wall of missed opportunities like some of the show’s earlier entries. “Chapter 7” goes all-in on utilizing many of the scenarios and character plot points that the season’s later episodes established, but without a proper build-up, the payoff is brought to its knees. Overall, the finale is able to mostly satisfy at the cost of having to rely on a lot of action and some events that took place outside of the show.

When “In the Name of Honor” is at its best, The Book of Boba Fett is giving viewers some glorious action and exceptional character chemistry moments. The episode may lack a narrative to write home about, but that does not mean it lacks important moments of development or memorable shots to correlate with fan-favorite characters. “Chapter 7” jumps between thrilling and slow moments as it focuses on one small-scale standoff that is made out to be quite larger than what it truly is–which can be both a positive and negative aspect for the finale. On one hand, the lack of a massive scale battle gives The Book of Boba Fett the upper hand when narrowing down a focus. However, on the other hand, is the threat of a payoff hanging by a thread as this big incoming “war” ends up being nothing too noteworthy.

The scenes that pull “In the Name of Honor” down can ironically be some of the best. The episode as a whole is littered with a ton of great moments hindered by either poor build-ups caused by prior chapters or just flat-out silly situations. When it comes to a finale, culmination and execution are key. The Book of Boba Fett was set up to never succeed with either, but it does make the best of its situation. Every scene of Boba Fett and the Mandalorian shines, while the other overdrawn action sequences featuring the people of Freetown and the Mods lose themselves.

One of the larger issues for “In the Name of Honor” outside of the narrative’s engagement can be the ludicrous action scenarios. “Chapter 7” is packed to the brim with incredible action moments–Star Wars fans will seriously jump for joy over the amazing rancor sequences and Din Djarin and Boba Fett fighting side by side–but there are also a handful of slow instances that can kill the pacing as the titular crime lord’s empire falls victim to a redundant battle plan. In comparison to The Mandalorian’s two finales where Din Djarin’s team was placed against all odds and succeeded with a genius resolution, the scenes where Boba Fett’s crew are pinned down and in need of a miracle lack tension. The scenes feel stilted and do not have the sense of danger that they should have.

The core problems with the narrative and action can all be found in the cast’s minor characters who engage in an anticlimatic war. The Mods and the people of Freetown do not have what it takes to steal the show for two reasons. That being said, the smaller moments are overshadowed by the larger setpieces. Still, it is impossible to not acknowledge that the action also comes to a rather questionable and stellar halt during the conclusion.

While the death of Cad Bane is the highlight scene of “Chapter 7”, the western standoff is both something to love and hate for a multitude of typical Star Wars reasons. The Clone Wars bounty hunter was introduced one episode ago and is already being killed off. While Cad Bane has had plenty of development over the years–and is still getting development through shows like Star Wars: The Bad Batch–his death feels rather rushed and banks on the fact that viewers were well aware of his high stature from seeing his animated appearances. On a side note, the idea that Bane knew Jango Fett opens the door for quite a few possibilities if Lucasfilm were ever to explore the story of Boba Fett’s father before he became the face of the Grand Army of the Republic and the era of the Empire.

“Chapter 7” had the perfect opportunity to tie back to the first episode’s Kamino flashbacks with the possibility of Cad Bane perhaps looking after Jango Fett’s son, but the opportunity is never utilized. In addition to Bane’s quick departure though, Fennec Shand’s attempt to assassinate the crime lords, the mayor, and the Pyke Syndicate leader is absolutely brutal yet incompetent. Once again, Ming-Na Wen’s character goes missing in action throughout the chapter but then gets to save the day. The whole scene almost makes you question why Fennec did not run into the Pyke’s hiding spot during the third or fourth chapter if it was that easy–she seriously has no trouble getting into what is supposed to be a guarded hideout.

To close things out, Din Djarin’s departure and the mid-credits scene resonate the same problem as the two episodes prior to the finale: This is The Book of Boba Fett and not The Mandalorian season three. The fact that season three of The Mandalorian will pick up when Din is already reunited with Grogu back is going to be an odd circumstance to swallow for audiences who did not watch The Book of Boba Fett. As incredible as every scene featuring the two are, everything involving the Mandalorian getting back together with his best pal feel better suited for their own show. Meanwhile, Cobb Vanth becoming the next gunslinger to be part of the Mod group comes off as unnecessary but perhaps a needed note for the character to return in the future.

After three straight weeks of back-to-back phenomenal episodes, The Book of Boba Fett closes out on a final entry that holds honor but lacks a lot of competence due to its former build-up. With so much and so little going on, the show all in all sticks to its initial legacy of being a mess of great ideas and poor executions. Through its highs and its lows, Boba Fett’s long-awaited standalone series is packed with missed opportunities and excellent character-building moments. “In the Name of Honor” upholds The Book of Boba Fett’s ultimate sentiment the most. Star Wars fans have waited years for the legendary bounty hunter to receive some sort of standalone medium whether that be a movie, video game, or television series.

The Book of Boba Fett is not too glorious of a tale, but it unarguably offers more to enjoy about the titular crime lord and his place within a galaxy far far away. If the series is renewed and manages to nab a second chance at the spotlight, let’s hope the next chapter in The Book of Boba Fett finds a focus and stays true to its title. This action-packed finale may not be the critical high-note fans have been waiting for, but it is acceptable as the show closes out with plenty of moments building up to The Mandalorian’s next adventure.