When a franchise is as widespread, interconnected, and continuously growing as the Star Wars universe, it is hard to present stories that keep all the fans happy. One such long-standing complaint from Star Wars fans was regarding the rather embarrassing death that was dealt to the bounty hunter Boba Fett in Return of the Jedi. But thankfully, the franchise is out to right its wrongs and in the latest episode of The Mandalorian, it redeems its greatest mistake-- sending Boba to his unexpected "death."

[Spoilers ahead for The Mandalorian Season 2 episode 6, "The Tragedy"]

3 Boba Fett was first introduced in the original trilogy

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For those who successfully blocked the weird conclusion crafted for Boba Fett in the original trilogy, here is a much-needed flashback. Boba was first introduced back in the Star Wars Holiday Special in a fan-favorite animated segment that proved to be one of the few highlights of the ortherwise dismal show. He then returned for his first live-action apperance in The Empire Strikes Back, commissioned by Darth Vader to capture Han Solo. After Solo survived being frozen in carbonite, Vader turned him over to Boba, who wanted to collect a bounty on him from Jabba the Hutt. Even though Boba barely had any lines in the film and very less screen time, he still became everyone's favourite bounty hunter. 

When a mighty villain like Darth Vader had to caution (yes, caution) Boba Fett, specifying that he should not "disintegrate" anyone in his mission to capture the Falcon, it was fantasized that he would turn out to be a viler evil. For a cold killer like Vader to actually warn Boba to restrain himself was all the hint Star Wars fans needed to fantasize the level of power he could display. 

Return of the Jedi continued with Boba's journey on Tatooine, where Solo's rescuers-- Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and company-- were also captured and sentenced to death by Jabba on his sail barge, who decided that his prisoners will be fed to the terrifying Sarlacc. But soon chaos ensued as Luke broke free, followed by perhaps the most sudden and rather cartoonish death no one else in the history of Star Wars had been subjected to. 

Boba Fett engaged in the fight, only to be taken out by a blinded Han Solo who accidentally broke his jetpack, sending the bounty hunter hurtling to his obvious death into the Sarlacc pit. Yep, a fan-favourite character was literally dealt an ending only reserved for side characters. 

2 But The Mandalorian has rectified this flaw in the most spectacular fashion

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In its Season 2 premiere episode, "The Marshal," The Mandalorian followed Mando on his mission to find more Mandalorians to help him on his mission to unite Grogu with the Jedi. He ended up on the planet Tattooine and came face-to-face with Cobb Vanth who is no Mandalorian but wore a rather familiar armour-- the very iconic green armour and helmet worn by Boba Fett. 

The episode didn't let the speculations of fans run wild as by the end, after Mando successfully secured the armour from Vanth and was seen leaving the planet with The Child, a lone figure decked in dark robes watched them from afar. As he turned, viewers were stunned into silence after they saw the scarred face of actor Temuera Morrison who originally played Jango Fett, Boba's father.

But wild fan theories did crop up, ranging from him being another duplicate of Jango Fett to it truly being Boba. Well, the latter wins as the latest episode of The Mandalorian, "The Tragedy," finally confirms that it is indeed Boba Fett. And that's not all-- the episode goes ahead and redeems the character's mortifying exit in the original trilogy. 

1 Boba Fett is now Team Mando

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But he isn't one when the episode begins! As we last saw, Mando was headed for Tython with Grogu on a new mission-- seat The Child on the "magic stone" as instructed by Ahsoka Tano. Suddenly a rather familiar ship, the Slave I, lands near them and from it ascends Boba Fett who introduces himself by name, putting speculations to rest. Unable to snap Grogu out of his Force-field, Mando goes forward to have a tense standoff with the bounty hunter as Boba demands his armour back and in return, he promises to protect the duo. As expected, Mando is not willing to give it back as Boba doesn't fit the technical details necessary to rightfully own the armour. 

But soon, their mini-argument is side-lined as Moff Gideon, who if you remember has been tracking the Razor Crest, attacks the trio with an army of stormtroopers, though we are so not complaining. We never really got to see how bad-ass Boba can be and this episode sets out to resolve every disappointment as the gunslinger shows his exemplary skills by ruthlessly defeating the stormtroopers, while expertly weaving his staff in ways which is nothing short of spectacular. And once he dons on his armour (taken from the Razor Crest without Mando's permission because well, he is THE Boba Fett), it is impossible to not stare with our mouths hanging open as the Imperial troops are forced to scuttle back to their ships. 

It is soon revealed that it was all a distraction by Moff Gideon to get his prize-- Grogu, whom he snatches before Mando can make it to him. But the bounty hunter is not alone anymore as Boba Fett once again promises to ensure the safety of The Child.

So, that's two cliffhangers solved-that the cloaked figure was indeed Boba and he is on Mando's side, which is not going to be good news for the Empire. As the ending clearly specifies that he plans on sticking around this time, we can expect a detailed version of how he survived the Sarlacc pit, what he had been up to all these years, and why didn't he get his armour back from Cobb Vanth. You can catch up on the latest episode of The Mandalorian now streaming on Disney+.