We Finally Know For Sure How Boba Fett Escaped The Sarlacc Pit

The day is finally upon us, "Star Wars" fans. A year after that bombshell "The Mandalorian" season 2 finale, the latest adventure in a galaxy far, far away, "The Book of Boba Fett," is here. Indeed, after literal decades, the fan-favorite bounty hunter is finally taking the spotlight in his very own TV show. And, as one might have hoped, the first episode of the Disney+ series answered a burning question that fans have been wanting answers to for some time. We finally know how Boba Fett escaped the Sarlacc Pit.

The son of Jango Fett famously met his demise (or so it seemed) in "Return of the Jedi," which concluded the original trilogy. He just ... fell into the pit and that was that. None of the movies or TV shows up to this point had given us an answer as to what happened, a question that became far more pressing after Fett returned in "The Mandalorian." But, at long last, this gap has been filled. Let's discuss.

Warning: spoilers ahead for "The Book of Boba Fett." Proceed with caution.

In case anyone forgot, when last we left our hero (?) in "Return of the Jedi," Boba Fett was at least loosely affiliated with Jabba's crew, at least enough to get invited to a big sand barge party to watch some people get executed. But Luke Skywalker crashed that party with his lightsaber and caused a whole bunch of ruckus. Ultimately, Boba ends up getting in the mix and ends up on one of the smaller barges during the fight.

Han Solo, whom he had taken to Jabba several years earlier following the events of "The Empire Strikes Back," still suffering from hibernation sickness and hardly able to see, hears that Boba Fett is behind him. Alarmed and panicked, he accidentally smashes his weapon into Fett's jetpack, launching the fearsome bounty hunter into the side of the larger barge, leaving him to fall into the Sarlacc, "Looney Tunes" style. Womp, womp.

As many fans had hoped heading into the show, "The Book of Boba Fett" finally provided an answer to the question of how the bounty hunter managed to escape the Sarlacc. Let us not forget, those who fall victim to the creature were supposed to be digested slowly over the course of 1,000 years. This was Jabba's grand show and victims were not supposed to be able to get out of it. But Fett did, and the explanation was surprisingly logical.

Luckily, Fett fell into the Sarlacc with all of his armor on. Early on in the episode, he is in a Bacta tank healing a bit, while having a flashback to the moment in question. We see Fett in the beast's stomach, and he jolts awake in a panic. Unsure at first, he sees a Stormtrooper not far away that also fell into the beast's belly. Making his way to the trooper, he rips out his oxygen tube to take a deep breath. Then, utilizing the tools at his disposal, Fett straight up slices and flamethrowers his way out of the Sarlacc's side.

After ripping a hole in the creature, Fett uses all of his strength to climb through the creature and up through the sand, emerging on the sands of Tatooine not far from where he fell into his presumed tomb in the first place. Unfortunately, he is exhausted and passes out, paving the way for Jawas to come and steal his armor in his weakened state, which explains how Cobb Vanth came to possess it in "The Mandalorian."

While the old, expanded universe, now labeled "Legends" and no longer considered canon, had offered its own explanation for how Boba Fett survived, this had been left intentionally vague, perhaps frustratingly so, by Lucasfilm since Disney purchased the company and all of "Star Wars" with it back in 2012. Fans have been wondering for nearly 40 years about the character's fate, and now we finally know. Yet, in the end, the explanation was pretty straightforward.

While what happened to Fett after the fact might throw us for a loop, as we unravel the mystery of what happened with him and the Tusken Raiders, escaping the Sarlacc was pretty simple. The man had Mandalorian armor that protected him, he had weapons at his disposal, and he used them. Is this anticlimactic? One supposes fans could look at it that way but, at the very least, it does cement Fett as a badass, in that, many have perished in the Sarlacc. He did not.

"The Book of Boba Fett" returns with new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.