The Book Of Boba Fett Revisits A Key Phantom Menace Sequence

Try as you might, you probably haven't stopped thinking about Din Djarin's former ship, the Razor Crest, since its untimely demise in "The Mandalorian" season 2 (gone, but not forgotten). As with so many elements of the Disney+ series, tragedy quickly gives way to curiosity. When exactly would Mando get a new ship, and how? Would it be another Razor Crest, or something completely different? How would it live up to the former's unforgettable design — and, perhaps most importantly: would it clash with Din's signature beskar-head-to-toe style?

Fortunately, we didn't have to wait for "The Mandalorian" season 3 to find out. Or maybe, more accurately, "The Book of Boba Fett" episode 5 is something of a Mando season premiere in disguise. Either way, the latest episode is chock-full of callbacks and cameos from one of the most successful "Star Wars" projects in recent memory. As well as a major callback to a key sequence from the prequels.

Spoilers for the latest episode of "The Book of Boba Fett" lie ahead.

Episode 5, appropriately titled "Return of the Mandalorian," reacquaints us with Din Djarin. It really feels like your standard "Mandalorian" adventure: Din collects a bounty, regroups with his former Mandalorian clan, and eventually departs for a good old-fashioned side quest to Tatooine. There, his old acquaintance Peli Motto (once again played by Amy Sedaris, who appeared in cameo a few episodes back) claims to have found a replacement for Din's dearly departed Razor Crest.

Peli's answer to Din's transportation problems is an old, defunct N-1 starfighter — a Nabooian vessel, the same kind of ship that Anakin Skywalker once flew in 1999's "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace." The ship is practically stripped when Mando first arrives at Peli's garage, nearly resembling the barebones podracers from Anakin's time on Tatooine. And once up and running, Mando takes the N-1 for a test spin on the very same track that Anakin once raced in the Boonta Eve Classic back in the first prequel film.

The big podracing sequence is probably the most memorable moment in "The Phantom Menace," and though Din's test run is brief, eagle-eyed fans will probably recognize this particular area of Tatooine with ease. Mando even tests the maneuverability of his new ship in Beggar's Canyon, a notoriously dangerous stretch of the Boonta Eve track. But that's not the final callback to "The Phantom Menace." Once Mando returns to the garage, Peli naturally asks how the test went. The Mandalorian answers with a stone-cold response: "Wizard." Prequels lovers will undoubtedly remember that as a popular slang term among Anakin's friends on Tatooine, though how it found its way into Din Djarin's vocabulary is anyone's guess.