Star Wars: Who is Cad Bane and What Are His History and Connections to Boba Fett, Fennec Shand and the Jedi?

SPOILER warning. Spoilers follow for the newest episode of The Book of Boba Fett, “Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger.” While the title of Wednesday’s new The Book of Boba Fett episode sounds mysterious, the episode offers the answer. The stranger from the desert is Cad Bane, the notorious and feared Duros bounty hunter who has been operating since before the Clone Wars. Here he’s depicted as hired muscle the Pykes are using to intimidate (or eliminate) anyone who objects to the Syndicate running spice through Tatooine. However, his history with Boba Fett and his allies goes deeper.

Cad Bane knew Boba Fett’s father, Jango Fett, before Boba Fett’s creation. Jango Fett was already a veteran when Cad Bane was still young and new in the bounty hunting game. For a short time, Jango took Cad Bane under his wing, setting Bane on the path to becoming one of the galaxy’s best bounty hunters.

During the Clone Wars, Cad Bane’s reputation grew. Notably, he worked primarily with the Separatists against the Republic, including one mission where he raided the Jedi Temple for a Holocron that Darth Sidious desired.

It seems Jango Fett told Boba stories of Cad Bane because the child was familiar with the bounty hunter before he left Kamino. They first crossed paths in prison, where Cad Bane enlisted Boba’s aid in staging a breakout. Later, during the Clone Wars’ waning days, Bane took Boba under his wing to train him in the ways of bounty hunting — returning Jango Fett’s favor — after Boba had already learned from Aurra Sing and Bossk.

But the partnership doesn’t seem to have lasted for very long. After the Empire’s rise, Cad Bane was working alone. That’s where he crossed paths with Fennec Shand, who became Boba’s most trusted ally by the time of The Book of Boba Fett. At the time, competing Kaminoans had hired them to capture Omega, Boba Fett’s clone sister. Ultimately, Clone Force 99 escaped with Omega, but Bane may still remember Fennec’s interference in his mission.

Based on lines from The Book of Boba Fett, it seems Bane also resents Boba Fett’s actions as an Imperial collaborator, as seen when Boba Fett shows up to work for Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back. Fans of the comics will also know that Vader hired Vader to hunt Luke Skywalker down previous to that. It seems that Bane has an independent streak, evidenced by his working for the separatists. Bane disliking the Empire would also explain why he wasn’t a part of the group of bounty hunters that showed up in the original trilogy. Now it seems he may have the chance to settle old scores.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments. The Book of Boba Fett is streaming now on Disney+.