The Book of Boba Fett Unmasks Pivotal Star Wars Characters for the First Time

The Book of Boba Fett has unmasked some pivotal Star Wars characters for the first time! (WARNING: The Book of Boba Fett SPOILERS Follow!) In "Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine", we get more hints at how Boba Fett's time with the Tusken Raiders after Return of the Jedi may connect to his current predicament of trying to take over Jabba the Hutt's empire – and finding some serious opposition in his way. The latest stretch of Boba Fett's backstory saw him lead the Tuskens in an epic mission to stop the some intruders on their land – and with that battle, we get to learn a bit more about some of Star Wars' most mysterious (and nefarious) characters!

Boba Fett's mission with the Tusken's sees him train them to stage a brazen train heist – a train run by gangsters who love to shoot down Tusken tribes they pass in the desert. It costs many lives, but Boba is ultimately successful and stops the train. It turns out the train was hauling spice, and that it is none other than the Pyke Syndicate behind the operation. 

After the fight is won, Boba Fett holds court with the surviving Pyke Syndicate members on the dunes of Tatooine. In order to negotiate with full respect, Boba has the leader of the Pykes come forward and take of his mask – a first for the Star Wars franchise. As it turns out, under the iconic masks they wear, the Pykes resemble something like alien catfish. It's now clear those Pyke masks do a LOT of the heavy lifting when it comes to giving the gang an air of menace. 

The Pyke Syndicate is one of the most well-known gangs in the Star Wars Underworld. They first made an appearance in the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series, as part of the league of crime syndicates operating in the Outer Rim Territories. The Pyke Syndicate thrived with the rise of the Empire, becoming the galaxy's biggest traffickers of the spice narcotic, which they forced slaves to harvest from the brutal Kessel mines. The Pykes made their jump to live-action in Solo: A Star Wars Story, when a young Han Solo crossed them by stealing valuable fuel from the Kessel mines, as part of the infamous Kessel Run heist. 

Star Wars has also positioned the Pyke Syndicate into just about every era of the franchise, with characters like Darth Maul, Doctor Aphra, and others crossing paths with them in books, comics, and TV. Most recently, the Pykes were part of Han Solo's old flame Lady Qi'ra's grand re-introduction of her own crime syndicate, Crimson Dawn to the galaxy – with some implication that Qi'ra may have influence with the syndicate in ways that could be totally relevant to The Book of Boba Fett. (See: Star Wars' "Crimson Reign" event.) 

The Book of Boba Fett is streaming on Disney+.