The desert train used by the Pykes to deliver their spice cargo bears resemblance to a Greater Krayt Dragon, from the wailing sound to the serpentine body that trudges through the sand. Considering how the Tuskens fear the Greater Krayt Dragon, it makes sense for the Pykes to deliver spice by this method rather using spaceships. The presence of a Greater Krayt would drive the Tuskens away from the settlements, and thus keep their cargo safe from raiders. Of course, like crows to a scarecrow, the Tuskens eventually realize that the "dragon" is actually a train used by off-worlders, and thus can theoretically be defeated.
The Mods look out of place with their shiny Cyberpunk duds and chromed-up scooters. Like their real-life inspirations, the Mods are a counterculture clique, so of course they're going to stand out.
The water merchant tries to villainize the gang by highlighting that they are cyborgs, using droid parts to enhance their bodies. The camera cuts to Fennec, whose life was saved by Boba Fett using such modifications, foreshadowing his decision to just hire the street gang.
During Boba Fett's Motive Rant to Fennec Shand in Chapter 4, he states, "How many times have you been hired to do a job that was avoidable — if they only took the time to think? How much money could've been made? How many lives could've been saved? I'm tired of our kind dying because of the idiocy of others. We're smarter than them. It's time we took our shot." These words don't describe anything we've seen in the series itself to this point. Instead, they're an indirect reference to the events of Return of the Jedi, in which Fett and the rest of Jabba's regime was crushed after the Hutt picked an unnecessary fight with a Jedi.
Boba advises Black Krrsantan to not work for the Twins, aka "scugholes," saying it's not worth it. Considering that his last active bounty hunting service to a Hutt 5 years ago saw him falling into a Sarlacc pit, suffering horrible acidic burns, then losing his armor to Jawas before being enslaved by the Tuskens, Boba clearly had time to reflect on when it went all wrong for him despite being "the best bounty hunter in the galaxy."
When Boba Fett goes on his Mushroom Samba vision quest, he looks up at a tree to see it filled with pairs of glowing eyes. Jawas are often depicted with a pair of glowing eyes visible from under their cloaks. His last interaction with them was when they stood over him and stole his armor while he was delirious.
The Cold Opening of "Return of the Mandalorian" curiously helps reinforce the challenges related to Boba's attempts at starting his own criminal operation. Unlike Boba, Kaba Baiz (Din's target) clearly seems to have been unable to expand beyond his means (or for that matter, enforce Undying Loyalty from his employees and underlings), as shown when Din is able to deliver a Curb-Stomp Battle to him and his immediate goons, as well as bribe the rest of the employees with his now-abandoned money. Kaba Baiz's lack of charisma, ambition, and vision is a near-explicit cautionary tale of what faces a criminal gang with limited muscle and unsophisticated organization.
The Armorer describes Bo-Katan as a cautionary tale for Mandalorians, because she tried to lay claim to rulership based on family heritage and possession of the Darksaber, but she only gained the Darksaber as a gift rather than earning it through combat. Paz Vizla decides to challenge Din Djarin for the Darksaber (and by implication, leadership of the Mandalorians), but makes it clear he feels the Darksaber should go to him because his ancestor forged it. Paz is implicitly doomed to fail in his bid for the same reason Bo-Katan was, and is ironically defeated after Din manages to get his vibroblade away from him and use it against him.
Grogu's "gift" is a shirt of chainmail made of beskar. This makes sense as armor for a child: unlike plates, chainmail can be more easily loosened, adjusted, and expanded as a child grows, whereas plates have to be fitted to the wearer and would need to be completely reforged and refitted as the child grows. Chainmail specifically is also a benefit to Grogu. Having chosen the Jedi Order, it's almost certain that he'll never meet another person that can forge beskar armor; Mandalorians are already a dying breed, and the coverts are all extremely secretive (to say nothing of the fact that some Mandalorians still consider the Jedi to be their mortal enemies). Beskar plate would thus be extremely impractical, as Grogu would eventually outgrow it without the means to reforge it or reclaim the beskar. Chainmail, on the other hand, can be broken back down into its individual links and reused elsewhere, allowing Grogu to always use this gift of beskar even if he will be unable to reforge it.
The Empire uses nuclear weapons to destroy the surface of Mandalore. At first, it seems like a curious choice, considering that the Empire has far better weapons in their arsenal (turbolasers, baradium fission devices, etc.), but for those who read the comics that cover the Mandalorian Wars, and considering the fact that Dave Filoni does bring in Star Wars Legends lore into the new canon, the bombardment becomes a point of irony, as the Mandalorians used to nuke worlds that put up stiff resistance against them during the Mandalorian Wars. As a historian of the Sith, Palpatine would likely know about this detail, and his empire's use of nukes against the Mandalorians was likely an act of ironic vengeance; not only was he annihilating a people that rebelled against him, but he was also doing it in a way reminiscent of how THEY once put down rebellious worlds.
"Boba Fett is a cold-blooded killer who works for the Empire." What Cad Bane says to Cobb Vanth has many layers of meaning:
It's Bane's attempt to dissuade Cobb Vanth from joining Boba Fett's growing faction. After all, why would the people of Freetown join forces with a new, equally evil crime lord that had worked for tyrants in the past?
It affirms that Boba was indeed more villainous and ruthless during his career in the OT era, and that his new attitude in the series is not retconning his character.
It establishes Bane as Boba's ultimate Shadow Archetype, being everything that Boba once was and having remained as such throughout his entire life. If Boba is to triumph over the Pykes and establish his rule of respect as the new way of life, he has to defeat his greatest archenemy, and thus his former self, in a last duel to decide if fear or respect will prevail.
It foreshadows the next episode, where it's revealed that Bane mentored young Boba to be a cold-blooded killer like himself, and he doesn't get why Boba would have a change of heart. It also in some ways parallels with Luke mentoring Grogu to be a Jedi even though Grogu's heart lies elsewhere.
In many of the EU Star Wars books, stories often had entire chapters dedicated to side characters, plots and actions occurring alongside the main character. In a sense, The Book of Boba Fett seems to be doing the same thing: the main plot is about Boba's development and the war with the Syndicate, but there are subplots about what Din, Grogu, and Luke, among others, are doing at the same time, all meant to tie together — in this show, concurrently with other planned shows, etc. — at a later point.
There are many details in the Book of Boba Fett that foreshadow the Pykes being the ones responsible for the Tusken massacre, as revealed in Chapter 7:
The Kintan Striders are indeed a terror to the local moisture farmers, and love to spray their symbol on farms. But, only a handful of them are ever seen together at a time, never exceeding the number of the Tuskens in the tribe, as Boba stated to the Pykes, and a group of them got beaten up by a single man.
In Chapter 2, we are introduced to the Pykes and their spice train. This train is feared by the Tuskens, and many of them have been killed by the blaster shots from the Pykes onboard. We also see that the Pykes always come in huge numbers, which means they have the number advantage over the Tuskens. Additionally, we see that the Pykes are confused by Boba's offer of mercy, as well as their racist beliefs that Tuskens are not civilized people.
In Chapter 3, we see how the Pykes blew off Boba Fett's demand for protection money and then told Boba that they had already paid the Kintan Striders protection money. Ignoring the fact that the Pykes have more than enough resources to protect themselves, it seems unlikely that they would pay a small speeder bike gang anything when the Tuskens have the bigger numbers and superior skills. Given their racist beliefs about the Tuskens as well as the humiliation of losing a spice train, it's more likely they would retaliate against the Tuskens rather than paying them. And, to get Boba off their trail, they would frame the Kintan Striders, which is good for them since they won't have to pay either party. Additionally, when the episode goes to present day, it's revealed that the Mayor made a deal with the Pykes over the Hutts. This allows the audience to associate the Pykes with backstabbery both in the past and present.
Chapter 4 has Fennec voicing her doubts that a Nikto speeder bike gang could have destroyed the Tuskens, and we later see how pathetically easy it is to wipe them off the face of Tatooine with Boba's Firespray-class gunship.
Chapter 5 details how the Mandalorians lost their homeworld, Mandalore, to the Empire. Despite being a planet of proud warriors armed to the teeth, the Empire essentially won by bombing the whole planet until it was a nuclear wasteland with countless fleets of TIE Bombers. This parallels the massacre of the Tusken tribe, and it shows that the only way to kill a warrior tribe is overwhelming force, which is what the Pykes have.
Chapter 6 gives us a glimpse of what the Pykes do to those they deem to be an enemy. To send a message to Boba, they smuggle a bomb inside the Sanctuary and then blow it up, despite the fact the Sanctuary is a neutral zone. This again reinforces the Pykes as being dishonorable, and shows that even with smaller numbers, they can cause a lot of damage. Additionally, the episode shows what happens if you spare even one Pyke out of mercy, as Cobb Vanth finds out the hard way. The Pykes don't retreat easily, and they always come back with greater, more lethal force.
Peli equipping Din's modified Naboo N-1 with a second cockpit seems like a pretty contrived foreshadowing of Grogu's return at first, but makes sense once you think about it. Din's a bounty hunter after all, and he'll need space on his ship when he needs to bring bodies in "warm." That, and Peli assumed he'd still be traveling with Grogu.
Why do the Hutts have superiority over the Pykes despite the latter controlling the spice trade and having a huge private army for themselves? Ironically, despite what Boba said about Jabba, it's because the Hutts do have a sense of honor, as shown with the Twins. The Twins do not seek direct war with Boba, seeing the bloodshed as bad for business, instead opting for hired bounty hunters and assassins to strike Boba at his most vulnerable. When that fails, they give Boba a prized Rancor as a pet (complete with a trainer to tame it), no strings attached, as a form of apology. Meanwhile, the Pyke boss operates with dishonesty in his deals and false promises, such as the supposed protection money to the Tuskens, and his plan to get rid of Boba Fett is a violent, bloody war with military-grade droids and explosives that could destroy the entire city in the process (a fact that horrifies the Mayor). For many Tatooine denizens, while the Hutts may be cruel gangsters who bully people below them, they are at least more worthy of respect and amendable to negotiation than the Pykes.
Boba knew he couldn’t outdraw Cad Bane. After all, Hunter tried in the Bad Batch, and he drew first, but still lost the duel. Since Boba was wearing beskar and drawing on Cad Bane with a rifle vs. a pistol, he knew he had to lure him in close for the melee kill. His comment, "That may be, but I have armor," suggests that Boba was already planning past losing the quick draw.
Cad mirrors the person Boba Fett used to be. Boba killing him once and for all destroys the cold, heartless, and evil Boba Fett within himself.
Cad Bane has a pretty successful career as a bounty hunter, living up to the ripe age of 71, which, in Legends, is beyond the average lifespan of a Duros. He could have retired from service and lived out the rest of his life in peace, eventually dying of old age (which is something very few Star Wars characters actually achieve). But instead, he still takes dangerous jobs for criminal syndicates and goads his enemies to fight him head on. This suicidal choice makes sense because Cad Bane has only known the lonely life of a bounty hunter, and a sociopath like him couldn't imagine himself dying in an anti-climactic fashion after achieving such a legendary reputation. He wants to go out in a blaze of glory, not caring if it's the same fate that Jango suffered. It shows what would have happened to Boba if he had resumed his bounty hunting career. He may have escaped the Sarlacc, but he can only truly live again if he can escape the bounty-hunting lifestyle that will inevitably lead to a violent, lonely end.
Boba Fett seems to consider the Mandalorian Creed as "bantha fodder", but is happy to hear Din really believes in it. Not only because Fett is similarly invested in his own code of honor, but because it means Din is putting his life on the line for something that really matters to him and not just to repay some perceived debt. It also certainly helps that it means Boba can count on Din to fight with the tenacity Mandalorians are famous for.
If the unfinished "Bounty Hunter" arc of The Clone Wars is canon, as implied by the metal plate on Cad Bane's head, then how did Bane survive the headshot wound from Boba even though it was initially intended for Boba to kill his teacher and take the mantle of best bounty hunter? Well, when Bane challenges Boba to another gunslinger duel, he mentions that he's still faster than Boba, while the rough animatic actually shows both of them shooting at the exact same time. This subtle retcon implies that in the canonical duel, Bane shot first and his blaster bolt slightly knocked Boba's aim just as he was about to fire. This caused Boba's shot to go from a direct headshot blow to a mere scraping across the forehead, enough to knock Bane unconscious but not fatally wound him.
Luke choosing to give Grogu the choice between being a Jedi or being a Mandalorian isn't just pragmatism; it's Luke preventing him from taking the "middle road" path he did that caused his own flirtation with the Dark Side in The Empire Strikes Back and would come back to haunt him in the sequel trilogy. He's well aware that trying to be a Jedi of immense Force potential while also holding onto your bonds with your loved ones can result in impulsive decisions, death (or dismemberment, something he's very familiar with), or falling to the Dark Side over it. By making Grogu choose, he was either making sure he grew as a "proper" Jedi and not as one walking a fine line, or he was making sure he would grow up as a Mandalorian with only the most basic of Force training.
Alternatively; as Luke notes, Grogu's heart isn't in his training. And as Yoda directly pointed out to Luke when he ardently claimed he was ready to be trained, a Jedi must have the deepest commitment and most serious mind; Grogu lacks both. The fact of the matter is that Grogu is not ready to be trained, and Luke knows this because he wasn't ready either, and is now mature enough and wise enough to accept that. By presenting the choice to him at the end of the episode, Luke already knows what Grogu is going to pick. He's not giving Grogu an ultimatum; he's giving Grogu an out.
The crime families' betrayal of the neutrality pact they formed with Boba Fett seems to at first discredit Boba's rule of respect. But in reality, it actually vindicates Boba's rule in the long run. The crime families never had any respect to Boba Fett during the dinner meeting, seeing Boba's war with the Pykes to be potentially harmful to their profit margins, since they make a lot of money from spice. They only agreed to stay neutral after Boba's Rancor made its presence known. In short, Boba had used fear to keep the crime families in line, despite trying to be respectful. Thus, it's not surprising the Pykes managed to turn the crime families against Boba by simply bribing them (as Cad Bane mentions to Cobb Vanth, they can match whatever Boba's paying). Greed triumphed over fear. The only people who stick by Boba's side are the ones who refuse the money, like Din Djarin and the Freetowners. Even those who were officially given a paid job, like the Gamorrean Guards, Mod gang, and Krrsantan, had seen Boba's magnanimity and respect to them, so they're inclined to stick with him to the end.
Boba's handling of the Families is similar to how Luke Skywalker handled Jabba the Hutt. He greeted them as friends, appealed to their senses of honor, issued a threat in warning, and then had Fennec kill them. Although, Luke also had his allies infiltrate Jabba's gang and attempted a covert rescue in the middle of all that.
Why was Garsa Fwip's club blown up by the Pykes rather than being given a warning like the people of Freetown were? Because she paid tribute to Boba Fett as soon as he claimed the throne. While the Families claimed to be neutral, and the people of Freetown at least leaned that way, she openly supported the Pykes' enemy, even if in a minor way.
Why didn't Boba go for his Firespray Gunship and opted for his Rancor mount instead? The gunship certainly would have firepower... except it was in all likelihood a known quantity by the Pykes. They likely had an anti-air option in reserve in case the Gunship was brought into play. Conversely, the Fighting Rancor Mount was a complete blindside; all the Skorponeks could do in response is refocus their partially depleted shields to face Boba and his Rancor (leaving their face-away shields weak enough to walk right through by his allies) since the rancor could match the battledroids in size. Once the Skorponeks were out of the way, Boba and his allies could go on the offensive, and the Pyke army was merely so much snackfood to the Rancor. Furthermore, the Gunship is an airborne asset, constantly open to being fired upon; conversely again, the Rancor could approach under cover of buildings that it could easily climb over.
Boba Fett seems like a textbook Pirate Who Doesn't Do Anything, being a "crime lord" who doesn't do much actual crime beyond collecting protection money. Except, it makes perfect sense that he doesn't - the various crime lords and cartels who rule Mos Espa are the planet's de facto government, and so act more like warlords or feudal land-owners than criminals. The "tributes" Boba collects are, in all but name, taxes. In regions of space where the Republic/Empire was more powerful, the Hutt cartel presumably had to operate more covertly - IE, more like an organized crime ring - to avoid reprisal, but Boba's reach doesn't extend beyond Tatooine, so he has no reason to do so.
That hapless Stormtrooper Boba finds in the Sarlacc's stomach appears to be dead on the surface. However, not only has it been previously claimed that the Sarlacc keeps its prey alive while it digests them (even past their natural life span), according to Legends, it also injects them with neurotoxins that paralyze them while keeping them conscious. If that trooper was still alive, they were not only unable to move, they could not speak or scream as they were slowly being broken down.
Also of note, there were no Stormtroopers at the Battle of the Pit of Carkoon. The last time we saw Stormtroopers on Tatooine was during the search for the Death Star plans. If this trooper was part of the search, they had already been in the Sarlacc for four years, so Boba Fett's escape might have put them out of their misery by pulling a Mercy Kill.
Boba shooing his astromech droid away and telling it to join the patrol is framed like a light joke, but it goes a long way to explaining why Krrsantan was able to sneak in and nearly kill the new crime lord: they are still miserably understaffed and vulnerable. They effectively have to rely on their mechanics for security on an extremely stab-happy world.
In " Return of the Mandalorian," Din Djarin learns that the Armorer and Paz Viszla are the only other survivors from their Mandalorian tribe on Nevarro after they were attacked by Moff Gideon's Imperial soldiers. When Din first visited their hideout in The Mandalorian S1E1 "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian", there were children playing in the covert. The Mandalorian children were killed by the Imps.
It's Played for Laughs, but Peli Motto is nearly mauled by a womp rat with only her cowardly droids around to see it. We don't get a good look at the rat in question, but it's strong enough to overpower Motto and nearly drag her away before Din Djarin intervenes, which suggests the thing could do some serious damage. Bear in mind that she wasn't out scavenging in the desert or anything—she was in her own hangar in Mos Eisley. Imagine what a rat like that could do to children.
Boba's rancor is able to do quite a bit of damage to the city during its panicked rampage. Keep in mind that this particular rancor is only a juvenile. This means that a fully grown rancor likely could have leveled half the town, and that the one Jabba kept was a ticking time bomb if it ever somehow escaped.
As cute as Mando's and Grogu's reunion is, Grogu likely has another, unspoken reason to reject Luke's offer to teach him. Remember, he was in the Jedi Temple during Order 66, and has developed PTSD. He probably associates the Jedi with death, and would naturally be hesitant to rebuild them.
