Bandit Symbol In The Book Of Boba Fett: Here’s What It Means
When the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett premiered, there were some age-old questions that were answered. However, as old questions were answered, many more new questions were left unanswered during the events that happened in the pilot episode. One such mystery is in relation to the mysterious bandit symbols that you can see in the first episode. So, what is the bandit symbol in The Book of Boba Fett, and what does it mean?
There is no certainty as to what that bandit symbol in The Book of Boba Fett is. However, some theories point to the possibility that it could be related to certain groups such as the Hutt faction, Bib Fortuna, Crimson Dawn, the Mayor, or even one of the rivals that Boba Fett faced in the past.
The thing that you need to know is that we are still in the early stages of The Book of Boba Fett. As such, there are more questions than answers, as we are still trying to make sense of the plot of the entire series following the first episode. While there might be a lot of questions about the series, what we are sure of is that those questions will soon be answered as the series moves forward.
Why Is There A Bandit Symbol In The Book Of Boba Fett?
Shortly after Boba Fett was revealed to be alive in The Mandalorian, Disney announced that there would be a spin-off series called The Book of Boba Fett. At the tail end of 2021, episode 1 of The Book of Boba Fett was finally released, as fans of the Star Wars universe got excited about the fact that one of the best characters the franchise has ever had now has his own series.
When The Book of Boba Fett released its first episode, there were some age-old questions that were finally answered, such as how Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc in Return of the Jedi and how he lost the armor he sought to recover in The Mandalorian. However, despite the fact that there were plenty of questions answered, many more questions surfaced, as we are yet to fully understand what the show’s plot is all about.
At the start of the episode, we saw flashbacks of how Boba Fett escaped the Sarlacc using some bounty hunter ingenuity and how he lost his armor when he fainted right after escaping the belly of the beast. He was subsequently taken by Tusken Raiders, who took the bounty hunter as a slave.
As Boba Fett came to his senses while the Tusken Raiders were dragging him, we saw how a group of Nikto aliens were terrorizing a local home in Tatooine and were raiding their belongings. After that, one of the criminals was seen marking the house with a bandit symbol that we have never seen before in the entirety of the Star Wars universe. This symbol became one of the topics for some of the questions that arose following the release of The Book of Boba Fett’s pilot episode. So, why is there a bandit symbol in The Book of Boba Fett?
The bandit symbol that we can see in the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett resembles a J and an L put together. It also looks like a reverse L and a regular Let put together to form a perfectly symmetrical symbol. So, the reason why that symbol is in The Book of Boba Fett is probably a way for the bandits to mark their raids.
For those who don’t know, the entire Star Wars universe is full of different groups that are not part of the main groups (the Rebels/Resistance and the Empire/First Order) that we often see in the main Star Wars movies. Most of the independent groups in the entire Star Wars universe are actually crime syndicates that compete with one another for supremacy in the systems that they try to control.
In that sense, the bandit symbol that was marked on the house in episode 1 of The Book of Boba Fett could have been the call sign of the bandits that were trying to mark their territory or make themselves known on that side of Tatooine. Doing so will allow them to tell the other competing crime groups or bandits in that area that they own that side of the system. It’s similar to how a dog pees to mark its territory and how doing so will allow other dogs to understand that they shouldn’t be trespassing that territory because it belongs to another dog.
Who Writes The Bandit Symbol?
From what you can see in the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett, the bandits that are writing the symbol on the house are part of the Nikto race, which are humanoid species that are native to the planet Kintan. Outside of what race these bandits belong to, there are no details regarding which group they belong to or who ordered them to raid that home.
Meaning Of The Bandit Symbol In The Book Of Boba Fett (Theories)
While the identity of the ones who wrote that bandit symbol in The Book of Boba Fett still remains a mystery, there are already theories that try to explain what that symbol is and which group it belongs to. Let’s go over the theories one by one.
Crimson Dawn
Crimson Dawn is an underground organized crime group that was formerly headed by Darth Maul in secret. This group was prominent during the events of the Clone Wars and was also seen in the events of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Meanwhile, The Book of Boba Fett takes place a few years after the death of Maul and the rise of Qi’ra as the new leader of Crimson Dawn.
Because there are theories that point to the possibility of Crimson Dawn making an appearance in The Book of Boba Fett, it is possible that this group was the one hiring the bandits to mark their symbol all over Tatooine. However, because Crimson Dawn already has its own symbol, it might be unlikely that this group is the culprit behind the bandit symbols in The Book of Boba Fett.
Bib Fortuna
Bib Fortuna may have played a minor role in the previous Star Wars movies, but he has always been one of the people working under Jabba the Hutt as the crime lord’s right hand. In season 2 of The Mandalorian, it was confirmed that Bib Fortuna had taken over Jabba’s crime group. That means that the symbol that we saw in The Book of Boba Fett is a way for him to tell everyone that he has taken Jabba’s role as the new crime boss. Of course, the symmetrical L symbol might be similar to the Twi’lek appendages that Fortuna has.
However, if it was indeed Bib Fortuna who owns that symbol, the meaning of that bandit symbol is already null because Boba Fett had already killed him and taken over Jabba’s palace before the events of The Book of Boba Fett.
Mos Espa’s Mayor – Mok Shaiz
In the early stages of The Book of Boba Fett, we saw how the Majordomo of Mos Espa’s Mayor, Mok Shaiz, was resistant to Boba Fett’s rule as the new crime lord that took over Jabba’s command. The fact that the Mayor demanded a tribute from Fett means that there is a possibility that this figure is the one responsible for the assassination attempt that we saw in the climax of the first episode.
Considering that the scene wherein the bandits were marking the symbol happened years before Boba Fett took over Jabba’s palace, it could be possible that the Mayor was simply an ordinary crime boss at that time and was using this symbol to mark his territory before he ultimately rose to power and became the Mayor of Mos Espa.
Hutt Clan
Those who have been following Star Wars for many years would know that the Hutt Clan is arguably the most powerful crime group in the entire galaxy. Formerly headed by Jabba the Hutt, the Hutts are based primarily in Tatooine but are powerful enough that not even the Empire was messing with their affairs.
However, Jabba’s death weakened the Hutts, and that means that they may be trying to re-establish themselves in Tatooine by marking their symbol all over the planet. Nevertheless, the canonical symbol that the Hutts carry does not exactly match the bandit symbol we see in The Book of Boba Fett. So, even if the Hutts may be possible suspects, it is unlikely that they were the ones ordering the bandits to mark homes with their symbol.
A Former Rival
Last but not least, there is a possibility that this bandit symbol belongs to one of the former rivals that Boba Fett clashed with in the past when he was still a lone bounty hunter. We know that The Book of Boba Fett is not shy about exploring the bounty hunter’s past, and we might see glimpses of what his life was before the events surrounding the Sarlacc pit in Return of the Jedi.
It could be possible that he had a bounty hunter rival in the past and that the same bounty hunter was also rising in power as a crime lord. As such, this could be one of the new antagonists that The Book of Boba Fett will introduce and that the symbol that this former rival was using was his way of telling the other groups in Tatooine that he is someone worth their attention.
