Book of Boba Fett theory solves a huge plot hole that nobody noticed
The Mandalorian Season 2 post-credits raised lots of questions. Here's an answer.
Like his father before him, Boba Fett is forging his own path. The bounty hunter will helm a Mandalorian spinoff, The Book of Boba Fett, later this year. In our first glimpse of the series after the credits of The Mandalorian Season 2 finale, Boba and Fennec Shand unseated Bib Fortuna as the leader of the Hutts, prompting Boba to ceremoniously sit on the throne. As impressive as the image was, it prompted some fans to ask what exactly happened to the Hutts to prompt Bib Fortuna to rise to power in the first place. Luckily, a canon novel may provide an explanation.
The theory — Redditor crust_bucket69 recently brought up this inconsistency. Hutts live a long time and Jabba wasn't the only member of his family. Surely one of them would pick up the slack from Jabba's absence, instead of leaving the job to a Twi'lek like Bib Fortuna. Yes, he seemed to be Jabba's second-in-command, but the Hutts are the premier crime organization in the galaxy, so they'd want to keep it in the family.
Bib Fortuna in Return of the Jedi.
Redditor anastalei uses Chuck Wendig's canon novel Aftermath to provide an explanation: According to the book, after Jabba's death, the Hutts convened to decide who would take his place. They never came to a firm agreement, so a power vacuum formed. Perhaps, while the decision was still being made, Bib offered to step in on a temporary basis. Then he did a good job, so the Hutts never bothered to find a replacement.
This explanation also brings up another detail from Aftermath that could make a Bib coup easy. After Leia murdered Jabba, many slaves were freed. While freeing slaves is an irrefutable good thing, the paradigm shift in the society combined with the recent fall for the Empire makes for a perfect storm for Bib Fortuna to take over Jabba's place for the time being.
Bib's new look in The Mandalorian finale post-credits scene.
The Inverse Analysis — From a storytelling point of view, the reason why Bib Fortuna came to power is quite obvious. He's got the face recognition for viewers and was in dire need of an image update, with a hilarious sounding name to boot. However, while his rise to power is easily explained, Boba's remains more of a mystery.
After about five years, Boba violently takes over Jabba's crime empire. Now that Bib's rise to power is explained, one huge question remains — how will Boba rule over his new empire, and what foes will he come up against? Unfortunately, fans will have a while to wait, as The Book of Boba Fett is still months away.
The Book of Boba Fett premieres December 2021 on Disney+.
