The Way

Boba Fett’s shocking Clone Wars cameo reveals Mando’s deadliest new enemy

From the desert comes a stranger, indeed.

by Jake Kleinman

Maybe they should rename it The Book of Star Wars Cameos. In yet another fantastic episode of Book of Boba Fett that barely featured the titular bounty hunter, we instead got cameos from many of our favorite characters last seen in The Mandalorian Season 2. However, Episode 6 saved the best for last with a shocking reveal from the Clone Wars era that could have huge ramifications for The Mandalorian Season 3.

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

Who is Cad Bane in Star Wars?

Behold, Cad Bane in glorious live-action.

Lucasfilm

Primarily appearing in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Cad Bane is a ruthless bounty hunter now in the employ of the Pyke Syndicate. After Jango Fett was beheaded in Attack of the Clones, Bane become arguably the most effective bounty hunter in the galaxy and quickly rose to prominence during the Clone Wars and the chaos that followed.

Bane was also known for fighting with Jedi and dueled with both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker at one point or another. As a result, he was hired by Darth Sidious (aka, Sheev Palpatine) to steal a kyber memory crystal from the Jedi Temple containing a list of Force-sensitive kids. He also worked for Jabba the Hutt and allied with Count Dooku near the end of the Clone Wars as part of a plot to kidnap Palpatine that was foiled by Obi-Wan in disguise.

Cad Bane in The Clone Wars.

Lucasfilm

During the age of the Galactic Empire, he was hired to capture Omega (a unique Jango clone from The Bad Batch) but was stopped by Fennec Shand. He also encountered a young Boba Fett and helped train him as a bounty hunter.

You may have noticed Cad Bane’s cowboy hat. He loved wide-brim hats and even murdered at least one other bounty hunter to steal a hat he liked. Bane is a skilled marksman who wields win blasters. He also uses jet boots, a flamethrower, and a whipcord thrower like the one used by Din Djarin. Beyond fighting one-on-one, Cad is a great strategist as well, capable of leading entire groups in battle — which could come in handy during the big battle to come between Team Boba and Team Pyke.

Cad Bane and The Mandalorian Season 3

Will Cad Bane take on Din Djarin?

Lucasfilm

Unless Moff Gideon escapes from New Republic prison, Mando will need a new villain to fight in The Mandalorian Season 3. Cad Bane feels like the obvious choice.

As long as the blue-skinned bounty hunter doesn’t meet his maker in the Boba Fett finale, he’ll make a perfect villain in the next season of the Mandalorian. (The fact that Bane presumably murdered Mando’s buddy Cobb Vanth doesn’t help either.)

Will we see Cad Bane again? We sure hope so. But first, this master marksman needs to survive his encounter with the actual best bounty hunter in the galaxy: Boba Fett.

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