Warning! SPOILERS ahead for The Book of Boba Fett episode 2.
The Book of Boba Fett episode 2 includes a scene of the famed bounty hunter leading the Tusken Raiders in an attack on a train, and it bears a striking resemblance to another iconic scene from a classic movie. Now streaming on Disney+, The Book of Boba Fett is the second live-action Star Wars series following the success of The Mandalorian. Spinning out of that show, it follows Boba Fett as he attempts to take control of Jabba the Hutt’s criminal empire, while also featuring flashbacks to Fett’s days among the Tusken Raiders after escaping the Sarlacc pit.
Star Wars is no stranger to borrowing from other works. When coming up with the idea for his space opera, George Lucas found inspiration in everything from Flash Gordon serials to the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa. The 1962 film, Lawrence of Arabia, directed by David Lean and starring Peter O’Toole, was also a big influence on Lucas when creating the Star Wars universe, especially when it came to the desert world of Tatooine. Based on true events, but with a healthy dose of Hollywood embellishment, Lawrence of Arabia tells the story of British officer T.E. Lawrence’s time working alongside Arab tribes during World War I, helping them in their fight against the Turks. With The Book of Boba Fett returning to Tatooine, the indelible mark of Lawrence of Arabia returns as well, but rather than simply copying the iconic film’s cinematography and landscapes, The Book of Boba Fett is recreating entire scenes with a Star Wars twist.
In The Book of Boba Fett episode 2, “The Tribes of Tatooine”, the flashbacks find Fett living among the Tusken Raiders when the tribe is attacked by a Pyke Syndicate train traveling across the Dune Sea. Fett and a handful of Tusken Raiders attack the train, bringing it and the Pyke’s spice trade to a crashing halt. In the aftermath, the gathered Tuskens loot the train, taking the spice and the even more valuable water stored within as their prize. This scene is strikingly reminiscent of a train attack depicted in Lawrence of Arabia, with Lawrence leading the Arab forces against a Turkish train. Just as in The Book of Boba Fett, the Arabs’ attack on the train is meant to establish them as a force in control of their own lands, something they had hopes of achieving with the help of Lawrence and the British Empire. Sadly, Britain and its allies had other plans for the lands of Arabia post-WWI, but Lawrence’s time among the Arab tribes became legendary all the same, much in the same way Fett’s legend is growing among the Tuskens.
The similarities between The Book of Boba Fett episode 2 and Lawrence of Arabia don’t stop there. Following the train attack, the Tusken Raiders fully welcome Fett into the tribe, dressing him in his own Tusken garb in a scene that’s very similar to one of Lawrence being given traditional Arab robes. The robes Boba Fett receives are black like those worn by the other Tusken Raiders, but in concept art for the episode, the robes are white like those Lawrence receives in the movie. The concept art depicting the Tusken attack on the Pyke Syndicate train (above) is also unmistakable in its homage to Lawrence of Arabia, basically lifting a shot from the movie and swapping in Tusken Raiders for the advancing Arab forces.
The connection being drawn between Lawrence of Arabia and The Book of Boba Fett is clearly purposeful, and the similarities between Lawrence’s relationship to the Arabs and Fett’s with the Tusken Raiders are impossible to ignore. For the Tuskens’ sake, Fett’s help will hopefully prove more fruitful since, unlike Lawrence, he isn’t working for a larger empire with plans of its own. Instead, the show’s present-day scenes depict Boba Fett establishing his own empire on Tatooine, so there’s a chance he could make good on his promise of helping the Tusken Raiders regain rightful control of the Dune Sea.
The Book of Boba Fett releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.
