The Book of Boba Fett confirmed what Star Wars fans wanted to know for years. Boba Fett survived his fall into the Sarlacc pit.
Audience members probably remember when Fett was accidentally pushed into the Sarlacc pit in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Most of us thought he died in the mouth of the Sarlacc.
Yet, season 2 of The Mandalorian first revealed that Fett survived and then The Book of Boba Fett filled in the story.
How did Boba Fett survive the Sarlacc pit? He survived through a combination of armor, oxygen, and ingenuity. However, some fans may not agree with this plot twist.
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How Did Boba Fett End Up in the Sarlacc Pit?
In Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker comes to Jabba the Hutt’s palace to rescue the carbon-frozen Han Solo. Skywalker ends up getting captured too. Solo, Chewbacca, and he are sent to meet their end in the Sarlacc pit.
Yet, Skywalker has a plan and leaps off the plankboard into the air and grabs the lightsaber that R2-D2 has thrown for him to catch. A battle ensues on board Jabba’s skiff.
In a skirmish known as the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon, Luke fights off Jabba’s henchmen. At a key moment, Boba Fett flies with his jetpack from Jabba’s nearby barge to the skiff.
Fett manages to shoot a whipcord around Luke temporarily, but the latter gets free and knocks Fett to the floor.
When Luke jumps over to the barge, Fett regains his footing and aims at Luke. But Han Solo, who is partially blind from being frozen, accidentally hits Fett’s jetpack with a Vibro-ax.
When Fett’s jetpack misfires, he goes flying off the skiff and into the side of the barge. He then falls down the sand dune into the Sarlacc pit and is swallowed up.
With the Sarlaac letting out a loud belch, we are left to assume that Boba has met his end.
No wonder: the Sarlacc is a fearsome carnivorous creature with a wide mouth and tentacles that do not appear to give up their prey.
How Long Was Boba Fett Stuck in the Sarlacc Pit?
If we refer to The Book of Boba Fett, we get a sense of how long Boba Fett was stuck in the Sarlacc pit. Fett frequently spends time recuperating in a Bacta Tank. We can conclude that his body was considerably damaged by his time in the Sarlacc pit.
We might speculate then that Fett spent at least months, possibly years, inside the Sarlacc pit.
One article indicates that he may have been stuck for up to five years. It estimates that Boba spent almost five years doing three things: being stuck in the Sarlacc pit, living with the Tusken raiders, and wandering on his own in the desert.
The main point is that five years have passed from the time he fell into the pit to the present time of The Book of Boba Fett. It is also about five years after The Return of the Jedi, or 9 ABY.
It’s likely that the amount of time Fett was stuck was less than two years, though. As the above article also indicates, Cobb Vanth, from The Mandalorian episode “The Marshall,” acquired Boba’s armor from the Jawas soon after the Battle of Endor.
Another clue reflects that his time in the pit was probably one year or less. As The Book of Boba Fett shows, when Boba emerges from the Sarlacc pit, we see Jabba the Hutt’s ruined barge in the background.
That the barge is still intact suggests that the time has not been that long since Fett fell into the pit.
Surviving the Sarlacc’s digestion for more than one year would also be problematic. The Sarlacc is known for having a 1,000-year digestive cycle, and Fett’s armor would not be able to withstand even a fraction of this time.
How Did Boba Fett Escape the Sarlacc Pit?
The Book of Boba Fett indicates how Boba Fett survived and escaped from the Sarlacc pit. In the episode “Stranger in a Strange Land,” we see how Boba’s Beskar steel armor helped protect him against the creature’s digestive process.
Beskar steel’s strength is the first reason Fett managed to escape. It is known as one of the toughest metals in the Star Wars galaxy and was used in Fett’s armor. Beskar is an alloy that can take direct hits from blasters and lightsabers.
Fett’s armor provides the first layer of protection and aids his eventual escape. A nearby stormtrooper provides the next layer and means of escape.
This stormtrooper’s suit is decomposed and serves as a wake-up call for what could be Fett’s fate. As Boba struggles to breathe, he grabs the stormtrooper’s remaining oxygen for himself.
With some oxygen to keep him alive, Fett then uses his gauntlet flamethrower to burn a hole in the Sarlacc. Fett is then able to climb up and out of the Sarlacc’s mouth and onto the sands of Tatooine.
The recent television shows are not the only sources that explain Fett’s survival and escape. The comic book series The Dark Empire from 1991, for example, also specifies this plot line.
Published six years after Return of the Jedi, this book indicates that Boba Fett survived by using his jetpack to fly out of the Sarlacc pit. He later told Han Solo, “The Sarlacc found me indigestible.”
The Spin-offs May or May Not Be Right
According to current Canon shows and a Legends comic series, Fett escaped from the Sarlacc pit. Yet, some Star Wars fans may still disagree with this plot line.
In 2012, when George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Walt Disney, a new classification of Star Wars arose. The Canon category was reserved for all the films and several television shows, such as The Clone Wars and Rebels.
But Star Wars books, comics, and video games that were published before September 2014 became Legends. Legends, also still referred to as the Expanded Universe, were labeled as unofficial tales, such as the Dark Horse comics The Old Republic series and Marvel’s Tales of the Jedi.
So, if we consider that the original idea of Boba Fett surviving came from what’s considered a Legends comic book, some Star Wars fans may not accept this denouement.
Or, fans may take issue with the direction that Disney took with the Star Wars franchise and see The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett veering in a direction that does not coincide with the original films.
Although these shows are considered to be Canon, everyone may not agree with what was created in them.
Boba Fett Survived and Escaped
If we do accept the updates to Boba Fett’s story that The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett provided, we now know a few things.
One, he did survive. Two, he escaped because of his armor, the oxygen he borrowed from a stormtrooper, and his flamethrower.
He was also able to escape because he reacted to his situation and understood his fate if he did not figure out a plan.
Todd Wahlstrom is a creative and analytical freelance writer and life-long Star Wars fan. He has covered such topics as Darth Vader, the Jedi, Boba Fett, and AT-AT Walkers. Todd has published a non-fiction book, holds a Ph.D. in history, and enjoys hiking, running, and reading about science.