Mos Espa Archives - ONE37PM Publisher

The History and Creatures of Jabba’s Palace

It’s sort of funny that they call it a “palace” when the whole place is really just one huge, poorly-lit lair for a massive slug to chide whichever visitors deign to show up.

The Book of Boba Fett has shone a new light on the iconic Jabba’s Palace, and though we were only at the site for a small portion of Return of the Jedi, it has become one of the most well-known locations within the Star Wars world. In many ways, its popularity is fairly similar to that of Boba Fett, who also had limited exposure yet became a major point of fascination to fans.

Origins

Lucasfilm Ltd.

Jabba’s Palace came to fruition first as a B’omarr Order monastery, though Jabba eventually took it over and decided to make it his hub for a crime empire. It’s located on Tatooine in northern Mos Espa at the edges of the Dune Sea, with a frighteningly quiet walk to its entrance. The outside of the Palace was always guarded by an overly-aggressive TT-8L/YZ Gatekeeper Droid, which kept tabs on the comings and goings of the Palace.

Prior to Return of the Jedi, Hutt had some dealings with Darth Vader, which—after almost being killed by him—eventually led Jabba to grant him access to bounty hunters Boba Fett and Black Krrsantan. Fett was tasked with killing Luke Skywalker after he destroyed the Death Star, though Fett never was able to complete the task.

We get our first look into Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi, as it’s a major place of interest given the fact that Han Solo was frozen in carbonite and brought to be housed at the Palace. The film’s first half-hour is devoted just to the scenes at the Palace and in the area surrounding the Sarlacc pit.

Leia shows up to the Palace—disguised as a bounty hunter, Boushh—to free him alongside Chewbacca as her faux captive, and though she’s successful in releasing him from the carbonite, she’s caught by Hutt.

Although they’re held captive there for a little, Luke comes by the Palace and tries to save them but ends up being captured, as well. This leads to the infamous scene at the Sarlacc pit where Jabba’s entire team is killed, including Boba Fett (or so we thought).

Notable Characters

Lucasfilm Ltd.

With a large staff and collection of shady bounty hunters who liked to hang around, Jabba’s Palace was quite the party, as Hutt would even hire the Max Rebo Band to play alongside singer Sy Snootles. This conglomeration of individuals gave the palace its underground feel, with a few sticking out a bit more than others.

Jabba the Hutt

It’s not Jabba’s Palace without the slimeball in charge, Jabba the Hutt. Head of his criminal empire, Jabba knew the ins and outs of the bounty hunting world, always keeping tabs on his crew with an aggressive, no-nonsense attitude. Of the Hutt species, he held no empathy for others and was ruthless, leading him to become one of the most feared beings on Tatooine and in the galaxy.

Boba Fett

The most well-known bounty hunter at the palace, Fett is quiet though always calculated, occasionally playing the role of Jabba’s secret weapon. However, he eventually falls into the Sarlacc pit while lending support on the barges in the Dune Sea.

Bib Fortuna

Bib Fortuna served as Hutt’s majordomo, an extremely pale Twi’lek who did a better job at creeping everyone else out than what he was really supposed to be doing. He clearly didn’t have much loyalty to Hutt, as Fortuna eventually took over his throne following Jabba’s death at the Sarlacc pit.

Oola

Though not many know her name, Oola was the green Twi’lek enslaved by Hutt, who was chained up next to him. However, she didn’t last long, as she was thrown down his trap door and killed by the rancor.

Iconic Creatures and Droids

Lucasfilm Ltd.

Though the characters had technically larger roles, the creatures and droids within Jabba’s Palace really made it what it became, as they gave the palace its distinctive look and feel.

Salacious Crumb

It’s really not Jabba’s Palace if the iconic Kowakian monkey-lizard, Salacious Crumb, isn’t there. Though his only real purpose was to nest in the crook of Jabba’s tail and scream-laugh at the visitors who stopped by, Crumb has become one of the most beloved creatures at the palace.

The Max Rebo Band

Who’s better at bringing overall good vibes than the man himself, Max Rebo? This lovable, squishy-looking Ortolan helmed the band of his same name, which played an assortment of jazz for everyone who hung out at the palace.

Sy Snootles

Sy Snootles (what a name) performed with the Max Rebo Band in her unforgettable performance at the palace, singing the song, “Lapti Nek,” a Star Wars classic that is currently stuck in my head.

Joh Yowza

Yowza, a Yuzzum, was also featured in the performance of “Lapti Nek,” for which he provided some additional vocals in the updated version of the film.

Pateesa, the Rancor

A lovely creature that lives beneath the trap door in Jabba’s Palace, the massive rancor takes down every victim that’s dropped down to him without a second thought. I do have to say that one of the saddest moments of Star Wars is seeing his trainer, Malakili, so incredibly sad after it’s killed in Return of the Jedi.

Gamorrean Guards

Gamorreans are practically synonymous with Jabba’s Palace—they’re the brute strength of the bunch and guard the palace, though they can be fairly clumsy sometimes, like when one of them fell down the trap door in Return of the Jedi.

Buboicullaar (Bubo)

This creature was a weird, bulldog-looking frog with a spiked collar who served as a guard dog for the palace. Though it didn’t seem like he was really doing much, he was actually a trained assassin who worked with the Imperials.

BT-16 Perimeter Droid

The first droid we encounter at Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi, the BT-16 Perimeter Droid hilariously scares C-3P0 as he’s walking in. These droids primarily acted as forms of security as they walked the halls of the palace and were equipped with different sensors and blaster cannons. In The Book of Boba Fett, we see this droid walking around outside of the palace as security, as well.

EV-9D9 and 8D8

EV-9D9 controlled the torture chamber of the palace, where she took apart various droids and tortured them, though she was just hired as a mechanic to deal with the droids that came and went. She worked alongside 8D8, another droid who dealt more so with the Gonk droids, which he also tortured. Overall bad vibes here. However, he ends up working for Fett in The Book of Boba Fett, serving as the majordomo of the palace.

Jabba’s Palace – Present Day

Lucasfilm Ltd. / Disney+

We hadn’t seen Jabba’s Palace for quite a while by the time the post-credits scene in The Mandalorian‘s Season 2 finale rolled around. Now that we have The Book of Boba Fett, we’re getting to know the palace from a completely different angle, looking into parts of the building that we were never able to see prior to this.

For one, there was a kitchen with robot chefs who cook food? And the two chefs were actually designated as sous and executive chefs? I thought the only things that were served at Jabba’s Palace were the disgusting Klatooine paddy frogs that Hutt ate at his throne. At this point, I want an MTV Cribs episode of Jabba’s Palace because there are bound to be more interesting finds throughout the whole place.

As for the fate of the palace in the next two episodes to come, it seems like whoever ends up winning the war between Fett and the Pykes will become the true owner of the palace. While the Pykes may have a larger team on their side, Fett’s army is proving to be quite the bunch with tons of different strengths, which will make the famed bounty hunter tough to beat.

“The Book of Boba Fett”: ‘The Streets of Mos Espa’ Recap

For another 38-minute episode (sigh), this one sure packed a ton of storylines in it, as ‘The Streets of Mos Espa’ walks us through the more gritty parts of the city.

At Jabba’s (Boba Fett’s) palace, the 8D8 Droid is standing in front of a projected map, giving Fett and Fennec Shand some history regarding the areas that were previously under the protection of Jabba and Bib Fortuna. He notes that Fortuna had Mos Espa divvied up into three sections by three families: the city center was taken by the Trandoshans, the Aqualish had the worker’s district, and the Klatooinians controlled the upper sprawl and starport. Given this, 8D8 makes it known that the people of Mos Espa are waiting to see how Fett will lead the area.

Fett also reflects on their meeting with Mayor Mok Shaiz from the previous episode, where he denies sending the assassins to kill him. With this, Fett now believes that the Hutt Twins were behind the attack.

Interrupting this meeting, a local water monger and shop owner, Lortha Peel, comes by for an unscheduled visit, letting Fett know that a gang of local teenagers (who are half-human, half-robot) stole some of his water inventory from him. He begs Fett to get rid of them, and finally, he agrees to look into things.

Lucasfilm Ltd. / Disney+

At night, Fett, Shand, and the Gamorrean Guards head into Mos Espa to track down the teens. Outside of the Peel’s shop, he finds the group of grungy kids hanging out and decides to confront them. Expecting them to lie about their stealing, one of the leaders of the crew, Drash (Sophia Thatcher), openly admits to stealing the water. She explains that Peel is charging an exorbitant amount for water, which Fett is surprised by.

After Drash tells him that there’s no work in the area to make the money to actually pay for the water, Fett suggests that she and her crew come work for him, which they agree to. Overhearing this, Peel comes rushing out of his shop and is outraged by it. Fett calls him out for charging too much for water and reimburses him for the gang’s stealing by paying him a more acceptable amount: 500 credits instead of 1300. After that, the gang follows Fett back to the palace on multicolored sand scooters that resemble Vespas. Or, if you’re a fan of the older Nickelodeon show, Zoey101, they basically look like the Jet-X.

In his medical pod, Fett has a quick flashback back at Kamino, watching his father fly away on Slave-1. In a more recent flashback, Fett is once again back with the Tusken Raiders, where he heads out on a Bantha to go to Mos Eisley and look for the Pykes. In the background, we get a quick glimpse into The Mandalorian as Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) walks by in the background with a few of her robots.

Lucasfilm Ltd. / Disney+

Fett meets with Pyke Syndicate, where they talk about the protection arrangements in the Outer Rim. He’s expecting to receive payments from the Pyke, though he refuses to pay Fett as they’re already paying another party for protection: the Kintan Striders (the speeder bike gang). As the Pyke won’t budge, Fett tells him that he won’t be hearing from the striders anymore.

Upon his return, a billowing line of smoke clouds fill the air above the Tusken Raider camp, and upon further investigation, it turns out that the entire camp was burned down by the Kintan Striders. Their infamous symbol was painted onto one of the tents, and although Fett thought that he got his message across to them in last week’s episode, they decided to take revenge on him for his actions. With this, Fett departs the camp, though he’s brought back to the present day abruptly, as Black Krrsantan unloads him from his medical pod and throws him across the room.

The two fight in the medical pod room, with Fett making unsuccessful efforts to take the Wookiee down, as he’s basically unstoppable. The gang of teens come running into the room to assist him and are mostly unsuccessful, even though there are so many of them. However, they’re able to lead the Wookiee to the main room in the palace, getting him to stand over the trap door. At this point, Shand unlocks the trap door, though Black Krrsantan is able to hold on with one hand. She takes out her small knife and throws it at his hand, which finally traps him downstairs.

Lucasfilm Ltd. / Disney+

With that fight concluded, the twin Hutts show up to apologize to Fett with a massive gift (that they forgot to wrap, might I add): a “baby” rancor, fit with a trainer, portrayed by Danny Trejo. The Hutts also reveal that the territory they thought was for them was actually promised to a different Syndicate by Mayor Mok Shaiz. With that, the Twins have decided to go back to Hutta (Nal Hutta), their planet, instead of vying for the territory on Tatooine.

The Gamorrean Guards bring out Black Krrsantan, who is handcuffed, and Fett offers him back to the Hutts if they renounce their claims to Jabba the Hutt’s land. They don’t care about what happens to the Wookiee, so Fett simply releases him back onto Tatooine.

The rancor is brought to the lower level of the palace; its eyes are masked, as the first person it sees will become its leader. Trejo’s character finally removes its mask and the rancor sees Fett, which he quickly becomes attached to.

Lucasfilm Ltd. / Disney+

Fett, Shand, and the teenage gang head over to have another impromptu meeting with the Mayor, and the Mayor’s Twi’lek majordomo heads back to fetch him. However, he locks the door behind him; upon noticing this, Fett and Shand are able to break their way into the back room, though they find it completely empty.

Having to act quickly to catch the majordomo, the gang of teenagers take off on their sand scooters and begin to chase after him, who has taken off in a land speeder. They follow him through the cramped and crowded streets of Mos Espa constantly dodging droids, markets, and falling crates. It’s not a super-high-speed chase, as one can only go so fast through such small streets, though I feel like they could’ve been going a little faster just for the sake of action.

The gang is finally able to corner the majordomo after he crashes his landspeeder into a fruit market, filling his vehicle with exotic fruits. Fett catches up to them with his jetpack, landing right beside the landspeeder, and finally asks where the Mayor is. Apparently, he decided to take off with the Pykes.

Elsewhere in Mos Espa, dozens of Pykes arrive on a starliner. Shand believes that this is only the first wave of them and that there are more coming; a clear sign that they want to go to war.