Countdown to The Mandalorian Season 3: Revisiting The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 6 From the Desert Comes a Stranger

As we start to gear up for the release of The Mandalorian season 3 on March 1, 2023, we’re taking a look back at each episode of the show and its spinoffs so far through the lens of concept art. This will be a weekly series of reviews until the premiere of season 3. You may find our previous entries in this series here.



While we will be revisiting all of the artwork displayed in the episode’s credits, bear in mind that this is not a fully conceptualized review of the episode. We still have those from each episode, and we’ll link to them at the end.



From the Desert Comes a Stranger is my favorite episode of the 'Mandoverse' corner of the Star Wars galaxy. It is a fantastic Star Wars story that has so many crowd-pleasing moments. There's something for everyone: Grogu's training with Luke, Ahsoka and Luke interacting with each other, a little bit of R2, and of course there's Cad Bane's live -action debut. Rewatching it this week, I loved it just as much as I did the first time around.







The first piece of concept art shows us a squad of Pyke Syndicate members riding a speeder through the Tatooine desert. It's a strange choice of concept art, considering we never see the speeder moving in the show. There's no concept art showing the standoff between the Pykes and Cobb Vanth, which would be far more interesting to look at. That said, I at least appreciate the attention to detail showing how dirty the speeder is. Of course it would be covered with sand on that planet.







After the cold open where Cobb Vanth kills a bunch of Pykes in a very 'Wild West' inspired scene -- the first of the episode, but not the last -- we get back in touch with Din Djarin as he flies to the unnamed planet where Luke is training Grogu. Upon landing, he is immediately greeted by R2, and it's so warming to hear those familiar beeps and warbles again.



The concept art is very reminiscent of the planet we see in the episode, giving off a calm and tranquil atmosphere. It probably helped the artist that there was already some source material from the comics and The Last Jedi to show them what the planet should look like.







R2 takes Mando to the construction site of what will become Luke's Jedi Temple. In the final episode, the construction much more closely resembles the ancient ruins on Ahch-To, but the stonework is familiar in the concept art nevertheless. The ant-like loading bots are exactly as depicted in the final product. It's not often droids have a direct translation from concept art to live-action, but the artist clearly got the design spot on.







While Din waits to be visited, we get to see Grogu's Jedi training with Luke Skywalker. The two are supposed to be meditating peacefully, attuning themselves with the Force. But Grogu gets distracted by the yummy wildlife and starts using the Force to lift a frog into his mouth. The concept art gets across that childlike sneakiness very well. Grogu knows he's supposed to be keeping his eyes closed, but opens one as he tries to lift the frog closer, like a cheeky child in school trying to get away with something without alerting the teacher.



Luke senses that his Padawan is not focused on the task and gently reprimands him. Grogu lets the creature go as Luke proceeds to use the Force to lift all the nearby frogs out of the reeds, showing Grogu what he could do if he focused on his training.







Meanwhile, Din is finally visited by Ahsoka. The concept art now shows bamboo trees in the background rather than the thicker trees in the previous art, reflecting Star Wars' samurai roots. It also shows Ahsoka is mildly amused to have gotten the drop on him, reflecting her calm and wise demeanor in the episode. She questions Din's intentions, correctly pointing out that he misses Grogu. Without directly influencing him one way or the other, she begins to ask him if he's there for Grogu's benefit or his own. She states that Grogu may consider himself a Padawan now rather than a Mandalorian foundling, in which case Din probably shouldn't be there.



She knows that his presence will interfere with Grogu's training and leans on Din's conscience to do what he thinks is right for the child, which in this case means that Din leaves after a heart-wrenching moment where he watches Grogu training from a distance. He gives the beskar armor gift to Ahsoka and decides to leave, and we see that Grogu is sad to watch his ship fly away in the distance.







After Din leaves, we stick around to see more of Grogu's training. We get a montage of Luke running through the bamboo forest with Grogu strapped to his back, mirroring the training montage between Luke and Yoda on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back. The existence of this concept art confirms that this mirroring was intentional and likely planned from the outset.







Luke sets up a training remote to help Grogu practice with the Force, just like he did when he was learning. He also tells Grogu about Yoda, which is doubly significant, as the Jedi who oversaw Luke's training was of Grogu's species. He helps Grogu remember his 'home', the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and we see a flashback of Grogu during Order 66, watching clones shoot down the Jedi guarding him.



It's only a brief flashback that is sadly not depicted in concept art, and we don't see who managed to rescue him from the clones, but nevertheless it's tinged with sadness.



Ahsoka joins them and shows Din's gift to Luke, who grimaces, knowing that attachment is not the way of the Jedi. He remarks that Grogu's heart isn't in it, and humbly confesses that he's not even really teaching him anything, merely helping him remember what he had forgotten since his days growing up on Coruscant.







Meanwhile, Din arrives at Jabba's Palace to meet with Boba Fett as the story finally turns back to the events of the series' main storyline. The concept art shows Fett's Firespray waiting in the hangar bay, though I don't remember seeing this in the episode. The Mandalorian is greeted by a Gamorrean guard and taken to Fett in his war room.



Fett and Fennec Shand bring everyone up to speed, and Din heads off to Mos Pelgo to recruit the town's citizens in the fight against the Pyke Syndicate.







The episode includes a fun little moment as Din flies past a Jawa sandcrawler that somehow has the skull of the Krayt Dragon he and Cobb Vanth killed in The Mandalorian season 2 premiere strapped down to the top of the crawler. It's a striking image and a great bit of environmental storytelling, as it makes you wonder exactly how the Jawas managed to recover this from the Tusken Raiders.







In the concept art, Din parks his starfighter even closer to the town than he does in the episode, which earns him a stern warning from the green deputy marshal. However, the concept art suggests that Din was originally supposed to be greeted by Cobb Vanth himself, and perhaps the rookie deputy was added later in pre-production.



Din has a chat with Cobb Vanth, pointing out that despite the marshal's reluctance to get involved, the Pykes will soon become Mos Pelgo's problem if they aren't dealt with. Having already had to deal with a small squad of them in Mos Pelgo territory in the episode's cold open, you can tell that Cobb agrees. He promises to talk to the townspeople before Din jets off.







With Din gone, an ominous silhouette appears on the horizon. The concept art shows us that this stranger was always intended to be Cad Bane making his live-action debut. It's an important moment, as Bane is shown to be the same approaching stranger mentioned in the episode title. He warns Cobb Vanth not to get involved with Fett, and a 'Wild West'-style duel ensues. Cobb is quick but not quick enough, as Bane guns down both him and his deputy, killing the latter with several bolts.







After Cad Bane warns the town not to get involved, we see the Pykes bomb Madam Garsa Fwip's establishment, offering an ignominious end to the popular Twi'lek. Thankfully, Max Rebo was not present when the building exploded. I do question the decision to show this concept art over either of the standoffs Cobb Vanth has with the Pykes or Cad Bane, but considering this location becomes important in the next episode, Filoni and Favreau obviously felt this inclusion was necessary.



Finally, we are sent back to Grogu and Luke as the Jedi Master gives our little green friend a choice. He can either accept his offer of Yoda's lightsaber (a different one than the one Mas Amedda burned in the comics, it was later confirmed) and continue his training to become a Jedi, or he can accept the Mandalorian beskar armor and return to Din Djarin, ending his training as a Jedi.







It's a big decision, but as the screen cuts to black, we know that Grogu will make the choice to return to Din Djarin. It's clear that The Mandalorian is as much about his bond with Din as it is Din's personal journey, so there's little doubt over his decision. The concept art does a good job of laying out the diverging paths before Grogu, with both the beskar armor and Yoda's lightsaber glinting in the light while Luke's hand gestures to them both.



Not only is this a fantastic installment of Star Wars storytelling, the episode is also more relevant to The Book of Boba Fett as a whole, bringing Cobb Vanth into the conflict with the Pykes and even getting an appearance from Boba Fett himself, though it was only for a single scene that strangely wasn't depicted in the concept art.



You can find our original review of The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 6 right here.



Our 'Countdown to The Mandalorian Season 3' continues next week, when we'll be revisiting 'The Book of Boba Fett' Chapter 7!



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