In "The Empire Strikes Back," George Lucas introduced us to Boba Fett. While many (including some of those who made the second Star Wars film) saw the bounty hunter as evil, he performed a useful and necessary job. The smuggler Han Solo owed Jabba The Hutt a lot of money. Han had defaulted on his loan, and even after Jabba granted him an extension, Han still didn't repay him. So Jabba wrote up an arrest warrant. Like U.S. Marshal Gerard in "The Fugitive," (a movie Harrison Ford would later star in, after bidding farewell to his character of Han Solo), it wasn't Boba Fett's job to weigh the pros and cons of the situation. He wasn't a judge or jury. He simply served as the arresting officer in a sector of the galaxy overlooked by the Empire, and hence run by the Hutts.
Oh, and he had really cool armor, with all kinds of interesting weapons. His striking appearance made me wonder what kind of adventures he might have had, aside from that in the movie.
Last year, in "Preparing For Santa's Arrival," I told you how much I enjoyed The Mandalorian Armor, the first novel in K. W. Jeter's Boba Fett trilogy. Unlike his rivals, Boba Fett never captures his prey, and then tries to sell him to a higher bidder. Neither will he ever free a captive if the person offers him more money than the bounty he contracted for.
While he has previously operated independently, a curious thing happens when he join the Bounty Hunters Guild. Boba Fett becomes the fulcrum of all the discontent and envy between the group's members. Because he's such a capable person, those who would overthrow the current leadership curry favor with him. They propose alliances to him, each one suggesting that, after a coup, Fett can help him rule the guild. Simply by being there, Boba Fett disrupts all the checks and balances that previously prevented the members from acting on their greed and hatred. At the slightest suggestion of his potential support, each turns upon the other. In the process, the bounty hunters end up destroying the guild that has helped them to survive.
It's an interesting reminder of how, when we look at others to complete us, we often overlook the glaring faults in our own character. More on this thought--and the remaining books in the Boba Fett trilogy--tomorrow.
Dragon Dave
Related Dragon Cache entries
Preparing For Santa's Arrival
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