'The Book of Boba Fett' Episode 3 Recap: The Bounty Hunter Prepares for War with the Pykes

Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) makes enemies quicker than he does allies on Tatooine, as Episode 3 of his titular Disney+ show has made clear.

The Book of Boba Fett has been charting the bounty hunter's journey to take over Jabba the Hutt's former territory on the desert planet, and the third chapter proved the most dangerous one yet.

In the present day, Boba has not only the Hutt twins to contend with but also their gladiator Wookie Black Krrsantan (Carey Jones), and the Pyke Syndicate, who he had a run-in with in his past.

Here's what went down in Episode 3 of The Book of Boba Fett.

The Book of Boba Fett Episode 3 recap

The episode opens with Boba learning of how the territory on Tatooine was split between different factions to keep the peace, with Matt Berry's 8D8 amusingly trying to avoid saying Jabba's name by calling him "he who must not be named."

Given he has only recently taken over Jabba's throne, the crime organizations across the planet are all waiting to see what Boba will do, according to the robot.

Before he can contemplate this further, though, Boba is visited by a local water seller who wants the bounty hunter's help in retrieving stolen goods from a group of youths with mechanically-enhanced bodies.

Boba takes the job but when he meets the young group he learns of their struggle, how they have no work and the water vendor sells his wares for too high a price.

Instead of punishing them for stealing the water Boba decides to hire them as body guards, a turn of events that the vendor is not too pleased with.

Back in his palace, Boba goes back into his Bacta Tank to heal and has dreams of the past once more, one much shorter than in previous episodes, which sees him visit the Pyke Syndicate to ask them to give the Tuskens the rights to their lands.

The head of the criminal organization informs him that the sand riders Boba fought off in Episode 2 have laid claim to the desert, so the bounty hunter says he will resolve the issue on his own.

However, the sand riders got to the Tuskens first and slaughtered the entire village, which Boba discovers after the fact. In his grief, the bounty hunter builds a funeral pyre for the fallen sand people, before heading out to challenge their killers.

Boba's reminiscing is cut short when he is attacked by Black Krrsantan, the gladiator Wookie in the service of the Hutt twins.

The bounty hunter is still vulnerable from his time in the Bacta Tank and is almost killed by the Wookie, but thankfully his new bodyguards step in to help fend off his attacker before Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) locks him in the Rancor pit.

In the early hours of the next morning the twins arrive at Boba's residence, apologizing for sending Krrsantan to kill him and offering the bounty hunter a Rancor as a gift (alongside its trainer, played by Danny Trejo), as well as letting him do what he wants to the Wookie.

Boba frees Krrsantan and takes in the Rancor, learning that it imprints on the first human it sees and can be ridden if trained, something he definitely wants to do.

But his sweet interaction with the surprisingly docile Rancor ends there because he has to meet Mayor Mok Shaiz and speak with him about how he promised Jabba's territory to another.

When he gets to his residence, though, the leader is nowhere to be found and his Majordomo (David Pasquesi) runs away from Boba and Fennec.

Boba's new crew of youths embark on a speeder chase with the Majordomo, wreaking havoc on the streets of Mos Espa before finally stopping him.

The Majordomo then tells Boba that the Mayor is with the Pyke Syndicate and that they are coming to the Tatooine capital, before the first wave of Pyke soldiers are seen arriving in town.

Fennec warns Boba that more will come to fight the Pyke Syndicate's war against them, and the episode ends with him telling her that they "will be ready."

The Book of Boba Fett airs Wednesdays on Disney+.