The Mercy of Boba Fett
I am probably the last person you would expect to be a Star Wars fan, but here I am talking about one of the many new Star Wars series on Disney+. I grew up watching Star Wars with my dad, so these shows are nostalgic for me. About a year ago, the series, The Book of Boba Fett, came out and at first, I wasn’t a big fan. Over the course of the season, though, I became invested and captivated with Boba Fett’s ability to grow into an honorable and merciful man.
This show covers the story of Boba Fett from the time he supposedly died in Return of the Jedi up until the battle over Mos Espa. After Boba Fett escapes from the Sarlacc Pit, he is taken in by the Tuskens where he earns their trust and eventually becomes one of them. The Tuskens are known for their ruthless killing of whole villages, yet they respect Boba and accept him in their tribe after he saves a Tusken child. Uncharacteristically, the tribe extends a kind of mercy towards Boba Fett.
From the original movies, we know Boba Fett as the fearless and vindictive bounty hunter, but we see a different side of him as he takes over Mos Espa as the crime lord. He doesn’t desire to rule as his other predecessors did, he desires to earn their trust and honor. He desires to protect his people and do good by them. I believe this change in him comes from the mercy he was shown along the way. Mercy is part of the virtue of forgiveness, and when we acquire virtue in any form it transforms us into better versions of ourselves. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines virtue as "a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows a person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself." (CCC 1803). Just this little bit of virtue shown to him, opened a bounty hunter up to the idea of living life differently. He becomes a character of respect, trust, and sacrifice. He desires to give the best of himself to his community.
By living his life this way, we see people desiring to serve under him and they now believe that he has their best interest at heart. We see Fennac Shand, a mercenary and assassin, who has no loyalty to anyone, choose to serve under Boba after he went out of his way to save her. You can tell she is intrigued by the different way Boba is serving his people. Before Boba, the rulers would scare people into submission, but Boba wants to earn their trust and admiration by protecting them. By the end of the season, we see that the people of Mos Espa accept him as their leader. There is something attractive about a virtuous person which makes us want to be around them. Mercy and forgiveness are powerful virtues that transform those who receive them.
Someone once asked me if I knew the difference between justice and mercy. At the time I didn’t really know of an easy way to define them, but my friend had great insight. He shared that justice is receiving something we deserve, while mercy is being spared of what we deserve. In light of our sinfulness and all the times we turn away from the Lord, we deserve to be separated from God for eternity; it would be just to receive that punishment. Our Lord is more than just though, He is merciful and in His great mercy offers us redemption through His son Jesus. By dying on the cross, Jesus carried out our just punishment, he died for our sinfulness and for all the times we turned away from the Father—he received justice so that we may be extended the greatest mercy of all—eternity with the trinitarian love.
We see the Christ-like mercy shown to Boba Fetta and how it led him to transformation. When shown the mercy of Christ and recognizing our need for it, there is no option but to respond and change the way we live, to life in such a way that we, like Christ, want to extend mercy towards everyone around us.