5 Graphic Theories of How Boba Fett Survived the Sarlacc

By now a vast majority of the world knows that Boba Fett made his triumphant return in the latest episode of The Mandalorian. The man showed up, killed some stormtroopers, blew up a few ships and raised some eyebrows with his surprisingly heroic demeanor.

Yet questions remain. The most prevalent being: how the hell did this cunning bounty hunter escape from the Great Pit of Carkoon, aka the Sarlacc pit seen in Return of the Jedi?

Star Wars fans will remember the Fett meeting a humiliating demise when a blind Han Solo accidentally swung a stick in his general direction and sent him careening into the pit where he was to be slowly digested over a thousand years. Except now, some time after the events of Jedi, the Fett shows up looking for his armor — armor that he (let’s be honest) could have easily swiped from Cobb Vanth, but whatever.

So, what gives? How did the legendary Boba Fett escape the clutches of ~~George Lucas~~ the Sarlacc pit and come to the aid of Mando? Here are five possible CAREFULLY ILLUSTRATED theories from the good folks at ComingSoon.net!

[Disclaimer: there are a few comics and expanded universe stories that carry their own explanation as to how Boba Fett escaped, including “Tag & Blink Are Dead” #2 and (more vaguely) “Dark Empire” issue #5 in which the Fett tells Solo, “The Sarlacc found me somewhat indigestible.” There’s also A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett, Tales of the Bounty Hunters and The Mandalorian Armor, although details of Fett’s escape are rather vague in all of these stories. Read more about these stories here!]

PAGING SLAVE I

One of Boba Fett’s greatest weapons is his ship, Slave I, which features quite a bit of firepower for such a small vessel (see Attack of the Clones). It’s possible that Fett, entrapped in the Sarlacc pit, managed to remote guide his ship to his location where it unleashed a barrage of lasers and missiles that killed the Sarlacc. Considering the beast’s mouth remains quite exposed, it’s not unreasonable to think that one or two shots from a powerful blaster would kill it or (at the very least) weaken it long enough for a victim adorned in Mandalorian armor to escape.

Hell, it could have used its tractor beam projector to pull Fett’s body from the pit. Of course, this plan only works if the ship is able to destroy the Sarlacc pit without causing a cave in; and assuming the creature doesn’t have some sort of defense mechanism that protects it from surface attacks.

FIRE THE KNEE CANONS!

As we saw in The Mandalorian, Boba Fett’s armor comes with a lot of weapons, including the Czerka Z-X Flame-projector, Kelvarek Consolidated Arms MM-9 Wrist rockets and knee-pad rocket-dart launchers — all of which remained on his person when he fell to his supposed demise. It’s plausible that the Fett used all of these weapons to blast his way out; or, if his hands were tied, merely needed to point his knee and fire to untangle himself from the Sarlacc’s grasp. (Fett even has a sort-of grappling gun, but, from the looks of Jedi, Luke sliced that thing to bits along with his blaster.)

While he was at it, Fett also probably fired a rocket down the creature’s throat thereby causing the damned thing to spew him out onto the sand. Now, covered in nasty Sarlacc vomit, Fett undressed and took a bath at a nearby oasis where his armor was stolen. Which means there’s an epic story out there featuring a naked Fett wandering the deserts of Tatooine!

CORPSE LADDER

No less than five other people were tossed into the Sarlacc pit during Luke Skywalker’s maniacal attack on Jabba’s barge. We’re not entirely sure how the Sarlacc operates, or how much room it has in its, ah, throat (?), but for the purposes of this theory let’s assume there’s not a lot of wiggle space down there. Fett was the third victim, followed by two more, which means he was stuck between quite a few bodies. Could he have used the corpses to climb his way to the top? Maybe everyone inside formed a ladder of sorts and allowed Fett to climb out in the hopes that he would return the favor once he reached the surface.

Or, maybe, there’s a whole society living in the Sarlacc in the same manner as those poor bastards residing in the pit in The Dark Knight Rises; and Fett must “make the climb” in order to secure his escape. Which he does, of course, though questions remain about how exactly he makes it all the way back to the Mos Eisley Cantina unscathed despite not having any money, resources or transportation (assuming his ship is too far to control).

ATE HIS WAY OUT

Considering Boba Fett looks slightly, ah, beefy around the midsection during his big hero shot when he dons the armor in The Mandalorian, one might assume the man ate his way out of the Sarlacc pit. Sure, this is probably wild speculation, but considering the flamethrower at his disposal, Fett could have fried himself up a nice helping of Sarlacc flavored with Kessel spices; and gobbled his way to freedom.

How ironic. Sarlacc could eat others but couldn’t prevent others from eating him.

MORE NUDITY

Yeah, this is the second escape route featuring Boba Fett undressing, but here us out … So, let’s assume the Sarlacc pit’s insides are similar to a human esophagus. Fett manages to undress and coat himself with Sarlacc saliva and slides up and out of the mouth using his fully repaired rocket pack. This explains why his armor goes missing.

See, Fett pulled an Andy Dufresne and put all of his belongings (including his armor) inside of a plastic bag that he then tied to the rocket pack. Unfortunately, once free and clear of the Sarlacc, Fett could no longer hold onto the blazing hot rocket pack and had to let go. The pack then sored into the sky like that scene in The Rocketeer and landed some miles away where Jawas picked it up and yadda yadda yadda …

Or, maybe, taking the Shawshank idea one step further, Fett chiseled his way out using his survival knife. He obviously had the time. Maybe he managed to chisel through the Sarlacc’s skin and swam up the sand ala Kill Bill Vol. 2 … one would imagine ole Sarlacc would want to keep his victims under control and complete daily checks on them, which is why Fett would hang a poster of Sintas Vel over the chiseled hole to hide his escape route. Maybe he even becomes friends with one of the other victims who knows how to get things …

That’s probably too far.