The Book of Boba Fett: Who were the people on the train?

Warning: Spoilers ahead for episode 2 of The Book of Boba Fett. 

“The Tribes of Tatooine” raises the stakes for the Tusken Raiders in the flashbacks. When a high-speed train travels through the desert, the people on board the train fire at and kill many of the Tuskens. The Tuskens’ very existence is threatened by this violence.

With the help of Boba Fett, the Tuskens are able to pull off a train robbery that ensures these people will never threaten them again, but who are these people on the train who were killing them in the first place?

They are revealed to be the Pyke Syndicate. In a show with a lot of focus on the criminal underworld, it makes sense for one of Star Wars‘ most prominent criminal organizations to appear.

The Pykes debuted in season 5 of The Clone Wars. They returned in the show’s seventh and final season as an important piece of the arc involving Ahsoka Tano and the Martez sisters. The first time they appeared in live-action was in Solo on the planet Kessel.

The Book of Boba Fett marks their second live-action appearance, but it is the first time fans have seen them unmasked in live-action as they kept their masks on during Solo.

The Pykes in The Book of Boba Fett were using their train to transport spice and they thought the Tuskens were uncivilized raiders. They shot at the Tuskens as they believed they were protecting the transportation of spice.

Boba allows the Pykes to live, but the Pykes are now unable to cross through the deserts of Tatooine unless they pay a toll and have the permission of the Tuskens, and if they kill a single Tusken, that death will be returned tenfold. The higher-ups of the Pyke Syndicate will certainly not be pleased to hear this and will be outraged about the loss of the spice shipments.

It is intriguing to see how familiar criminal organizations like the Pyke Syndicate are faring in the early years of the New Republic. There is a chance that they will be seen again in the flashbacks retaliating against Boba and the Tuskens.

The Pyke Syndicate could also prove to be a potential ally or enemy in the present-day storyline of Boba becoming a crime lord.  The mercy Boba showed them could help form an alliance or they may still harbor a grudge against Boba for what he did.

Fans will have to keep watching the series to see if the Pyke Syndicate returns and if perhaps other familiar crime organizations like Black Sun will appear.

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