The Story of the Faithful Wookiee

The Story of the Faithful Wookiee

Author: Christopher Nicholas
Illustrator: Fabio Laguna and Marco Lesko
Medium: Picture book
Publication Date: January 2022
Timeline Placement: 0 ABY

 

Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Luke, Leia, and the droids wait to hear back from Han and Chewie, who are on a mission to recover a mystical talisman rumored to have the power to turn things invisible. The Falcon returns, but Chewbacca is at the helm, while Han hangs upside down from the ceiling in the background. Luke and the droids hop in a Y-wing and chase after the Falcon, which Chewbacca crashes in the slime ocean of Panna Prime for some reason. Luke lands in the slime as well, and a friendly-looking sea monster immediately starts eating his Y-wing.

The monster is soon repelled by a man in Mandalorian armor riding on the back of a similar beast. Boba Fett has been an enemy of Han's for years, but this is his first encounter with Luke Skywalker. Frequently feckless, Luke is fast to fathom Fett a faithful friend and follows the fellow to the Falcon. Upon entering the ship, Luke immediately collapses, and Chewbacca hangs him upside down beside Han. Artoo and Threepio quickly deduce that the talisman was contaminated with a sleeping virus that has infected both of the Rebels, and the only way to keep them alive is to hang them upside down so all their blood goes to their brains. 

Boba Fett says that the virus is an Imperial weapon he has encountered before, and he knows where to go in Panna City to procure the antidote. Chewbacca insists on coming along, probably because he knows who Fett is and is just pretending he doesn't recognize him so as not to rouse the bounty hunter's suspicions. The city is overrun with Imperial troops, so Fett tells Chewie to hide while he gets the antidote. Chewie reluctantly obliges, but after obtaining the serum from a random street vendor, Fett FaceTimes Darth Vader and tells him that all is going according to plan. He's earned the Rebels' trust and once he's saved the day, hopefully they'll invite him back to their secret base.

Back aboard the Falcon, Fett administers the serum to Luke and Han. Han is still too out of it to recognize his longtime nemesis, but Luke plays right into Fett's hands and invites him to return with them to the Rebel base. However, the droids reveal that they had intercepted the transmission from Panna City; Boba Fett is really Darth Vader's right-hand man! His cover blown, Fett blasts away with his jetpack, vowing that they will meet again. Threepio says that Chewbacca knew all along that Boba Fett wasn't to be trusted, because he just didn't smell right.

The Story of the Faithful Wookiee is an adaptation of the animated segment of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special made more than 40 years after the cartoon originally aired. What's notable about this book is that the events of the animation had previously been seen only in the context of the Holiday Special, in which it is an in-universe cartoon that Chewbacca's son, Lumpy, watches on his space TV. However, it was repeatedly established throughout the EU that the events of the cartoon were in fact canon and had really happened to Luke and the gang. No I'm not kidding, here's an official realistic depiction of Boba Fett in his animated armor to prove it.

So in my view this Little Golden Book represents the first time the "real" version of the cartoon's events, the events that some in-universe animator later turned into a cartoon, has ever been seen. Apparently the cartoon changed practically nothing because the book plays out almost exactly the same. Luckily for anyone making their way through the entire EU, that means they get to experience the same story twice!

As revealed in "Time Capsule: Darth Vader 1980," a StarWars.com article, the talisman was a fake to begin with, a ruse planted by Darth Vader to draw the attention of the Heroes of Yavin so Boba Fett could infiltrate the Rebellion and capture Luke Skywalker, who by this point Vader had discovered was his son. Given that the original animation was the first appearance of Boba Fett in any Star Wars story, there was no long-established rivalry between Fett and Han Solo. Taking the later EU into consideration, though, it makes you wonder what Boba's plan was once Han had regained his wits. Was he just going to hide in the Falcon's bathroom for the whole trip back to the Rebel base? Jeez, he probably shouldn't have told Luke his real name then. Maybe he hoped that Luke wouldn't think to mention it.