The Book of Boba Fett is off to an unexpected and surprising start. The series, Lucasfilm’s second live-action Disney+ original, made its long-awaited premiere Wednesday morning. Split between two timelines, the first episode kickstarts Boba Fett’s (Temuera Morrison) rise to power on Tatooine and sees him taking his first steps towards becoming the planet’s preeminent crime lord.
It’s clear that the former bounty hunter’s quest for power isn’t going to be an easy one. The Book of Boba Fett’s premiere quickly introduces a new foe in the form of the mysterious Mayor of Mos Espa.
Boba’s New Rival — One of the earliest scenes in the Book of Boba Fett sees Fett and his right-hand assassin, Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), receive tributes from Tatooine’s most powerful leaders. Boba does not, however, receive tribute from the Mayor of Mos Espa.
Instead, the Mayor sends his Majordomo (David Pasquesi) to meet with Boba, welcome him to Tatooine, and request that the up-and-coming crime kingpin pay tribute to him. When Boba refuses, the Majordomo hints that his boss won’t take kindly to the insult, and it’s implied that the guards who attack Boba and Fennec in the episode’s second half were sent on the Mayor’s orders.
The Mayor of Mos Espa is shaping up to be Boba’s biggest rival, and will likely emerge as a major player in the Disney+ series’ upcoming episodes. But who exactly are they?
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Who is Mok Shaiz?
When the Mayor’s Majordomo first appears, he’s introduced as “His Excellency, Mok Shaiz, Mayor of Mos Espa and its surrounding plateaus.” The Majordomo quickly corrects the mistake, telling Boba and Fennec that he was sent in his boss’ place. The introduction does, however, give us the Mayor’s name.
No pre-existing Star Wars characters are named Mok Shaiz, which doesn’t tell us much about the mysterious figure. However, a mid-December THR profile with Book of Boba Fett director and co-showrunner, Robert Rodriguez, reported that the character is voiced by none other than Rodriguez himself. The outlet also reported that he can be heard speaking in the first Book of Boba Fett trailer, which means Rodriguez’s Mayor is the character conversing with Morrison’s Boba throughout the first half of the teaser.
A shot from the trailer also shows Boba and Fennec approaching an Ithorian, who sits on a throne and is flanked by the Majordomo. So it seems probable that the Mayor of Mos Espa is the figure seen below.
Who is the mayor in Boba Fett?
THR’s December profile says that Rodriguez voices two characters in The Book of Boba Fett, with the other one being Dokk Strassi, the Trandoshan leader who pays tribute to Boba prior to the arrival of the Mayor’s Majordomo. Assuming the THR profile is correct, that means we know the identities of the series’ two Rodriguez-voiced characters.
Of course, it’s always possible that Rodriguez’s other character won’t actually be the real Mayor of Mos Espa. Alternatively, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Mayor turns out to be just a pawn for someone else who’s interested in challenging Boba’s rule.
In fact, one of the leading theories surrounding The Book of Boba Fett is that the series’ primary antagonist will turn out to be Emilia Clarke’s Qi'ra, who was last seen entering into an arrangement with Darth Maul at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story. She went on to be a major force within the Crimson Dawn syndicate, even crossing paths with Boba Fett and at one point directly slighting the notorious bounty hunter.
Considering Qi’ra’s position within the galaxy’s ring of crime syndicates, it would make sense for her to show up in The Book of Boba Fett. And including her would be an efficient way for the series’ creative team to make The Book of Boba Fett feel a bit more important and substantial than it currently does.
The Inverse Analysis — We’re only one episode into The Book of Boba Fett, but the show’s premiere does a good job of setting up some major conflicts, especially between Boba and the Mayor of Mos Espa.
Whether or not the latter character truly emerges as The Book of Boba Fett’s main antagonist remains to be seen, and it’s possible someone like Clarke’s Qi’ra could end up filling that role. Either way, the Mayor of Mos Espa is someone Star Wars fans should expect to see a lot more of.
The Book of Boba Fett is streaming now on Disney+.
