Four episodes in, The Book of Boba Fett is just now establishing its main villain in the sly, business-savvy, fish-like Pyke Syndicate. It’s a bit of a letdown if you were hoping for another ex-Empire leader like Moff Gideon or a deadly Sith, but a closer look reveals these nefarious Spice merchants are more important than you might think.
A survey of the Pyke Syndicate’s role throughout the entire Star Wars saga reveals they’ve been meddling — and even pulling the strings — for longer than you might think. In fact, their involvement may not be limited to Boba’s adventures. They could also be the answer to the biggest mysteries surrounding the franchise.
Is this species the key to all of Star Wars television? Here’s why one wild new Boba Fett theory explains the entire franchise.
The theory — Redditor Appropriate_Focus402 recently did a rewatch of all the appearances of the Pykes in Star Wars and came up with some surprising conclusions. Despite being a crime syndicate, the Pykes have always been around and always had a knack for aligning themselves with those in power. When the Republic was in charge, the Pykes sided with them. But they also joined the Shadow Collective and helped plot the takeover of Mandalore.
The Bad Batch even portrays the Pykes as being in cahoots with Kamino and their clone manufacturing. It seems like nothing can keep them down. No matter how brazen, their criminal actions always go unopposed — that is until they fired on an innocent Tusken community and found themselves on the wrong end of a train hijacking.
A Star Wars conspiracy — This theory suggests the seemingly invulnerable Pyke Syndicate could be the answer to all our unanswered Star Wars questions. If the Pykes have connections to Kamino, maybe they’re responsible for the plot to kidnap and clone Grogu in The Mandalorian. If they’ve always had ties to political power, maybe they helped fun the First Order, which explains how the group rose to power so quickly after the fall of the Empire.
If it was in their financial interest, the Pykes could even be the engineers of Palpatine’s undead return, explaining the comically sudden “Somehow... Palpatine returned” moment in Rise of Skywalker.
“The Pyke’s played both sides in every war,” Appropriate_Focus402 writes, “and I believe they will be stronger than ever after the Battle for Exegol. They drew out the ENTIRE KNOWN GALAXY to fight each other!!! Plagueis probably is cashing Pyke checks on Muunilinst somewhere.”
The Inverse analysis — This theory could also establish a clear path for the future of Star Wars. Though The Book of Boba Fett is shaping up to be a diverting side adventure for a fan-favorite character, the introduction of the Pykes may be the most important element, leading to them (and their shady connections) becoming a major part of The Mandalorian Season 3 and other future shows and movies.
Could the Pykes be the answer to all of our Star Wars problems? They’re certainly causing headaches for Boba Fett. We’ll just have to watch and see if he’ll be able to stem the threat, or if he’ll have to call in franchise-wide reinforcements.
The Book of Boba Fett is now streaming on Disney+.
