Star Wars Just Stole The Halo TV Show's Thunder | Screen Rant
Warning! SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett episode 5.
The latest episode of Disney+’s The Book of Boba Fett just introduced a new world, but its form reminded many viewers of the ring-shaped structures in the Halo video game series. While The Book of Boba Fett typically tells the story of Boba Fett after the events of The Mandalorian, this episode focused on the Mandalorian himself, Din Djarin. Still coming to terms with giving up Grogu, The Mandalorian's Din Djarin found the two remaining members of his Mandalorian covert on an unnamed, ring-shaped space station. A massive structure covered by an entire city, The Book of Boba Fett’s ringworld is reminiscent of Halo’s rings.
Halo is a popular military science fiction video game series. Halo’s backstory involves the Forerunners, an alien species that sought to protect the galaxy from alien parasites called the Flood. As a last resort, the Forerunners built the Halo Array. These ring-shaped structures were both weapons, capable of destroying all sentient life in the galaxy - and even planets - with each structure complete with its own atmosphere and ecosystem.
Based on the video games, Halo is also an upcoming live-action series, which will be available for streaming on Paramount+. Set to premiere in early 2022, the first Halo trailer will be released on Sunday, January 30. Since ringworlds are an important element in Halo’s story, the timing of The Book of Boba Fett’s ring-shaped space station is interesting. Some viewers have wondered if The Book of Boba Fett copied Halo’s rings, “stealing their thunder” just before the Halo franchise could make its live-action debut. While it is true that Star Wars has often been inspired by other science fiction works, The Book of Boba Fett did not necessarily take its ring idea from Halo.
Since its inception, Star Wars has taken inspiration from various other pieces of science fiction literature. For example, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation centers on the fall of a Galactic Empire, which influenced the Empire in the original Star Wars trilogy. Similarly, Frank Herbert’s Dune heavily influenced Star Wars: A New Hope specifically. Both stories feature desert planets, a “chosen one,” and ancient religious orders with mysterious powers. More recently, Star Wars also began emphasizing the importance of spice, a drug, which is a crucial story element in Dune. Although The Book of Boba Fett’s inclusion of a ring-shaped structure may have seemed to copy Halo, the ring actually continued Star Wars’ practice of taking inspiration from science fiction books.
The Book of Boba Fett and Halo were both inspired by Larry Niven’s Ringworld, published in 1970. In the classic science fiction novel, the Ringworld was an artificial, ring-shaped planet with a habitable environment and native human population. This concept influenced both Halo and The Book of Boba Fett, which even used Ringworld’s idea of having an inner, segmented ring to create night-and-day cycles on the main world. Although The Book of Boba Fett might have brought the idea of a ring-shaped structure to the screen in live-action before Halo could, both popular franchises actually took their inspiration from Ringworld.
The Book of Boba Fett releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.