The Mandalorian Tusken Raiders (spoilers)

I appreciate the perspective of indigenous people from the lens of the TR's. That perspective is often missing from popular culture.

 

The more I see the tuskens, the more I like them

 

Nice finds. Also, I think it is a mirror to these moments as well.

 

It’s also the easiest way for one person to carry another person.

 

This was also confirmed in the first half hour of ROTS through Anakin's reaction when Palpatine mentioned the Tuskens and Shmi. I think the Chancellor was trying to generate anger and hatred within Anakin and only generated guilt.

 

Not the carrying, piling the dead bodies into a bonfire.

 

I think I may be obsessed with the Tusken Warrior. There's something about them, some kind of aura.

 

But not really. That tribe that kidnapped, probably raped and certainly tortured and murdered Shmi Skywalker, has very little in common with the Tusken tribe in TBOBF.

He clearly does, and it's amazing acting on Hayden's part.
The conflict in his mind is the purpose of the scene.
And how he just went dark side and embraced it, and then felt guilty about it.

 

The Tuskens in BoBF are also slavers and torturers.

 

While this kind of nuance would feel out of place in the films, it's been nothing short of fascinating to see it expanded in the shows. I think the clear allusion to indigenous people is handled well, but also not sugarcoating it either. I never thought Boba's story would mirror that of Indian captives that were brought up as part of the tribe. As uncommon as it was, there is precedent.

The Tuskens in BOBF are mostly in line with their portrayal in the OT. AOTC stands out by making them decidedly more wicked simply through the lens of the audience. The BOBF Tuskens seem a little more benevolent, but it helps that they make a distinction by saying they're a different tribe than any we've seen before.

Now that I'm thinking about it, their character development pretty much mirrors that of Boba in a meta type of way; both were seen as no more than brutal villains, but beneath their surface they had a code of honor and deep respect for tradition (and both got "redeemed" in BOBF). In that respect, it makes sense that Boba saw the Tusken Raiders as kindred spirits and chose to embrace their lifestyle on his own accord.

 

I think the point is that each Tusken tribe is unique and the ones that were more peaceful were probably wiped out a long time ago.

 

Spoiler: Long quote

One thing I would point out is that the moisture farms have an ongoing impact on the Tuskens, in that they harvest all the moisture from their lands, making the already harsh environment even less habitable.

 

I think a lot of people here could use a vision lizard in the nose from time to time.

 

Yes, but they went overboard by kidnapping and torturing an innocent to death. And the tribe in BoBF were slavers and torturers as well. They got that rodian they kept as a slave killed, so I don't think we're supposed to see them as the good guys. The tribe seen in The Mandalorian is so far the only one that we don't know to have committed atrocious acts. They seemed more cooperative with strangers.

 

“Good guys” in a narrative don’t need to be 100% purely and unquestionably good at all times during the course of the story. Especially as in this case, the tribe seems to be developing along with Boba Fett. From a state of sullen hostility to one of more confidence and more openness. Yes, we are intended to empathize with the Tuskens. No, we are not intended to fix them in our minds forever as irredeemable slavers and torturers because of their initial actions. This is a story with progression. Open your mind to the experience.

 

I think the series is showing us some grey areas with the Tuskens and Boba Fett as well. He's not the same ruthless bounty hunter he was in the films, but he's not a "good guy" either. We are meant to care for the Tuskens' plight to some degree, but it's a little bit hard to fully empathize after they tortured and basically fed a slave to a monster. I could empathize with the Tuskens in The Mandalorian.

 

It's very easy to see things in binary fashion. If the Tuskens are portrayed sympathetically, some folks would assume Disney has turned them into a bunch of tree-hugging hippies that need help from an outsider. If the Tuskens are portrayed less sympathetically, then folks would assume they represent the worst stereotypes of indigenous people.

The truth is that the Tuskens are simply people, regardless of culture. A hardy people living in the harshest deserts, but not one to be categorized so easily as good or evil. In a sense, it's the same with Boba. I notice how the moment Boba shows mercy or fairness as the crime lord, some folks complained about it because it made Boba too soft and goody-good for their liking, never mind that Boba later shows what happens if you cross him after he gave you a chance.

 

This.

I don't get why it is so hard for people to hold two things in their minds at once, and to understand that sentient beings react harshly when they are slaughtered and their lands are taken. No one is saying it's right to take revenge and do the same thing to innocents, it is just how things go, and doesn't make them evil or good (they are only doing what was done to them; remember THEIR innocents were slaughtered too). But then that has been said already about 20 times in this thread, so this probably isn't helpful.

 

We don't actually know if the humans slaughtered the Tuskens before they took Shmi. The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett do support that their lands were taken. Still makes it an evil act to kidnap and torture an innocent to death. It is not just how things go. The Tuskens are not mindless monsters or animals, but beings of human intelligent, and their actions are then judged as evil. Not all Tuskens are evil, the ones in The Mandalorian weren't, but the ones in the films and in Book of Boba Fett have committed evil acts.

 

I'm wondering if the biggest surprise of the show - given all they've done with Tusken Cultures -- is going to be the best kept secret reveal of A'Sharad Hett.

Which to me would be amazing -- and would not be a complete stretch given Filoni loves this kind of thing.

...and would be a nice supporting character for the Obi-Wan Series -- including a Jedi Purge scene where Vader finds and catches and kills A'Sharad --- and help establish how and why Vader-Kenobi bump into each other...

 

You are still not getting the point.

The history they give in Mando was "after the oceans disappeared," which umm... was well before Anakin was there. It was a desert planet when Anakin was there. We know this.

Have you ever studied history? It actually IS how things go, and that is regardless of whether it was a bad act (No one ever said it wasn't a bad act, not sure why that keeps getting repeated, it's not the point). When you slaughter people, they try to slaughter back. It happens today. I don't see that this is that hard to comprehend. I think you could if you get the good vs evil stuff out of your head. It's not about that. Life just isn't that way. That is fairy tale stuff. How evil were those who killed the Tuskens because they had "machines," were they evil? You are so locked into this "Tuskens are evil," really you aren't getting the nuance that the Tuskens are being portrayed with in the show.

 

I doubt we’ll ever know who threw the first stone in the war with the Tusken’s, but it doesn’t really matter. Both sides still choose violence. And I mean the colonists are invaders on their land. In an ideal world. The settlers would have left the planet alone. But Star Wars isn’t a fair galaxy.

 

Has it been established, in canon, that Tusken's are the indigenous life on Tatooine (also Jawas)? I mean, I would assume so. It makes me remember the line in Solo when Han says "To them we're the hostiles" when talking about the indigenous species of Mimban.