WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Chapter 5, "The Gunslinger," streaming now on Disney+.

In the latest episode of Disney+'s Star Wars series The Mandalorian, "The Gunslinger," the titular bounty hunter arrives on Tatooine and during a job, he comes across some Tusken Raiders. However, instead of a full-blown shoot-out, the Mandalorian communicates and bargains with them for safe passage across the Dune Sea.

This is of particular interest as the Tusken Raiders in both  A New Hope and Attack of the Clones were portrayed as little more than aggressive monsters the heroes must attack and overcome. Luke Skywalker is ambushed by them while trying to retrieve R2-D2 before Obi-Wan Kenobi arrives to scare them off. The brutality is taken a step further in the prequels when the Raiders kidnap and torture Anakin's mother and she dies of her injuries in her son's arms. Anakin then slaughters the entire village of Tusken Raiders and even screeches, "They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals."

Anakin-Skywalker-slaughters-Tusken-Raiders

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The alien designs in the Star Wars franchise have, at times, made people very uncomfortable in how they rely on racial stereotypes. The prequels, in particular, brought this to the forefront with the likes of Jar Jar Binks and Watto. Star Wars films aren't made in a vacuum, and it's difficult to argue that the hook-nosed, money-grubbing alien with a thick Mediterranean accent has no connection to a common racial stereotype. Whether these design choices were made with deliberate intent is another argument entirely.

So, do the Tusken Raiders fall into this category? Michael Kaminski's thoroughly researched  The Secret History of Star Wars reveals some insight into the Tusken's beginnings. In the second chapter, Kaminski quotes George Lucas, who said, "I'm trying to make everything look very natural, a casual almost I've-seen-this-before look. You look at that painting of the Tusken Raiders and the banthas and you say, 'Oh yeah, Bedouins....'" The Tuskens are deliberately meant to evoke the nomadic Arabian peoples of North Africa and the Middle East. That said, it doesn't bode well that they're consistently portrayed as barbaric animal-like creatures. Plus, let's not forget that Obi-Wan dismissively calls them "Sand People."

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This is why the Tuskens' portrayal in The Mandalorian is so important. Mando even comments, "Tuskens think they're the locals. Everyone else is just trespassing." The Tuskens are indeed a native species of Tatooine and, with Mando's statement, their hostility toward the settlements could have more complexity to it. Instead of attacking the raiders, Mando begins to communicate with them in some sort of sign language. This humanizes the Tuskens and lets the audience know they're a people that can be reasoned with.

This is similar to the second episode of the series where the Mandalorian has to trade with the Jawas in order to get his ship parts back. The Jawas were also a tertiary species in the films, and now they have just a little more culture to them.

In the now non-canon Legends book Dark Saber, it's revealed that the Tuskens don't have a written language and instead rely on oral tradition to pass down information. It's unclear if the current canon will use this to inform any later renditions of the species, but it's still a possibility.

As for current canon, the Tuskens believe that water is sacred and even promised to them from their gods, thus explaining their constant raids of settlements and moisture farms. This, in conjunction with The Mandalorian's portrayal, paints a very different picture of the Tuskens from their previous incarnations. There's a sympathetic reason for them to be raiders against these colonists they view as outsiders.

Audiences are becoming more socially conscious, and that might be the reason the writers of The Mandalorian decided to give some more depth to the Tusken Raiders. Their designs are inspired by a real people and culture, and while the Tuskens are still raiders, at least there's now a little more nuance to reflect modern audiences' attitudes.

Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Omid Abtahi, Werner Herzog and Nick Nolte. A new episode arrives each Friday on Disney+.

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