WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett
The Tusken Raiders featured in The Book of Boba Fett have finally fixed a long-running morality issue in the Star Wars franchise. A key advantage that the Disney+ shows have had over the films is that they are able to portray different perspectives on certain characters and creatures within the galaxy. As The Mandalorian and now The Book of Boba Fett prove, not everything in the galaxy adheres to the strict black-and-white morality that the films have primarily stuck to.
In the Star Wars films that they are featured in, the Tusken Raiders have been portrayed as dangerous and savage, actively attacking and sometimes killing characters in order to either ward them off their territory or steal their supplies. The Disney+ shows change that perception, with The Mandalorian portraying the Tusken Raiders as helpful and willing to reason should they stand to benefit. With The Book of Boba Fett, additional exposition shows that they are not so different from anyone else in the galaxy.
The Book of Boba Fett uses its portrayal of the Tusken Raiders to blur the lines of morality in the Star Wars franchise. Before this, the franchise stuck primarily to portraying the protagonists as purely good and the antagonists purely evil. This is most prevalent in the Skywalker saga, where to that end, nearly everyone who is an enemy to the Skywalkers is portrayed as a threat that needs to be taken down. In the case of Star Wars' Tusken Raiders, they are portrayed as threats and nothing more. This is the case when they attack Luke in A New Hope, try to shoot down pod racers in The Phantom Menace, or most notably, Shmi Skywalker dying in their captivity in Attack of The Clones. While these are all ways to show how dangerous the Tusken Raiders could be, this is the only way the films have portrayed them. As the shows prove, this perspective is limited.
The Book of Boba Fett goes a long way in rectifying the Tusken Raiders' one-dimensional portrayal in the films. It does this by exploring their culture and making it clear that they were and still are being forced off their lands by factions such as the Pyke Syndicate. They are also shown being perfectly willing to let Boba Fett join their tribe and help them reclaim their lands, even teaching him how to use their ways of combat. Finally, there's a line that mentions how each tribe operates with different modes of survival that are not always violent. All of this serves to provide a far deeper look at the Tusken Raiders beyond their roles as a threat and allows the Star Wars franchise to dip further into the grayer areas of morality.
While the Star Wars franchise has delved into blurring the lines of good and evil through properties such as The Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith, and The Last Jedi, it never strayed too far from the clear-cut morality that's largely defined the story, keeping the Skywalkers and the Rebellion unambiguously good, while the Sith and the Empire are the opposite. With The Book of Boba Fett fleshing out the Tusken Raiders, viewers can start to explore the galaxies from different perspectives beyond the Skywalker saga. This branching out beyond those constraints is exactly what the Star Wars franchise needs going forward.
New episodes of The Book of Boba Fett stream every Wednesday on Disney+
