Tatooine: Provider of Heroes?

Tatooine; a wasteland, driven by the slave trade and thievery, with sand dunes that reach for miles and two suns that scorch everyone in it. This is the place that kept our two heroes of Star Wars; Anakin and Luke Skywalker.  One once a slave, later a powerful Sith lord, the other a cocky farm boy later a Jedi Master.

The known history of Tatooine begins many years ago. 

We may know it as a planet that has no plant life, only sand. But back then, it was lush as a rainforest with large oceans all around. It was inhabited by the Kumumgah people, who were very technologically advanced.  Later on, the Rakatan Infinite Empire invaded and took all the natives for their slaves. Eventually the Kumumgah people rebelled and overthrew the Empire. In return, the Rakatan , “subjected the planet to an Orbital Bombardment, that glassed (that is fused the silica in the soil into glass which then broke up over time into sand) the planet and the oceans boiled away.” ¹ The Kumumgah people eventually split into two races; the Ghorfas and the Jawas.

It wasn’t until 5,000 BBY that the Republic found Tatooine, and they didn’t colonize it until 4,200 BBY. The planet was seen as useless and an unfit place for anyone but the natives to live. The people put there in 4,200 didn’t last long, their presence provoked the Ghorfas, causing their micro-evolution into Sand People (later known as Tusken Raiders.) Over a time period of many years, this establishment of humans was abandoned and re-colonized over and over.

It wasn’t until about 100 BBY when The Dowager Queen  crashed on Tatooine on the exact sight where Mos Eisley was built. From that time all the way to around 60 BBY (when Tosche Station was built) Tatooine was colonized, and it quickly became the crime ridden planet we know.

We are reaching the time when Tatooine plays one if its most important roles it ever played. In 32 BBY, Queen Amidala and her companions, including the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi  landed on Tatooine to prepare the hyper drive on the ship. They couldn’t pay the price that Watto, the dealer, wanted. A slave boy belonging to Watto, Anakin Skywalker decided to enter the upcoming pod race and use the prize money to buy the hyper drive for the visitors. Being the first human to ever win a pod race, Anakin became a legend.  Of course, after the winnings, Qui-Gon Jinn took him on as an apprentice.

10 years later, Anakin, now Obi-Wan’s padawan, returned to Tatooine, because he sensed his mother, Shmi, was in great pain. He learned that she had been captured by Tusken Raiders. He went on a search to find her, and when he found his mother barely alive and she died in his arms, Anakin was overcome with rage and he killed every raider in the village.

Fast forward to the point in this History when our second hero, Luke Skywalker, comes in. (18 BBY) Luke grew up on Tatooine, being raised by Shmi’s step son, Owen Lars.  You all know the story of course, of Luke buying the two droids, meeting up with Obi-Wan, finding out he’ll be trained as a Jedi, leaving the planet on the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo, and fast forward a little bit, Luke eventually saves the galaxy with his father, Darth Vader, who comes around in the end and turns out to be a hero, despite turning to the dark side.

Oh my gosh, that history came out a lot longer than I thought it would. Sorry guys if I bored you!! Anyway, back to Tatooine.

When I see Tatooine in the movies, it reminds me a lot of the towns you see in 3^rd world countries. It has so much crime, and you have some like Jabba the Hutt who can get away with any crime and considers themselves like kings. Basically in Tatooine, it’s all about money. The more money you have, the more inside sources you have, the more “respected” you’ll be. I put respected in quotes, because really, at any moment, your dearest friend could turn on you if you show a sign of weakness. You do have the occasional loveable and handsome smuggler (AKA Han Solo) who has a heart of gold (Aww, cheese) and ends up marrying the girl of his dreams and helping save the galaxy. You have the slaves, who are doomed to be slaves the rest of their lives, with no way out.

All in all, Tatooine is doomed to always be a somewhat deadly planet, with sunlight that reflects off the sand and burns your eyes and skin, gangs, Sith cults, and the slave trade. We can be thankful, however, that it turned out the galaxies two heroes, father and son, Anakin and Luke Skywalker.   

Sources:

1: Wookiepedia: Tatooine article. 

Afterword:

No, I'm not going to properly site this article. I don't feel like it! Anyway, This is the first in a series by my (Qui-Gon) about the main planets in SW. I personally, really want to attract more guy readers. So, I'm gonna be doing posts that would appeal more to guys. And Padme's probably won't change very much. 

The differences are: We won't be doing any more personal posts. They have to stick to SW, except for Padme's update every other week, and my update every month Padme posts every Monday and I post every Thursday! (I know this post is late, sorry!) Hope you enjoy, and MTFBWY!!

~Qui-Gon Jinn~

PS: What would you like to hear an article about? I know alot of you want Padme to continue Padme's outfits! Soooo *cough* Padmewritethearticle*cough* :)