Explainers

The Mandalorian Episode 2: The Jawas from Tatooine are also on Arvala-7

Alien species Jawas
Jawas on planet Arvala-7 in The Mandalorian. Pic credit: Disney+

The Mandalorian Episode 2, which dropped on Disney+ Friday, featured a species of alien beings called Jawas.

The episode, titled The Child, was set on planet Arvala-7, and not Tatooine, as some fans assumed after seeing Jawa scavengers on the planet. We first met the Jawas on planet Tatooine in Star Wars: A New Hope, when a roving band of the species captured R2-D2.

Tatooine, unlike Arvala-7, has two suns, and the little hooded creatures were Jawas and not the Ewoks as some newbie viewers thought.

The Jawas have never been seen without the hoods that hide their faces. Their eyes glow mysteriously red under their cowls. Ewoks have a cute teddy bear-like appearance and don’t hide their faces.

Arvala-7 is home to species such as Blurrgs and Mudhorns. Although we first met Jawas on Tatooine, we learned in yesterday’s episode that they are also found on Arvala-7.

The Mandalorian is set about five years after the ending of Return of the Jedi. Return of the Jedi is set about four years after A New Hope.

In last night’s episode, the Jawas vandalized the Mandalorian’s starship. The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) returned to his ship with the child and saw a crowd of Jawas stripping his ship. He fired at them and they tried to get away in their sandcrawler. When he attempted to climb on to their vehicle and engage them, the Jawas shot him with their stun guns and left him unconscious.

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Kuiil the Ugnaught volunteered to help the Mandalorian negotiate with the Jawas to get his stolen starship parts back. But the Jawas insisted he must steal an egg from a cave-dwelling Mudhorn creature in exchange for his ship parts.

Who are the Jawas?

The Jawas are small, bipedal humanoid creatures who live by scavenging and stealing. According to the Star Wars databank, they comb the deserts, armed with cobbled-together weaponry, in “search of discarded scrap and wayward mechanicals.”

They use the scrap they steal to make weaponry and refurbished equipment. They sell the refurbished equipment to moisture farmers who need them. They have a reputation for cheating, but the farmers have no choice but to trade with them.

There is plenty of speculation about what the Jawas look like because they have never been seen without the hoods that hide their faces. They also wear full-length, long-sleeved monkish robes that entirely cover their bodies. Some speculate that the Jawas are rodent-like in appearance. This could be due to the fact that they have a strong body odor, similar to a “fraternity of wet rats.”

They travel around in massive sandcrawlers. These are refurbished hulks of vehicles left behind by former mining companies. They also use the sandcrawlers as their homes.

Many fans also noted that the Jawas in last night’s episode of The Mandalorian sounded like Minions. And some humorously suggested that the Jawas might just be robed Minions. However, the Minions were reportedly inspired by the Jawas, hence the similarity in their voices.

The Jawas use a language that is based on scent and words. They communicate by sniffing each other and through words. They also use a language called Jawa Trade Talk, which they use to communicate when they interact with other species.

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ME!!
ME!!
4 years ago

Jawas on Tatooine had yellow eyes, not red.

And for those who said, “Jawas sound like Minions”…NO…it’s the other way around. Jawas predate Minions by 33 years.