ray_afraid said:
No, it’s censorship. The edits are the only times we see unmasked humans being shot by our heroes & reacting in pain & “violent” death. The rest of the time it’s not in close-up, or it’s troops in masks.

Ah, I see. Well I guess that’s like half a point off for the special edition; it’s a little childish and stupid of a change but unless someone is actually really paying attention it’s not something that really harms much. Definitely not anywhere near as bad as Greedo shooting, which just ruins character and looks awful.