Question: I'm not an English native speaker. This can be more of an English-related question. There's a line of Han Solo that I don't understand. He said this line twice, during the conversations with Greedo and Jabba: "Even I get boarded sometimes." What exactly does he mean? What is "get boarded" here?
Answer: To "board" means to step foot on a craft. Han is referring to random inspections, where stormtroopers will come onto the Millennium Falcon to search for contraband. He is saying it isn't his fault he had to dump Jabba's shipment. Even being as good a pilot as he is, he still can't stop the Empire from searching his ship from time to time.
Chosen answer: Getting onto a ship or plane is called "boarding." Han is saying the authorities have come onto his spaceship (boarded his ship), which is why he had to get rid of whatever he was smuggling (bringing in secret and illegally) for Jabba. By saying "even I get boarded", he means even though he's the best smuggler, there's still times he gets his ship searched.
Question: In this movie, the Death Star is barely completed. Until now, what motivated people, on multiple planets, to obey and fear the Empire? What stopped everyone from simply not accepting the Emperor and his organization? Similar to how Tattooine did not acknowledge the Republic during Anakin's childhood.
Answer: One simple answer is that even before the Death Star the Empire still had vast amounts of firepower at its disposal, Star Destroyers, Storm Troopers, TIE Fighters/Bombers. A longer answer is that like a lot of fascist governments it wasn't an overnight thing - he invokes emergency powers, makes the Republic population feel threatened and like he's the only solution, etc. He doesn't announce to everyone at once "I'm secretly evil and you are my subjects". I suspect also a great many people didn't notice a huge amount of change in their day to day lives - if they felt they had nothing to fear from any government they wouldn't object to the rise of the Empire until it was too late.
Question: If Darth Vader's hands are robotic then how can he use the Dark Side of the Force to choke anyone?
Answer: Hands aren't necessary for force usage - it's more a gesture to aid concentration (or for effect, or simply because it looks good on film). During Luke's fight with Vader in The Empire Strikes Back for example, Vader is flinging large objects at Luke without removing his hands from his lightsaber at all.
Question: Why did Owen and Beru ever tell Luke that they are his aunt and uncle? They apparently want him to live a simple farmer's life, stay away from Ben Kenobi, and not learn about Jedi or get involved in the Rebellion. Would it not be easier to pretend that they are his parents?
Answer: Any answer would be speculation and it's hard to know exactly how much George Lucas had planned ahead for these characters. Not to mention things like Obi-Wan never knew Anakin was alive when they were separating Luke and Leia, Darth Vader hadn't been created yet, and he doesn't find out Anakin is Darth Vader until years later. An in-universe answer would basically be there's no way for the Lars to explain they now have a baby when Beru was never pregnant, so everyone would know Luke isn't their son (which could eventually be told to Luke as he got older). So really the only options would be to raise him as an adopted child or as their nephew. The Organas on the other hand always wanted a daughter and so Bail agreed to secretly adopt Leia.
Answer: Considering Kenobi lived on Tatooine and it was known that Anakin became Vader, there was always a chance that Luke would learn the truth and finding out he was lied to about his past could have been devastating to him and the family dynamic.
Question: Why was the original trilogy always titled episodes 4, 5 and 6, when the prequel trilogy wasn't even planned?
Answer: The original wasn't. It was just "Star Wars" when I saw it in the theater. In fact Lucas wasn't planning on any sequels when he made the first. After the first made it as a big success and drafts of a sequel were started, the second was first numbered as 2, but Lucas decided on a series with prequels, so the first became number 4, and so on. For a long time after 4-6 came out, people doubted if 7-9, let alone 1-3 would every be made. It was 16 years between the release of #6 and #1.
Answer: It is true "Star Wars" was not originally called episode IV, but Lucas always had the idea of doing a sequels. His original script became too big for one film, so he took the first third of the script (Act 1) and turned it into "Star Wars." However, since the film gave no context or background information to the audience (we're basically just thrown into the action), Lucas took the opportunity when "Star Wars" was a success to plan on creating prequels.
Https://drbeat.li/album/Bücher/The_Secret_History_of_Star_Wars.pdf (pdf of "The Secret History of Star Wars"). And here is a quote from Lucas "The Star Wars series started out as a movie that ended up being so big that I took each act and cut it into its own movie...It was like a big script. It was way too big to make into a movie. So I took the first third of it, which is basically the first act, and I turned that into what was the original Star Wars."
Question: When Luke finds R2-D2 after R2 runs away from Luke's home, and then R2 starts beeping something and C-3PO says, "There are several creatures headed from the southeast!" Why then does Luke go to take a closer look instead of simply getting the droids in his speeder and getting out of there?
Answer: Luke is focused on finding Obi Wan and delivering Princess Leia's recorded message, which has intrigued him. Also, Luke is young, adventurous, and rather rash; he's curious to know what he's up against and whether or not it's necessary to flee or stay and continue his mission. He has a Jedi Knight's nature, and they do not run at the first sign of danger.
Question: Did the feud between Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker begin during the filming of this movie?
Answer: Kenny Baker stated that there was never an actual feud between them, though they were never good friends. Baker said Daniels never seemed to get along well with anyone on the Star Wars set. Daniels has since said that he didn't want to respond to Baker's comments.
Question: Are lightsabers capable of cutting through any substance, or are there objects in the franchise (even if the examples are no longer canon) that have been specifically mentioned as being resistant?
Answer: There are several substances in canon and non-canon that are resistant to lightsabers. Beskar, also known as Mandalorian iron or Mandalorian steel was used to make armor and weapons by the Mandalorian people. Cortosis was an ore that, when heavily refined, stopped lightsaber blades and blaster bolts. Phrik was another metal, used in Darth Sidious' lightsabers and the electrostaffs used by Grievous' robot guards. Neuranium was a very, very dense and heavy metal that was partially resistant to lightsabers, but was more often used to shield from scanners. The species orbalisk and vonduun crab had carapaces that could withstand the blow of a lightsaber.
Answer: The Force Awakens features stormtroopers using the "Z6 riot control baton", which they use to block the lightsaber when Finn uses it.
Is it the baton itself that is resistant, or the energy surge around it? Because I know Snoke's guards were able to block lightsabers with energized weapons as well.
Yes you see them in Episode III as well when fighting on the bridge of the chancellor's ship. My guess is the energy blocks the lightsaber. It's logical they would come up with some sort of technology to block lightsabers if materials that can block them are that rare.
Answer: There are a handful of items, but I don't believe any have been mentioned or shown in the film series (other than another lightsaber itself). Mandalorian Iron (also known as Beskar) and Phrix are resistant to lightsaber attacks and have been mentioned in the TV show "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", but I don't recall if their resistance is specifically mentioned in the show.
Question: Why is Han so skeptical of the Force? I get that he himself has never witnessed anyone use it, but he would have been alive during the Jedi purge, and surely he knows that Chewbacca fought alongside the Jedi on Kashyyyk. Additionally, is there any reason Obi-Wan wouldn't have demonstrated Force powers to Han on the way to Alderaan other than he didn't feel the need to prove it?
Answer: Han describes force powers as "simple tricks and nonsense." He has never seen any Jedi doing anything particularly super-powered. Even if Chewy did and told Han it is still reasonable for him to be skeptical and to think his friend is exaggerating. Han simply thinks the stories about Jedi are overblown. A good way to think about it would be to examine how ninja are presented in popular culture versus how they were in reality. The stories surrounding ninja are greatly exaggerated to the point of absurdity, applying immense fighting ability and oftentimes magical powers to normal men. The difference is jedi actually had magical abilities while ninja did not.
Answer: To answer the second part of your question, Obi-Wan has Luke demonstrate the Force in front of Han by putting a blinder on and fighting the remote. Believing he has made his point, Obi-Wan comments "You see!", to which Han replies that Luke's success was against a remote, and that fighting a living person was completely different. So even after being shown something that is completely impossible without the use of the force, Han still chooses not to believe.
Well Han also dismissed Luke's success with the remote as luck. If Obi-Wan used the Force to steal Han's blaster right from its holster, would Han just dismiss it as magic? Is there such thing as magical powers in the Star Wars universe independent from the Force?
Oh, I absolutely agree with your point. But I always took this scene to mean that Obi-Wan isn't trying to win an argument with Han or prove anything to him. He's trying to teach Luke about the force. He doesn't really care what Han believes and is dismissive of his comments. Luke believes he felt the force using the remote and that's what is important.
There actually is, or so I believe. The nightsisters, also called the witches of Dathomir, that appear in The Clone Wars-series. They used dark magic.
Question: Out of the numerous (and mostly unnecessary) changes George Lucas has made to this film over the years, has he ever given any reason as to why he has never fixed the appearance of the lightsabers in the film, or updated the awful CGI Jabba the Hutt? Those have always stood out to me as the two most glaring weaknesses in the visual department.
Answer: He has not. He has only ever generally commented on the updates to the 90's Special Edition re-releases having scenes updated to fit what he always envisioned but was limited by budget and technology. The additional changes that have been made since the films were released on Blu-Ray and now Disney Plus have gone without comment. To your point about the lightsabers, they have been improved on the Disney Plus version of the film. The colors are more vibrant, and they now have a more noticeable sparking effect with clashes in the Obi-Wan/Vader duel.
Question: Do magnetically-sealed rooms serve any purpose other than repelling blasters?
Answer: Outside the convenience as a plot device, it could also be explained as a way of preventing inadvertent damage caused by compacting something explosive. Remember, it's not just the door that was magnetically sealed, but the entire compactor.
Answer: It could be a security measure to keep anyone/anything from opening the doors, or it could be a way of preventing anything from escaping the room (clearly live things get in there).
Question: Has there ever been any sort of canonical discussion about the morality of droid treatment in any Star Wars titles? They're intelligent/sentient, are treated well by most people, even like friends/pets by some. And yet they also seem to casually get their minds wiped, or if they're destroyed many people shrug rather than mourn. Tools to some, valued comrades to others, it's just a bit all over the place. Idle thought really.
Answer: Lucas has gone on record as to the treatment of droids in Star Wars being a thought-provoking allegory for the way people treat minorities. I've never heard him specifically talk about how it's almost never commented-upon in-universe, but intentionally or not, I'm of the opinion that it's more compelling this way. Why doesn't anybody do anything about the way droids are treated? Well, go around asking people why they don't do anything about the way other people are treated and you'll quickly find out.
Answer: Not in the films, but several of the books removed from canon by Disney mentioned a "droids' rights movement" that decried memory wipes and other dismissals of sentience. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Droid_rights_ (movement).
Solo, which is canon, features a subplot about droid's rights. So not everything has been scrubbed regarding this topic.
Chosen answer: Nobody in the Star Wars universe, except on rare occasions, has shown sympathy towards a droid or any AI. Even though these robots learn, they don't really evolve beyond their programming so they aren't considered "alive" (unlike in other fiction like Wall-E), not even by the most sentimental of people. Organic beings develop attachments to droids, but mostly towards their usefulness, not because they like their personality, not even Luke Skywalker towards R2 or Poe towards BB-8. If they are destroyed, too bad. Memory wiping doesn't remove the droid's original programming either, and their way of talking and manners stay.
In Episode 2, Obi-Wan makes the offhanded comment "Well, if droids could think there'd be none of us here", implying that droids do not actually possess artificial intelligence. R2-D2 seems to be a particularly unusual droid in that he is uncommonly resilient and steadfast, which makes his allies quite fond of him. Poe and BB-8 appear to have a bond that goes beyond simply being attached to the droid's usefulness, but like you say that appears to be a unique case.
Just because he said that doesn't mean they didn't have AI. They think for themselves, so they have AI. Just not as advanced as in other fiction.
The point is raised again later in the film when the cloners state that unlike droids, clones can think for themselves.
Question: How did Owen Lars and Beru physically age by 40 years between the time of this movie and the biologically previous movie when they should've only physically aged 19, and how did Obi-Wan physically age by 30 years when he should've only aged 19 as well?
Answer: There's no "official" answer, as far as I know, but the most common explanation is simply that life on Tatooine takes a greater toll on humans than on more hospitable worlds, especially in the case of those who simply eke out an existence as did Owen, Beru, and Obi-Wan. Tatooine also has two suns, which could also account for the apparent (as opposed to actual) age of its human inhabitants; much as it is on Earth, excessive sun exposure can cause premature aging of the skin.
Answer: There is no explanation other than this is about casting. When George Lucas made the first Star Wars movie in the 1970s, he never expected the phenomena it is today. Alec Guiness was cast as Obi Wan because he was a famous, well-respected actor who was perfect for the part. When Lucas made the prequel trilogy some thirty years later, there were inevitable changes, revisions, and inconsistencies about plot, characters, and so on. Obi Wan was re-imagined as a younger character when he first met Anakin. The younger actors who played Beru and Lars were probably cast because they had a similar appearance to the original actors playing the parts. Actors often play roles where they are older or younger than their actual age. This is quite noticeable in the Harry Potter films, where the actors who played Snape, Sirius, Lupin, James and Lily Potter, etc. were at least 15-20 years older than the characters they played. Audiences are expected to employ a suspension of disbelief.
Question: When Obi-Wan tells Luke about Darth Vader murdering his father, Luke doesn't seem to have heard of Vader before. But he knows about the rebellion and wants to go to the Imperial Academy (so he can defect later). Shouldn't he know who Vader is?
Answer: For most of his early life, Luke lived a simple, rustic life. His aunt and uncle knew his parentage and no doubt suppressed information about the Empire from him. Luke is naive and still has a limited and generalized knowledge of the rebellion, most of which was gleaned from talking to friends. He has little awareness of who the key players are.
Answer: Remember that Luke was hidden on Tatooine as a baby, and Obiwan also went into hiding there, presumably as a protector to keep Luke's very existence a secret from Darth Vader. It could be that Obiwan remotely exercised Jedi mind-tricks on Luke throughout his young life to block any curiosity about Vader.
Question: If you have the film on iTunes, or Blu ray, it has descriptive audio. Turn on the descriptive audio, and go to the beginning of the credits. It says" this has been described by miles [somebody]." How do you spell his last name?
Answer: It's Miles Neff.
Question: Who has higher authority, Vader, or Admiral Tarkin? It seems like they have equal authority over the galactic empire. Shouldn't Vader have authority over Tarkin? Vader is supposed to be the Emperor's second in command.
Answer: Vader and Tarkin are assigned to totally different jobs. I think of it sort of like if the head of the CIA were visiting a huge army base. Vader appears to be focused on thwarting the rebels (at this point mostly through intelligence gathering and identifying spies) while Tarkin supervises the construction of the Death Star, and since Vader's current mission is about the Death Star plans their assignments intertwine for the time being and it's like two departments working together. Vader may well have more favor with the Emperor, but he'll defer to Tarkin while he's in his jurisdiction, so to speak.
Answer: Vader isn't second in command of the Empire; he's the Emperor's apprentice, albeit a very powerful one. Vader isn't in the "chain of command" so to speak. He's more of a tool the Emperor uses.
Answer: Tarkin is the commander of the death star and thus the supreme leader of the Empire's armed forces. Vader is more of a specialist, high in rank but not in charge of the military by himself, but probably successor of the emperor unlike Tarkin. You could see it as Tarkin being Heinrich Himmler and Vader being Joseph Goebbels in terms of hierarchy.
Question: When Han and Luke are rescuing Leia, why didn't Luke use his lightsaber during his mission on the Death Star?
Chosen answer: It's possible that he wasn't experienced enough with it, or at least felt like he wasn't, to be of any use. Remember, in the first film, Luke's total experience in handling the lightsaber was only a few screen minutes before he, Han, Chewie and Obi-wan attempted the rescue. It's also quite probable that Obi-wan warned Luke NOT to carry the lightsaber during the rescue attempt; it was, after all, Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber. If Luke (Anakin's son) boarded the Deathstar armed with Anakin's lightsaber, that peculiar disturbance in the Force could potentially lead Darth Vader straight to Luke, rather than to Obi-wan.
Question: What's wrong with Greedo shooting first? I agree changing it is pretty pointless, but what difference does it make? How does it affect the movie?
Chosen answer: This has already been asked and answered on this site, in the past few weeks in fact. But again: It doesn't affect the movie, but it affects the character of Han Solo and how he is meant to be perceived by the audience. If he shoots first, he's an outlaw, a rogue, and, in the classic Western tradition, quicker on the draw than Greedo. If Greedo shoots first, Han is just killing in self-defense, which does nothing for his character and makes the whole scene superfluous, other than establish that people want to kill him.
Answer: Also, Han shooting first places doubts about his motives in the viewer's mind early on. It establishes Han as ruthless, willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Might he turn Luke and Ben over to the Empire if he decides it's in his best interests? But having Greedo shoot first turns Han in to just another generic good guy.
Answer: I mostly agree with the other answers about Han, but his shooting first is integral to the plot and not about showing any ruthlessness. Greedo cornered Han and intended to turn him over to Jabba the Hut to collect the bounty on Han's head. Greedo told Han, while holding him at gun point, that he wanted the money Obi Wan was paying Han, then implied he was going to kill Han before turning his body over to Jabba for the reward. Han's only option was to kill Greedo right then and there. He basically is shooting Greedo in self-defense (or for self-preservation). As well as establishing what his character is like, the scene also serves as exposition that shows Jabba had put a price on Han's head, Greedo was a deadly adversary, that Han leads a dangerous and illegal life, and he was desperate to resolve his dilemma of living under a death sentence.
As a child of the 70's, I grew up with the notion of Han shooting first. Never gave it much thought, to me he was in a situation of kill or being killed. The debate seemed over a moot point to me.
Question: I have 3 questions. 1) How come Obi-Wan lied to Luke by telling him that Darth Vader killed his father? 2) Why didn't Obi-Wan tell Luke that Leia was his sister? And 3) Why does Obi-Wan act like he doesn't know Leia?
Chosen answer: 1) Obi-Wan doesn't view this as being a strict lie. He states in Return of the Jedi that what he said about Vader betraying and murdering Luke's father is technically true, from a certain point of view. He keeps the details hidden to keep Luke from falling to the dark side the same way Anakin did. 2) The identity of Leia was kept secret to protect her from the emperor. Obi-Wan only tells Luke of her identity when Vader begins directly targeting Luke's friends to goad him into a confrontation. By this point there is no reason to keep the secret from Luke. 3) Because he doesn't. Obi-Wan was present at her birth and that's the only contact they've ever had. Leia specifically describes Obi-Wan as someone who once helped her father and nothing more. He knows her secret but he doesn't really know her personally.
Just commenting on your last answer. Leia didn't know that Darth Vader was her father and neither did Luke. However, Obi Wan did fight with Bail Organa, her adopted father so it could make sense either way.
Answer: It's never revealed in the original movies what Luke thought about his mother's demise. His foster aunt and uncle probably never knew her identity, and Obi-Wan likely gave little information other than Luke's name. They apparently learned at some point that Vader was the father. Lars and Beru probably told Luke that his mother died from natural causes shortly after his birth.
raywest ★
According to the recent series about Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan didn't even know, right away, that Anakin became Darth Vader. He thinks that he left Anakin to die after their fight on Mustafar, and Vader is literally a separate person. Only ten years later does he find out that Anakin became Vader. If you think this change is weird and unnecessary, you're not the only one.
It is rather weird, though it kind of explains why Obi-Wan, believing Anakin was dead, would reveal Luke's real name to Lars and Beru. Even so, it would have been wiser to use a false surname. Of course, it also makes little sense that Obi-Wan, after learning about Vader, wouldn't tell Lars and Beru to change Luke's last name to protect him and themselves. It sounds like a typical plot point revision after people notice inconsistencies in the storyline.
raywest ★
Good point. But I thought Force users could sense when someone close to them dies. Anakin could feel his mother's pain, and later, Vader says he felt that Padme was still alive.
Just more plot inconsistencies, though Obi-Wan, the one who inflicted the pain, would have been sensing as well as witnessing Anakin's agony, leading to him assume Anakin would quickly die. He probably dismissed any later Force disturbances he felt regarding Anakin.
raywest ★