Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Chosen answer: He said he wanted to see Luke with his own eyes rather than through his mask. He was aware that he was doomed and did not care about what would happen if he took the mask off.

Casual Person

Question: Luke gets everyone together at Jabba's palace in order to rescue Han Solo. Why didn't Luke just get a bunch of Rebel fighters to storm the palace? They had the fleet available, so they could have easily overpowered Jabba and his guards without having to resort to risking all of his friends in an overly complicated rescue attempt, and they wouldn't have had to bother with the whole sarlac pit fight at all.

jbrbbt

Answer: The fleet was getting ready for the final battle to destroy the new Death Star. Rescuing Han was a personal rescue mission for Luke and Leia. As far as the fleet was concerned Han was a causality of war. Quote "The sacrificing of one individual to save millions is the corner stone of any civilisation."

Question: Why does the Emperor seem to want Luke to kill him so badly? I get he is trying to turn Luke to the dark side but he can't exactly own Luke if he's dead.

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Chosen answer: He's trying to rile Luke up. The Emperor knows Vader will intervene. The Emperor sees the situation as a win-win for him with either Luke being killed by Vader or Luke kills Vader and turns to the Dark Side.

Phaneron

Answer: As Anakin says in ROTS, killing someone is not the "jedi way". By killing the emperor, he is surrendering to his feelings, which is one of the paths to the dark side.

Question: Why does Luke agree to go confront his father right in front of his master? Even if he does win, he should know that either way, he ain't getting off that Death Star alive, still a Jedi.

Answer: He believes he can turn his father back to the light side, and together they can defeat the emperor.

Answer: Luke feels saving his father and defeating the Emperor are goals worth dying for.

TonyPH

Question: After Luke and Vader's duel aboard the second Death Star, Why does Luke deactivate his lightsaber and throw it aside?

ExcellentCryer

Chosen answer: Palpatine's trying to turn Luke to the dark side, to make him his new apprentice in Vader's place - he wants Luke to strike the now defenceless Vader down in anger and hate and thus open himself to the Sith way. By throwing his lightsabre aside, Luke's telling the Emperor that, no matter how much the Emperor goads him, he will not raise his weapon against Vader again and that he utterly rejects the Sith way.

Tailkinker

Question: How can the Death Star be operational if the superstructure hasn't been completed yet?

Cubs Fan

Chosen answer: They already had gravity, lighting, plumbing, docking bays, life support etc. I assume the entire station is built around the power core and weapon. All the remaining sections were probably crew quarters, storage, more docking bays etc.

Soylent Purple

Chosen answer: Obi-Wan told luke how his father was more machine than man now, and Luke knew Vader had a life support system, so he concluded that he would die without his mask, especialy given the weak state he was in.

Piemanmoo

Answer: It's almost certainly known - through Rebel intelligence gathering if nothing else - that Vader's suit functions as a life support system and the various details that go along with that.

TonyPH

Question: Why does Luke offer to sell the droids to Jabba the Hutt at the beginning? Would Luke actually have left C-3PO and R2-D2 with Jabba if Jabba had agreed to give Han back in exchange for them?

Answer: The Droids were his inside men. All part of his plan to free Han. Why do you think R2-D2 had the light saber hidden within him? C-3PO knew nothing of it.

Answer: In his hologram message, Luke offered the two droids to Jabba as a "gift" to show his supposed good faith before he arrives to bargain for Han. He was not offering to sell or exchange the droids for Han. Of course, Luke had no intention of giving up the droids and knew Jabba would never hand over Han. Luke's rescue included retrieving Han and the droids.

raywest

Question: When Chewbacca tells Han that Luke is a Jedi Knight (or almost one), why does Han consider this a "delusion of grandeur"? He has known Luke for about four years now. Luke did some training with Obi-Wan in the Millennium Falcon, so Han knew what his goal was.

Answer: Han still believes the Force and Jedi are just fairy tales, magic. He doesn't really believe in them still.

lionhead

Answer: And to add to that answer, Han also knows that the Jedi are all but extinct (he didn't know of Yoda). How is Luke a Jedi when he had no living Master to teach him?

kayelbe

Answer: The last time Han Solo had seen Luke was just after rescuing him from freezing to death after nearly getting eaten by an abominable snow creature. Having missed out on all the developments since then, Han still thinks of Luke as a plucky, immature kid. It'd be sort of like discovering someone you know of as an altar boy is now going around calling himself a bishop.

TonyPH

Question: It's stated by Vader in the previous film how much he wanted to capture Luke for the Emperor by using the carbonite freezer. Boba Fett knew this. So why didn't Boba Fett take Luke into his custody to take him back to Vader instead of letting Jabba kill him with the sarlac pit?

jbrbbt

Answer: Boba did attempt to grapple Luke with his whipcord.

kayelbe

Answer: Luke was a Jedi Master. He knew taking him wouldn't easy. Bobo Fett went after thugs, aliens he knew would be easy to catch. Besides, the bounty he received would have made him wealthy, plus he stayed with Jabba, which means he was on his payroll.

Answer: If you want to count new canon, the Mandalorian remnants have always harboured a grudge against the Jedi for wiping them out, save for a paltry few like Jango Fett. By the time of ROTJ, Boba (Jango's clone son, who also had to watch his father be killed by another Jedi in Ep II) has no obligation to capture Luke for monetary gain. All Luke is, in that moment, is a symbol of the very thing Boba was raised to hate, and is very keen to thus see dead.

Answer: Doing this would require Boba Fett to either convince Jabba to give Luke to him (not likely) or he'd have to steal Luke from him and ruin their business relationship. Also Boba Fett and Darth Vader never appeared particularly chummy with each other and Fett has personally witnessed Vader totally screw Lando over in their own deal, so from multiple angles any operation to take Luke in for himself and claim a reward from the Empire is likely more trouble than it's worth.

TonyPH

Question: After Darth Vader betrays the Empire and kills the Emperor, who, for the very brief period of time that the Empire was still around, would have risen to the top of the chain of command?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: The Empire splintered a bit after the death of the Emperor. Some members of the Imperial Council attempted to grab territories in order to maintain some form of power. Others attempted to carry on as if nothing had happened and told the people that the Emperor had escaped the destruction of the Death Star. Officially, the new leader of the Empire was Grand Admiral Sloane, who commanded the Imperial Navy. She enacted the Emperor's contingency plan, called Operation Cinder, which was essentially destroying everything because of the Emperor's death.

Sloane was one of three potential leaders when the Emperor died: the other two were Gallius Rax and Mas Amedda. In the end, Rax sidelined the others and became the leader of the Empire, although Sloane was the public face of the leadership.

Sierra1

Question: When Luke surrenders to the Imperials on Endor, Darth Vader gives the Commander permission to search for other Rebels. Why does he say "Bring his companions to me" if he and Luke are about to leave for the Death Star?

Answer: Presumably, Luke's companions would be transported to the Death Star or wherever Lord Vader happened to be once they were captured.

raywest

Chosen answer: Yes, the Sith Rule of Two requires that the master kill the apprentice and claim a new one, or the apprentice kill the master and become master himself.

Then why didn't Vader do anything about it?

DFirst1

He quite famously threw the Emperor down a shaft. :-) Presumably he was still benefiting from the relationship. The Emperor knows how it goes too - they would have stayed in partnership until the deciding moment came, both thinking they'd be the one to triumph, but ultimately one of them would be wrong.

I mean prior when Palpatine is torturing Luke.

DFirst1

While Anakin without the suit could have been more powerful than the Emperor, as Darth Vader, he is definitely not more powerful and would easily be defeated if he attempted anything. The Emperor's force lightning would damage his suit easily.

Do you mean during the timeline in the Original trilogy that Darth Vader knows that his master is going to replace him? Just like what happened to Dooku, whom Anakin killed in front of Sidious.

DFirst1

The rule of two is a Sith philosophy, so yes he knew. According to the rule the master will always be seeking a stronger apprentice, while the apprentice will seek to become the master.

Answer: The reason why Vader didn't do anything is a character decision. Likely Palpatine being a master of manipulation beat into Vader's head that Vader need him in order to function as a leader.

Chosen answer: No, he did not have any knowledge regarding that. Luke or Leia would have told him at some point after Vader's death, but that is not shown in the film.

raywest

Considering Leia's aghast reaction to Luke's explanation on Endor ("Your father!"), he hadn't mentioned it to her before, and I can't possibly believe he would tell anyone else before her. (On a side note, it amuses me to wonder just how long it took before Leia put two-and-two together about what this all means about HER father; the implications don't seem to have hit her before this scene is over).

TonyPH

Question: At the beginning of the film C-3PO says that Lando and Chewie never returned from Tatooine and Jabba's Palace. If that's true then how did Luke and Leia manage to concoct a plan to get inside using Chewie as a bounty if he wasn't there to be told the plan?

strikeand

Chosen answer: C-3PO was unaware that Lando, who was disguised as a guard and spying on Jabba's domain, was smuggling out information to Luke. C-3PO, being an android, was often told information on a need-to-know basis only. He was often not trusted with more sensitive information, lest he inadvertently reveal something. He also didn't know that he and R2 were being sent to Jabba as a "gift" from Luke and that it was all part of the plan to rescue Han Solo.

raywest

Question: At the Ewok village, Luke tells Leia that she is the only hope for the Alliance if he doesn't return from his meeting with Darth Vader. However, if he had died, how could she have become a Jedi? Would the ghosts of Luke, Yoda, or Obi-wan have trained her?

Answer: It is quite possible their spirits could have contacted her, and while she may not be able to be trained as a Jedi, they could certainly guide her into developing her powers to use the Force that would help her lead the rebellion. There may even be other Jedi still alive that she would find out about.

raywest

Answer: That Leia is the rebellion's last hope is a separate point from her being able to use the force. Luke doesn't necessarily suggest that Leia can become a trained Jedi without anyone to train her; simply that she is already a formidable warrior who is intelligent and resourceful, and now he can confirm that the force is with her, so she can indeed put her absolute trust in her own instincts.

TonyPH

Question: Why are there transports in the Battle Of Endor? It doesn't seem sense that transports were to go into to battle without any armament at all. Also, the Death Star II is seen firing on one of these transports. Wouldn't it be more reasonable to fire on Home One?

Answer: According to the novelisation of Return of the Jedi, the transports were loaded with large quantities of explosives, with the intent of using them in a kamikaze role. Given that role, it makes sense to target them as a priority, before they could be used to destroy a major Imperial ship, plus the premature detonation of the explosives could damage or potentially even destroy surrounding Rebel ships, weakening their fleet.

Tailkinker

Question: In Star Wars Battlefront II, if you're playing Galactic Conquest and move up on Endor, there is a big blue planet beside the moon. Which planet is that and how does the environment look there?

Answer: That is actually the planet Endor. It is a gas giant so the environment is probably just swirling masses of clouds and vapor. Check out http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Endor_(planet) for more information.

Question: What reason did the bounty hunter (Leia in disguise) have for staying in Jabba's palace overnight? Wouldn't Jabba expect the person to leave after getting the payment for Chewbacca?

Answer: Not necessarily. Jabba's palace is sort of an entertainment hub for the likes of Boushh (the bounty hunter Leia is disguised as). Jabba runs the place like a business, sort of a hotel/club.

Phixius

Question: Why doesn't Leia see Yoda, Anakin, and Obi-Wan's ghosts at the end of the movie (if she does, she doesn't seem to have much of a reaction to it)? I know she hasn't been trained yet, but when Luke was on Hoth (in Episode V), he was able to see Obi-wan's ghost before he had any training, and he heard Obi-wan talking to him during the attack on the first Death Star.

Answer: The precise mechanism is somewhat unclear at this point, leaving us with no particularly good answer, but there are undoubtedly possibilities. Even in the first film, Luke has had a small amount of training with Obi-Wan; it's not much, but it could be enough to allow him to see them. Leia's had nothing at all, so possibly she's simply not capable of it. Alternatively, the 'ghosts' may simply have chosen to appear only to Luke for reasons of their own; two of them wouldn't be recognised by Leia anyway, making it a bit pointless to appear to her.

Tailkinker

She didn't really look TBH. She went over to Luke, hugged him, then brought Luke back to the Ewok party.

Answer: She doesn't see them. Her focus is on Luke staring off and daydreaming during a massive celebration.

Answer: Try to imagine what your reaction would be if you suddenly came upon three ghosts out of nowhere. Ghosts, mind you - glowing apparitions of dead people beyond the grave right there before your eyes! Regardless if you find such things scary or not, it would probably be quite a shock, require lots of explaining, and certainly kill the celebratory mood for the time being.

TonyPH

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Han tells Lando that he can fly the Millennium Falcon during the battle, when Lando says, "Would you get going, you pirate", his entire outfit is reversed - his shoulder holster strap goes the other way, and his rank insignia changes side too. (00:50:00)

More mistakes in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Darth Vader: If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny!

More quotes from Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Trivia: When filming ROTJ, Lucas didn't want anyone to find out that they were shooting the third Star Wars movie, because pandemonium could break out. So when someone asked the crew what they were filming, they said "Blue Harvest". All of the crew had shirts and hats that said Blue Harvest on them. The fictitious film's tagline was "Horror beyond imagination."

More trivia for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

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