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?
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: 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.
Question: How many Death Stars have there been?
Answer: In the official canon, just the two we've seen in the original trilogy - in Star Wars and Return of the Jedi.
Answer: Three if you count Starkiller Base.
Starkiller base was a planet, and much bigger. It does not count as a death star.
Question: I submitted a mistake where the soldiers hear the blockade runner docking with the star destoyer before they come into contact. Someone corrected me saying that they were hearing the effects of a tractor beam on the ship. Does the book mention a tractor beam being used to capture the ship?
Answer: The blockade runner's not going to be docking willingly with the Star Destroyer that's been shooting at it. Something has to be moving the runner into the docking bay, and use of a tractor beam to capture ships is established elsewhere in the movies. It's a reasonable assumption that the same system is used in this scene.
Question: Why isn't Darth Vader's and Obi-Wan Kenobi's duel aboard the Death Star as good as the lightsaber duels in Episodes 1, 2, & 3? Is there any reason?
Chosen answer: In reality terms, fight choreography was simply not as advanced in those days. From the story point of view, neither man is exactly at their prime any more. Vader is more machine than man and Kenobi is simply getting old and has not been practicing the Force regularly for nearly two decades. When the prequel trilogy was being put together, it was recognised that the story would be dealing with Jedi at the height of their abilities and thus the filmmakers developed a much more complex and detailed combat form for the Jedi characters to use.
Answer: They had to hold their lightsaber props at a certain angle for the specific effect. Because of this, they couldn't move their props like in later movies.
Question: After the sand-people knock Luke to the ground and later scatter. Obi Wan reaches Luke's arm for a pulse and then touches Luke's forehead. Could this be taken that Luke was dead and Obi Wan returned him to the living?
Answer: I doubt it. It's a common thing to do when facing someone with an injury; check for a pulse, and place a hand on the forehead. I don't know why, it just seems to be a common thing to do (at least, for people who aren't fully trained that is). I personally think that he's either sensing his force power, or he's just overcome with compassion, either for Luke (remember, Luke is the whole reason he's been on that planet for 20-odd years), or perhaps remembering happier times with Anakin (maybe he sees or "feels" a resemblance between them). It can be interpreted as a sign of compassion, anyway.
I always assumed he was just using The Force to heal whatever injury Luke might have had (concussion, et.al).
Answer: Most likely he was using the Force to heal his injuries; we see him also do this to Padme after Anakin nearly kills her. The ability to Force Heal is heavily utilized and explained in Episode IX, after seeing it used multiple times by Rey and Ben Solo.
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: Why does everybody hate the idea in the special edition of Han shooting first?
Chosen answer: Because Han Solo had been established as a cunning, roguish antihero. The scene as it originally played out shows that Han is not afraid to get his hands dirty when facing danger. The altered scene is an awkward attempt to make it seem like Han is acting completely in self defense rather than as an assertive tough-guy, and in the process takes away part of the character's charm. In short it makes Han seem less "cool". It must also be pointed out that the Special Edition changes were met with very strong fan backlash almost unilaterally, Greedo shooting first is just seen by some as a perfect example of why the changes were unnecessary.
Answer: In the original, Greedo doesn't even fire a shot. The film established Han as more ruthless, and the antihero, for killing Greedo in this way. In the special edition, Lucas altered the film so that Greedo fired first (and in a later version both shoot about the same time.) Any changes to original releases is often met with criticism for a number of reasons, especially by adults who watched the film as kids and remember it certain a way. Another example of this is when E.T. was digitally changed so the police were holding walkie-talkies instead of guns and was met with such criticism that even South Park made fun of it. However, ultimately, Greedo shooting first changes the character of Han, who becomes less proactive and more reactive and less of an antihero. And it raises the question of how could Greedo miss at such close range? Given that the film already has stormtroopers with terrible aim, it seems like another cop-out to let the good guys win.
Question: What was the explanation for Princess Leia changing from an American accent to a bad British accent and back to an American again during "A New Hope"? Was this simply a case of bad acting and sloppy editing, or was Leia actually mocking Tarkin's British accent (which doesn't seem very dignified for a Princess)?
Chosen answer: In-universe, the accent Tarkin has (and that Leia starts with) is the Coruscanti accent. The one she uses later is an Alderaan accent. In reality, Carrie Fisher had been living in Britain for a while before production started and had picked up a slight accent, which she lost as production continued.
Question: Obi-Wan Kenobi has a lightsaber in Star Wars, and he is killed by Darth Vader. Luke does NOT pick up Obi-Wan's lightsaber, but escapes on the Falcon. In the Empire Strikes Back, Luke has a light saber, which he uses to escape from the Wampa. We know that Luke did not make his own lightsaber until Return of the Jedi (a green one). Question: Where did Luke get the lightsaber that he uses in Empire Strikes Back?
Chosen answer: It's his father's lightsaber, which Obi-wan gives him at the beginning of the film.
Answer: It's Anakin's lightsaber, the one Obi-Wan gave to him at the beginning of the movie. After the duel in Revenge of the Sith Obi-Wan took it. You can tell it's the same saber by the hilt.
Question: Two questions: In the bar, Obi Wan's lightsaber is purple, not blue. Is there any particular reason for this? Also, the trivia section for this movie mentions a scene with Han Solo and Jabba the Hut that I have never seen before in the movie. Can somebody explain where the scene is and what happens in it?
Answer: The different color is likely due to the lighting of the cantina. The scene with Jabba is in the remastered version of the film and takes place as Han and Chewie are preparing the Falcon for takeoff. Han tells Jabba that he'll have the money to repay him as soon as he gets back from the job of taking Luke and Obi-Wan to Alderaan and Jabba tells him that if he doesn't, he's going to have to send Boba Fett after him.
Lucas filmed the scene during the production of Star Wars but dropped it because he didn't have the technology at the time to replace the stand-in with Jabba the way he wanted. Later during the remaster, now equipped with the right technology, they added Jabba and included the scene in the film.
Question: There's a line in this movie - I think - in which Obi-Wan mentions that Yoda was his master. But wasn't Qui-Gon Jin actually Obi-Wan's master?
Chosen answer: Yoda isn't mentioned in this film - you're actually thinking of The Empire Strikes Back, but I know the line that you mean - Obi-Wan refers to Yoda as "the Jedi Master who instructed me". While Yoda was not "his" master (as you say, that was Qui-Gon), his description is technically accurate - Yoda is a Jedi Master and, as we see in Attack of the Clones, appears to take responsibility for training the young Jedi hopefuls, the younglings, as they're referred to, so would undoubtedly have had a hand in Kenobi's training at some point.
And he was instructed to complete missions by Yoda.
Question: About 20 minutes from the end of Return of the Jedi, Carrie Fischer gets shot by one of the Storm Troopers. Is it just me, or when she falls, does Harrison Ford grab her boob?
Answer: Yes, it certainly seems that way. Tradition holds that Princess Leia's wince of pain at that point is actually Carrie Fisher's wince at Harrison Ford ruining the shot, or so she thought.
Question: I'm surprised no one has asked this question. The whole tense moment during the final battle is someone making it safely down the trench to shoot the exhaust holes and destroy the death star. Besides dramatic effect why would they all start from so far away?
Answer: It's explicitly stated that the targeting computers will have difficulty targeting the small exhaust port. The long approach was to give the computers time to make their calculations as accurate as possible.
Chosen answer: The trench near the exhaust port is protected by laser cannon batteries. To come in below them, the trench run has to be started from a long distance away.
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: I would appreciate sincere opinions of the following: I watched the original Star Wars movie when it came out in the 80's. Now I want to catch up and watch all of them to get ready for the next. In what order do you think it is best to watch all the episodes now available?
Answer: The first Star Wars film came out in 1977. The best way to watch Star Wars is in the original order that the films were released: Episodes 4 through 6 first, then Episodes 1 through 3, then Episode 7 and Rogue One. If you watch the episodes in sequential order (1,2,3,4,5,6,7), then you will be disappointed with the lower quality of the early special effects in Episodes 4 through 6. Some aspects of the prequels also depend on, or are at least enhanced by having seen the original three movies.
Answer: My advice when it comes to films like these (sequels and prequels, trilogy form, etc); if you have a basic understanding of the entire series or you know the basic plot of each film, but just want to refresh, watch them in chronological order. (I'd also suggest watching the stand alone films, like Solo and Rogue One, after you finish the series). If you've never seen them all, or forgot what's going on, I'd suggest watching in order of release. Often the sequels and prequels don't have the same character development like the original film because it's assumed you know enough of the character's background. And in the original films, there's often key reveals or plot twists that add more suspense to the story line and can make the film more enjoyable.
Answer: This boils down to personal taste and there are advantages as well as drawbacks to each. If you only care about all the flashy special effects, then you should watch in order of release dates as the cinema quality has gotten better with time (Episodes 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 7, Rogue One). You will have questions surrounding the plot as the events of Episodes 4, 5, 6 occur 18-20 years after the events of Episodes 1, 2, 3. However if you care more about story telling, plot development and general acting ability then you should watch in sequential order (Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Rogue One). OR you can watch in chronological order (Episode 1, 2, 3, Rogue One, 4, 5, 6, 7) and get the best of both worlds. The down side here is that there are discontinuities in lore due to the fact that Episodes 1, 2, 3 were written 20 years after Episodes 4, 5, 6. Like I said, it's all personal taste. May the Force be with you.
Question: The Dark Lord Darth Vader has no military rank, he only answers to the Emperor. So, why do admirals give him orders that he obeys?
Chosen answer: Tarkin is a Grand Moff. He is in command of the Death Star. He has full authority on board the station, so Vader obeys him. In reality, they are of fairly equivalent rank, but Vader's respect for Tarkin allows him to follow his orders.
Question: When R2D2 is stunned by the Jawas and falls over, did Kenny baker do the stunt? Me and my brother have argued about this for years.
Chosen answer: Most likely, not. The 'costume' Kenny Baker wore had what look like hoses running from the center body to the feet of R2 (to conceal his legs). Looking at the scene in question, those hoses cannot be seen. On that note, it looks like a third leg (and not the center one shown elsewhere) is visible behind R2 and probably used to push him over.
Question: I understand that purists are up in arms over this scene, but why they are very upset on the Han Solo-Greedo scene?
Chosen answer: Originally, Han shot Greedo outright. The next releases of the films were altered, the first with Greedo firing roughly a second before Han does, and in the subsequent release, Greedo firing just slightly before Han does. Many fans felt that Han seemingly shooting in self-defence took away from his scoundrel character.
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.
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