Question: Why do some think that Darth Plagueis or Darth Sidious created Anakin? I don't see why Plagueis would bother training Sidious, or why Sidious would train Maul, if either of them could use the midi-chlorians make a very strong apprentice. Also, Shmi is a poor slave living in a small town in Tattooine, so why would either Plagueis or Sidious have any reason to be interested in her?
Question: Who does the voice of the droid towards the end, the one that tells Bail, Obi Wan and Yoda that Padme has lost the will to live? It sound like Jimmy Smits to me but I can't be sure.
Answer: That role was played by David Acord, assistant sound editor on the film.
Question: This continuity error is mentioned on the Star Wars Wikipedia, but I was wondering if anyone might have an answer. Anakin is 22 or 23 years old in this movie, and Obi-Wan says that no one has ever been on the Jedi Council at that age. However, Depa Billaba is seen on the council in Episode I. If Depa's master, Mace Windu, is 40 then and considers Depa to be like a daughter to him (according to http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Depa_Billaba and the novel "Shatterpoint"), he is probably at least 17 or 18 years older than her. That would mean that she is in her early 20's in Episode I. Wouldn't Obi-Wan know that someone else before Anakin had already been on the Council at that age?
Answer: It's simply an error. While efforts are made to keep the expanded universe materials such as the books and comics consistent with the films, there is inevitably the possibility of inconsistencies creeping in. By Lucasfilm rules, the only inviolate canon are the movies themselves - information gleaned from other sources that contradicts the movies is automatically considered to be incorrect, even if it appeared prior to the film in question. The movies say that Anakin is the youngest ever to sit on the Council, so that's what's considered to be the canon. Billaba may appear on the council in Episode 1, but whatever information suggests that she is, in fact, younger than Anakin is to be considered incorrect.
Question: Is it known whether Darth Plagueous' power to "create life" worked on people that were already dead (other than himself)? I'm asking because Vader believes that he and Palpatine can figure out how to use the power, so it seems like he wouldn't be worried when he hears that Padme is dead.
Answer: The strong implication is that it doesn't. He's described as being able to "prevent those he loved from dying", which is a little different from actually bringing them back from the dead. There are also references to manipulating the midi-chlorians in order to create life, which appears to refer to the ability to create a new organism (as may possibly have been done with Anakin himself), rather than any form of resurrection.
Question: Is it known whether Mace Windu's body disappeared, as Yoda's and Obi-wan's did when they died?
Answer: There's no definitive answer to this one, however, the key to the bodily disappearance appears to be the training that Yoda refers to at the end of the film, when he makes reference to Qui-Gon having found his way back via the Force. There's no indication that anyone other than Yoda and Obi-Wan have ever studied this, so, in all likelihood, no, Windu's body didn't disappear.
Question: Why didn't Darth Sidious have Tyranus destroy the Jedi?
Answer: It's a question of appearance. Sidious needs to discredit the Jedi, make it appear as if they've turned against the Republic so that he can use their clone troops to eliminate them without major public outcry. He can't let the Seperatists take them out; it would have the potential effect of making them martyrs, plus it would effectively mean letting the Seperatists win the war, which would jeopardise his political position. Tyranus's public persona is the leader of the Seperatist movement, so he could hardly be used to lead the clone troops; the public would never accept a supposed change of heart of that nature. Nor could Tyranus simply eliminate the Jedi himself - he's powerful, but not powerful enough to single-handedly take them all out. Sidious ultimately needs an apprentice who can be seen to be loyal and who can lead the clone troops to eliminate the Jedi without awkward questions about said loyalty. Either way, Tyranus is out of the question; with Sidious' plan coming to fruition, Tyranus is no longer useful to him, except in that his death can be used to bring his successor closer to the Dark Side. Anakin, who fits the required role perfectly, is the one that Sidious has really been waiting for to help him finish the job.
Question: I read that Bail Organa was going to have a female aide/assistant in this movie, but George Lucas wanted her removed because the actress who played her posed for Playboy magazine. Was her name still in the credits, or are there any scenes where they forgot to or couldn't remove her image?
Answer: The character that you're thinking of wasn't an assistant to Bail Organa, but was a Senator named Bana Breemu, who was working covertly with Organa, Padme and several other Senators to persuade Palpatine to attempt a diplomatic solution to the war. While Bai Ling, the actress who played Breemu, did pose naked for Playboy, Lucas has always denied that this was the reason for the cuts, stating that the subplot involving the group of concerned Senators was cut from the film several months prior to her Playboy appearance. The deleted scenes in question were included on the DVD release - if Lucas was really that concerned about her Playboy appearance, he could easily have left them out.
Question: Both David Bowers and Jerome Blake play Mas Amedda in this movie. Are there any noticeable differences in appearance between each actor playing him?
Answer: No. The make-up required for the character is extremely comprehensive, covering the entire face in prosthetics. As such, any differences would be hidden by the make-up.
Question: What are Palpatine and Dooku's first names?
Answer: Palpatine's first name was Sheev. Dooku is a mononym, like Cher or Madonna.
Question: Before the movie came out, I read about a possible scene where Anakin calls Obi-Wan "Ben". Was this in a deleted scene, or did Anakin ever call him "Ben" in any of the SW books?
Answer: Not that I've seen or read. There's no indication that Obi-Wan began to use the name until he went into exile (but was seen using it to discreetly contact the council while posing as a convict in an episode of The Clone Wars).
The Clone Wars actually rectifies this, it's revealed that "Ben" was a nickname Obi-Wan picked up from Dutchess Satine in their youth.
Question: I'm not sure if anyone has an answer for this, but is it likely that Darth Sidious was always planning to make Anakin his apprentice, even when Darth Tyranus served him?
Answer: From his comment at the end of Episode One, where he mentions watching Anakin "with great interest" and his subsequent dealings with Anakin, it does seem likely that he has something like that in mind.
I think that Sidious/Palpatine had always plans and some back-up plans. As a scheming, plotting individual, he needed to be prepared. My guess is that he was using Darth Maul until Anakin was older. Then Maul was killed by Obi-wan Kenobi, so Tyranus/Dooku was used as a replacement for Maul.
Question: In some of the fight scenes in the Star Wars movies, and other ones, one of the people fighting will quickly twirl/spin around. Is there any reason for doing that move?
Answer: If you are talking about the light sabre fights, that is a sword fighting move that some fighters will use. Occasionally, a sword fighter will find himself in a weak position that would give the opponent an easy strike to move in a more conventional way. The spin is a way to strike while putting distance between yourself and your opponent. I have some experience in Japanese katana fighting and the spin is not a move I like because it puts your back to the opponent - but it is useful in the right conditions. And it looks exciting - which is probably why they used it in Star Wars.
Question: What exactly happens to the bodies of the Separatist leaders during the Obi-Wan/Anakin fight on Mustafar. When they first enter the control room fighting, the floor remains littered with the corpses from earlier (Nute Gunray most prominently visible). Yet as the fight progresses the Separatists' bodies either shift position or partially/completely disappear in the scene. Is there a logical explanation for this or is this simply a digital error and thus a visual mistake?
Answer: I'd say its most likely just a lazy mistake. Unless all the vibrations on the planet surface moved them around, or one of the Jedi moved them using the force during their fight (unlikely).
Question: Knowing that every other major character from the original trilogy (IV, V, and VI) who was old enough (even Jabba) had a cameo of some sort in the new trilogy, is there anywhere in the movie that Han Solo appears? I know he's several years older than Luke (he always calls Luke 'kid'), and Luke was just being born in the end of episode III, so Han was definitely alive then.
Answer: No, he's not in there. He'd only be about 10 years old at the time and living as a thief and pickpocket on an old trading vessel plying the spacelanes near Corellia - as the storyline never goes anywhere near there, there's no way that they could have got him into the story, even if they'd wanted to.
Question: Is it me, or is there a different cut between the theatrical and DVD versions regarding the birth scene? I remember more shots of the baby children. Specifically, one of Leia, who has her eyes wide open. This shot is mentioned in the Making-Of book. The shot is important series-wise, because this is how Leia is able to remember her mother (as mentioned in RotJ). However, it is absent from the DVD.
Answer: There is no difference in the two scenes.
Question: What species of aliens are performing in the scene where Anakin and Palpatine are in the theater? All I see are large bubbles.
Answer: They're Mon Calamari, the same species as Admiral "It's a trap" Ackbar in Return of the Jedi.
Question: In Episode II, the symbols on the Republican ships had eight spikes on them. In this episode, there are only six. Why did the symbol change? It cannot be due to the forming of the Empire because we can see the changed symbols early in the movie, before the Empire is formed.
Chosen answer: The symbol seen in Episode II is the general all-purpose symbol of the Republic. The symbol seen in Episode III (which also happens to be the symbol of the Empire) is the designation for wartime. War was only declared at the end of Episode II, the old symbols had simply not been repainted.
Question: An Easter egg is mentioned that you highlight THX and enter 11,3,8 to get a clip. But when I enter this, nothing happens. In fact, I can only enter up to 3 digits at a time, not 4. How do you exactly unlock this clip?
Question: What happened to General Grievous? Was he badly injured and put inside a droid-ish body?
Answer: That's pretty much it, yes. Grievous originally refused to take up the leadership of the Seperatist armies, so Dooku secretly planted a bomb on a shuttle carrying Grievous leaving behind enough evidence to implicate the Republic in the assassination attempt. The critically injured Grievous was then reconstructed into his cyborg form by the Geonosians. Filled with rage directed towards the Republic that he thought had maimed him, Grievous finally agreed to lead the Seperatist forces in battle.
Question: One of the deleted scenes shows a number of politicians discussing with Padme how they wish to form a rebellion. One of the characters is played by Ahmed Best. In Episode II, Ahmed Best has a cameo at the night club on Coruscant. Had the scene of the discussion of the formation of the Rebel Alliance not been deleted, would Ahmed Best's character have been the same between the two movies?
Chosen answer: It's unlikely. Best's appearance in Episode II was fleeting, to say the least. Had he been intended to be a character with greater significance in Episode III, then he's undoubtedly have been given more than just a brief shot in the middle of a crowd. The character being referred to in the question is in fact Giddean Danu, Senator for Kuat and he was played by Christopher Kirby not Ahmed Best.
Answer: Because while they could use the midi-chlorians to create a powerful apprentice, they can't use them to grow that apprentice to adulthood in the blink of an eye. Sidious needs an apprentice to do his bidding and advance his agenda in the meantime; he's not going to sit there twiddling his thumbs while he waits for Anakin to grow up. As far as choosing Shmi Skywalker, they need to choose a host mother who's not going to come to the attention of the Jedi. If the Jedi pick up on Anakin shortly after his birth, then they will simply take him away and raise him from scratch, which would ruin him for Sidious' purposes. They need Anakin to grow up a bit, develop attachments that can be manipulated to turn him to the Dark Side, so picking a humble slave on an out-of-the-way world is a perfect choice.
Tailkinker ★