Tailkinker

Answer: It's fairly simple - somebody good enough to hack the weaponry databanks on the ship would undoubtedly be able to alter the transporter logs, so, while they were undoubtedly checked (we do see Chekov investigating the transporters - he would certainly have looked at the logs), they'd be unlikely to glean anything from them. They'd also be good enough to cover their tracks, so they're not going to get very far investigating the computer breach. As such, the only specific thing that they can look for are the gravity boots - this does make the assumption that the assassins came from the Enterprise and returned to it, but, at that point, all they have to work with are theories. However, while the only specific items that they can look for are the gravity boots, the search might also turn up other items that could indicate complicity in the events on Kronos 1 - the hacker probably used some specific computer tools which could be found.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Also, as mentioned in the movie, gravity had not yet been restored to Kronos 1 when the assassins beamed back over. If they had not been wearing the boots, they would've floated off the pad. Spock even says something to the effect of that if they were from enterprise, they couldn't dispose of the evidence. If not, whoever altered the data banks is on board. So what they are looking for is there. (I don't remember the exact wording).

Answer: They found the Klingon Blood on the Enterprise transporter pad. That alone proved that the attackers were from Enterprise.

Answer: The first bit is "Thrust! I went over my calculations, hen, and I figure that the key element we're missing is thrust". Rocky says that he didn't catch a word of it, and Mac replies "Thrust! Other birds like ducks and geese, when they take off, what do they have? Thrust!"

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Mac said, "Thrust! The key element is thrust! Other birds, like ducks and geese, when they take off, what do they have? Thrust!"

Answer: Most likely this is part of the magic of Platform 9 3/4 - provided that they're careful and don't do it blatantly in front of Muggles, the Muggles won't pick up on it. Muggles certainly can get onto the platform - after all, quite a number of students have at least one Muggle parent, who would want to see them off. Whether this would be possible for Muggles in other circumstances is unclear.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: You have to bear in mind that the Trade Federation and Darth Sidious probably have very different views of what the plan actually is. From the point of view of the Trade Federation, they're probably under the impression that the aim is to get the treaty signed, with the likely effect of bringing Naboo into the Trade Federation. This would allow them to exploit the natural resources of the place, and benefit from any trade carried out from that planet. Sidious, on the other hand, doesn't care in the slightest about the Trade Federation - he has carefully manipulated the situation to get Amidala to call for the vote that will remove Chancellor Valorum from office and force the election of a new chancellor, allowing Palpatine (who either is Sidious or is some sort of clone under his control) to advance to the leadership of the Senate. That's pretty much the sum total of his plan, which, as we see, is a complete success.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: The artwork is always altering to some extent, generally based on the artist who's doing the drawing. Peter makes his own costumes, so it's not out of the question that he might make alterations from time to time, which can provide a 'story' reason, but the real answer is just that each artist will have his own interpretation of the character.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Yes, they have altered Jabba a bit - after he appeared in Episode I, they tweaked the model used in the special edition to bring it closer to what we've seen elsewhere.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Tolkien never mentions Thranduil's wife, mother to Legolas - whether this is meant to imply that she has died, or gone into the West is an open question. He also never mentions any siblings.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: They're very minor characters in the books - there'd be little point in having them in the film unless there was a good reason. The filmmakers have made something of an effort to remove minor characters - the decision to use Arwen to rescue Frodo after Weathertop, rather than Glorfindel from the books, would be an example of this. In storytelling terms, Elladan and Elrohir serve no purpose, hence their non-appearance.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: It means "message received and understood". It doesn't stand for anything; it was simply meant to sound vaguely hip.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: The theme song is "How Soon is Now", originally by the Smiths, but performed for the show by Love Spit Love. Same lyrics either way: "I am the son, I am the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar. I am the son and heir of nothing in particular."

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: You're probably closest with the suggestion that they're rather stunned at the sheer speed with which Maximus has carved through the opposition. They'd certainly be used to more of a show, so for Maximus to slay all his challengers in less than a minute would take them aback. If anything, the "Are you not entertained" is closer to the theatrics that they'd really expect to see, which would prompt them into cheering him - up to that point, he's not exactly won their favour, even though he's defeated all comers.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: When they emerged from the underground pyramid unscathed, the Predators assumed they were not infected. Any Predator, young or old, would have been taught to self destruct rather than be caught or killed. As seen in the previous movies. Lex was given the mark of a warrior, they assumed she was taught their code of honor.

Answer: Sam's fighting to protect those that he loves - Frodo (directly, through his rescue attempt) and the Shire in general and his father (indirectly, through their whole quest to destroy the Ring). The whole "that's for so-and-so" thing seems quite in keeping with his mood at the time.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: The film was inspired by an incident at St Crispin's Reef, a dive site on the Great Barrier Reef in 1998, when Tom and Eileen Lonergan was left behind by their diving boat after an error was made during the headcount. They were never seen again. More information can be found at http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200310/200310_mysteries_2.html.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: There were several versions of the knife over time - the original was believed to have been designed by his brother Rezin Bowie, but the subsequent versions were Bowie's own designs. For more information, try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowie_knife.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Generally speaking, as technology improves, the actual size of an army in terms of manpower goes down. The clone army has not been constructed to fight a war on the galactic scale - it's more intended to be an elite fighting force for putting down planetary scale insurrections. The droid armies would certainly have numerical superiority, but they would lack tactical flexibility, plus have at least one potential flaw (as exposed in the Phantom Menace) - the clones can take advantage of that and should be able to defeat considerably larger forces.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Mara Jade only appears in the books dealing with the time period after Return of the Jedi, although, according to those books, she was undercover at Jabba's palace during the events of ROTJ - a particular woman seen in those scenes has been picked out by the fans as being her, although there's nothing from Lucasfilm on the subject. According to those, she was a Force Sensitive who worked as one of a number of special covert agents for the Emperor (known as the Emperor's Hands). She was able to hear his orders over galactic distances, and passed those orders on to others. After the fall of the Emperor, she hooked up with a smuggling ring, where she eventually came into contact with Luke Skywalker. Initially, she wanted to kill him, in accord with the final instruction embedded into her psyche by the Emperor, but never went through with it (generally because she found herself in situations where she needed him alive, but partly because, despite her service to the Empire, she was not a fundamentally evil person). Eventually, through a complex set of circumstances, she was able to eliminate the last command from her head. For the next few years she came into sporadic contact with Luke, who gave her Jedi training and the two became firm, if somewhat wary allies. Ultimately, they married and now have a son, Ben.

Tailkinker ★

Chosen answer: From what we see in the series, certain girls are identifiable as potential Slayers - Kendra clearly fell into this category. The identification method is presumably mystical in nature, but the Watchers' Council are pretty effective at that sort of thing, so they're quite good at tracking down the potentials ahead of time. Not perfect, though - it does appear that Buffy herself may have slipped through the net - certainly she had no inkling of what she was until she'd already taken on the role of Slayer. It is possible, however, that this was actually cultural - an American family would hardly be likely to turn over their daughter to some strange man for 'training', so the Watchers might have chosen to keep an eye on her covertly, whereas some other cultures (like Kendra's Jamaican parents) might be more willing to believe.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: It's highly unlikely that their contact with him was limited to just what we see in the film - they obviously spent a considerable amount of time together after those events.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: The original BSG has something of a complex version history. Several versions exist, but the rationale behind what you're referring to is as follows. BSG, before anything else, was a TV series - the 'pilot episode' was a three-part tale called "Saga of a Star World". In that three-parter, a last-minute alteration to the script meant that Baltar was ultimately spared execution, because Glen A. Larson, the series producer, decided that he liked the Baltar character enough to keep him around for the rest of the series. The theatrical version, which was edited down from the three-parter and was shown in some countries before the US TV broadcast, lost quite a number of scenes, including the one where Baltar is spared. The real continuity of the series can only be found in the TV version - the movies, all of which were created by editing together existing episodes, miss out scenes leading to such apparent continuity errors.

Tailkinker ★

Answer: Baltar wasn't executed... the supreme leader decided to spare him to send him on a peace mission with the humans. I have every episode... just watched it again.

Answer: Strange... given I saw Battlestar Galactica at the movies when I was a kid. Aka the 'pilot' you refer to (which WAS a movie shown at the cinema).