Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Video

Plot hole: By having Admiral Holdo perform her infamous hyperspace ramming stunt, Rian Johnson created a continuity problem with the rest of the Star Wars universe. Since this maneuver was successful, every space battle before and since should only include a droid piloting spacecraft ramming enemy bases through hyperspace. This tactic would have been more cost effective and less risky than full on space battles seen in previous films. This tactic would no doubt have been tried in a universe filled with space battles often with disposable troops on both sides, such as in the Clone Wars. The Death Star did not need a successful trench run to be destroyed, just an X-wing with a droid ramming it at hyperspeed.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: I think it's a one in a million shot. The damaged caused crippled the large ship but didn't fully destroy it and the other ships destroyed were caused by the debris from the bigger ship and ramming ship. That's just bad tactics. But in the case of for example the death star I doubt highly that ramming it with hyperspace jumps will cause significant damage. It's not like you are firing an armor piercing round and I'm pretty sure ships are equipped with all sorts of anti-debris protection. Plus I think it's bloody difficult even at that range to aim correctly at an enemy ship with a hyperjump.

lionhead

NASA engineers have to be aware of space debris orbiting the Earth that is the size of small particles because when they are orbiting at 18,000 mph around the Earth, they can cause significant damage to spacecraft. Turn that speed up to near or past the speed of light as in hyperspace and an X-wing should be enough to significantly cripple a Death Star sized object, if not completely destroy it. Yes, ships have shields, but these are ray shields meant for cannon fire. Both RotJ and TFA show that a ship can penetrate these shields (TFA displayed it at hyperspace speeds no less). Aiming should be as easy as punching the location into a navicomputer as done for traveling. It is also easier to hit and less difficult to aim at large or close objects, like Star Destroyers, Death Stars, or planets and moons.

"The damage caused crippled the large ship but didn't fully destroy it" This is what was introduced to the fiction by the director. You can dislike that if you'd like but it is not a "mistake."

This was the outcome. Hyperspace ramming was what was introduced. The outcome was also grander than simply crippling a ship. It split the ship in two and the entire fleet or a large portion of it ended up being destroyed. Without a worthwhile explanation as to how this is possible now but not previously, it also introduces plot wholes in the previous movies.

You are talking about a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. You simply don't know. Hypespace is not as simple as going faster than the speed of light. They hardly have shields, I'm talking about armor protection, bulkheads, bulges, space armor, netting. Whatever.

lionhead

Hyperspace as defined by Wookiepedia is an alternate dimension that could only be reached by traveling at or faster than the speed of light. So at this stage in the ramming stunt, it is as simple as traveling at or past light speeds as the ship has not yet entered the hyperspace lanes in the parallel dimension. So now the force the FO ship faces is the mass times acceleration and since it is traveling past lightspeed, the force would be extraordinary regardless of the mass. It would be even harder to believe an armor or anything else that could withstand that force, even on a Death Star sized space station.

To clarify, this is the hyperspace that Rian Johnson created. Before it was less clear, but the standard that has been followed since the beginning was one could not ram opposing ships with it while entering hyperspace lanes. Han Solo talks about this in A New Hope. Rogue One even has ships just entering hyperspace killing themselves on incoming Star Destroyers. This is the more faithful representation of what hyperspace travel was. Rian Johnson has completely rewritten what occurs in hyperspace which breaks Star Wars canon.

The official explanation is that the Raddus had special experimental deflector shields and that is why it worked. With normal shields it would not have worked.

Source? Is it said in the movie somewhere? So one should expect the Resistance to use these "special experimental deflector shields" and hyperspace ramming to combat the hundreds of Star Destroyers in The Rise of Skywalker, correct? Should be pretty effective. Weird that all the promos have the Resistance fighting them the old-fashioned way.

It is in the novelization of the movie.

Using a novel to correct a mistake a movie makes still makes it a movie mistake. Movies should not need books, comics, or videos games to explain their obvious flaws.

All I was saying is that it was a one in a million shot and that doing it requires a lot more than simply pointing towards the enemy and activating hyperjump. If anyone can do it and it can destroy entire fleets, then everybody would do it. But they don't, so it's not that simple. Since that is a fact, it's not a plot hole.

lionhead

That is why it creates a plot hole because the movie never presents it in a way that only this ship at this time in this way can do it. It comes across as anyone can do it so why didn't anyone else do it in the thousands of years that this universe has existed through the countless wars that have taken place? Saying it is not that simple is not a fact, its an opinion. I watched it and it looked pretty simple. It comes across as anyone can do it, so everyone should have been doing it, thus the plot hole.

This scene doesn't create a plot hole since, in the film, nothing was established to show this wouldn't work. Nor would it create a plot hole unless it was previously shown that unmanned ships were used as a regular tactic to destroy bigger ships. Plot holes are when something occurs that contradicts what the story itself (usually as a plot device to further the plot along or conclude the plot).

Bishop73

It coming across as simple doesn't make it simple. The simple fact of the matter is that this fictional universe works that way, in the other movies it hasn't happened so it's not simple. It's as simple as that. In any case it would be a plot hole in those movies, not this one. Look, if you want everything to be logical then these movies will be nothing but automated ships ramming into each other left and right and you still want the story to be told? I don't think so. So, you want to explain why they don't ram everything and you got it. Deal with it. Otherwise the fact they use hyperdrives is a plothole then as well.

lionhead

In this fictional universe, hyperspace did not work as weapons until Rian Johnson changed hyperspace for this movie's plot convenience. In doing so, Rian broke the standard canon that each previous movie followed. This is why its a plot hole in this movie and creates a discontinuity for the entire saga. Everything does not have to be understood or compared to our real world, but each fictional universe has its own set of physical laws and rules that each form of media in that universe needs to follow. Hyperdrives are not plot holes because they existed since the beginning of Star Wars and have a certain set of standards they follow that are understood. Changing these laws without a logical or worthwhile explanation in the film is ultimately disrespectful to the source material. The very idea that you brought up in that this creates plot holes in all the previous films proves that this scene is a terrible addition to the saga.

Seems to me like you just dislike the scene. Thats fine and I can understand you feel its a continuity. But it is not a plot hole for the movie.

lionhead

It is more of a continuity error that creates plot holes in the previous movies, so it could be labeled better. However, if we view Star Wars as one story like George Lucas did, then it would be a plot hole for Star Wars as a whole. If it was successful in explaining how they could do it now, but not a few years ago, then it would have been fine, more or less. It failed to do so making it a mistake, no matter how visually pleasing it was.

Hyperspace always worked as a weapon. Han explained years ago that is why they had to plot a course through hyperspace. So they would not hit anything. She meant to use it as a weapon, and succeeded. This is nothing new.

If it were a one in a million shot, then Hux would not have panicked and ordered the cruiser shot down immediately. Furthermore, the Resistance could have used their two escort ships, which were going to run out of fuel and be destroyed anyway, to try the same thing.

Doesn't the one in a million argument make Holdo a traitor that attempted to flee at the rebellion's darkest hour then? Your argument is nonsense.

It was a suicide run. It was a one in a million shot to take out the main vessel, but whatever she was going to do, she was going to die.

lionhead

Suggested correction: Just because it worked on this occasion, doesn't mean it would always work. It also hadn't been attempted before. It's not a plot hole that they didn't destroy the Death Star like this, since nobody in the rebellion considered it.

But why did no-one in the Rebellion consider it? It was their most desperate hour. They were in similar desperation as the Resistance in The Last Jedi, if not more so. Their were similar desperate times in the Clone Wars when both sides had troops of disposable clones and droids. They did not consider trying it then? They were wars occurring before that and no-one thought about using hyperspace as a weapon? It is illogical to think that there was no-one in the history of that universe that would never even consider using hyperspace as a weapon. The reason it was not considered was before Rian Johnson rewrote it, hyperspace did not operate like that. Plain and simple. Rian Johnson rewrote how hyperspace works, creating a plot holes and discontinuities for the entire saga.

No one rewrote Hyperspace. It has always been like that.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Finn is going to an escape pod to run away, he puts his pack down in front of it, seen again in a later shot. When Rose realises he's trying to run away, his pack has moved itself inside the pod.

Awesomolocity

Video

Other mistake: In Finn's attempted sacrifice, there are plenty of logical inconsistencies. First, Rose's pod is to the side or behind Finn, but manages to beat Finn's pod to the cannon. The collision had a similarly high chance of killing Finn as would ramming the cannon. Finn then carries Rose back to the hideout faster than it took the speeder pods to reach the cannon.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: She beat Finn's pod because she was going full speed. The force from the shock waves slowed Finn down. Crashing saved Finns life. He was going to crash to burn inside the laser if she hadn't saved him.

The other speeders were ordered to retreat. Finn was going full speed, so as to maximize damage to the cannon.

Continuity mistake: During the throne room fight against the red-armoured guards, one of them splits his weapon into 2 blades. In the shot where he gets Rey into an arm lock, the blade in the guard's left hand vanishes from the scene completely, in the middle of a shot. The hand that held the weapon is obscured by Rey's body at the point when the disappearance happens. It could be that the actor dropped it (a strange thing for an elite fighter to do), but then the blade is nowhere to be seen on the floor in the wider shot when Rey kills him.

James Rice

Plot hole: Luke deliberately says he does not want to be found and came to Ach-To to die in The Last Jedi, but The Force Awakens is all about finding a map to Luke Skywalker. Why would Luke leave a map when he never wanted to be found?

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: This is a question, not a plot hole. Luke went to find the first Jedi temple. The location of the temple is what they were ultimately needing to try and locate Luke. The map that has the temple was already created before Luke went to the temple, he did not create a map where to find him and then secretly hide it away.

Bishop73

It is a plot hole statement in the form of a question. It ultimately is a continuity error between Episodes 7 and 8. TFA never mentioned it as a map to a Jedi temple Luke might be at. The audience is told in that movie that it is a map to Luke Skywalker. It is believed by the end of TFA that Luke wants to be found if they needed him. It is only after Rian Johnson goes against what JJ Abrams planned for Luke that this error becomes prominent. If this is simply a map to the first Jedi Temple, then the Resistance is betting a lot on the chance Luke went there and still there after all these years.

In The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren refers to the map as a navigational chart recovered from the archives of the Empire. According to the spin-off books, the Empire were using it to find the first Jedi Temple and destroy it. So the map was not in fact left by Luke. Since Luke is believed to have gone looking for the first Jedi Temple, my guess is that whoever discovered the map realised where it led to, and knew that was where Luke was believed to have gone, and thus referred to it as a map to Luke.

What other choice do they have? The know where he wanted to go. If the do not find him there then the have someplace to look abound for clues as to where he went to afterwards. Also it is not like if he is not there they are stuck and cannot return to the resistance fleet.

A map to the first Jedi Temple is a perfectly fine explanation for what the map actually is and if the Resistance thought Luke was there, it was worth the risk to go there and look for him. However, the very identity of the map seems to change between movies and it is introduce in TFA as a map to Luke, not to a Jedi Temple. So in TFA it is a map to Luke and in TLJ it is now a map to a Jedi Temple Luke might be at. That is the problem, a discontinuity of the map's identity between the two films in the trilogy. This stems from the two directors' view of Luke in this trilogy also being completely different.

They think it's a map to Luke, or believe it, or someone else thought it was. It's not a discontinuity, just a semantic difference or miscommunication.

Jon Sandys

This movie or TFA should have explained this miscommunication as it comes across as a miscommunication to the audience and not to the Resistance. There is nothing in either film to show it is a map to a Jedi Temple Luke might be at. A miscommunication to the audience is poor writing, but since this occurs between two movies, it is a continuity mistake. This mistake is obviously due to the character of Luke changing when it moved on from JJ to Rian. This change makes the plot of TFA more confusing, but ultimately a continuity mistake is a much more just denotation for this than plot hole.

Since the Jedi Temple and Luke are in the same place the map is both a map to Luke and to the Jedi Temple. Someone looking for Luke will see it as a map to Luke, someone that is force sensitive may see it a a map to the temple.

This statement does not answer anything. The map was either designed to be a map to where Luke said he was or as map to a Jedi Temple where Luke may be. Not both. Both places can be the same, but the identity of what the map is remains as one or the other. Otherwise we are again back to a bad miscommunication in the Resistance and bad miscommunication to the audience that is just bad writing. Since it is stated in TFA that is is a map to Luke, the audience should believe it as such. It is never described as a map to a Jedi Temple Luke might be at. The continuity error and plot confusion comes from the fact that in TFA it is a map to Luke for when he was needed and in TLJ it is a map to a Jedi Temple that the Resistance hoped Luke would be at. Since TFA came first, it takes precedent and all of Luke's lines of not wanting to be found do not make sense.

While initially the audience is told it's a map to Luke, we find out later that the map leads to the first Jedi temple. This is nothing more than building suspense, which doesn't constitute a plot hole. While one could argue it was only after changes to the script or a director's choice that changed what the map was designed to be, the original mistake is still not valid because Luke never created a map to where he was going and then hide it as suggested.

Bishop73

Star Wars: The Last Jedi mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Rey is following Luke up the hill in the infamous milk scene, her holster switches from being on her right side, to her left, and then back again.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Poe Dameron starts his attack run against the Dreadnought we initially see him from the side and his helmet microphone is folded out to the left away from his face. The camera cuts to directly in front of Poe and the microphone is now folded in and directly in front of his mouth. (00:03:25)

Other mistake: Maz Kanata's message is somehow not intercepted by the First Order. It is also projected from various angles and follows her around during her shootout, making one question who is filming the call in the first place?

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Since this particular technology is not fully understood (and is fictional, to boot), this "mistake" is based upon pure speculation and should be disregarded.

zendaddy621

Disrupting transmissions has existed in the Star Wars universe chronologically as early as Episode 1. The First Order had the means to do this but did not. If they were at all competent, they would have disrupted all Resistance transmissions.

Given the training remote seen in the first move it would be rather easy to say how Maz was able to "film" the call.

True, However, those droids were not subjected to a battle when they are shown in Episode 1. So filming the call is plausible. However, there is no way the call should have gotten to the Resistance without it being disrupted or intercepted by the First Order.

Again, fictional technology, and no firmly established rules as to how it works; the same could be said of pretty much all the tech depicted within the SW films (lightsabers, droids, hyperdrive, etc). Probably best just to go with "suspension of disbelief" here.

zendaddy621

But you are wrong. There are established rules on how certain technologies operate in Star Wars through examples in the previous movies, TV shows, etc. Even if we do not know how they work, we know what they do. Disrupting communications and transmissions is a big plot line used in Episode 1, chronologically the earliest Star Wars film. In Return of the Jedi, the Empire jams the Rebels sensors so they do not know if the shield is up or down. The technology exist and the First Order should have used it on the Resistance.

The technology existed forty years ago. Finding a way to thwart the jamming would be a high priority of the rebels' scientists and engineers.

That's an assumption. If that is the case, because of the previous films it needs to be explained in the movie. Otherwise, it goes against established canon, which is a continuity error. You could also just as easily say the First Order developed an unstoppable way to intercept transmissions in those 40 years. It is also an assumption that thwarting transmission jamming would be the Resistance's highest priority. If anything, technology has not progressed very far in this trilogy as the FO is still fighting with TIE Fighters and the Resistance still uses X-Wings.

Continuity mistake: When Rey goes into the dark place that she was drawn to, she reaches out to the cracked glass wall with her right hand. In the next shot she is touching it with her left. (01:14:23)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It was because she was inside the glass.

Then it would have been reversed.

Revealing mistake: After Rey lifts the rocks away from the back exit of the bunker, you can see C3P0 briefly as he bumps into the rock in front of him while exiting the cave, and the rock moves slightly. Also, the rocks that fell over the exit don't match the surrounding terrain at all while piled up as they are smooth like river rocks, but when we see them lifted up by Rey in the subsequent scene, they are rougher and look nothing like they did before (as well as being pretty lousy CGI). (02:16:47)

Continuity mistake: When Poe realises that Holdo is fuelling up the transports, he is suddenly much closer to her than he was in the rest of the scene.

Continuity mistake: On Finn's and Rose's mission to find the master code breaker, when Finn walks up to the game table, the people around him are completely changed in the following shot. (00:52:40)

Rassdyt

Continuity mistake: Towards the end, Leia is talking to Rey in the hanger. In a shot facing Leia she looks down, then we cut to Rey and Leia, seen in profile, is instantly looking up, straight ahead.

Jon Sandys

Continuity mistake: Rey steps forwards to hand over Luke's lightsaber, then takes a couple of steps back. The shot cuts and they're suddenly much further apart.

Jon Sandys

Continuity mistake: When Rey is practising with the lightsaber on Ahch-To, she swings it very close to a towering rock. The camera then cuts to a wide shot showing her with the lightsaber, now feet away from the rock she was only inches away from in the prior shot.

Video

Other mistake: When Luke is reunited with R2D2 aboard the Millennium Falcon, R2 plays the original hologram of Princess Leia from A New Hope. It is being displayed on the floor, to Luke's right. He tells R2-D2 that was a cheap move, and R2-D2 turns his head to look at Luke. Problem is, the device that he is using to project the image is on the part of his head that turns. We see the beam of light move when R2 moves his head, but when Luke turns his attention back to the hologram, it is still in the same place.

jshy7979

Continuity mistake: When Leia and Rey feel Luke's force fading, Rey has a dark, burned, non-bleeding wound on her right arm. After Kylo enters the abandoned mine, he sees Rey through the force. The wound from before is now bright red as if it were still fresh and bleeding.

Continuity mistake: When Rey is following Luke upwards the steep terrain, between the two shots in which Luke is visible, there is a shot of Rey kneeling down, following up with her noticing the old Jedi tree. Given the amount of time the camera was focused on Rey, Luke should have been significantly further away as of the second shot in which he is visible. Instead he is seen continuing walking, starting from a point that he had already passed in the previous shot. (There is one dark spot on the ground, in which Luke can be seen walking past to his right in the first shot, which can be used to help identifying the mistake). (00:21:40)

Rassdyt

Continuity mistake: The position of Rey's right arm changes between the two first shots after we get to see BB-8 thrown to the ground in Canto Bight. (00:55:15)

Rassdyt

Captain Phasma: You were always scum.
Finn: Rebel scum.

More quotes from Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Trivia: Rian Johnson wrote TLJ without knowing how TFA was going to end or how the trilogy would be concluded in Episode 9.

More trivia for Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Question: I don't understand why Kylo Ren killed Han in the previous movie, but now says that he didn't hate Han?

Answer: As he says, "let the past die. Kill it, if you have to." Han was his past - he didn't hate his father, but his existence was holding Kylo Ren back from reaching his full potential, or so he believes. The principle is demonstrated earlier in the movie when he can't bring himself to kill Leia, but has no issue with the other TIE pilots blasting the bridge and (he thinks) killing her. He wants to free himself from the shackles of his parents, who cause him such internal conflict. Remove the source of the conflict and he believes he can move on to greater things. Of course, arguably his position is a bit naive, and his actions will actually cause him greater problems down the line.

Answer: As we saw in Episode 3, with Anakin Skywalker, turning to the Dark Side profoundly changes one's loyalty to friends and family. Anakin murdered children and nearly murdered his pregnant wife and his lifelong mentor. Kylo Ren seemed to follow the same path on the Dark Side, murdering his father.

Charles Austin Miller

Just pointing out that in Episode III Anakin did kill Padme, just not immediately. She gave birth to Luke and Leia and then died.

More questions & answers from Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.