Unanswered Questions

[bfg00]

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/09/top-10-unanswered-questions-in-geeky-movies/

[JG]

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/09/top-10-unanswered-questions-in-geeky-movies/

Not bad, but even this guy has some holes in his explanations.

10. In all fairness, Jeff Goldbulm's character is a communications genius and has nearly a full day to work with the computer in the alien spacecraft. The more powerful a computer is the more simple its interface must be to be a useful machine. Just consider how much more advantageous dragging-and-dropping with a mouse is comparing to the same action with a command line program.  Perhaps the aliens knew computer virii were dangerous but unavoidable in the current state of their computer evolution, and simply chose not to worry about the problem becuase none of their own citizens would utilize such an attack. Afterall, condemning your own computer network in deep space would doom yourself, too. Perhaps all Jeff Goldblum's character had to do was figure out a few basic commands and then take advantage of the alien's ignorance.

4. At no point in the Star Wars movies do ships travel at light speed (or faster) for only a few seconds or fractions of a second, nor do ships exit hyperspeed and then immediately reenter. We can therefore deduce that ships likely need to "recharge" and that engines maybe are best not used for short distance travel for that reason.  Also, hyperspeed travel may not be exact (as Han put it, you don't want to fly into or close to dangerous things like novae or celestial bodies), hence, you jump in a safe distance from your target and maneuver closer. Also, the Empire thought the Death Star was nigh invulnerable so there was no pressing need to get clear of Yavin IV in such a hurry.

2. Its during this time that Han is supposedly trying to repay his debts to Jabba the Hutt via third-parties, while simultaneously trying to avoid the bounty hunters after his head. Han can't just show up at Jabba's palace without getting himself killed, so he's calling in favors from his smuggler buddies. But these people are probably just as disreputable as he is and he's spending alot more time and money repaying his debt in this fashion than he bargained for. A bigger "time dilation" problem exists in Episode 3, which seems to only take a few weeks but takes many months as evidenced by Padme's ongoing preganacy. Another problem may be forthcoming with the Clone Wars series as the time frame for these episodes has already been bounded into a very tight timeframe by canon on either side. The Clone War only lasts something like 450 days, measured from the point they first go to battle in Episode 2 to the assassination of the Jedi in Episode 3. Padme is not noticably pregnant at the start of Episode 3 (which presumably happens after the Clone Wars series would end) so the series can only cover, at most, about 250 days, and more likely, under 200.

1. As the first sentence says, Senior obvously didn't know about the Great Seal. And if he did, it seems reasonable he would told his apprentice Elsa, and she obviously didn't know about it. And assuming Senior did, he likely would have told Elsa, in which case the race wasn't to find the grail but to control it.  While you couldn't take the grail itself outside the temple, you could take the power of it outside, as evidenced by the knight's two other brothers who left centuries ago and lived for many decades thereafter. if the Nazi's control the temple, all Hitler (or anyone for that matter) has to do is stop by every few years or so for a sip and he would live forever.  If the Joneses get there first, maybe they can do something about it (hide it or disable the effect in some way.)

[JG]

I partially retake part of my response to #2.  As it turns out, the Clone Wars took 1,089 days total, from the Battle of Geonosis (which happens shortly before the end of Episode 2) to the execution of Order 66 (which occurs at practically the same time, if not the same day, as Padme's birth to Luke and Leia.)  This doesn't change the fact that the Clone Wars series is bounded, but they now have 800 or so days to work with so they're unlikely to write themselves into a paradox now.

[bfg00]

2. Is this official canon or expanded universe stuff?  Odds are the wired guy didn't know about the explanations.  Certainly in Episode 4 there really isn't explaination for the difference in times between Luke's training and what Han and co are up to.

[JG]

I'm sure there's some books written to support that conclusion.  I believe its also alluded to in that N64 game where you play one of Han's smuggler buddies - I think its set in that same time frame and there was a stage or two where you had to provide some kind of help to Han.

[MMX]

Shadows of the Empire
That story is split between three media: comic books, video games, and novel.  Each medium centers around a different character.

The game centered around Dash Rendar, and started around the Battle of Hoth and ended somewhere just before the beginning of Return of the Jedi.

Dash was awesome ^o^ I still hold out hope... one day...

Anyways wasn't #2 specifically about the time between dodging the Imperial Star Destroyer in the junk debris and making it to Cloud City, all the while being tailed by Boba Fett?

The movies seemed to imply that Han and company made a direct course to Cloud City, and weren't staying in any one place for too long.

I was always under the impression that they simply had to drive the whole way there in non-hyperspace travel... thus taking a lot longer time... probably having to make pitstops all over the galaxy (I didn't think Han had even bothered to attempt to pay off Jabba's debts though, never really occurred to me... would think he would try to make it to Cloud City ASAP) thus taking a lot longer to get there, and also explaining how the Empire and the Slave I were able to get there before them - Han was trying to avoid entering hyperspace (... I don't remember why I guessed at that).

Although I do admit that the movie didn't really do a great job of giving the impression of a significant period of time passing, I think I assumed that Luke had returned to Dagobah in between Strikes Back and Return, or that he continued his training elsewhere.  I think one of the EU books i read a long, long time ago said he discovered the Massassi Temple on Yavin IV was an old jedi temple around this time period?  bah I don't remember... I used to be big into Young Jedi Knights >.>)

[bfg00]

Yeah, I was too for a while.

All told it's not clear in the movie exactly how much time passes for Luke on Dagobah or for Han's party heading to the Cloud City.  So either Luke is a super quick study or Han took his sweet time, at least just judging from the movie.  Fortunately other sources clear up the issue.

[JG]

I didn't think Han had even bothered to attempt to pay off Jabba's debts though

When the rebels are evacuating Hoth, Han specifically says he's not going to the rendevous point because he's got debts to pay off.  He wasn't planning to take Leia along but was forced too because the Falcon would be the last ship to leave before the defense cannons were shut down by the AT-AT assault on the power generators.

the Massassi Temple on Yavin IV was an old jedi temple around this time period?  bah I don't remember... I used to be big into Young Jedi Knights >.>)

I'm not sure this was an old republic Jedi site (but in 25000 years of history, there's a decent chance.)  However, Luke did convert it into the new Jedi temple after the republic was restored.

[MMX]

When the rebels are evacuating Hoth, Han specifically says he's not going to the rendevous point because he's got debts to pay off.  He wasn't planning to take Leia along but was forced too because the Falcon would be the last ship to leave before the defense cannons were shut down by the AT-AT assault on the power generators.

Hm, but that's just it... I thought you meant "Han was trying to work up more money to pay off Jabba" but after the reward in A New Hope.... there was a reward right?  God I can't even remember... yeah!  He got paid at the end of ANH but came back at the end... I mean he didn't just dump th emoney did he?  Maybe he returned it to the rebellion to fund their campaigns?  Or... interest?  I dunno, I just always figured that Han always had the money to pay off his debt to Jabba, but just never had the time or the opportunity to go ahead and pay him off.  And by the time Boba gets to him, Jabba doesn't want the money anymore.  At least that's what I've always assumed.

[bfg00]

You do make a good point, he did get the reward for rescuing Leia.  Then again we don't exactly know how much Han owed.  He may have owed a ridiculous sum of money.

[JG]

While it doesn't say, I think we can be pretty sure he owed alot more than what he got paid near the end of ANH.  Assuming he gets paid only what was agreed (17,000 imperial credits for transport from Tatooine to Aldebaran*), it isn't even half what Chewbacca is worth to Jabba in ROTJ (35,000 credits.)  Assuming inflation isn't completely out of control in this galaxy, we have to assume Han is worth much more than Jabba, putting him at at least 50,000.  The only missing detail is whether Han got any extra for saving Leia** and helping to deliver the Death Star plans.


* Keep in mind there's no guarantee he even got this much.  He only got a down payment of 2,000 from the sale of Luke's speeder (which for all we know the Death Star crew pilfered when they searched the Falcon), plus what we see near the end of ANH.  And while technically speaking, he never got them to Aldebaran I bet the Rebel leadership would pay off what was owed for "services rendered" anyway. So I'd consider all these details a wash and that he made about 17,000 credits for his work in ANH.

** Leia, with Aldebaran destroyed is no longer rich. Important yes, but the Alliance isn't flush with cash now that their financial support has been cut off, so there's no guarantee of a reward for rescue.

[Drake Nessin]

I think I can help answer 4 a little more too.

Aside from the Death Star being damn near invincible, the main reason it didn't just destroy Yavin is because it's a gas giant.  While it does have a core that can be destroyed, the laser itself would have to pass through god knows how much gas to hit it, and likely said gasses would affect the laser in some manner that might weaken it or case the beam to skew off course and miss the core altogether.  Even if it did hit the core accurately, the sudden lack of gravity from Yavin means all it's moons would start drifting in random directions.  That is of course, provided that the explosion from Yavin didn't send the moons flying in all directions or cover them in the remnant gasses that used to make up Yavin.

It's also stated that Yavin has many moons but not how many total.  It's possible that one of more of the moons blocked the firing line of the Death Star, forcing it to go around Yavin to get a better firing position.  As powerful as the Death Star was, I'm willing to bet it can't fire it's primary weapon in rapid succession without having to recharge.  Yes, I know the second Death Star could, but they could have changed any number of on board systems for rapid fire.  Or maybe since the station was complete and hence didn't have propulsion systems, it could devote all of it's power to the main weapon.  Back to the Yavin question, given that it was unlikely the first Death Star could only fire one shot at a time, if they missed or hit another moon, that would have given the Rebellion time to get off the planet.  Sure, they would have only had a short time (maybe twenty minutes tops) but it would have been long enough to pack the leaders onto anything that could fly and run like hell.  The Rebels would have lost their base, a good number of people and lots of equipment but they could always start over.  The Empire wanted to make sure they got EVERYONE in the first shot.

That, or the Empire was just lazy as fuck.

[bfg00]

Well it also takes alot more energy to blow up a gas giant owing to its larger mass, thus they may not have had enough power to blow it up in one go.  It really depends on how exactly the Death Star planet destroying beam works as to whether it would suffer from having to pass through the atmosphere.

I will also add that they could have just used their hyperdrive to get into a better position to shoot at the planet.  As it was they didn't feel any need to rush apparently.  So, I'm guessing they are just lazy.

[JG]

Even if it did hit the core accurately, the sudden lack of gravity from Yavin means all it's moons would start drifting in random directions. That is of course, provided that the explosion from Yavin didn't send the moons flying in all directions or cover them in the remnant gasses that used to make up Yavin.

Just because something blows up doesn't mean its lost mass (unless its a nuclear explosion of course).  The gravity would still be centered roughly on the center of mass of any destroyed planet.  And the explosion isn't relativistic so it would take many hours for either the debris to disperse enough to affect the moon's orbits or for atmospheric gases to start coating the moon surfaces. The Death Star had no plans to be there that long.


 

I'm willing to bet it can't fire it's primary weapon in rapid succession without having to recharge.  Yes, I know the second Death Star could, but they could have changed any number of on board systems for rapid fire.

I should hope so. The second Death Star was two-hundred times the volume of the original. It's radius was something like 6 times larger. (Left unexplained is why it still only has the one main cannon - seems several smaller ones would do just as good, but I suppose they never expected to fight an entire Rebel fleet.)