# A minor Star Wars nitpick **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016 "2008-11-30T03:41:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/121 "2008-12-03T01:31:39Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Who said they had hundreds of tauntauns? Might only have been a dozen or so. Even today, big-city police use horses; doesn’t seem too farfetched to me that, if the tauntauns weren’t indigenous to Hoth, the Rebels brought some from offworld for use on the ice world. What so they flitched their recce vehicles from the rebellion equivalent of the musical ride? Or perhaps they brought the Tauntauns because the weather was too cold to use horses to control soccer roudies. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/122 "2008-12-03T03:17:42Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > You’re going to hell. Don’t harsh my buzz, man. That’s the best pun I’ve made in _decades_. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/123 "2008-12-03T04:30:44Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > I would have to watch the movie again; don’t have that one 100% memorized any longer. 🙂 > > And if you nitpick “human forms” or “human life” then it opens up the possibility that Hoth is a bustling non-human metropolis, which it doesn’t appear to be. The upshot is as I said: there is no recorded indigenous settlement on file with the Empire, so in all probability, Tauntauns were not domesticated local creatures. > > So they brought Tauntauns… but not cold-adapted vehicles. They have Tauntauns. There are at least four known Force users: The two Darths, Yoda and Luke, so they have wizards. Do I have to spell it out? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/124 "2008-12-03T04:48:49Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > They have Tauntauns. There are at least four known Force users: The two Darths, Yoda and Luke, so they have wizards. Do I have to spell it out? Or even more simply. The rebels aren’t the only inhabitants of Hoth? Maybe they bought them from friendly locals? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/125 "2008-12-03T15:30:38Z")
The correct answer for most of these questions is “who gives a shit”? But since work is a bit slow… > [@Fish](#): > > On the other hand, the Rebels were on Hoth long enough for > > a) the Imperials to deploy probes; > b) the probes to search the surface of an entire planet at grandma-in-a-Buick speeds; > c) the probes take some footage of any civilizations they find and upload the data back to Central Command; > d) some Imperial flunkie to examine the data and send it up the chain of command as a likely positive; > e) the Empire to prepare its fleet; > f) to deploy to Hoth. not to mention: g) prepare a working fighter base / space port with a command center and medical facilities h) errect fortifications, including trench lines and fixed gun turrets i) build a massive theater-wide shield generator j) deploy a giant ion cannon capable of shooting a ship in orbit it’s not all ice caves. They built a lot of permenant-looking stuff on Hoth so clearly they have been there for awhile. The snow speeders might have just arrived a few days before the battle. Or, they might have to constantly “adjust the speeders for the cold”. De-icing control surfaces, recalibrating instruments, refilling antifreeze, whatever. The problem with trying to pick apart these movies is a) it’s fantasy and b) you don’t really know how any of this shit would work because none of it has been invented yet. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/126 "2008-12-03T15:33:59Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > They have Tauntauns. There are at least four known Force users: The two Darths, Yoda and Luke, so they have wizards. Do I have to spell it out? I’m feeling a bit dense. Would you mind spelling it out. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/127 "2008-12-03T15:38:28Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > I’m feeling a bit dense. Would you mind spelling it out. A wizard did it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/128 "2008-12-03T15:48:34Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > The problem with trying to pick apart these movies is a) it’s fantasy and b) you don’t really know how any of this shit would work because none of it has been invented yet. Not so, it’s “A long time ago, in a galaxy far away…” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/129 "2008-12-03T16:23:37Z")
I think the mechanics were union guys. So before each speeder flight, the speeder had to be ‘adjusted’ for the cold and that night, well it was quitting time and overtime is too steep for rebel scum to pay. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/130 "2008-12-03T17:05:14Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > And if you nitpick “human forms” or “human life” then it opens up the possibility that Hoth is a bustling non-human metropolis, which it doesn’t appear to be. The upshot is as I said: there is no recorded indigenous settlement on file with the Empire, so in all probability, Tauntauns were not domesticated local creatures. But Tauntauns themselves are surely local. I mean, I’m assuming that’s what Wampas eat, when there aren’t Jedi Knights around to snack on. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/131 "2008-12-03T17:20:00Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Not so, it’s “A long time ago, in a galaxy far away…” 😃 invented here on Earth. I should also point out that a “minor” Star Wars nitpick consists of at least three pages. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/132 "2008-12-03T17:37:46Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Well AT-ATs are a terrible design, but Battlemechs a la Battletech are a great design. If a walker can bound up a hill and leap over ravines it is far and a way superior to a wheeled design. The design of the AT-ATs walked kind of like my arthritic Grandmother with her walker. Jump-jets and magical maneuverability aside, two-legged walkers from the Battletech universe are a much **worse** design than the four-legged AT-ATs. Any engineer smarter than a 10-year old would see that you do not want your giant 80 ton tank dangerously close to tipping over at any given instant, especially given the unpredictable nature of a battlefield (terrain, direct hits, malfunctions, explosions, etc). Nor would you even consider the ridiculously large front profile a majority of them are sporting. Don’t even get me started on the 'mechs that appear to have _heads_, or even _faces_ ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/133 "2008-12-03T17:59:34Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > But Tauntauns themselves are surely local. I mean, I’m assuming that’s what Wampas eat, when there aren’t Jedi Knights around to snack on. Silly. Megafauna in the Star Wars universe don’t eat _anything._ Q. What do Rancors eat? A. They wait for Bantha to fall in. Q. So what do Banthas eat? A. Sand. Q. How come Rancors don’t eat sand? A. **zap** Boring conversation anyway. This conversation also works for Wampas/Tauntauns/ice. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/134 "2008-12-03T18:03:42Z")
Not to mention the big worm in the asteroid. Seems like it would have a fairly large appetite. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/135 "2008-12-03T18:41:02Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Not to mention the big worm in the asteroid. Seems like it would have a fairly large appetite. They eat [Chinese food](http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=8a2505951d8bc25a011d9d1f0c7300f7). ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/136 "2008-12-03T18:55:13Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > You pick at a loose thread in Star Wars, and the whole thing comes unraveled. > > I mean, where did the Tauntauns come from? There’s no record of any indigenous settlement on Hoth (“the Hoth system is supposed to be devoid of life”) so Tauntauns weren’t domesticated by natives. It’s unlikely that the Rebels happened to find an easily domesticable (took only a few hours with a blanket and a Tauntaun-shaped saddle they happened to have lying around) species _in situ_. > > Did the Rebels secretly go around buying up cold-resistant species on other worlds and ship them to Hoth? If so, in what? Their speeders aren’t adapted to cold; surely they had _some_ cargo-ready ships that were. They damn well didn’t buy the shield generator at the local Glacie-R-Mart. And if they did buy hundreds of Tauntauns and ship them from off-world, did the Empire not notice? Well we can pretty safely assume the creature that captured Luke in the beginning was indigenous to Hoth. No sense in a beastie seeking out flesh to go all the way to Hoth to hang out in a super-deserted part of a nearly uninhabitable planet to FIND prey (ya know, unless you’re Predator). As for adapting the speeders to the cold… see on the one hand we have people asking why the AT-ATs were being used in the extreme cold, and then another strain asking why the Rebels didn’t have cold-adapted buggies to tool around in. Well both can be answered at once — it’s tough to adapt everything for every terrain. As for where the Tauntauns came from — we know from Cloud City and Lando’s dialogue that there are many, many planets that (for a while anyway) escape Empire scrutiny just for logistical reasons. Too small to garner a lot of attention. So, could they buy 50 Tauntauns and transport them to Hoth without raising a lot of Empire eyebrows? Yeah. Trade like that probably happens all across the galaxy all the time. And buying something that’s at least a LITTLE cold resistant for a front operation on a cold planet wouldn’t be too suspicious. Or maybe they ARE local to Hoth, but they tend to find shelter overnight when the temperature dips significantly. I mean, there are plenty of creatures like that here… they live in cold climates but if you had it out riding all night overnight it’d eventually freeze to death. Think of the flipside, there are horses native to Arabia but that doesn’t mean you can ride one across the desert for days straight without it overheating at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/137 "2008-12-03T19:26:37Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > The snow speeders might have just arrived a few days before the battle. Or, they might have to constantly “adjust the speeders for the cold”. De-icing control surfaces, recalibrating instruments, refilling antifreeze, whatever. Or, even ice planets can have seasons. When they first started setting up their base, it was summer. When the movie starts, they’re just getting into the heart of winter. Summer is cold and snowy on Hoth, but winter is fucking _freezing_. They had the speeders set up to function during summer, but they weren’t ready to handle winter. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016/138 "2008-12-03T19:36:48Z")
Nah, there was an oupost like Kevin Costner had in Dances with Wolves. Some Rebel guy took what he thought was an easy post out on Hoth. He was hangin’ with the locals, learned to ride Tauntauns, etc. Sadly, the rest of the Rebels show up and shoot him for going native. They keep the tauntauns, and put the rest of locals on a reservation. They miss one, though. That one captures Luke… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minor-star-wars-nitpick/475016.md?page=6)