# Are the "Star Wars" movies set in our Universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947 "2019-09-09T18:38:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/61 "2019-09-17T15:03:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And yet, in E. T.'s universe, _Star Wars_ is a fictional story: There’s a trick-or-treating scene in _E. T._, where we see a little kid dressed up as Yoda. and E.T. recognizes him and reacts to seeing him. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/62 "2019-09-17T15:20:18Z")
Good God… Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and (to a lesser degree) Return of the Jedi are my favorite movies ever. Yes, much of that is wrapped up in the nostalgia of being 8 years old when Star Wars came out so these characters, ships, etc., were a part of my early childhood. Ditto for Raiders of the Lost Ark. What kid of my age/generation didn’t just idolize Indiana Jones?!? So I’m quite stunned to realize I knew nothing of these Easter Eggs. Granted, in my own mind the Star Wars prequels just do not exist to me but… the pod from 2001?!? C3PO and R2 in hieroglyphs?!? E.T. in the Senate?!? E.T. recognizing Yoda??? _mind crumbles_ Now I need to go watch Raiders again and try to spot the hieroglyphs myself. (I won’t re-watch the prequels because they do not exist to ever be watched!) ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/63 "2019-09-17T16:06:18Z")
> [@MeanJoe](#): > > Now I need to go watch Raiders again and try to spot the hieroglyphs myself. Here’s the [clip from the movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tANUlLv0Uw&feature=youtu.be&t=53). The hieroglyphic C-3P0 and R2-D2 are briefly visible a couple of times - blink and you’ll miss them. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/64 "2019-09-17T16:14:27Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Here’s the [clip from the movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tANUlLv0Uw&feature=youtu.be&t=53). The hieroglyphic C-3P0 and R2-D2 are briefly visible a couple of times - blink and you’ll miss them. It’s at 0:56 very clearly on the column to the left of Indiana, if you can stop it at the correct frame. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/65 "2019-09-17T16:21:54Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s at 0:56 very clearly on the column to the left of Indiana, if you can stop it at the correct frame. They’re visible for slightly longer at 1:07. So, the implication of these hieroglyphs is that C-3PO and R2-D2 were around in ancient Egypt. Could [_Stargate_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_(film)) be fitted into this? > [@](#): > > The plot centers on the premise of a “Stargate”, an ancient ring-shaped device that creates a wormhole enabling travel to a similar device elsewhere in the universe. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/66 "2019-09-17T17:59:10Z")
[In the pilot episode of _Firefly_, a Lambda-class shuttle (the one Darth Vader arrives on the Death Star in) is visible flying over head in one scene.](http://www.eeggs.com/images/items/4351.full.jpg) This leads to one clear, unavoidable conclusion: River Tam is a Jedi. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/67 "2019-09-17T18:36:29Z")
[Image from the internet](https://i.imgur.com/QBLHPF1.jpg) of Bobba Fett’s trophy room, featuring: an alien xenomorph, a predator, Spock (or a Vulcan), an alien from _Mars Attacks!_ (I think), an E.T., and, new addition Marvin the Martian. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/68 "2019-09-17T19:05:19Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > This leads to one clear, unavoidable conclusion: River Tam is a Jedi. I can buy that she has Jedi-style Force powers, though she doesn’t do well at the Jedi precepts about controlling one’s emotions, or foresaking attachments. 🙂 Maybe she’s a light-side Sith. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/69 "2019-09-17T19:17:19Z")
> [@shstrang98](#): > > During the pod racing scene in Phantom Menace the play by play called Anakin 'Human." > > Its pathetic that I remember that. Yup. And GESancman is right about what Anakin says. Threepio also refers to himself as specialising in “Human Cyborg Relations” in all the films. In the Empire Strikes Back, he refers to Luke as being “quite clever for a human,” says he “doesn’t understand human behaviour,” and one of Vader’s henchmen says “the Hoth system is supposed to be devoid of human forms.” [Here’s the script for Phantom Menace.](https://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-The-Phantom-Menace.html), and [here’s the script for A New Hope.](https://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-A-New-Hope.html) (Can’t be arsed linking them all). I suppose we could say that, since they’re speaking Galactic Basic rather than a language called English, the word human has been translated, but the word it’s been translated to is human. Occam’s Razor would say that they really did mean human. Official exhibitions about Star Wars (such as the big one at the O2 in London a few years ago) also refer to Han, Leia etc as human. That was before the changes getting rid of much of the extended universe, so maybe it doesn’t count, but the movies themselves definitely count. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/70 "2019-09-17T19:22:15Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [In the pilot episode of _Firefly_, a Lambda-class shuttle (the one Darth Vader arrives on the Death Star in) is visible flying over head in one scene.](http://www.eeggs.com/images/items/4351.full.jpg) > > This leads to one clear, unavoidable conclusion: River Tam is a Jedi. Can you be a Jedi without training? But I like the idea that she’s strong in the Force. The Firefly universe would fit in well with Star Wars. However, Firefly is set in 2517, so that would mean Lamda-class shuttles had been around for a _really_ long time. Maybe it’s a heritage vehicle 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/71 "2019-09-17T20:12:47Z")
And there’s a Firefly-class ship seen flying overhead in the _Battlestar Galactica_ miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/72 "2019-09-17T21:15:35Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Can you be a Jedi without training? But I like the idea that she’s strong in the Force. The Firefly universe would fit in well with Star Wars. However, Firefly is set in 2517, so that would mean Lamda-class shuttles had been around for a _really_ long time. Maybe it’s a heritage vehicle 😃 Thing is, _Firefly_ is limited to one star system – the possibility of FTL travel is never mentioned, AFAICR. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/73 "2019-09-17T21:22:57Z")
R2-D2 also hitched a ride on the _Close Encounters_ mothership (visible in [this clip](https://youtu.be/5XYm7ulP20U)). I believe we’re approaching the point where we must either (a) throw out all Easter eggs, or (b) accept that all science fiction film and television productions are set in the same universe at about the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/74 "2019-09-17T21:39:26Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > R2-D2 also hitched a ride on the _Close Encounters_ mothership (visible in [this clip](https://youtu.be/5XYm7ulP20U)). > > I believe we’re approaching the point where we must either (a) throw out all Easter eggs, or (b) accept that all science fiction film and television productions are set in the same universe at about the same time. Or accept that fictional works are fictional and aren’t meant to depict a 100 percent consistent reality. In other words, sometimes an on-screen joke is just an on-screen joke. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/75 "2019-09-17T21:59:44Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Or accept that fictional works are fictional and aren’t meant to depict a 100 percent consistent reality. In other words, sometimes an on-screen joke is just an on-screen joke. Or you could accept that the post you quoted was a joke. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/76 "2019-09-17T22:12:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And there’s a Firefly-class ship seen flying overhead in the _Battlestar Galactica_ miniseries. BSG also has a pilot whose call sign is “Starbuck” even though the finale reveals[spoilers] they end up on Earth 200,000 years before a) Melville wrote Moby Dick or b) the formation of a famous Seattle-based chain of coffee shops. > [@Acsenray](#): > > Or accept that fictional works are fictional and aren’t meant to depict a 100 percent consistent reality. In other words, sometimes an on-screen joke is just an on-screen joke. Or every fictional work takes place in [Imaginationland](https://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s11e10-imaginationland).😃 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/77 "2019-09-17T22:23:27Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > R2-D2 also hitched a ride on the _Close Encounters_ mothership (visible in [this clip](https://youtu.be/5XYm7ulP20U)). > > I believe we’re approaching the point where we must either (a) throw out all Easter eggs, or (b) accept that all science fiction film and television productions are set in the same universe at about the same time. To further echo your point, we also have to remember that films are not documentaries on real life. It’s not like they caught a UFO that happened to fly into the frame. Sure, seeing a ship from another sci-fi universe might be an “easter egg”. Or it might just be that the art director just grabbed a bunch of old ship models to fill in the background, thinking that no one is going to notice the Serenity whatever because it’s only ten pixels wide. It’s like people trying to guess the diameter of the Death Star from its curvature in the scene in Jedi where the Executor rams into it. The shot isn’t taken from the surface of an actual Death Star. It’s taken from a flat table filled with greebles and plastic bits made to look like a big ship crashing into an even bigger round space station. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/78 "2019-09-17T22:38:15Z")
> [@kirkrapine](#): > > Thing is, _Firefly_ is limited to one star system – the possibility of FTL travel is never mentioned, AFAICR. I’m sure there could be a way to fanwank that - things went backward at some point, like after the decline of the Roman Empire? It’s a fun idea, though, that River is force sensitive and untrained. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947/79 "2019-09-17T23:37:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And there’s a Firefly-class ship seen flying overhead in the _Battlestar Galactica_ miniseries. I read somewhere a few years ago that this wasn’t an homage, but simply the easy reuse of an existing model. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-star-wars-movies-set-in-our-universe/839947.md?page=3)