Attack of the Clones Mysteries. Let's list 'em.(total spoilers)

[Rib_Eye]

I’m beginiing to be convinced that Sifo-Dyas is Sidious. Remove “fo” (faux=false, i.e. the false syllable) and voila the name is Sidyas. Palpatine is a younger clone of Sidious and under his power.

One clue that something is going on is the meaningful look Windu and Yoda give each other the first time Sifo-Dyas is mentioned. It’s a very deliberate shot, so those two know something they aren’t telling us.

The only piece of the puzzle I can’t fit using this thinking is is this: Why doesn’t anyone notice that Palpatine looks an awfully lot like a younger version this supposedly long-dead Jedi Master?

[Atrael]

And how the hell do you go “South” from some spot in space?

[Koffing]

*Originally posted by Atrael *
**And how the hell do you go “South” from some spot in space? **

Simple. Just define galactic south as the direction opposite the rotation vector of the galaxy, just like planetary south is defined.

[Atrael]

*Originally posted by Koffing *
**Simple. Just define galactic south as the direction opposite the rotation vector of the galaxy, just like planetary south is defined. **

In a 3 dimensional space? So you have North, South, and …what, depth? I’m sorry, but I don’t see that definition of south anyplace Here If we define south as a direction that is at a 90 degree angle from a line that we draw around the meridian of a planetary body, exactly how does that figure into a 3rd dimensional measurement? That’s like describing another planet as being “up” or something. Makes no sense whatsoever.

[Swede_Hollow]

*Originally posted by Atrael *
**And how the hell do you go “South” from some spot in space? **

As explained by Bad Astronomer

[Swede_Hollow]

Also, seeing as the TIE Fighter, Star Destroyer, and X-Wing haven’t been invented yet, why would the Death Star already be designed. Wouldn’t it be MASSIVELY outdated by the time of Star Wars (Sorry, A New Hope ) thirty-some years in the future?

[MEBuckner]

The U.S. military has at least tentative plans for major weapons systems–like aircraft carriers–which won’t actually be completed until a decade or two into the future. A moon-sized battle station isn’t something you just throw together overnight. And, we don’t know how preliminary those plans we got a glimpse of were–yes, the main outline was there, but we don’t know how close that sketch comes to the schematics that get downloaded into Artoo Detoo when it comes to the actual workings of the station. No doubt, there were assorted redesigns, improvements, modifications, and really astronomical cost overruns by the time the Death Star came on line.

And, of course, it turns that the Death Star was massively outdated by the time it was operational. “Gaps in the shields? An unshielded duct running straight into the main reactor core? Oh well. What weapon system could possibly take advantage of that?”

[Tuckerfan]

*Originally posted by Swede Hollow *
**Also, seeing as the TIE Fighter, Star Destroyer, and X-Wing haven’t been invented yet, why would the Death Star already be designed. Wouldn’t it be MASSIVELY outdated by the time of Star Wars (Sorry, A New Hope ) thirty-some years in the future? **

[Roaring Geek Boy Mode] Not necessarily. For one thing, we know they don’t have anything like the replicators in Star Trek. Second, the Death Star was a pretty honkin’ big base so it’d be a number of years before they could build it, and don’t forget, even if they use slave labor for a lot of it, they’re still going to have to come up with lots of money to pay for the construction. Third, there’s guys out there who are working on computer designs that we don’t have the technology to build, and may not have the technology to build for at least a decade or more! Fourth, they may have hit a technological plateau by this time, and break-thru innovations could be a thing of the past. After all, at some point in the future, we’ll be unable to make computers go any faster. Fifth, despite the emperor’s best efforts the first one may have taken longer to build than originally projected. (Prototypes have the annoying habit taking longer than they’re supposed to.) [/RGBM]

[Bryan_Ekers]

*Originally posted by Swede Hollow *
**Also, seeing as the TIE Fighter, Star Destroyer, and X-Wing haven’t been invented yet, why would the Death Star already be designed. Wouldn’t it be MASSIVELY outdated by the time of Star Wars (Sorry, A New Hope ) thirty-some years in the future? **

Hence the building of Death Star II, in progress in Return of the Jedi.

mmHEY, GLAVIN!

[Bricker]

*Originally posted by xizor *
**Who payed for the 1,200,000 clones? (200,000 ready now, 1 million later) I am assuming they were not created for free, nor cheap. How do you hide that kind of funding from the Republic GAO? **

Perhaps the cloners felt that the Republic’s credit, on an order placed by the authority of the Jedi Council, was good. They didn’t strike me as a struggling concern - they have a nice, albeit stormy, world, with clean and shiny facilities. If they factored the cost of advancing credit into the final price tag, they might make out just fine.

Of course, unbeknownst to them, they were working at risk, since the Jedi Council had not actually authorized the army. But as things turned out, the Republic is going to more than willing to pay their bill.

• Rick

[Bricker]

You know… Episode Three is going to be a real downer. We know Amidala is going to die. We know Anakin is going to betray Obi-Wan. The Republic will be transformed into an Empire.

What the hell will we find as an upbeat note?

And now that Lucas has said he’s only making through VI – will Lucasfilms let someone else do VII - IX ?

• Rick

[Tuckerfan]

*Originally posted by Bricker *
**

Perhaps the cloners felt that the Republic’s credit, on an order placed by the authority of the Jedi Council, was good. They didn’t strike me as a struggling concern - they have a nice, albeit stormy, world, with clean and shiny facilities. If they factored the cost of advancing credit into the final price tag, they might make out just fine.

Of course, unbeknownst to them, they were working at risk, since the Jedi Council had not actually authorized the army. But as things turned out, the Republic is going to more than willing to pay their bill.

• Rick **

Don’t forget that if some odd reason the Republic decided that they didn’t want to pay up, the Cloners would have a pretty handy way of collecting the payment, don’t you think? I mean, after all, they did just clone an entire army.

[minty_green]

*Originally posted by Bricker *
You know… Episode Three is going to be a real downer. We know Amidala is going to die. We know Anakin is going to betray Obi-Wan. The Republic will be transformed into an Empire.

What the hell will we find as an upbeat note?

(1) Anakin mercilessly kills Jar Jar Binks. (Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease.)

(2) Twins taken to safety, thereby becoming “A New Hope.”

[Abe]

*Originally posted by Mahaloth *

1. Who hired the Tusken raiders to kidnap Schmi? Obviously, they only wanted her and kept her alive for a month, so they were hired.

They seem to want a woman. She was kept as a slave from what I could see in the movie. And she was treated so roughly that she ended up dying just when she was rescued. I don’t think it was a plot to kidnap her, but a random raid resulting in slavery, perhaps sexual. This assessment based only on one viewing of the film and none of the books.

3. Why is the force being diminished in the Jedi? I assume it’s their arrogance, but perhaps not.

Hm, I vaguely recall the senior Jedis said something about the Force being unbalanced as a result of [can’t remember–Anakin himself?]. This makes use of the Force more difficult, or something like that.

[DemiNymph]

What I want to know is why Amidala fell in love with that Anakin brat who whines each time he opens his mouth.

[smiling_bandit]

“Why did the everyone drop the use of missile technology in Episodes IV, V & VI? I think AOTC had the only use of missiles in the series.”

Not at all - they were used several times by the Millenium Falcon, first to distract Vader, then the destroy the 2nd Death Star. Then Luke fired a Proton Torpedo (notice how fast that darn thing turned!!!) up the bum of the first one.

“Where the hell does Bail(?) Organna show up? Is he the crippled dude that they find with Owen & Beru? I must not have caught him, and I don’t recognize the actor. Tell me please!”

He first appears as the dark-skinned cape-wearing dude with an entourage who takes careful notice of the Jedi in the bar after they chase Zam. Later you see him with palpatine a time or two, noticably near the end, where he looks nervous or dissapointed as he watches the clone army.

The ‘crippled dude’ is Cliegg freaking Larrs! (did you watch the movie?) You know, Anakin’s Mom’s new husband?

“I think I just found how George Lucas can weasle out of this one. Remember: when one accelerates, time slows down (relativity, more or less). She’s such an intergalactic jet setter, that all the time shes spent in hyperspace has made her age less than everyone else!”

No. Immortal Hyperspace makes one not! Well-preserved she is. Hmmmmm.

“I’ve been wondering about the “always two there are, a master and an apprentice” thing. I took it not as “there are only two Sith”, but as “Sith travel in pairs”. I mean, clearly Dooku existed at the same time as Sidious and Maul; I have a hard time believing that his conversion to the Dark Side happened only after the death of Maul.”

No, there are only two Sith Lords. This is due to the fact that they kept killing ach other. Dooku was around before Maul died, but he was not a Sith. He may have already been a dark Jedi, but that is a different kettle of fish. Palpatine stopped with that whole bag of “only two” when he became Emporer - he and Vader had dozens of apprentices. There was a deleted scene where the Jedi librarian tells Obi-Wan something about the “12 Lost Jedi”. I presume Dooku is one of them and that he left the order for some reason.

*There was a very funny series of pictures of Vader on Bespin with some captions explaining that he had remembered C3PO and all…

Pic 1: Vader next to Boba Fett. Looking Grim and Silent.
Caption: Old memories of happier times begin to slowly work in Vader’s mind.

Pic 2: Vader next to Boba Fett. Looking Grim and Silent.
Caption: A slight tear wells up in his eyes about that old rusty droid.

Pic 3: Vader next to Boba Fett. Looking Grim and Silent.
Caption: He sniffles

Pic 4: Vader next to Boba Fett. Looking Grim and Silent.
Caption: Vader calms himself with the thought he’s about the execute (sorta) the SOB who thinks he can get away with kissing Daddy’s Little Girl!

[Skywatcher]

*Originally posted by Mahaloth *
2. Who was yelling, “No, Anakin, No!” when Yoda “heard” or sensed Anakin’s slaughter? It sounded like Qui-Gon to me. In fact, when I went the second time(in THX sound), I could have sworn it was him.

From the IMDb:
Liam Neeson was to make an appearance in this film as a spirit just as Alec Guinness had done in Episode V and VI, but injuries sustained in motorcycle accident in early 2000 prevented him from working. Instead his voice can be heard in Yoda’s thoughts right after Anakin kills the tribe of Tuskin Raiders.

[Threadkiller]

• Originally posted by adam yax*
  Who originally placed the ‘order’ for the clone army, was he Jedi or Sith? And if you were going to clone why clone some 2-bit bounty hunter when you could clone a Jedi or Sith?

From The official Star Wars site on Jango Fett

…In the final years of the Republic, Jango Fett regarded as the best bounty hunter in the galaxy…

Also watch the movie. The guy fought a jedi and lived to tell about it (for a little while).

*Originally posted by Mahaloth *
I’m going to say this nice and clearly.

[ahem]

Palpatine is not Darth Sidious!!!

Sort of. He’s a clone of Sidious, whom Sidious can control. As soon as the time is right, he will kill him and replace him.

Just wait and see.

The “expanded universe” section on the official Star Wars site on Palpatine:

…The dark side energies flowing through Palpatine’s body were so intense, that they ravaged his mortal frame. The very source of Palpatine’s strength was killing him.

To counter the dark side’s consumption, Palpatine turned to a bizarre combination of technology and Sith magic. Palpatine used Spaarti cloning cylinders to create a store of younger bodies, and employed an ancient Sith technique to transfer his consciousness into a waiting clone. Thus, Palpatine could avoid death indefinitely – as long as his supply of clones remained intact…

So somewhere in Lucas’ universe there already is a strong link between the emperor and cloning. I’m still not too sure if it will make it into the movie however.

[Threadkiller]

• Originally posted by adam yax*
  Who originally placed the ‘order’ for the clone army, was he Jedi or Sith? And if you were going to clone why clone some 2-bit bounty hunter when you could clone a Jedi or Sith?

From The official Star Wars site on Jango Fett

…In the final years of the Republic, Jango Fett regarded as the best bounty hunter in the galaxy…

Also watch the movie. The guy fought a jedi and lived to tell about it (for a little while).

*Originally posted by Mahaloth *
I’m going to say this nice and clearly.

[ahem]

Palpatine is not Darth Sidious!!!

Sort of. He’s a clone of Sidious, whom Sidious can control. As soon as the time is right, he will kill him and replace him.

Just wait and see.

The “expanded universe” section on the official Star Wars site on Palpatine:

…The dark side energies flowing through Palpatine’s body were so intense, that they ravaged his mortal frame. The very source of Palpatine’s strength was killing him.

To counter the dark side’s consumption, Palpatine turned to a bizarre combination of technology and Sith magic. Palpatine used Spaarti cloning cylinders to create a store of younger bodies, and employed an ancient Sith technique to transfer his consciousness into a waiting clone. Thus, Palpatine could avoid death indefinitely – as long as his supply of clones remained intact…

So somewhere in Lucas’ universe there already is a strong link between the emperor and cloning. I’m still not too sure if it will make it into the movie however.

[Hometownboy]

Here are a couple that have bothered me for a while. Can you help?

1. In the original episode, Darth Vader captures Princess Leia and the following scene takes place

INTERIOR: DEATH STAR – DETENTION CORRIDOR.

    Two stormtroopers open an electronic cell door and allow
    several Imperial guards to enter. Princess Leia's face is
    filled with defiance, which slowly gives way to fear as a
    giant black torture robot enters, followed by Darth Vader.

VADER: And, now Your Highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden Rebel base.

       The torture robot gives off a steady beeping sound as it
    approaches Princess Leia and extends one of its mechanical
    arms bearing a large hypodermic needle. The door slides 
    shut and the long cell block hallway appears peaceful. The 
    muffled screams of the Rebel princess are barely heard. 

So the next time we see the princess, she is making wisecracks with Solo, Luke & the robots, showing no worse the wear and the screams and such are never referred to again. Was Darth subconsciously going easy on Leia? And did the Force not allow him to recognize his own offspring?

2. As best as I can determine, the first time Darth Vader refers to Luke as “Skywalker” is early in The Empire Strikes Back

VADER: That is the system. And I’m sure Skywalker is with them. Set your course for the Hoth system. General Veers, prepare your men

At this point does he know Luke is his son or hasn’t he thought about the significance of chasing someone with his own surname or is “Skywalker” the Smith or Jones of the future?
Anysinsights gratefully received.