# How much time transpires between the Star Wars movies?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 24, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819 "2004-09-24T03:46:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/1 "2004-09-24T03:46:19Z")
Because it seems like, at most, the Evil Empire[sup]©[/sup] was around for only about twenty years, and it only took look a few days to train to become a Jedi.
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/2 "2004-09-24T03:53:36Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#):
>
> Because it seems like, at most, the Evil Empire[sup]©[/sup] was around for only about twenty years, and it only took look a few days to train to become a Jedi.
Well, the Empire really WAS only around for about 20 years at the beginning of _A New Hope_. Some of the higher-ups in the Rebellion had been (and still were at the beginning of ANH (Mon Mothma, for one)) Senators of the Old Republic, and Palpatine didn’t dissolve the Senate until just before Vader caught that blockade runner over Tatooine.
I realize that with the advent of the prequels, this is a pretty obvious fact, but I didn’t realize it until one of my college roommates had the Star Wars Encyclopedia back about 10 years ago and I read it there. I was a kid when the first three movies came out and never realized that such a short time had passed since the Empire began, and the prequels were no more than rumor (as part of the fabled ennead of films) at that point.
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### Author:  [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/3 "2004-09-24T03:55:34Z")
However, a fair amount of time passes between Star Wars and Empire. Not sure how many but at least a few years.
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### Author:  [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/4 "2004-09-24T03:56:28Z")
Whoops! That was me, not Burnt Sugar.
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### Author:  [@Meleemancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meleemancer)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/5 "2004-09-24T10:00:35Z")
According to [this timeline](http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/starwars/timeline.html) of the novels, which is about as official as I could find:
10 years between Episode I and Episode II.
2 years between Episode II and Episode III.
20 years between Episode III and Episode IV.
3 years between Episode IV and Episode V.
1 year between Episode V and Episode VI.
So as the OP says, assuming the Empire is officially founded in Ep 3, it isn’t around for much more than twenty years.
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/6 "2004-09-24T13:07:28Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#):
>
> and it only took look a few days to train to become a Jedi.
This has always bothered me. Becoming a Jedi takes years, nay decades. Little children as young as 3 are shipped off to Jedi Preschool, then they go through the whole Padawan - apprentice thing, only to become a true Jedi at the age of, what, 30ish?
Yet Luke Skywalker managers to pull it off in a few days or weeks. :eek:
Best I can figure is that Luke Skywalker was a) exponentially stronger in The Force than any other Jedi trainee before him; and b) given more points for training directly at the knee of Yoda, day in and day out, for a period of time (as opposed to having to attend classes, pudder about at day to day duties with an older trainer, etc., as other Jedis had to do).
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### Author:  [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/7 "2004-09-24T13:10:02Z")
Also, you have to timagine that without hyperdrive, it took a couple of months or so for Han and Leia to get to Bespin, and that Luke was training on Dagobah all that time. Sure that still seems like an awfully short time to go from a white belt to a black belt (metaphorically speaking), but that can be written off by…inherited midichlorians :shudder:
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### Author:  [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/8 "2004-09-24T13:13:57Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> Best I can figure is that Luke Skywalker was a) exponentially stronger in The Force than any other Jedi trainee before him; and b) given more points for training directly at the knee of Yoda, day in and day out, for a period of time (as opposed to having to attend classes, pudder about at day to day duties with an older trainer, etc., as other Jedis had to do).
That’s how I always figured it. When Yoda originally says Luke is too old to begin training, I thought he meant by a few years, maybe as many as ten. Once the prequels made it clear that an 8-year-old is considered “too old” to start training, that’s when Luke’s training got even more improbable. But I think Luke, as the son of the Spawn of the Midichlorians, is the (possibly second) strongest Jedi ever to go through training. Yoda’s certainly the best teacher a budding young Jedi could have, Luke had a whole _bunch_ of motivation, and no distractions. In addition, his training wasn’t complete at Bespin, and he really finished his training himself.
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### Author:  [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/9 "2004-09-24T14:27:01Z")
And sometimes you just make do with what you’ve got.
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### Author:  [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/10 "2004-09-24T14:43:29Z")
Luke also “skips” a lot of what we can assume to part of Jedi training (diplomacy, Jedi history, etc.).
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/11 "2004-09-24T14:44:46Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> This has always bothered me. Becoming a Jedi takes years, nay decades. Little children as young as 3 are shipped off to Jedi Preschool, then they go through the whole Padawan - apprentice thing, only to become a true Jedi at the age of, what, 30ish?
>
> Yet Luke Skywalker managers to pull it off in a few days or weeks. :eek:
>
> Best I can figure is that Luke Skywalker was a) exponentially stronger in The Force than any other Jedi trainee before him; and b) given more points for training directly at the knee of Yoda, day in and day out, for a period of time (as opposed to having to attend classes, pudder about at day to day duties with an older trainer, etc., as other Jedis had to do).
According to a friend of mine who’s read all the books, Qui Gon Jin was wrong. Anakin wasn’t the One; Luke was. Going from scruffy-looking nerf herder to inexperienced Jedi in a couple weeks is doable if you’re the bestest there ever was.
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### Author:  [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/12 "2004-09-24T14:46:16Z")
There’s also the fact that as much as I love Luke, he’s not a particularly great Jedi. He’s got some moves, sure, but he’s nothing like the jedis seen in the prequels. He defeats vader, yes, but at that point, Vader’s more machine than man, and not jumping around and swinging two sabers at once like he did as Anakin.
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### Author:  [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/13 "2004-09-24T14:51:48Z")
> [@gonzoron](#):
>
> There’s also the fact that as much as I love Luke, he’s not a particularly great Jedi. He’s got some moves, sure, but he’s nothing like the jedis seen in the prequels. He defeats vader, yes, but at that point, Vader’s more machine than man, and not jumping around and swinging two sabers at once like he did as Anakin.
But he was powerful enough to resist the temptation of the darkside. Anakin could not do this.
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### Author:  [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/14 "2004-09-24T15:22:26Z")
Indeed, powerful in character and strong in the force, neither of which is necessarily a result of training.
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### Author:  [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/15 "2004-09-24T15:26:51Z")
Heck, he’d only had one five minute lightsaber lesson before Darth Vader recognized the “the force is stong in” Luke.
I’ve often wondered though. He must have undergone some training somewhere between A New Hope and Empire. He did, after all, learn how to do a force pull to get his saber out of a snow bank. Maybe he bought a Using the Force For Dummies book.
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### Author:  [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/16 "2004-09-24T15:48:13Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#):
>
> But he was powerful enough to resist the temptation of the darkside. Anakin could not do this.
I’ve been pondering the whole “The Chosen One” thing as of late. Anakin is supposedly the one who can bring balance to the force, and yet no one seems to know HOW he’s going to do that.
Then I realized, that maybe it was his fall to the darkside. The darkside seems to be this amazingly powerful and seductive side of the force that, once someone falls to it, they can never return. And yet Anakin is redeemed in the end. So maybe that is how he brings balance, by fully experiencing both halves of the force. Falling to the dark but ultimately having the strength to come back to the light brings the prophecy to fulfillment.
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### Author:  [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/17 "2004-09-24T15:50:48Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> This has always bothered me. Becoming a Jedi takes years, nay decades. Little children as young as 3 are shipped off to Jedi Preschool, then they go through the whole Padawan - apprentice thing, only to become a true Jedi at the age of, what, 30ish?
>
> Yet Luke Skywalker managers to pull it off in a few days or weeks. :eek:
>
> Best I can figure is that Luke Skywalker was a) exponentially stronger in The Force than any other Jedi trainee before him; and b) given more points for training directly at the knee of Yoda, day in and day out, for a period of time (as opposed to having to attend classes, pudder about at day to day duties with an older trainer, etc., as other Jedis had to do).
You also have to through in the fact that for a decade or so the two sith had been living the easy street. Why bother practicing your light saber when you can just mind choke any idiot you want? Whats the point of training when what you know is already lightyears beyond anyone else thanks to the fact you killed everyone on your level. Luke had to train knowing he was fighting an uphill battle. The only way out was victory or death. Meanwhile the emperor and vader are getting softer everyday.
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### Author:  [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/18 "2004-09-24T16:10:34Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#):
>
> I’ve been pondering the whole “The Chosen One” thing as of late. Anakin is supposedly the one who can bring balance to the force, and yet no one seems to know HOW he’s going to do that.
>
> Then I realized, that maybe it was his fall to the darkside. The darkside seems to be this amazingly powerful and seductive side of the force that, once someone falls to it, they can never return. And yet Anakin is redeemed in the end. So maybe that is how he brings balance, by fully experiencing both halves of the force. Falling to the dark but ultimately having the strength to come back to the light brings the prophecy to fulfillment.
Or maybe it is just when he kills the Emperor destroying the Sith master.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/19 "2004-09-24T16:28:51Z")
> [@gonzoron](#):
>
> There’s also the fact that as much as I love Luke, he’s not a particularly great Jedi. He’s got some moves, sure, but he’s nothing like the jedis seen in the prequels. He defeats vader, yes, but at that point, Vader’s more machine than man, and not jumping around and swinging two sabers at once like he did as Anakin.
Uh yeah…Anakin lost that fight and Obi Wan took a dive in Episode IV. Was it ever really established (except by rumor and hearsay) that Anakin/Vader was a decent swordsman?
Best I can figure, Obi Wan had trained Luke to wield a lightsaber in Episode I. It does not take a whole lot of training to learn some basic fencing skills. Especially in a universe where everyone uses guns Parry, slash, thrust, block, whatever.
He had the ability in him already (he used it on Hoth to pick up his saber) so it was no problem for Yodi to teach him some basic Force tricks like jumping good and picking up bigger shit without his hands. The Millenium Falcon chase could have been time compressed for the movies and actually taken several weeks. In other words, we just see the scenes with the Falcon being chased by swarms of TIEs and not days upon days of Star Destroyers running search patterns.
No, I think if you take someone with a bit of athletic ability and give him the power to leap 40 feet in the air and move stuff with his mind, it doesn’t take a lot of training for him to kick major ass.
And remember Luke did get his ass kicked by Vader in ESB (dad is never too old to kick your ass).
Now if we can figure out how he became a X-Wing pilot in the 20 minutes after the Falcon landed at Yavin, that would be interesting.
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### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-time-transpires-between-the-star-wars-movies/265819/20 "2004-09-24T16:32:46Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> This has always bothered me. Becoming a Jedi takes years, nay decades. Little children as young as 3 are shipped off to Jedi Preschool, then they go through the whole Padawan - apprentice thing, only to become a true Jedi at the age of, what, 30ish?
>
> Yet Luke Skywalker managers to pull it off in a few days or weeks. :eek:
>
> Best I can figure is that Luke Skywalker was a) exponentially stronger in The Force than any other Jedi trainee before him; and b) given more points for training directly at the knee of Yoda, day in and day out, for a period of time (as opposed to having to attend classes, pudder about at day to day duties with an older trainer, etc., as other Jedis had to do).
Eh, don’t forget that Luke wasn’t a typical Jedi.
He didn’t get the well-rounded training that your typical academy guy gets - he was designed to be a weapon to destroy Vader and Palpatine.
-Joe
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