# I used to like Star Wars.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278 "2016-01-26T17:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/21 "2016-01-27T11:37:13Z")
Wait… Anakin was the result of a virgin birth? Was I too gobsmacked over other idiocy that I missed that? ---
**Author:** ![Henga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Henga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henga)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/22 "2016-01-27T12:17:52Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Wait… Anakin was the result of a virgin birth? Was I too gobsmacked over other idiocy that I missed that? That is what Anakin’s mother told Neesom’s character in Episode I- that Anakin has no father and she simply became pregnant with him. Looking in Wikipedia I realized that Owen Lars isn’t really Luke’s uncle. Owen is the son of Anakin’s step father by another wife. It also doesn’t make sense that Luke’s intense longing to get away from his home planet didn’t cause a disturbance in the Force that Vader could have picked up on. Nor, does it make sense to entrust Luke’s care to someone who apparently has no ability with the Force. It would have made better sense to simply turn Luke over to Kenobi or maybe Kenobi and Yoda together so they could jointly train him and shield him from Vader. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/23 "2016-01-27T12:54:50Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > He doesn’t know he has a kid(s)\*. But it still seems kinda ballsy to assume he wouldn’t look his relatives up, or ask someone who’d recently been in Tatooine about them. Or whatever. What’s he gonna do, go door-to-door and hand out fliers? > [@](#): > > They don’t even bother changing the kids last name. You wouldn’t think it would be that hard to find a different couple somewhere. Chances are that in a galaxy with over 1 million inhabited planets, there are more than one or two people named “Skywalker” out there. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/24 "2016-01-27T15:54:44Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > 1. If Vader knew that Luke Skywalker was his son, why did it take him so long to catch on about Leia? > Leia wasn’t strong enough to create a disturbance. Vader could sense the presence and found out the name later, but he was so divorced from his previous self the Emperor had to tell him it was his son. Is this explanation from some EU story? Because the real explanation is right there in the original trilogy. I think Luke’s last name was pretty much the giveaway that he was Vader’s son. I think the presence Vader felt on the first Death Star was Obi Wan’s, not Luke’s. I don’t think Darth Vader even knew that Padme had twins. When Luke and Vader are fighting on the second Death Star, Vader can read Luke’s thoughts and feelings to find out about Leia. [QUOTE=Darth Vader] Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for… sister. So, you have a twin sister! Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Salad\_Smell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@Salad\_Smell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salad_Smell)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/25 "2016-01-27T16:17:17Z")
The prequels are terrible? Hot take! 😛 It’s universally agreed that these are bad. The Red Letter Media video series is famous for covering this in extensive depth. [http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace/](http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace/) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/26 "2016-01-27T16:23:15Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Chances are that in a galaxy with over 1 million inhabited planets, there are more than one or two people named “Skywalker” out there. Yeah, but “Skysmith” probably would have been a safer choice. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/27 "2016-01-27T17:35:28Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I think Luke’s last name was pretty much the giveaway that he was Vader’s son. I think the presence Vader felt on the first Death Star was Obi Wan’s, not Luke’s. Right, Vader sensed Obi-Wan when the Falcon first arrived on the Death Star. As for Luke, Vader sensed that he was strong in the Force when they were in the trenches trying to destroy the first Death Star. I don’t think Vader knew Luke’s name at that time, he just knew the rebels had a pilot who was using the Force. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/28 "2016-01-27T17:53:59Z")
> [@Henga](#): > > It also doesn’t make sense that Luke’s intense longing to get away from his home planet didn’t cause a disturbance in the Force that Vader could have picked up on. What else in the movies makes you think this would be possible? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/29 "2016-01-27T17:55:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > What’s he gonna do, go door-to-door and hand out fliers? They’re still living on the same farm, under the same names, as when Anakin visited in Ep II. It’s not exactly a huge lift to find them. > [@](#): > > Chances are that in a galaxy with over 1 million inhabited planets, there are more than one or two people named “Skywalker” out there. Yea, but its someone named Skywalker living with his step-brothers family that’s the same age as Anakin’s kid would be. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/30 "2016-01-27T18:06:29Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > They’re still living on the same farm, under the same names, as when Anakin visited in Ep II. It’s not exactly a huge lift to find them. Why would he even go there in the first place, though? He has no reason to think his kid is alive, and it’s not like he could just pay the Lars family a social call. It’s a part of his life that’s over and done with, and he probably doesn’t even think about it anymore until the events of ANH. According to Wookieepedia, the canon in the new EU is that some time after ANH, Vader hired Boba Fett to capture the pilot who’d destroyed the Death Star. He was unsuccessful, but he did report to Vader that his name was Skywalker and he was from Tattooine, and that was the point at which he put the pieces together and realized Palpatine had lied to him about his killing Padme on Mustafar. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/31 "2016-01-27T18:11:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > According to Wookieepedia, the canon in the new EU is that some time after ANH, Vader hired Boba Fett to capture the pilot who’d destroyed the Death Star. He was unsuccessful, but he did report to Vader that his name was Skywalker and he was from Tattooine, and that was the point at which he put the pieces together and realized Palpatine had lied to him about his killing Padme on Mustafar. [Vader finding out is a pretty badass sequence.](http://comicnewbies.com/2015/06/04/darth-vader-learns-luke-is-his-son/) ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/32 "2016-01-27T20:30:25Z")
So that new EU explanation fits better with the original, untouched ESB. Then Lucas added a line for Vader, something like, “how is that possible?” when the emperor says the pilot who destroyed the death star was the son of Skywalker. As if he didn’t know. Which is really stupid because at the beginning of the movie he proclaims that Skywalker is with the rebels on Hoth. At least, I think that was left in. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/33 "2016-01-27T22:24:12Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > 1. Vader supposedly built 3PO when he was a child. I know that 3PO was always scatter-brained, but surely he could remember where he came from. And if he couldn’t remember why didn’t R2D2 tell him? > Again, a stupid idea that would have been left out had anyone been able to tell Lucas, “No.” Why exactly is it a stupid idea when it was outwardly spoken in Ep3 that C3PO was to get his mindwiped? And its somewhat referenced in ANH - R2D2 knows about Obi-Wan while C3PO has no idea. > [@](#): > > 1. And speaking of coming from, Vader was a supposedly born of a virgin. Just who does Vader think he is? Nero? > It’s part of the “chosen one” mythos Lucas was aiming for. Supposedly, Darth Emperor or whatever sent cosmic mitochlorian sperm to Anakin’s mommy. It is suggested that Darth Plagueis may have been responsible for impregnating Shmi Skywalker, but never verified - there is also a theory that Darth Plagueis may be responsible for Rey, as in when Palpatine explains how Plagueis could control life and death that killing Plagueis in his sleep maybe didn’t get rid of him forever (Dark Side force ghost?). > [@](#): > > 1. It’s sort of disappointing to know that the Empire and the battle for the universe began simply as a trade war. It wasn’t about truth and justice and the American way after all. There really was no noble sentiment about all men (and whatever Jabba was) being created equal; nothing about no taxation without representation or jury trials or the pursuit of happiness. It was just a trade war. But, I guess this is to be expected since Episode IV began as a trade war- between Stars Wars and Battlestar Galactica. > Yup. Another stupid Lucas idea for the prequels. The simple black-vs-white hero’s journey that made the original so successful and easy to follow, despite the convoluted universe, was cast aside to watch legislative sausage being made. A pivotal plot point in Ep.I is a _vote of no confidence_, for crying out loud. Fortunately, in Ep.7 all the muddy politics are background at most, like it was originally. I actually really enjoyed that part. It’s not something simple and black and white that causes the Republic to crumble and arise again as the Empire, but political backbiting and gridlock by people who only cared for their own interests. The kicker being that the whole thing was being organized by Palpatine - both sides controlled by him like a puppetmaster. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/34 "2016-01-27T22:44:09Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > So that new EU explanation fits better with the original, untouched ESB. Then Lucas added a line for Vader, something like, “how is that possible?” when the emperor says the pilot who destroyed the death star was the son of Skywalker. As if he didn’t know. Which is really stupid because at the beginning of the movie he proclaims that Skywalker is with the rebels on Hoth. At least, I think that was left in. That scene still works alright, I think. Vader knows that the guy who blew up the Death Star is named Skywalker already, as shown in the earlier scene. But he still hasn’t gotten an explanation for how the son that he was told died with his mother, is now out there flying around, blowing up enormous space stations. He’s not shocked to learn that there’s a guy called Skywalker in that scene, he wants to know why his master lied about it, and this is as directly as he dares call him out over it. Alternatively, with the new comic book canon, he’s faking surprise for his master, who doesn’t know that Vader hired Boba Fett to investigate the identity of the pilot who blew up the DS. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/35 "2016-01-28T00:26:15Z")
> [@Henga](#): > > 1. What’s with all of the weird character names in Episode I and II and III? Names like Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo and even Lando Calrissian and Boba Fett sound half-way natural. But, who in the Death Star came up with Padme and Palpatine? Was Lucas simply dreaming up crazy characters so he could sell more action figures? Or was Padme and Palpatine what the cast ended up doing to each other at the wrap party? You think “Palpatine” sounds dirty? You never got “Princess Lay Ya’” or “Hand Solo”? Oh, and Padme is very similar to the Hindi name [Padma](http://www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/girl/padm). > [@](#): > > 1. If Vader knew that Luke Skywalker was his son, why did it take him so long to catch on about Leia? Just using the original trio, no EU materials, Vader only figured out Luke was his son when the Emperor tells him at some point about “the son of Skywalker”, which only makes sense if he’s making an allusion to Anakin, and his prior self. > [@](#): > > 1. When Episode II came out I heard something about Jedi Knights not being allowed to fall in love. I bet Solo wishes someone had told Luke that when he was putting the moves on his own sister in Episodes IV and V. If you want to explore that, read “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye”, an Alan Dean Foster Star Wars book published before Jedi. > [@](#): > > 1. In Episode I Obi-wan told Luke that Vader had helped the Emperor hunt down and kill all of the Jedi Knights. But, at the end of that movie, when Obi-wan and Vader meet on the Death Star, Vader says “It’s been a long time” as if he had gotten lonely and missed his old chum Obi-wan. Considering that Obi-wan had spent the past 20 years or so living on the same planet that Vader had grown up on, why didn’t Vader know where to look? You’re not the first to identify this obvious plot confusion created by Lucas’s obsession with closing the loops. The in-universe explanation is that Vader housed a strong hatred for the planet after the murder of his mother, and he had no real connection to Owen Lars, certainly no emotional ties. Plus, he had no reason to think Padme’s child survived, so he didn’t feel the need to go back to Tatooine. Thus, Kenobi decided that might be the safest place, somewhere that he himself had little obvious connection, and that Vader would wilfully avoid. > [@](#): > > 1. Vader supposedly built 3PO when he was a child. I know that 3PO was always scatter-brained, but surely he could remember where he came from. And if he couldn’t remember why didn’t R2D2 tell him? They both had their memories wiped. > [@](#): > > 1. And speaking of coming from, Vader was a supposedly born of a virgin. Just who does Vader think he is? Nero? Vader thinks he’s Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, the chosen one predicted to “bring balance to the Force”. > [@](#): > > 1. It’s sort of disappointing to know that the Empire and the battle for the universe began simply as a trade war. It wasn’t about truth and justice and the American way after all. There really was no noble sentiment about all men (and whatever Jabba was) being created equal; nothing about no taxation without representation or jury trials or the pursuit of happiness. It was just a trade war. But, I guess this is to be expected since Episode IV began as a trade war- between Stars Wars and Battlestar Galactica. Um, the Galactic Republic was supposed to be all the fancy niceties. The Empire was explicitly about stealing power. Oh, I’m sorry, Senator Palpatine’s excuse was the bureaucracy was too stifling and causing the Republic to stagnate, what they needed was a strong executive who could cut through the red tape and get things done. The Rebellion was about defeating the Empire and restoring the noble status of the Republic. > [@](#): > > 1. If the Force was so strong in Luke Skywalker, why did he not know a thing about it until Obi-wan explained it to him in Episode IV? Now that’s an interesting question. One would think that someone who had a strong innate sense of the Force would have incidents of accidental telekinesis or whatnot that would make him wonder what was up. But it appears that Owen and Beru Lars were overly concerned over Luke’s safety, so they did their best to prevent him ever hearing about the Force and the Jedi and anything that might make him learn more about it. After the shattering of the Republic and the hunting down of the Jedi, most of them were wiped out at the time of Luke’s birth. By the time of A New Hope, the Jedi are more legend than reality. “Hokey religions” and all that. > [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Why exactly is it a stupid idea when it was outwardly spoken in Ep3 that C3PO was to get his mindwiped? Because it’s stupid to have C3PO created by Anakin Skywalker. It makes the Star Wars universe tiny. Plus, Anakin is a slave but apparently still has the ability to not only build a droid from random spare parts, but also build and fly a hover bike thing. Okay, I’ll grant C3PO happens to look like a standard protocol droid because those are the parts that Anakin hunted up and used for the body plan, but why did Anakin name him C3PO? That sounds like a corporate production line identity, not what a 10 year old boy would name his unique, one and only droid friend. At least we now know why C3PO is so annoying - it’s Vader’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/36 "2016-01-28T01:02:49Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Because it’s stupid to have C3PO created by Anakin Skywalker. It makes the Star Wars universe tiny. Plus, Anakin is a slave but apparently still has the ability to not only build a droid from random spare parts, but also build and fly a hover bike thing. Okay, I’ll grant C3PO happens to look like a standard protocol droid because those are the parts that Anakin hunted up and used for the body plan, but why did Anakin name him C3PO? That sounds like a corporate production line identity, not what a 10 year old boy would name his unique, one and only droid friend. > > At least we now know why C3PO is so annoying - it’s Vader’s fault. I’m not going to try to justify it entirely, but… Anakin, Luke and Rey all share a proclivity for repairing and piloting things. In many cases, they have no real excuse to have learned that ability. Luke is the least exaggerated of the three, but nevertheless, he repairs 'vaporators and droids for his uncle, then bulls-eyes womp rats in his spare time. This qualifies him to jump into a military starfighter and defeat the Death Star? How similar can a T-16 and an X-Wing be? Anyway, Anakin and Rey are so exaggerated in their abilities that we can’t justify it through normal reasoning. We kind of have to accept that it’s either a Jedi capability or a Skywalker family trait that they can do this stuff. With the ::shudder:: virgin birth and ::shudder:: midichlorians involved, I guess it’s not so far-fetched that they know/do things a normal human wouldn’t. This is part of the problem with the prequels: it’s hard to tell when it’s ham-fisted filmcraft and when an important point is being made. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/37 "2016-01-28T01:19:26Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > This is part of the problem with the prequels: it’s hard to tell when it’s ham-fisted filmcraft and when an important point is being made. It’s really not. ---
**Author:** ![Henga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Henga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henga)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/38 "2016-01-28T02:19:00Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What else in the movies makes you think this would be possible? A person’s intense longings can’t affect the Force? ---
**Author:** ![Henga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Henga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henga)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/39 "2016-01-28T02:28:25Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Why exactly is it a stupid idea when it was outwardly spoken in Ep3 that C3PO was to get his mindwiped? If Vader built 3P0, what guarantee did Vader have that the robot’s mind had been erased at some point in the past so he couldn’t give away any information that the Rebels could have used against Vader? Why not simply pick 3P0 up in the air with the Force and dash him to dust rather than take chances? ---
**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:** [January 28, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/40 "2016-01-28T02:57:23Z")
> [@Henga](#): > > A person’s intense longings can’t affect the Force? I’m not sure that it can, actually, but let’s say yes. There’s over a million inhabited worlds in Star Wars. If one percent of one percent of those sentients are Force sensitive, that’s millions of Force sensitive people out there, each affecting the Force with their longings and desires. Further assuming that Vader could sense such a disturbance from an entirely different star system, how does he figure out that one specific individual among those yearning millions is the son he thought died years ago? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278.md?page=3)