# Questions about Star Wars I can't get answers to **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513 "2003-05-01T23:57:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/21 "2003-05-02T11:24:02Z")
Luke definitely uses his lightsaber to knock people off of the hover-skiff thingies in the beginning of the movie. When hit, they move like they’ve hit with a solid object, rather than being split in twain, as it were. I think this is what the OP refers to. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/22 "2003-05-02T15:33:41Z")
Why did her name change pronounciation from Lee-ah to Lay-ah? ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/23 "2003-05-02T15:38:38Z")
In the final duel, Luke hits Vader solidly in the right shoulder with the blade; Vader grunts in pain but the saber bounces off. This is explained in the “official but not quite canon” books. Vader’s armor was made of cortosis ore, which sabers can’t penetrate. Just in case that is what the OP meant. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Marko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@El\_Marko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Marko)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/24 "2003-05-02T19:10:22Z")
In response to the question about the wampa (snow creature/cave), according to one of the books (don’t remember which one), upon returning to Hoth years later, Luke and the gang discover a massive one-armed Wampa leading a large community of the creatures has moved into the abandoned rebel base. Luke surmises that it must be the same beast that attacked him years earlier. Conclusion: he didn’t actually kill the thing and he knew it, but I also wouldn’t rule out a combination of shock, trauma and adrenaline. I don’t know about you, but I doubt I’d be entirely in my right mind after an ordeal like that either. ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/25 "2003-05-02T21:12:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Roadwalker \* > > **Episode VI > Why does Luke’s light Sabe act like a Louisville Slugger rather that slice up the folks?** > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Second Star to the Right \* > \*\*Seems to be some confusion regarding this question. I’m guessing what Roadwalker means is all the blocking of shots and deflecting of blasts that Luke does with his lightsaber in ROTJ. Before ROTJ, all we’d really seen a lightsaber do was, well, slice up the folks(cutting off arms, etc.). > > My answer: The change in how Luke uses his lightsaber in ROTJ is a mark of his increasing Jedi skills. A lightsaber’s primary purpose is for self-defense. In Episodes IV and V, Luke was still training, thus the reason for us seeing little more than amputations and cutting people in half. Remember, a key Jedi philosophy is that a Jedi Knight “uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.” \*\* Actually, what I think he means is that during the battle at the desert (where Luke, Han and Chewbacca were to be fed to Sarlacc), whenever Luke hits anyone, the saber does not cut through anyone he hits, but instead just smash them really hard, like if he was swinging a baseball bat around. ---
**Author:** ![Roadwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Roadwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadwalker)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/26 "2003-05-02T23:11:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reverse \* > \*\*Actually, what I think he means is that during the battle at the desert (where Luke, Han and Chewbacca were to be fed to Sarlacc), whenever Luke hits anyone, the saber does not cut through anyone he hits, but instead just smash them really hard, like if he was swinging a baseball bat around. \*\* This is so cool, I’m almost as enigmatic as Lucas. Yes the prize goes to Reverse. My bad for typing Sabe instead of sabre. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/27 "2003-05-02T23:20:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Marko \* > \*\*In response to the question about the wampa (snow creature/cave), according to one of the books (don’t remember which one), upon returning to Hoth years later, Luke and the gang discover a massive one-armed Wampa leading a large community of the creatures has moved into the abandoned rebel base. Luke surmises that it must be the same beast that attacked him years earlier. Conclusion: he didn’t actually kill the thing and he knew it, but I also wouldn’t rule out a combination of shock, trauma and adrenaline. I don’t know about you, but I doubt I’d be entirely in my right mind after an ordeal like that either. \*\* That would be the aforementioned _Darksaber_. ---
**Author:** ![markdiscordia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@markdiscordia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdiscordia)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/28 "2003-05-02T23:53:18Z")
It’s hard to tell from the visuals alone, but a lightsaber is not cylindrical; like a real sword, it is flat with sharp edges and a point. If Luke swung it so that he hit an opponent with the flat face rather than the edge, it would act more like a blunt object than a sword. ---
**Author:** ![markdiscordia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@markdiscordia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdiscordia)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/29 "2003-05-02T23:56:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Given that, I think that the Falcon actually did travel to Bespin on sublight drive, but at a significant fraction of the speed of light, so that because of time dilation it was much less than three years for Han and Leia and company, but Luke actually experienced the full three years training with Yoda on Dagobah. Intriguing, but none of the timelines leave more than two months for the events of ESB to occur. But, if you are part of the “nothing except the actual movies happened” crowd, then this is completely plausible. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/30 "2003-05-02T23:57:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by markdiscordia \* > \*\*It’s hard to tell from the visuals alone, but a lightsaber is not cylindrical; like a real sword, it is flat with sharp edges and a point. If Luke swung it so that he hit an opponent with the flat face rather than the edge, it would act more like a blunt object than a sword. \*\* I’m pretty sure that’s not true. It’s a laser beam. Laser beams don’t have “edges.” ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/31 "2003-05-03T00:00:53Z")
Okay, here are a few I’ve wondered about. Why didn’t Chewbacca or the droids get medals at that ceremony at the end of Star Wars? Even if the ceremony was for the Death Star battle alone, Shouldn’t Chewie have gotten one for bieng the Falcon’s co-pilot and all? What’s the point of Stormtrooper armour if it doesn’t stop a laser? ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/32 "2003-05-03T00:43:11Z")
I think the armour is just for conformity–maybe they were proving the Empire was UberEvil–it _was_ the 70s–was the whole rebel against conformity thing still going on then? ---
**Author:** ![Mars\_Horizon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mars_horizon/32/2804_2.png) [@Mars\_Horizon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mars_Horizon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/33 "2003-05-03T00:46:59Z")
I have a question. In ROTJ, why does the Emperor refer to the “Moon of Endor” as the “Century (Sentry?) Moon” ? ---
**Author:** ![Mars\_Horizon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mars_horizon/32/2804_2.png) [@Mars\_Horizon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mars_Horizon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/34 "2003-05-03T01:11:05Z")
Never mind. [Google is my friend](http://hem.passagen.se/evamari2/starwars/names.html#Endor) > [@](#): > > The ROTJ moon is sometimes called the “Sentry” or “Century Moon” by fans who misheard the Emperor’s phrase, “_sanctuary_ moon.” [James Kahn’s ROTJ noevlization] ---
**Author:** ![Tertius01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tertius01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tertius01)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/35 "2003-05-03T01:20:31Z")
Regarding the Bespin trip, Lando says something along the lines of, “I had no choice. (Vader) arrived right before you did.” That’d be quite a coincidence if it took three years (or whatever) to make the trip to Bespin via sublight drive. As has been said, I think the books talk about slower backup hyperdrives. Boba Fett could stick around to get a trajectory and plot possible destinations, inform the Empire, and have everything ready by the time they got to Bespin. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/36 "2003-05-03T03:05:19Z")
I think it sounds like the “city of New York” comment is truer then we realized. It sounds like we got a case of Endor, Endor. Frank Sinatra shoulda done the sound track. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/37 "2003-05-03T03:08:13Z")
> [@](#): > > was the whole rebel against conformity thing still going on then? LOL, yes. I was unaware this had stopped ‘going on’. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/38 "2003-05-03T04:21:17Z")
If they had a backup hyperdrive, then why not use that to escape Hoth? D’uh. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/39 "2003-05-03T05:31:56Z")
**Han not paying his debt:** It was no longer an option. Greedo said so himself. My guess is that Han got in touch with Jabba after getting his payoff, only to learn in no uncertain terms that the bounty hunter wasn’t kidding. His joining of the rebellion, IMHO, was motivated largely by the need to stay well away from Jabba’s clutches. (I’ve heard the robbed-by-pirates story, which I find dubious. At the very least, he’d seek revenge at the first opportunity.) **Not turning the tractor beam back on:** As mentioned earlier, Darth Vader intentionally let the Millennium Falcon escape so he could follow it to the rebel base. He had no choice; Leia wasn’t talking, and even the misleading promise of safety for Alderran got only a misleading answer in exchange. **Yavin:** The rebel base. With the Death Star’s weaknesses exposed and Darth Vader in pursuit, there was no turning back. **Not staying in the cave:** Not sure…maybe he didn’t think it was safe there and wanted to make sure his rescuer could find him. **Luke’s training:** He almost certainly got at least a few weeks’ work, enough to learn some rudiments of the Force, but nowhere near enough to become a Jedi. Which Darth Vader pointed out to him, of course. **"Louisville Slugger" lightsaber:** Maybe Luke didn’t like the idea of massive bloodshed and, like a martial artist, only used as much force as necessary to defeat Jabba’s troops. Since the power of a lightsaber blade can be freely controlled by the weilder, this is hardly an impossibility. In reality, I think this was more a budgetary concern than anything, not to mention the all-important PG rating. **Choice of planet:** As George Lucas pointed out, he wanted to get as wide a variety of environments and backgrounds into SW as possible. Anyway, with high-speed transportaiton readily available, the Emperor certainly didn’t need to put his newest project right next to the source of its materials. **Stormtrooper armor:** This has been discussed at length; here’s a gist. The suit is like a flak jacket. It protects the trooper from many things that can cause him harm (including being slammed into walls and hit by falling debris). It does not allow him to laugh off direct hits from high-powered firearms. (Only light or grazing hits, and even those hurt like hell.) And yes, from a movie standpoint, having all the Stormtroopers look exactly the same made it a lot easier on the extras budget. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513/40 "2003-05-03T06:08:06Z")
Stupid question, but here goes. In V and VI Darth Vader is shown as being Emperor Palpatine’s right hand man. But in IV he’s taking orders from Governor Tarkin, and he doesn’t seem to be that much of a leader himself. Does that mean that in the origional script, maybe he wasn’t ment to be second in command, or that Palpentine was thought up after the first movie and it was decided to make DV his right hand man, or…? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-star-wars-i-cant-get-answers-to/172513.md?page=3)