# Star Wars biggest plotholes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 15, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444 "2005-06-15T21:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/41 "2005-06-16T04:06:49Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Yoda doesn’t want to be bothered with training, it seems. Perhaps he depressed after Anakin/Vader? Perhaps he’s just turning into a crotchity old man(whatever he is)? He did see a bit…loopy, when luke meets him in ESB. Particulary when he starts smacking R2 with his cane trying to grab the lamp. It’s all an act. Obi-Wan probably visited Yoda as a ghost and they conspired to bring Luke to Dagobah. After all, out of the entire planet, which is stuffed with life forms as Luke notes, how is it he lands in the one patch of swamp that’s right next to Yoda’s place? Convenient script writing, sure, but also most likely Yoda guiding it down in the clouds. After that, the silly old creature act is to test Luke’s patience and inner calm. When Luke gets all agitated, Yoda has strong doubts. After all, look at how emotional Anakin could become, and how he turned out. Yoda doesn’t want to make the same mistake with Luke the Jedis made with Anakin. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/42 "2005-06-16T05:08:56Z")
The whole “Leia remembers her mother” thing can easily be solved: Bail Organa’s wife dies when Leia is young. Leia is never told she’s adopted (low-profile and all) and so assumes that she’s Jimmy Smits’s daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/43 "2005-06-16T05:17:04Z")
[QUOTE=HubZilla] [li]ROTJ: Ewoks with primitive weapons beating an armored legion with mobile armor support. And where did Ewoks have time to prepare those traps?[/li][/QUOTE] At least a few years , from the time the imperial garrison landed to tap the geothermal core for the sheild, the rebs were johnnie come latelys [QUOTE] [li]TPM/Star Wars: Mystical **Force that binds the galaxy** is midichlorians.[/li][/QUOTE] Nope , its duct tape [QUOTE] [li]ROTJ: Mission to Endor requiring stealth, yet brought along a noisy golden C3PO for no discernable military or technical reason.[/li][/QUOTE] He knows six million languages and enabled the spec ops team to enlist the support of the indigs, he also has kung fu grip [QUOTE] [li]TPM/AOTC: No one bothered to free the slaves in Tatooine in 10 years, despite a senator, Jedi masters, and especially Anakin knowing about this outlawed practice.[/li][/QUOTE] Suspension of disbelief , besides I can just see Anikin mentioning it to Palpatine , who brings it up in committee and dispatches a fact finding mission , promises , promises. [QUOTE] [li]TPM: The pod race; gambled too much to find spare parts. In this dire emergency (planet conquered, etc), couldn’t they have found another way to Coruscant? Like say, going to a cantina and hiring a ride?[/li][/QUOTE] Yeah really , while watto was not amenable to force suggestion , I imagine that the jedis could have gotten donations from everyone else. > [@](#): > > [li]TPM: The prophesy about “bringing balance to the force”. The good jedi far outnumber the bad jedi… there’s only one way to balance this.[/li][/list] Actually I think this was about right , the Jedi order had gotten too soft , the trappings of the position , access to power , thinking they know best . Only a matter of time really , if it was not for anikin , its most likely that Palpatine would have made a more conventional grab for power. Matter of fact , its most likely that Palpatine is Anikins Bio Dad , or sperm donor if you will , we know that shmi was either the recipient of the immaculate conception , or she was grabbed by someone at some point , and impregnated via artificial meeans , oh meeesa feel spent. And Anikin at age 8 , or so he claims in the phantom menace would be right around that time when the clone army was ordered by the sypho dias dude. Declan ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/44 "2005-06-16T09:06:30Z")
> [@brianjedi](#): > > The whole “Leia remembers her mother” thing can easily be solved: > > Bail Organa’s wife dies when Leia is young. Leia is never told she’s adopted (low-profile and all) and so assumes that she’s Jimmy Smits’s daughter. But Luke emphasizes “real” mother. The excuse I’ve heard is Leia has a “force memory” of Padme. Declan, I forgot about Threepio’s kung-fu grip. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/45 "2005-06-16T10:07:01Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > Declan, I forgot about Threepio’s kung-fu grip. Everyone does, until it’s too late! [sub]…oh, dear…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/46 "2005-06-16T11:37:13Z")
> [@BayleDomon](#): > > IAfter all, out of the entire planet, which is stuffed with life forms as Luke notes, how is it he lands in the one patch of swamp that’s right next to Yoda’s place? Convenient script writing, sure, but also most likely Yoda guiding it down in the clouds. Actually, I just realized that without fanboy wankery for an explanation, this is also a plot hole. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/47 "2005-06-16T11:48:18Z")
One plot hole that always bugged me - how did the Falcon get from Hoth to Bespin without entering hyperspace once? I seriously doubt the two planets were in the same system, as Han would have noted Lando’s presence much earlier. And just how long was Luke on Dagobah? ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/48 "2005-06-16T12:26:32Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > **WARNING!** Really convoluted fanwankery coming… > > Yoda escapes to Degobah after ROTS. Yoda knows, or at least guesses, that someday that one of the twins will come to Degobah in search of guidance. Also knowing that they won’t be able to go through the whole paduon (sp?) experience, he uses his massive force powers to create a cave which will drive home the lesson “Beware of the Dark Side”. > > Now you know. > > And knowing is half the battle. Wikipedia’s [entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagobah) on Dagobah claims that there’s an EU story in which Yoda defeats a dark Jedi on Dagobah sometime before ESB, and that the cave is where the dark Jedi died; Yoda stays nearby because the dark aura of the cave masks his own aura and prevents the Palpatine from locating him. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/49 "2005-06-16T12:52:43Z")
[QUOTE=Dooku] R2-D2 forgetting that he can fly. [\QUOTE] I find this easy to explain, Organa didn’t need a war droid. Instead, R2D2 was assigned to Leia, who is an ambassador, who needs one for data storage, presumably. _For that matter, how does Obi-Wan age from youngish Ewan MacGregor to ancient Alec Guinness between Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars?_ Actually, I think they did a remarkable job of making Ewan MacGregor looking like Alec. 20 years of thinking about losing everything you ever worked for, watching the Empire darken more and more because of your own apprentice, and watching his son grow and constantly fretting he’ll be like his father, plus desert heat & sun, will do that to you. My biggest complaint is how the heck did Luke go from a not-Jedi in Ep 5 to a full Jedi in Ep 6? People tell me facing his father was the last thing he needed to go. I guess, but he got no more training between the movies - unless he snuck off to Dagobah again. ---
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/50 "2005-06-16T13:34:18Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] > [@Dooku](#): > > My biggest complaint is how the heck did Luke go from a not-Jedi in Ep 5 to a full Jedi in Ep 6? People tell me facing his father was the last thing he needed to go. I guess, but he got no more training between the movies - unless he snuck off to Dagobah again. As far as the novels are concerned, Luke spends time in Kenobi’s house on Tatooine while setting up the rescue attempt. He finds old notes, journals, etc. that show him how to make a new lightsabre, as well as some Jedi techniques. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/51 "2005-06-16T13:39:07Z")
[QUOTE=Stonebow] > [@Anaamika](#): > > As far as the novels are concerned, Luke spends time in Kenobi’s house on Tatooine while setting up the rescue attempt. He finds old notes, journals, etc. that show him how to make a new lightsabre, as well as some Jedi techniques. Ah. See, now that I can accept. Thanks. I really need to read those novels. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/52 "2005-06-16T13:41:12Z")
[GIR] I love plotholes … [/GIR] ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/53 "2005-06-16T16:11:24Z")
Well, the Empire probably diverted more funds to the military, leaving less for infrastructure maintenance. Besides, most vehicles seem to hover, so they probably aren’t too concerned about holes in their roads. Then… What? Oh! _Plot_holes! Nevermind… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/54 "2005-06-16T16:57:15Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > “Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough but your uncle wouldn’t allow it.” … “Your father’s lightsaber.” > > I wasn’t paying attention. Did Obi-Wan pick up Anakin’s lightsaber? And when he did pick it up, I don’t recall Anakin telling Obi-Wan, “Hey, give that to my kid when he or she is old enough, please.” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/55 "2005-06-16T17:30:43Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > But someone could’ve made some action within those 10 years. At least buy back Anakin’s mom or something. For that matter, here’s another one that’s bugged me: Turn your minds back to **The Phantom Menace**. Before the pod race, two bets are made between Qui-Gon and Watto. First, Qui-Gon bets their ship (the silver SR-71) against Watto’s parts that Anakin will win the race. Later, they bet Anakin’s pod racer, which Anakin owns, against Anakin’s freedom. Watto says, “No pod is worth two slaves!” but surely a pod is worth one, since he was willing to make the bet. So, after the race is over, Qui-Gon has won the needed parts and won Anakin. They still have their ship, and they have the pod, which Anakin sells. He shows Shmi, his mother, the money he got for it, and she is pretty impressed (“That’s wonderful, Ani!”). And why not, it was the racer that beat Sebulba, so it probably fetched some fair coin. Now…why didn’t they use that money from the sale of the pod to buy Shmi from Watto? Watto had just lost a bundle betting, surely he needed cash. They didn’t need cash for anything else, and surely that ought to have taken priority anyway. They never even show Qui-Gon _offering_ to buy her, even though earlier dialog indicated that they should have been able to afford her easily. A pod is worth roughly one slave, remember? I am forced to conclude that Qui-Gon really didn’t want Shmi along, that he wanted Anakin alone, without familial attachments, and that everything that subsequently happened to Shmi and Anakin is Qui-Gon’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/56 "2005-06-16T17:50:53Z")
> [@Catalyst](#): > > Wikipedia’s [entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagobah) on Dagobah claims that there’s an EU story in which Yoda defeats a dark Jedi on Dagobah sometime before ESB, and that the cave is where the dark Jedi died; Yoda stays nearby because the dark aura of the cave masks his own aura and prevents the Palpatine from locating him. That would be Zahn’s “Heir to the Empire”. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/57 "2005-06-16T17:58:34Z")
That is indeed a darn good observation, **Max Torque** , and only makes an already huge plot hole even bigger. Even if Qui-Gon just didn’t want to mess with buying Shmi, why didn’t Padme think of it? Heck, why didn’t Anakin? It gets even worse in _AOTC_, when you find out it’s ten years later and Bonehead Skywalker STILL hasn’t figured out some way to free his mom. So what if Tatooine wasn’t subject to Republic laws? Anakin was never exactly Mr. Follow-the-Rules . . . especially when he went back and slaughtered an entire tribe of Sand People. Certainly he should have been able to figure out some way to buy her freedom (or for that matter just take a lightsaber to Watto) and smuggle her off to a nicer planet. The really bewildering part about Shmi remaining a slave is that it’s not even necessary to the story. All Lucas had to do in _AOTC_ is mention that Anakin (or the Jedi) had bought his mother’s freedom years ago, but she decided to stay on Tatooine and marry Whatshisname Lars. She still could have been kidnapped by the Sand People, and everything else would have happened the same way. Apparently even easily-fixable holes were too much for Lucas to worry with. He was too busy coming up with all those hilarious lines for Jar-Jar! ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/58 "2005-06-16T18:14:03Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > “Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough but your uncle wouldn’t allow it.” … “Your father’s lightsaber.” > > I wasn’t paying attention. Did Obi-Wan pick up Anakin’s lightsaber? Just saw the film yesterday, and looked out for this. Obi-Wan definately did pick up Anakin’s lightsaber. But didn’t give any instructions to give it to his son. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/59 "2005-06-16T18:20:37Z")
Oh, re: the Trench Run? Because the _surface_ of the Death Star is full of gun emplacements. The trench has them too, but on the surface, you’re far more exposed. Multiple turrets can fire at once, and they’ll hit you real darn good if you loiter. You can _barely_ make a dive into the trench. Source: X-Wing video game. And, well, the movie. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444/60 "2005-06-16T18:23:06Z")
> [@Winston Bongo](#): > > Apparently even easily-fixable holes were too much for Lucas to worry with. He was too busy coming up with all those hilarious lines for Jar-Jar! Like him jumping and screaming “Weesa going home!!!”, even though his planet was conquered and the Senate was not going to help them. Why would that be so exciting? Back to Shmi, maybe Shmi didn’t want to be freed. After all the “slavery” didn’t seem that horrible. It was like a part time job where Ani could go home for dinner. Speaking of slavery, did Watto pay them so they could have that house and food, etc? Or did he provide it since he owned them? If so, why would Watto go through all that extra expense if he could’ve just had more droids? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-biggest-plotholes/308444.md?page=4)