Question: I'm confused. Palpatine wanted to use Queen Amidala to get himself voted as chancellor so he could have control over the republic. Why did he send Darth Maul after the Queen's ship when it escaped if he needed the Queen alive?
Question: Something I never quite figured out when watching the film was what the shields in the corridor were for? The shields that separate Darth Maul from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan during the fight. There are dozens of them and all they seem to do is benefit the fight in the film without having any real purpose.
Chosen answer: According to "Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I" by Kristin Lund, they are "laser doors which lock into position in response to potentially lethal power outputs that occur intermittently during plasma activation process" (the fight takes place in a plasma energy processing plant). There are six laser doors in deference to an ancient Naboo legend in which Chaos is held back by six inpentrable gates. As you say though, they're really just a plot device to add dramatic tension to the duel!
Question: Why would the Trade Federation need the queen to sign a treaty to make their invasion legal if they've already invaded the place and taken over anyway?
Question: When we see four astrodroids fixing the ship trying to get past the blockade one of them is R2-D2, but out of curiousity, what are the names of the other three?
Question: When someone becomes a Sith, they take a different name, i.e. Palpatine becomes Darth Sidious, Count Dooku becomes Darth Tyranus, Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader. Does anyone know Darth Maul's non-Sith name?
Answer: No. According to the official sources, Maul was trained in the Sith ways from a very early age - it's quite likely that he himself doesn't remember his original name. Even if he does remember it, it would mean nothing to him any more - the Sith and their ways are his life - and he certainly wouldn't answer to it. According to the non-canon novel "Darth Plagueis", Darth Maul was named "Maul" by his mother before she turned him over to a young Palpatine. He didn't take a new name when he got the title "Darth."
Question: Anakin's mom says the Republic doesn't exist on Tatooine. Why not?
Answer: It's in the Outer Rim territories. It's far enough away from the central government that they can't really have an effective government. In addition, it's in Hutt-controlled space.
Why not send people to take control of Tatooine, and the outer rim territories away from the hutts?
The Republic has the task of running an entire galaxy, which is billions and billions of planets and solar systems. Sending troops into the Outer Rim, against heavily armed gangsters and with little to no communication, enough resources or backup, would be a terrible plan. At least the Hutts keep things running smoothly and don't let the planets go into anarchy.
Answer: In addition to the other answers: It's simply not worth it. There is nothing strategic about the system other than maybe as a waypoint. It is resource-poor, which added together means very little presence by any side.
Answer: There are places like Tatooine on Earth, like Afghanistan. Superpowers have attempted and failed to take over the indigenous population many times. Here, the Hutt organisation is too powerful and entrenched to defeat, and the Republic probably doesn't have unlimited resources to fight such a war.
Question: Is there any information given about what happened to Maul's ship after his defeat on Naboo?
Answer: According to information found on Star Wars Wookiepedia, Darth Maul's ship, known as a Scimitar, fell into the possession of Darth Sidious after he was defeated on Naboo. Source: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Scimitar.
Question: Why does Darth Maul just stand there and watch Obi-Wan flip over him and then bisect him? As a Sith, Maul had plenty of time to react to what Obi-Wan was doing, and his training means he shouldn't have been surprised by it either.
Answer: It was meant to be very fast. It couldn't be so fast that the audience would have no idea what was happening, so we wind up with an awkward scene where Darth Maul literally watches Obi-Wan flip over his head. He never even notices that Obi-Wan has Qui-Gonn's lightsaber. He seems quite shocked that Obi-Wan was even able to get above him at all.
Answer: In the book, The Life and Legacy of Obi-wan Kenobi, it actually talks about this a little bit. Darth Maul wasn't expecting this move, and it caught him by surprise. Obi-wan was hanging on for life down below, and to Maul's mind there wasn't a way he could really get back up, much less armed. One thing to consider is the fact that Darth Maul is actually pretty weak in using the Force compared to most other notable Force users. He's mostly a martial artists, and a damn good one to, having extraordinary combat ability to the point he can fend off a Jedi Knight and a Padawan at at the same time. But his actual strength in the force is weak, where he's only able to lift/push small objects or do a Force jump. He didn't predict, or "foresee" Obi-wan's move. Nor could he sense that Obi-wan was moving the light saber on the ground next to him, and would never have guessed that not only Obi-wan would Force jump out like that so suddenly, but also grab a saber at the same time and go for a swing.
I remember at least two books - which may not be canon now - describing Maul as prideful. It seems like he was quite skilled in fighting, as you say, but he underestimated opponents.
Answer: I always saw it as Maul didn't realise Kenobi was going for the lightsaber at the same time and the whole move was suicidal from Maul's point of view. His lack of reaction is him being stunned by what he sees as Obi-Wan just jumping in front of him to be attacked.
Question: I realise this has been brought up many times, but can it be considered a definite continuity error in the whole series that Obiwan Kenobi is trained by Qui Gon Jinn in this film, despite saying in Empire Strikes Back that it was Yoda who trained him? Some have argued that Qui was working under Yoda, but in Empire, Obiwan said to Yoda, "Was I any different when you taught me?" which to me pretty much says that Yoda was his direct teacher. I'm guessing that Lucas changed the background stories a bit, but I would like to know for sure.
Chosen answer: No, it can't. As we see in Attack of the Clones, Yoda is in charge of training the younglings, the Jedi hopefuls, the ones too young to have been selected as a Padawan. Yoda trained Obi-Wan when he was a child, then Qui-Gon selected him as a Padawan as he reached the proper age. They both trained him, taking responsibility for different stages of his education. It is entirely possible, of course, that Lucas did originally intend Yoda to have been Obi-Wan's sole master when he made The Empire Strikes Back and thus your guess that he changed the background stories may well be accurate, however, if this is the case, then he made the alterations in such a fashion that no continuity error exists, because it all fits together.
Also, most Jedi probably had friendships with older Jedi who were not their masters. They could think of any Knight/Master as a teacher, despite not being the official apprentice of that Jedi.
Question: When Darth Sidious tells the Neimoidians that he will make their next move legal (at the beginning of the movie), don't they think that comment is strange, unless they know that he is also Senator Palpatine? They don't seem to wonder how he can make something legal.
Answer: They know that he's a powerful individual with some serious connections. While they obviously don't know his true identity, they clearly feel that he's capable of manipulating the Senate to that extent. While a degree of curiosity as to how would be entirely understandable, a general unwillingness to look too closely into the doings of a Sith Lord is also entirely understandable. They'd undoubtedly be curious, but either none of them are brave enough to ask Sidious, or they've learned from experience not to do so.
Question: After the council decides to not train Anakin and Qui-Gon decided to train Anakin himself why does Obi-Wan look like he was betrayed?
Chosen answer: Obi-Wan didn't feel betrayed, he was dismayed at Qui Gon once again openly defying the word of the council. The two disagree on Anakin and Kenobi feels that were Qui Gon to simply follow the rules, he would have been on the council by now.
Question: When the two Jedi and Jar Jar are travelling through the planets core, Obi Wan asks Jar Jar why he was banished. Jar Jar says it was because he is clumsy but I can never understand what he says after that. What does he say?
Answer: "Mesa cause-ed mabee one or duey lettal bitty axadentes...yud-say boom da gasser, un crash Der Bosses heyblibber...den banished." Jar Jar was under Boss Nass' employment and was working in Nass' kitchen during a party. He accidentally caused the gas oven to explode, which destroyed the bubble wall (what keeps the water out) of Nass' house, causing it to flood. He tried to save the Boss' Heyblibber (a luxury version of the Bongo) but ended up crashing it which caused the outraged Nass to banish him.
Question: I've heard that you can see Prince Xizor on Coruscant somewhere in the movie. What scene is he in?
Answer: From Star Wars wiki: Xizor makes many cameo appearances during the podrace scene in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, as the micro-machine toy figurine of Xizor was used as a stand-in for members of the podrace crowd.[2] However, as this cameo is used only as background fill-ins, it may not be considered an actual appearance of the character proper. And under "appearances" he is listed as possible\debated for the film. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Prince_Xizor.
Question: Why does Mace Windu have a purple lightsaber when every other good guy has green or blue ones?
Answer: Samuel L Jackson wanted a distinctive lightsaber, so asked George Lucas if he could have a purple one - Lucas decided that there was no hard and fast rule that said that Jedi had to go with green or blue, so he allowed it. As for the story rationale, Mace Windu saw a vision of himself with a purple lightsaber and travelled to the planet Hurikane where purple lightsaber crystals naturally grow, and was gifted several as a gift for helping the local populace.
Question: Is there any explanation as to why Obi-Wan doesn't use force speed to get through the hallway while Qui-Gon and Darth Maul are fighting?
Answer: It's never really stated that he doesn't. It is a very long corridor, and he was quite far behind. He may have been "saving" his force powers to use in the fight, or Maul may have been exerting his own influence to either stop or dull Obi wan's own force powers. It may have even been the force's own will. Maul was quite easily holding his own against the two, and technically defeated them both. Without the anger/rage that Obi Wan felt after seeing Qui Gon get cut down, he probably wouldn't have fought half as well, and Maul would have emerged victorious.
Question: It's common knowledge that Darth Maul blinks only once in the whole film. How was Ray Park able to keep his eyes open, without blinking, for such an extended period of time?
Answer: Easy, they filmed him in short intervals. How long is the camera on him at any given time, without the camera cutting to someone else? 30 seconds at the most. Pretty much anyone can keep their eyes open for 30 seconds if they try.
Question: This is more of a general question for the franchise. What happens if Jedi discover children who have Force ability, but they are in stable, happy families? We see situations where Jedi were found as orphans, i.e. after battles, or a parent is glad to give their child a better life, as Shmi Skywalker did. But this can't be the case for everyone.
Answer: Jedi don't only go for the ones that are orphans, but they are the most likely to be taken in by the order, since they offer them a home and goal in life. When a child is showing he or she is force-sensitive, any legal guardian could or would contact the Jedi to find out more, possibly allow that child to be trained to become a Jedi, but it is not required. The order is basically a boarding school, or military school; the younglings can still see their parents, but not for too long. It's the choice of the parents, and later the child itself, whether or not to continue with the training. During the time of the Republic, the Jedi order even checked children for force-sensitivity and consulted the parents about training to gain new recruits.
Question: Is it possible that the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the force is talking about Luke Skywalker? They all think it is Anakin but Luke is the one to defeat the remaining Sith. I've never seen anybody make the connection and was wondering if it is true.
Answer: Anakin/Darth Vader is in fact the one who brings balance to the force and destroys the remaining sith by throwing Darth Sidious over the edge and removing his life support.
Question: What exactly are midichlorians?
Chosen answer: Midi-chlorians are an intelligent microscopic lifeform present in the bloodstream of all sentient beings within the Star Wars universe. The higher the midi-chlorian count present within a being's bloodstream, the more Force-sensitive they are, making them a likely candidate for Jedi (or Sith) training.
Question: I have read that this film was not received well among SW fans. I first saw this in the cinema and thought it was great and even now I still consider it a really good film and I love all of the films as a whole. I am just wondering why it is considered not as good as the rest?
Chosen answer: A lot of people felt that the more political nature of the film was inferior to the more swashbuckling feel of the original trilogy - after all, a trade dispute isn't inherently as entertaining as a rebellion against an evil Empire. They felt that the dialogue was rather clunky and delivered in a somewhat wooden fashion, which is in many ways a not unfair point, although the scripting accusation applies equally to the original trilogy (Lucas simply isn't a good writer of dialogue). In the end, the main problem was that, over the years, the original trilogy have gained an almost mythical status and have a substantial nostalgia factor, to the extent that a number of fans at the time were quoted as saying that the release of a new Star Wars film was to be a defining moment in their lives. The expectation levels were so high that it would have been impossible for any film, no matter how good, to live up to them - disappointment was inevitable.
Answer: The entire time Palpatine is bitching to Viceroy Gunray that he needs the Queen to sign the treaty to make the blockade and invasion legal. He didn't send Darth Maul to kill Amidala, he sent him to capture her and to deal with her Jedi escort.
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