Question: How long did Darth Sidious keep Darth Maul, Tyrannus, and Vader on as apprentices?
Tailkinker
3rd Aug 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
27th Jul 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: Considering that only Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Bail Organa knew the truth about Luke and Leia's existence, do we know if Bail told his wife about the truth of Leia's background? Also, in episode IV, when Owen says, "That's what I'm afraid of," in response to Beru's comment that Luke has too much of his father in him, it seems to imply that he knows that Anakin is Vader, and that Vader is Luke's father. So how much of Luke's background did Obi-Wan reveal to Owen and Beru?
Answer: I think it's fairly unlikely that Obi-Wan told Owen and Beru everything - had he told them the truth, they might well have refused to take Luke. Owen is obviously aware that Anakin was a Jedi Knight, from their encounter in Episode 2, and he's also aware that the Jedi have been hunted down and exterminated. With this in mind, a more likely interpretation of his statement is that he worries that Luke will learn about his true heritage somehow and start learning about the Force. This could easily have the effect of bringing him to the attention of the Empire, which would probably end with his death. Owen's simply concerned that he'll get himself killed on some adventure or other, which is probably what he thinks happened to Anakin.
22nd Jul 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: If I wanted to read about the events that took place between III and IV, what would be the most accurate and authorized book or series of books to read?
Chosen answer: There aren't any at the moment, as the books have been under orders to stay away from that time period. There will, however, be books coming out in the near future that deal with that timeframe.
6th Jul 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: Why is "1138" supposedly hidden as a uniform number?
Answer: The number 1138 appears in five of the six Star Wars films - it's only missing from Return of the Jedi. It's a reference to an early film directed by Lucas, entitled THX-1138.
6th Jul 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: Why does Yoda choose Dagobah as his place of exile? What is its significance to him?
Chosen answer: It's suggested in the books that Yoda settled on Dagobah because of the Dark Side cave near his home. The presence of a nearby source of Dark Side energy effectively camouflaged his own presence, preventing the Emperor and Vader from locating him.
Additionally, in the Clone Wars show Dagobah is where Yoda must travel to begin his force-ghost training with Qui Gon's disembodied spirit, which is presumably part of the reason he returns.
29th Jun 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: Luke calls Owen and Beru 'Aunt and Uncle.' Is he just referring to them as close relations, or did Anakin's mother have other children?
Answer: Owen's father married Anakin's mother, making the pair step-brothers, so, even though it's not actually a blood relationship, uncle is an accurate way of describing Owen's relationship to Luke.
29th Jun 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: If Padme and Anakin's marriage is supposed to be a secret, why is she shown to be pregnant during her funeral courtege? Wouldn't questions be asked about the identity of the father? Surely it would be easier to cover up the existence of Luke and Leia if Padme's pregnancy is not made public, even after her death?
Answer: Yes, from some points of view, it probably would have been. On the other hand, there's a lot of sense in making it appear that the children were never born, that they died with their mother. After all, the existence of at least one child is already known to Anakin. If Padme had not appeared to be pregnant at her funeral, it would at least suggest to him that his child might have survived - if he thought that was a possibility, he'd have come looking for his offspring, which could have wrecked everything. Better to put up with a few awkward questions being asked than risk having a Sith Lord chasing after the galaxy's last hope.
21st Jun 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: Is Anakin more powerful than Yoda, considering he did defeat count Dooku, which Yoda couldn't do.
Chosen answer: Well, we don't know whether Yoda could have defeated Dooku or not, as Dooku resorted to trickery in order to get away - by trying to drop the column onto Anakin and Obi-Wan, then escaping while Yoda's attention was diverted. As such, the battle was inconclusive, although the fact that Dooku had to cheat in order to escape does seem to indicate that he himself doubted his ability to defeat the Jedi Master. As such, we can't really determine whether Anakin or Yoda had the higher power level from their respective battles with Dooku - a more telling indicator would be that Obi-Wan, who is, at best, on level terms with Yoda and is, to be honest, probably less powerful, was ultimately able to defeat Anakin.
12th Jun 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: What happens to the clone army between episodes III and IV? I assume they are not the same as the Imperial forces in the original Star Wars movies (unless they got new ships, uniforms, etc.).
Chosen answer: You assume incorrectly, I'm afraid, it's the same army. Their equipment has evolved over the twenty-year period between the films, as you would expect to happen. The main change to the ground forces is that the stormtroopers from episodes 4 to 6 are conventionally recruited troops rather than clones (which may account for their apparently decreased effectiveness) - very few, if any, of the original clone troopers would still be alive, given the levels of combat that they've seen and their accelerated aging process. The only faction where only the original clones remain is the 501st Legion, otherwise known as Vader's Fist. They were the clones who helped Anakin overthrow and destroy the Jedi Temple.
2nd Jun 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: How do Han Solo and Chewbacca end up together?
Answer: After the end of the Clone Wars and the creation of the Empire, the Wookies were enslaved, ostensibly as punishment for helping Jedi fugitives. Chewbacca worked as a slave for some years, before being rescued by Han Solo, at the time a cadet at the Imperial Academy and acting entirely against his orders. Solo was kicked out of the Academy and vanished into the life of a smuggler, accompanied by Chewbacca, who had sworn a life-debt to his rescuer.
2nd Jun 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: How long is there between Episodes II and III? There were ten years between I and II, and around 20 between III and IV, but the entire Clone Wars saga happens between II and III, so how long was between them?
Answer: Approximately three years.
30th May 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: If Luke Skywalker's identity is to be kept secret, why is he left on Anakin Skywalker's home planet with people Anakin knew and is distantly related to, and with Anakin's surname, which is not the same as Owen and Beru, the couple who take Luke in? Wouldn't it be possible, however remote, that Vader (Anakin) might figure out his son is alive? Is this ever explained?
Answer: The simple answer is that there's no way that Anakin would ever figure it out, not that he would ever have it drawn to his attention in the first place. Firstly, he believes that he killed Padme on Mustafar, making the survival of their children impossible, as she was nowhere near any form of medical facility that might have saved the babies. Secondly, he's hardly going to be dropping in for family visits - he pretty much cut off all ties with his past when he became a Sith Lord. Anakin's not going to be paying attention to the doings of his stepbrother (who, to the best of our knowledge, he only met once, at a painful time that Anakin's not going to be particularly interested in revisiting) who runs a small farm on a backwater planet. Imperial Intelligence aren't going to pay any attention either - there's no indication that Owen and Beru lead anything other than quiet lives, and the appearance of an adopted child isn't going to raise any eyebrows. Even the surname's not going to attract attention - Vader's previous identity of Anakin Skywalker from Tatooine is not going to be common knowledge, so nobody's going to make the connection. Besides, Vader and his master have other priorities; they have an Empire to run and a resistance movement to deal with - it's highly unlikely that Anakin ever gave his stepbrother another thought.
1st Jun 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: In this film, two Jedi show they have the power to block Force Lightning: Mace Windu does it using his lightsaber, and Yoda does it unarmed. Given this, is there any reason why Yoda would not have taught this to Luke in Episode 6, especially since - having fought him - he would know that Palpatine had that power? Even if Luke wasn't as powerful as Yoda, he still could have done the Mace Windu version since he had his lightsaber with him.
Chosen answer: Yoda's got his work cut out condensing what would ordinarily be a lifetime of Jedi training into, at most, a few months, so it's hardly unsurprising that he wasn't able to cover everything. That being said, it's quite possible that Yoda did explain the lightsabre technique for blocking the Force lightning, but Luke doesn't have his lightsabre available to use - he throws it away when he tells the Emperor that he's a Jedi like his father was (after he cuts off Vader's hand). When he's subsequently being hit by the lightning, he's in too much pain to focus enough to pull his sabre back.
20th May 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: In the Attack of the Clones DVD commentary, Lucas promised that in this third movie we would finally find out who Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas is, and how he managed to place the order for the clone army without the Council's authorization. I didn't notice any explanation at all - was there one given?
Chosen answer: There was no explanation in the film. An explanation appears in the (authorised) book called, I think, Labyrinth of Evil, which was released shortly before the film and deals with events leading up to the events of the film. To sum it up, Sifo-Dyas was a respected Jedi who had become disaffected with the policies of the Jedi Council. Encouraged by his colleague, Count Dooku (by then secretly studying the Sith arts), he placed the order for the clone army before being killed by Dooku to prevent anyone from finding out about it.
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Chosen answer: We have no particularly accurate way of telling how long Maul was his apprentice, although it's stated that Maul was trained as a Sith from a very young age, so it was probably some considerable time. As far as we know, Tyranus became the apprentice after Maul's death, so he held the position for roughly thirteen years. Vader then took over, holding the position until the events of Return of the Jedi, a period of about twenty-two years.
Tailkinker ★