Questions for June 30, 2005
Q&A Archive

As you’ll notice, I get a lot of questions about the mythology of Star Wars, especially in the last few weeks. For a change, I thought it might be fun to cover as many of them as I could in a single update, I hope you’ll agree. I would however like to preface this edition by saying that I have still not read the Revenge of the Sith novel, nor have I followed much of the New Jedi Order series of books. I was pretty ticked when they killed off Chewbacca and as a result never got into the story line. While I certainly appreciate what the Expanded Universe means to some fans, I prefer to look for clues to unanswered questions within the movies themselves before looking to the EU. As always, anyone who has a different opinion regarding any of the answers below is more than welcome to send them in, a good debate is the best way to exercise your fandom as well as your imagination.

As always thanks to all that have taken the time to write in, I do save emails so if you haven’t seen your questions answered yet, keep checking the latest updates!

On with the show:

1
I have noticed more movie-related questions lately and I like that, so here is mine. We all know about the "balance" of the force that Anakin was to bring, my question is was there ever any balance, I can't tell, there was chaos before Anakin, obviously during Vader, and still chaos after Vader kills the Emperor and dies himself, at least according to all the books, what with the Nightsisters, and the Dark Jedi academy, the return of Xar Kun, as well as many other references. Where is the balance? I don't see how Anakin/Vader did anything that had an impact on the force. I could bring balance but no one has ever asked.

The balance that the Jedi speak of is not measured by the number of Jedi to the number of Sith, nor is the Force necessarily out of balance prior to the events of The Phantom Menace. To better understand what the Jedi are talking about we have to remember Yoda’s lesson from The Empire Strikes Back; the Force is an energy field created by all living things. Before Phantom Menace there was peace in the galaxy for a thousand years. Sure there was evil in the galaxy but for the most part it was kept in check (balance) by the Jedi – guardians of peace that they were. Following the invasion of Naboo and the election of Palpatine to Supreme Chancellor we understand that the fabric of the Republic begins to unravel, there is less stability, more uncertainty – fear (the dark side) begins to slowly creep in – tipping the balance. Certainly after the Clone Wars begin the galaxy is under the shadow of darkness, fear is rampant and whatever balance existed during peace time is washed away. We can infer from Mace Windu’s comment regarding the “oppression of the Sith,” that Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader will instill fear in their Imperial subjects; in fact it’s made fairly clear in the movie that they feed off of and gain more power from this fear that’s now generated throughout the galaxy – the dark times. The Death Star is a tool of fear; one that Tarkin espouses will keep the local systems in line. It isn’t until Vader/Anakin destroys the Emperor, sacrificing himself, and the Rebellion emerges victorious that we get a sense that hope and the prospect of peace have returned to the galaxy and ‘balance’ has been restored. The various celebration scenes at the end of Return of the Jedi depict this and that is the story Lucas wanted to tell. While the Expanded Universe has brought up many challenges and in many ways deferred the peace that was depicted at the end of Jedi, ultimately our heroes prevail and both peace and balance are achieved.


2
I was watching Attack of the Clones the other night and a question came up. Yoda and Mace have a conversation about whether they should tell the Senate that their powers are weakening. What ever became of this? Why were their powers weakening? Is this why they ended up getting fooled so badly by Darth Sidious/Palpatine? Was he making their powers fail? They never brought it up again, so I was kinda confused by that scene in retrospect, even after seeing ROTS. -girlofgod

In a way Yoda explains this at the end of the movie when he refers to the “Shroud of the Dark Side.” It’s apparent that by manipulating the dark side of the force Palpatine/Darth Sidious is able to obscure the Jedi’s ability to foresee the creation of the Clone Army as well as the future. Yoda says as much when he tells Mace that “only the Sith are aware of their weakness.” Though it’s never fully explained in any of the movies, I think it’s safe to assume that Sidious, by upsetting the balance of the Force and manipulating the Dark Side, is in fact limiting certain Jedi abilities

Something else of interest here; Obi-Wan discovers the Clone Army was commissioned ten years prior to the events of Attack of the Clones. The blockade and invasion of Naboo also take place ten years prior to AOTC... Was the invasion itself the true ‘phantom’ designed to distract the Jedi’s attention away from Kamino and the Clone Army? Which raises another un-answered question brought up in Episode II, who erased Kamino from the Temple Archives…? (Possible answer below… read on)


3
We now know that Obi-Wan knew Leia Organa was Anakin's daughter and Luke's sister. In ANH he never mentions or even acknowledges this. After Luke rushes off to face Vader, Yoda tells Obi-Wan "there is another". How can we square the ending of ROTS with Obi-Wan's apparent ignorance of Leia's lineage in the original trilogy?

I watched parts of A New Hope the other night and it does appear that Ben gets a little fidgety when Leia appears as a hologram. It’s a stretch, but in hindsight his reaction could be read as acknowledgement of Luke and Leia’s relation. In Return of the Jedi Obi-Wan explains to Luke that he and his twin sister were separated at birth and hidden in order to protect them from the Emperor. Through the Force Luke discovers Leia is indeed his sister, but prior to that it seems Yoda and Obi-Wan clearly intended to keep her true identity a secret, even from Luke. If Luke were to fail, either Leia or her offspring could potentially confront Vader and the Emperor. Knowing what we know now and despite the fact that he refers to Luke as their “last hope,” I wouldn’t necessarily conclude that Obi-Wan is ignorant of Leia’s true identity in ANH and ESB, rather that he’s maintaining the charade for her protection and the best possible chance for peace in the galaxy.


4
Why did it take approximately 20 years to complete the Death Star between EP3 and EP4 but took only a couple of years to have DSII up and running? Was there already a 2nd in production? -Wes

The first Death Star was built under a union contract, the second was non-union...? Honestly that’s a good question that I’m sure will eventually be answered through the Expanded Universe but for now we can only speculate. I would assume the difference probably boils down to a level of need. The first Death Star was constructed during a time of little resistance to Palpatine’s rule. It isn’t until just prior to ANH that the Rebels win “their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.” Following the destruction of that space station, Palpatine finds himself in an interesting position; having just disbanded the Senate (counting on the Death Star to keep the local systems in line), and facing a rebellion that has suddenly become a much greater threat. I would imagine his need for the second Death Star was much greater at that point; therefore more resources were thrown at it and the timetable stepped up considerably. Obviously the Death Star II was not completed in the three year, and we really have no way of knowing exactly how far along construction was before it was destroyed, but it seems clear that more was accomplished on it in three years than would have been completed on the first battle station.

Considering the opening scroll of Return of the Jedi characterizes the construction of the second Death Star as having ‘begun,’ I think it’s safe to assume construction started soon after the first Death Star was destroyed.


5
Don’t you think that Yoda gave up to easily on fighting Palpatine in ROTS? He fell... and, quits! That’s not right; why not get up, in a super jump? Keep the duel of force powers on! That part didn’t make sense in the movie...

What do you think about the BIG difference in force powers displayed in CLONE WARS (animated) and ROTS for Yoda and Mace (and some other Jedi Masters)? I believe that in CLONE WARS, they do a much better job truly showing full Jedi Masters in action... -Ruben Guerrero

Yeah, it did kinda seem like he gave up a little too easily, but I think it was clear to Yoda that there was no way for him to win, he took a pretty bad beating from that fall, and he had just lost his lightsaber. While I would have liked to have seen some kind of sign of minor injury before he bowed out, the writing was on the wall. Besides, Lucas needed to cap this thing and at the rate those two were going at it the movie could have gone on forever…

My personal feeling is that the Force powers displayed in the Animated Clone Wars were as much a caricature as the images of the Jedi Masters themselves. While it worked well in a cartoon setting and was ultra cool to watch, we never saw powers like that on the big screen and there’s a good chance Lucas never intended for the movie Jedi to be that powerful. It was nice to see the Clone Wars focus on other Jedi Masters (though they never focus on my favorite Jedi – Plo Koon), especially considering there really wasn’t much time to do so in the films.


6
I hope I can word this so it makes sense. So, here goes: do you think that, in George Lucas's mind, the characters Eeth Koth & Agen Kolar and Adi Gallia & Stass Allie are 4 separate characters or just 2? I wonder who decided to change the character's names in-between Episodes 1 & 2 because other than there being different actors playing them, and Agen Kolar has darker skin, they don't look much different from TPM to AOTC & ROTS. Do you think George decided to change their names? I'd be a little surprised if George even knew what their names were actually. Anyway, that's that. -Fraggle

I believe there was evidence at one point prior to the release of Attack of the Clones that Lucasfilm may have tried to pass ‘Stass Allie’ off as Adi Galia. I wanna say it showed up on a yogurt pop or something… From that I would guess the four characters were originally intended to be just the two. Fans keyed into the fact that the roll was now being played by a different actress and soon after that the name Stass Allie started getting thrown around. It certainly seems to me that it would have been easier to just keep the original names with the new actors, or retire the costumes and create two all new Jedi Masters to fill the vacancies, but what do I know. Like you, I would be surprised if Lucas actually kept track of these types of details; it sounds more like something he would delegate to others. Odds are new actors were cast to fill the costumes once it was clear the original actors were not available for shooting. Lucas did move production from England to Australia for Episode II, and often time’s character actors with supporting roles don’t make that kind of transition. As fans were sure to figure out the actors were not the same, someone at Lucasfilm figured it was just easier to come up with new names… Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll ever know what George’s involvement in this process really was.


7
Hi, I've been having an argument with a friend, in Episode III what happens to Shaak Ti? Does she die at the end of Clone Wars? On the back of her figure card it says she is an "esteemed member of the Jedi Council" but I don't recall seeing her in any of the shots of the Council. Also, I thought that I had read that Ki-Adi-Mundi was s Jedi Knight in Ep. II. Which would make him a Knight on the Council and making a liar out of Anakin when he says that such a thing has never happened, is this true?

According to one of the latest Homing Beacons, we now know that Shaak Ti had a variety of death scenes, most of which never materialized. First, scenes were shot and animatics were worked up showing Grievous killing her aboard his flagship. When that was scrapped the guys at Cartoon Network lobbied to have her killed in season three of the Clone Wars Animated Series. That didn’t go over, but Lucas – impressed with the impact of the original scene - had a similar scene shot with Anakin in the Jedi Temple during pick-ups. Ultimately that scene didn’t work with the rest of what was going on and the only death scene Shaak Ti ended up with is the one in the ROTS novelization. As far as her appearance in the movie; she can be seen briefly, from behind, as Yoda addresses the Jedi Council from Kashyyk.

Not so sure about Episode II, but during Episode I a big point was made that Ki-Adi Mundi was not actually a Jedi Master, he was only a Jedi Knight. It was never mentioned in the movie, so how official that account is would be up for debate, but that was the story at the time. If you accept that account, it does make Anakin out to be a liar, and his tirade about not being granted the level of Master all the more childish.


8
As I'm sure you know, in ep3 Yoda tells Obi-Wan that Qui-Gonn has learned immortality and teaches him to talk with his former master. This I assume is the Jedi spirit trick from Return of the Jedi. My question is how does Anakin learn this? -Tom R.

Well, we certainly don’t see him learn this in any of the movies, and I don’t recall reading an explanation in the Expanded Universe, so here goes my take on the subject. Anakin’s interest with immortality is first noted in Episode II, following the death of his mother. It later becomes an obsession that Palpatine exploits in Episode III. We know that he is aware of the power according to the legend of Darth Plaugis, but it isn’t until he confronts Obi-Wan aboard the Death Star that he actually witnesses this power – as far as we know. He certainly didn’t expect Obi-Wan to just vanish into thin air; that much is clear. I would assume following that encounter he probably spent a good portion of his meditation time trying to figure out what the heck happened. Now, it’s my opinion that it isn’t until Anakin sacrifices himself to save his son that the final piece of the puzzle somehow falls into place. Either the sacrifice or in turning away from the dark side, Anakin finally unlocks the path to immortality and joins Obi-Wan, Yoda, and presumably Qui-Gon Jinn. It may not be an official account, but it works pretty well with facts we now know from the movies.


9
OK, I have seen Episode III. It was an OK movie. I felt that it was a little rushed but still OK. On with the question, who in the hell is Sipher Dias? I am not sure on the spelling of this dude but he was mentioned in Episode II as being killed after ordering the Clone Army. -Chris

This was one of those questions fans were waiting to see answered in Revenge of the Sith, but unfortunately no such answer made it into the movie. At one point Rick McCallum even suggested we would have an answer to this in Episode III. Unless there’s something in the book, I don’t think an answer exists – at least not yet anyway… Again, at this point it’s up to us to speculate, but I would assume either Darth Sidious, or more likely Count Dooku, murdered Master Sifo Dias, assumed his identity, and traveled to Kamino to commission the Clone Army. We know Dooku recruited Jango Fett for the project, it’s a safe bet he was involved from the beginning, and most likely deleted Kamino from the Jedi Archives before leaving the Order. It would have been nice to have seen this spelled out in the movies, but I guess they couldn’t find a convenient way to work it into the story.

Come to think of it, I believe there was a story in the Visionaries graphic novel that depicts Dooku addressing a frozen Sifo Dias. If he wasn’t murdered, it appears he was at the very least incapacitated.

10
Now that I have seen ROTS again... here is my BIG Question. Is Mace Windu dead?
Three things that happened to him:

1 He lost his arm
2 He was blasted with the force lighting
3 He fell

#1 Yes he lost an arm, but so did: Anakin, Ponda Baba, The Wampa, Count Dooku, Luke Skywalker, Zam Wessle.

#2 People who get blasted with force lighting and Lived: Anakin, Luke, Yoda.

#3 The Falling part Well Anakin jumped out of his speeder in AOTC and fell many stories to follow Zam. Obi Wan fell in that sequence also. Both lived Obi Wan and Qui-Gon fell during the Darth Maul fight, but lived and jumped back up to fight. Obi Wan fell in the Jango fight on Kamino in AOTC. Padmé fell out of a Republic cruiser in AOTC. Luke fell a long way in Empire and managed to hang on to a weather vain with just one hand. Obi Wan Anakin and Palpatine fell in the elevator shaft in the first part of ROTS. They used the batman line and hooks to stop from falling. Mace jumped/fell in the Arena fight in AOTC. Only 2 people have died from a large fall Darth Maul (who was also cut in half) and the Emperor in ROTJ. With all of the buildings on Coruscant, Mace could have landed on a ledge or a roof top or on his feet like in ATOC.
And one more thing we did not see him die like the other Jedi Masters who fell dead on the ground. Mace just fell out of sight. Hummmm!

If George would every make movies that take place after ROTJ. An old Wise Mace Windu could come out of hiding to help Luke Skywalker start a new Jedi order. Did Old George hide the Ace up his sleeve? Or is Mace Dead! -Scott

Despite the fact that we don’t actually see Mace hit the duracrete, I think it’s safe to say he’s as ‘dead’ (if not more dead) as Boba Fett was in Return of the Jedi. Lucas always intended for Fett to die in the Sarlaac pit, and it’s pretty clear he intended for Mace to die at the hands of Anakin and Darth Sidious. It wasn’t until years later, when Dark Horse asked to revive Boba Fett for the Dark Empire series that Lucas allowed for an alternate fate. That being said, might we see Master Windu revived in some form of the Expanded Universe? Sure, anything is possible I guess; Boba Fett and Darth Maul both managed to come back from the dead. Will we see Mace hook up with Luke Skywalker and rebuild the Jedi Order in a new series of Star Wars movies? No, I seriously doubt that. If Mace Windu is to survive his fall, it will only happen in the EU, and only if Lucas gives his blessing. Frankly I hope the character stays dead. The way Mace went out was perfect, bringing him back in any form would only serve to diminish the impact of that scene – and that would truly be a shame.


Until next time...


Got Questions?