A Little Bit About Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, In-Light of the Official Canon
Now that there is an official story line for the Star Wars universe how does that alter or improve our perception of events in Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode IV)?
Let’s talk for a few minutes about the upcoming Rouge Squadron film, “Red” blowing his motivator, why Luke Skywalker is raised on Tatooine by family members, why Obi-Wan doesn’t remember R2-D2 or C-3PO, how good Stormtroopers actually are, Luke and Leia’s romantic relationship, and how little of the Rebel Alliance we actually see!
The opening crawl of Episode 4, A New Hope references events we will see in the upcoming Rogue Squadron film!
Did R5-D4 (AKA “Red”) blow his own motivator or was he sabotaged by R2-D2?
I was always under the understanding that Red did this to himself, but there is a Legends story that is very different.
Why was Luke Skywalker hidden on Anakin Skywalker’s home plant? With his family members? Without a name change?
There are several answers to this:
1. Anakin (Vader) had to reason to believe a child of his was alive. In Episode III (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith) Palpatine/Sidious tells Vader that he (Anakin) had killed Padme in his rage.
2. Anakin hated Tatooine, he HATED IT. Did Vader go to look for the droids on Tatooine? No, he delegated it. In the prequels and in the Clone Wars TV show this point is reemphasized.
3. Obi-Wan and Yoda were both watching over Luke (Yoda from afar via the Force, as revealed in Episode V (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)); Ben Kenobi at the very least could run interference between the Lars family and authorities.
4. A rural homestead in the Outer Rim would be about as closely watched as a cabin in the Guatemalan mountains – he hadn’t joined the academy, the adoption was under the table… what system was he in?
5. Skywalker may have been a common name anyways, google yourself and see how many different people with the same name come up in your own state, county, country!
How did Obi-Wan not recognize R2-D2? again, multiple things going on here:
1. Obi-Wan says he never owned a droid, not just those droids – any droids.
2. Our little R2-D2 is one of a mass-produced astromech line.
3. Obi-Wan had a habit of looking at truth “from a certain point of view”.
4. The story line was still developing and the content of the prequels was not being considered at this point.
“I don’t think he exists anymore… He died around the same time as your father.” – Uncle Owen new who Obi-Wan Kenobi was, but knew he was now Ben Kenobi (who also didn’t change his last name to hide from the Empire). How can someone die, but you’re not sure if he still exists?
Luke is 19 years old, Anakin was 42 standard years old during the events of A New Hope.
Luke wants to join the academy, the Empire was first and foremost a government. Not everyone saw them as an evil entity.
Anakin built C-3PO, but doesn’t recognize him? HE DOESN’T SEE HIM!
The Stormtroopers have a bad rap, but they decimate the rebel guards on the Tantive IV, they slaughter the Jawas, and Obi-Wan respects their abilities. Also, aside from needing the main characters to survive, all the main characters have(or may have) some capacity of force sensitivity.
Luke and Leia, a romance in the making. Eewwww! They do not know they are siblings at this time, Lucas didn’t even “know” it yet!
The Death Star is destroyed, but the war isn’t over. The same thing will happen in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, super-weapon destroyed, leadership killed (though Palpatine and Vader are a bigger loss than Tarkin and the rest).
Keep in mind while watching the Original Trilogy (OT), we are not seeing the entire rebellion, a core/fundamental segment, but not the entirety of the Rebel Alliance’s forces.
It is substantiated in the books/comics that Luke and Ben Kenobi had met prior to their run-in the Jundland wastes, so even a little more familiarity than just Ben having been watching over Luke from afar and Luke knowing about the “crazy old hermit”.
And here is the Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode IV) trailer!