Darth Venal said:

Monroville:

This would in turn give the Falcon the needed time to escape (can't show the reactor topple, fall and then explode behind them, as the whole DS would go up instantly, destroying everthing around and inside it, including the Falcon).

Well it seemed to work perfectly well that way in Return of the Jedi. You seem to be suggesting that the destruction of the reactor would cause an instantaneous vapourisation of the entire Death Star. Why would that happen?

I think the way it's depicted in Jedi, with the chain reaction explosion spreading outwards, is completely believable. That's how it works in Star Wars, as well, remember.

There's nothing to suggest that the Death Star should instantly blow up. The drama doesn't support it, the facts presented in the movie don't support it and physics don't support it.

But if that's what you'd have in your edit, great.

(sigh)

Because explosions are pretty instantaneous. Haven't you seen Mythbusters? Regardless, that was a ROTJ Wishlist item thought up to possibly explain how the Falcon could have the time to escape the DS2 even in a semi-realistic fashion, as short of the DS2 being made out of flammable material or the Emperor putting gasoline over everything to torch his bad investment and get the insurance money, the only thing blowing the DS up is the reactor...which we see blow up behind the Falcon... while they're still inside the DS2.