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Episode VII: The Force Awakens - Discussion * SPOILER THREAD * — Page 222

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Ben-Solo said:

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Rey used the force on JB-007 I think he wanted her for himself when really I was the one who had plans for her. Anyways to make a long story short I don’t expect him to talk I expect him to die.

For me, he bordered on distraction. I knew he was in there for a scene, so I was subconsciously trying to figure out which one he was during my first viewing. His voice gave it away of course and I was able to refocus. I was glad to have it out of the way.

Still, a good scene made even better by the fact that it doesn’t work at first. She’s not quite there yet and has to try again. I thought that was handled well.

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Anchorhead said:

NeverarGreat said:
As to Ben being on the same planet, the reasons for him being there are given both in the Radio Drama, and as subtext within the actual movie. Obi-wan was the teacher to Luke’s father, and was tasked with giving Luke the lightsaber when he came of age. I don’t see how anyone could chalk Ben’s presence up to mere coincidence.

In the 1977 film, it’s an unexplained coincidence. Ben just happens to have known his dad, just happens to live near him, just happens to have his saber, the droids just happen to free-fall near him on the planet, and they just happen to be sold to Luke.

I am genuinely confused as to why you would think that Ben’s presence near Luke is coincidence. BECAUSE Ben knew Luke’s dad, he has his lightsaber. BECAUSE Luke’s father wanted Luke to have it at a certain time, Ben lives near Luke to watch over him. As for the droids/Finn, I’ve already said that this is a convenience for both films.

Anchorhead said:

NeverarGreat
Tekka on the other hand has only a tenuous association with Luke due to his possession of the map, and gives no indication that he is aware of Rey’s existence.

At what point does being the only person in the galaxy who knows the whereabouts of Luke become only tenuous? There appears to be a very important reason why Tekka knows where Luke lives and why he himself lives near Rey.

See above. Also, you seem very willing to accept that there is a reason that Tekka lives near Rey, despite there being far less to go on in this film than in Star Wars, yet you don’t accept that there was a reason Ben lived near Luke? My bafflement increases.

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ZkinandBonez said:

(This picture also makes me wonder what the heck “Veg-meat” is supposed to mean. Is it fake meat like Tofu?)

I would imagine so. Something like Seitan; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_gluten_(food)
Just had some for lunch myself about 20 minutes ago (Field Roast hot dog).

In a military operation or remote-world outpost where there isn’t an available source for agriculture, it would make perfect sense to have long-term dried rations.

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Niima Outpost is apparently the only major settlement on Jakku so it would make sense that smaller villages would be relatively close by.

I don’t know if this is explicitly stated in the film but it’s not hard to assume.

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NeverarGreat said:
I am genuinely confused as to why you would think that Ben’s presence near Luke is coincidence. BECAUSE Ben knew Luke’s dad, he has his lightsaber. BECAUSE Luke’s father wanted Luke to have it at a certain time…

It was a coincidence for which we were never given any real explanation. Ben saying he knew his father does not explain much beyond - he knew his father and for whatever reason, he now lives near Luke. It was glossed over quickly and discarded as the story continued within the film. Those slowly unfolding expositions you cite came many years later and in one instance from another writer in the 1980s. Knowing the prequel story decades later doesn’t mean it was well-written or explained back in 1977.

Ben lives near Luke to watch over him.

That was never even remotely suggested in 1977. Ben said he knew his dad, had his old weapon, and asked if he would help the princess. In 1977 the audience was left to infer who Ben was and why he was there. If they even chose to bother.

you seem very willing to accept that there is a reason that Tekka lives near Rey, despite there being far less to go on in this film than in Star Wars, yet you don’t accept that there was a reason Ben lived near Luke? My bafflement increases.

Let me help with your bafflement and address this one last time. I do accept it. In fact, I’m very willing to accept that both films give little or no explanation for the characters’ proximity to each other and the audience is left to draw their own conclusion, if they choose.

For the record; I very much enjoy that aspect of both films. I do not need a ham-fisted Lucastyle® explanation on every bit of minutia.

Now, with that in mind; Finding out decades later who Ben was and why he lived near Luke does not at all mean it was explained in 1977. It wasn’t. I was there.

I give the same pass to both films because I enjoy them both. That’s something the TFA haters are not willing to do. For them, what was once ok and mysterious is now somehow a sure sign that Abrams and Disney don’t know how to make a proper film. It’s a pre-hater’s argument and it’s weak.

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DuracellEnergizer said:

ZkinandBonez said:

Well, the “Traitor!” trooper, whom the fans have nicknamed “TR-8R”, has apparently been given a backstory.
It’s hardly important news, but I did find it somewhat amusing.
(Btw, his canon name is a lot more boring than TR-8R.)

http://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2016/01/star-wars-the-force-awakens-traitor-trooper-officially-named-given-backstory.html

Yay, more needless backstory to kill any and all mystique to the SW Universe.

It’s just a stormtrooper…

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Anchorhead said:

ZkinandBonez said:

(This picture also makes me wonder what the heck “Veg-meat” is supposed to mean. Is it fake meat like Tofu?)

I would imagine so. Something like Seitan; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_gluten_(food)
Just had some for lunch myself about 20 minutes ago (Field Roast hot dog).

In a military operation or remote-world outpost where there isn’t an available source for agriculture, it would make perfect sense to have long-term dried rations.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense actually.
It was mostly just the name that weirded me out, basically just “vegetable-meat,” which sounds very confusing.
But the idea of Rey scavenging to earn de-hydrated bread and “fake” meat on Jakku is a pretty nice little touch. It’s a bit like the moisture-vaporators, the film(s) never really draws any attention to it (pointing out the tech is more of a ST thing), but it still to adds to the environment.

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Lord Haseo said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

ZkinandBonez said:

Well, the “Traitor!” trooper, whom the fans have nicknamed “TR-8R”, has apparently been given a backstory.
It’s hardly important news, but I did find it somewhat amusing.
(Btw, his canon name is a lot more boring than TR-8R.)

http://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2016/01/star-wars-the-force-awakens-traitor-trooper-officially-named-given-backstory.html

Yay, more needless backstory to kill any and all mystique to the SW Universe.

It’s just a stormtrooper…

I was just disappointed that they didn’t actually call him “TR-8R.”

Also in this case I wouldn’t say that it killed any “mystique.” He’s not some weird cantina alien he’s some guy who clearly knows Finn, and who has some pretty unusual training. It doesn’t really matter, not for the sake of the film anyway, but for those who do like to have backstories, now they have one. One that actually makes some sense, unlike certain other EU backstories

I also love how the fans have named Daniel Craig’s stormtrooper “JB-007.”

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
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ZkinandBonez said:

I was just disappointed that they didn’t actually call him “TR-8R.”

Also in this case I wouldn’t say that it killed any “mystique.” He’s not some weird cantina alien he’s some guy who clearly knows Finn, and who has some pretty unusual training. It doesn’t really matter, not for the sake of the film anyway, but for those who do like to have backstories, now they have one. One that actually makes some sense, unlike certain other EU backstories

I also love how the fans have named Daniel Craig’s stormtrooper “JB-007.”

I’m relieved they didn’t call him that. Talk about lame fan service. He was obviously part of the same crew that Finn was, so the FN indication in the name is logical.

As for Skippy the Jedi Droid, he was never and has never been considered canon. He was the subject of a comic short story in Star Wars Tales. A title that from its inception was a collection of non-canon stories.

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 (Edited)

Tobar said:

ZkinandBonez said:

I was just disappointed that they didn’t actually call him “TR-8R.”

Also in this case I wouldn’t say that it killed any “mystique.” He’s not some weird cantina alien he’s some guy who clearly knows Finn, and who has some pretty unusual training. It doesn’t really matter, not for the sake of the film anyway, but for those who do like to have backstories, now they have one. One that actually makes some sense, unlike certain other EU backstories

I also love how the fans have named Daniel Craig’s stormtrooper “JB-007.”

I’m relieved they didn’t call him that. Talk about lame fan service. He was obviously part of the same crew that Finn was, so the FN indication in the name is logical.

As for Skippy the Jedi Droid, he was never and has never been considered canon. He was the subject of a comic short story in Star Wars Tales. A title that from its inception was a collection of non-canon stories.

Fair enough. But there’s still a lotad of dumb EU backstories, I just picked the dumbest one I could think if as an example. The EU also had a habit of giving random background characters their own elaborate sagas. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing I just find it kind of funny.

Also I wasn’t exactly being super serious.

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
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The worst example I can think of for that would definitely be IG-88. I never once considered that as canon despite its standing.

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Tobar said:

The worst example I can think of for that would definitely be IG-88. I never once considered that as canon despite its standing.

Didn’t he (it?) download his mind into the Death Star II computer or something bizarre like that in the EU? Or was that another Skippy-type of story.

Also, even though Palatine is anything but a background character, I always hated his EU backstory. I always imagined him as some kind of ancient evil (which the movies kind of implied), but the EU just made him into some random sith from Naboo.

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Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
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I believe there actually is a Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina-style short story collection based around the denizens of Maz’s bar on the way. I don’t feel strongly one way or the other about it.

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joefavs said:

I believe there actually is a Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina-style short story collection based around the denizens of Maz’s bar on the way. I don’t feel strongly one way or the other about it.

That actually makes perfect sense to me. I don’t mind the idea, but I’m skeptical about the writing.
Some of the already existing backstories to those characters seem kinda weird and silly.
(The Crimson Corsair is a pretty cool name though, has a bit of an early Marvel SW comics feel to it.)

Also, are the “Tales…” stories still canon?

EDIT:
I assume that you were talking about this?; http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tales_From_a_Galaxy_Far,_Far_Away_Volume_I:_Aliens

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
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ZkinandBonez said:

Tobar said:

The worst example I can think of for that would definitely be IG-88. I never once considered that as canon despite its standing.

Didn’t he (it?) download his mind into the Death Star II computer or something bizarre like that in the EU? Or was that another Skippy-type of story.

No, that was canon.

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 (Edited)

ZkinandBonez said:

joefavs said:

I believe there actually is a Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina-style short story collection based around the denizens of Maz’s bar on the way. I don’t feel strongly one way or the other about it.

That actually makes perfect sense to me. I don’t mind the idea, but I’m skeptical about the writing.
Some of the already existing backstories to those characters seem kinda weird and silly.
(The Crimson Corsair is a pretty cool name though, has a bit of an early Marvel SW comics feel to it.)

Also, are the “Tales…” stories still canon?

EDIT:
I assume that you were talking about this?; http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tales_From_a_Galaxy_Far,_Far_Away_Volume_I:_Aliens

That’s the one. Pretty sure it’s the Journey to The Force Awakens stories collected with a few new ones. I didn’t actually read the ones that have already been released, but I looked at some synopses and was interested enough that I’ll probably look at the collection when it’s out. Probably won’t spend money on it, but it may be worth the trip to the library.

Also, nothing before September 2014’s A New Dawn is canon except the films, the Clone Wars cartoon, and a 4-issue Darth Maul comic that was based on unproduced TCW scripts.

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I think there’s plenty in ANH to show that it’s not a coincidence at all that Ben lives near Luke and has his father’s lightsaber:

“That’s what your uncle told you. He didn’t hold with your father’s ideals. Thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved.”

“Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn’t allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your father did.”

Based on these quotes, I think it’s pretty easy to assume that Luke’s father was from Tatooine (in 1977, he was Owen’s brother after all), and while on Tatooine, met Ben and followed him on a crusade. It even implies Ben was originally from Tatooine, so it makes even more sense that he still lives there.

Anyone remember different camera angles from ROTJ?

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It’s “The Final Countdown” to the BD release.

By the way Han shot first.

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74 days till I can stop bleeding cash studying this thing.

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So apparently there might have been an actual scene with Yoda that was cut from TFA, presumably in a longer version of the Force-flash-back scene.

http://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2016/02/star-wars-the-force-awakens-yodas-planned-cameo-was-cut.html

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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I don’t hear that at all. The First Order theme, as played when Ren’s shuttle lands on Jakku, properly has that evil regime vibe.