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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

CT How long was Luke on Dagobah?

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by Vialco, Feb 3, 2013.

  1. Vialco

    Vialco Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2007
    When Luke arrives on Dagobah, Han and Leia are being chased through the asteroid field.

    They evade the Imperials and make their way to Bespin and after their capture and torture, Luke comes to Bespin to fight Vader.

    Just how long was Luke on Dagobah for?
     
  2. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    I imagine it was a pretty significant amount of time, since the Falcon was traveling to Bespin at sublight speed.
     
  3. Arawn_Fenn

    Arawn_Fenn Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2004
    Backup hyperdrive.

    ( For the systems to be close enough together such that the distance could be traversed at sublight speeds, they would essentially have to be the same system, or the journey would likely have taken years, which would not have been permitted by a timeline placing TESB in 3 ABY and ROTJ in 4 ABY. )
     
  4. KilroyMcFadden

    KilroyMcFadden Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2012
    JeanNo and TiniTinyTony like this.
  5. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    If they have a backup hyperdrive, it eliminates the need to go to Bespin in the first place.
     
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  6. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Not if they're short of supplies, fuel, etc and the backup hyperdrive is very slow.

    Bespin, Anoat and Hoth are shown as extremely close together in The Essential Atlas. Yet they still take a month to get from the asteroid belt (near the border between the Hoth & Anoat systems)- to Bespin. It would have taken years to get anywhere further away- by which point their food would have run out.

    And, quite possibly, the war could have wound up by then- Palpatine's Death Star II was already approaching completion (at least, of the superlaser) in ESB.
     
  7. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    The movie makes it pretty clear. Han isn't talking about slow hyperdrives or low supplies. They can't achieve hyperdrive at all, it's a recurring theme in the movie.

    As to real world physics about interstellar travel, this isn't a real world depiction. Star Wars is loose with the physics and always was.

    The movie speaks for itself on the matter.

    There aren't any claims that can be drawn from what the movie depicts about the length of time it takes them to get to Cloud City.

    The only thing we can be sure of, is that it took a significant amount of time, during which Luke received a significant amount of training.

    Return of the Jedi makes it clear that Luke had already received the amount of training necessary to become a Jedi. It was clear that his return to Yoda in that movie was his first since we saw him depart in Empire.

    Luke spent a good deal of time with Yoda, and the crippled Falcon spent a good deal of time reaching Cloud City
     
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  8. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    Which is why splatbook writers have tried to "tighten it up" so to speak, with varying degrees of success.
     
  9. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 30, 2013
    In fairness, I always judge the movies and anything that happens in them by their own merit. It's just the way I've always looked at them.
     
    Valairy Scot likes this.
  10. Lord Chazza

    Lord Chazza Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2013
    Let's get something clear here. Star Wars does not do good physics. Remember the "she'll make point 5 past light speed." That is far far too slow to ever get anywhere in the galaxy. My guess, just from the feeling of the film, is that Lucas imagined it to be a few days or possibly a few weeks. Luke was cutting his training short so that implies it was a fairly short time.
     
    Jo Lucas likes this.
  11. Arawn_Fenn

    Arawn_Fenn Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2004
    Han and Chewie are mechanics. It's not outside the realm of possibility that they could have parked the ship somewhere in space and jury-rigged the hyperdrive to be reliable only within a limited range. What's interesting is that despite being portrayed differently in the dialogue, the situations faced by the Falcon in TESB and the Queen's ship in TPM are exactly the same in terms of practical effect: they can't just go wherever they want, they have to find a safe port within a certain limited range.
     
    rumsmuggler likes this.
  12. VadersLaMent

    VadersLaMent Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2002
    One of the best things about the D6 RPG was the item of backup hyperdrive. The distances between stars are vast. Sublight speeds take years to get anywhere in a galaxy. One real world explanation is that the Falcon traveled very close to the speed of light and they took advantage of time dilation, and mere weeks or days passed for them while months went by for everyone else.

    But, why in the universe would you not have a backup when the possibility of being stranded between stars exists? It does not have to appear in the film to be in the cannon. Just because I do not see a "fresher" does not mean they don't exist.

    Weeks at the longest. A month from Hoth to Bespin? Can Luke get trained enough in that time? Of course he can.

    Not only is Luke the Son of the Chosen One he is trained by Yoda. Remember The Karate Kid? Mr Myagi took a skinny wimp and turned him in to someone who could win a martial arts tournament in less than a month. Yoda has lived for centuries and had the Child Of The Chosen One to bring up to competative speed. The point is that Luke with everything I just mentioned can take on Vader.

    A far more important question is that if it all took place in weeks or a month or so(maybe months) then what are the clothes of Han and Leia made of that they can wear them all the time and not smell up the place? Wash them daily or are they some kind of filth repellant material or a bit of both?
     
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  13. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    We all have our own ideas about what canon is. I personally judge the movies on their own merit

    As to the clothes thing, I've often wondered that myself. Maybe they were pretty smelly :p


    I do acknowledge that many fans will look at the entirety of the Star Wars cateloge including novels and books and what not when talking about these types of issues.

    I just prefer looking at the movies as separate.
     
  14. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    This.
     
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  15. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    Long enough to keep the film moving.
     
  16. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 30, 2013
    Why would you not have a backup?

    They may not be feasible. Does your car have a backup engine? A car can leave you stranded on a desert road or in a snow storm.

    The way I see it, the movie was pretty clear. They can't achieve hyperspace.
     
  17. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    The difference is that it doesn't take you decades to make your way back to civilization. Usually.
     
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  18. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 30, 2013

    No, you can die on a desert road in days
     
  19. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

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    Sep 2, 2012
    True. And you can die in a spaceship in days, if you forgot to bring water with you.
     
  20. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 30, 2013
    The truth is, we could probably imagine a hundred different rationalizations to explain some sort of hyperdrive trip to Bespin, but none of them should carry more weight than what the actual movie tells us. And the movie tells us, they can't jump to hyperspace.
     
  21. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    At the time they're trying to get away from the Imperials, yes.

    Plenty of room for them to have gotten it "partly-working" over the weeks that pass since then.
     
  22. Placeholder

    Placeholder Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2013
    If they got it working, they don't need to go to Bespin. In fact, going to a system so close to your last known location is hazardous. You don't do that unless you have no choice. The movie tells why they have no choice, they don't have hyperdrive. You'd like me to believe that they have some limited form, but on what can you base that?

    I could say that they called up Captain Picard and asked for a ride and got tractored there by the Enterprise after Q sent them to time long ago, in a galaxy far far away. You can't disprove that, either. But there is no basis for it.

    There is only one answer that has basis, they have no hyperdrive.
     
  23. KilroyMcFadden

    KilroyMcFadden Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2012
    How is anyone even arguing against this? The movie makes it clear that there is no hyperdrive. It fails over and over and is never depicted as working. Not ever. Not once prior to when Lando attempts to escape from Cloud city in it.
     
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  24. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    The bigger question is how Luke managed to go to the bathroom in such a tiny compartment unless he stopped at rest stops?
     
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  25. Arawn_Fenn

    Arawn_Fenn Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2004
    "Partly-working" is not intended to mean the same thing as "working". They're in the same position that the characters were in with their "leaking hyperdrive" in TPM. They can still get to star systems within a certain range, but within that range they need to get it fixed.

    We didn't invent the term "backup hyperdrive", the franchise did.

    If you're going between different solar systems at sublight speed, you can't get there in the timeframe permitted by the film ( with regard to the intended overall chronology ).

    You're only seeing them try it in tense situations when they're running from Star Destroyers and all hands are on deck, so to speak. If left alone and not being chased they could probably work on it until they got it partially fixed.