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

CT Bail Organa's whereabouts in ANH

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by Among the Clouds, Jul 11, 2014.

  1. Among the Clouds

    Among the Clouds Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 18, 2001
    Perhaps there is an EU explanation for this (and there probably is ((or was)) ), but do we know for a fact that Bail perished on Alderaan when it blew? I've always assumed that he did, but for all we know, Bail was elsewhere. Leia never actually mentions that he is alive, and she never really indicates that he died on Alderaan either. I realize Leia is strong-willed and what not, and she's good at hiding her emotions and continuing with the mission, but the break-down you'd expect to see at some point after someone's father dies (biological or not) never materializes onscreen.
     
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  2. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I figure that any grieving or breakdown she did, she did right after the explosion - then repressed it in order to function in the hope that she could make an escape, or to go to her death with dignity.


    "We have no time for our sorrows, Commander" fits with that.
    I think the novelization of the RoTJ movie says Bail died on Alderaan:

    Mon Mothma entered the room. A stately, beautiful woman of middle age, she seemed to walk above the murmurs of the crowd. She wore white robes with gold braiding, and her severity was not without cause—for she was the elected leader of the Rebel Alliance.
    Like Leia's adopted father—like Palpatine the Emperor himself—Mon Mothma had been a senior senator of the Republic, a member of the High Council. When the Republic had begun to crumble, Mon Mothma had remained a senator until the end, organizing dissent, stabilizing the increasingly ineffectual government.
    She had organized cells, too, toward the end. Pockets of resistance, each of which was unaware of the identity of the others—each of which was responsible for inciting revolt against the Empire when it finally made itself manifest.
    There had been other leaders, but many were killed when the Empire's first Death Star annihilated the planet Alderaan. Leia's adopted father died in that calamity.
    Mon Mothma went underground. She joined her political cells with the thousands of guerrillas and insurgents the Empire's cruel dictatorship had spawned.
    Thousands more joined this Rebel Alliance. Mon Mothma became the acknowledged leader of all the galaxy's creatures who had been left homeless by the Emperor. Homeless, but not without hope.
     
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  3. Yanksfan

    Yanksfan Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 3, 2000
    Also, there's like three years between ANH and ESB. There's no reason not to think that she did all her mourning once the mission was accomplished. She could've cried into her pillow every night for months, for all we know. But by the time we pick her up again in ESB, enough time would've passed for her grief to be manageable at this point.

    So, yeah, sadly, I think Bail was on Alderaan when it was destroyed. Which is a shame. Bail Organa was one of the few characters in the PT that I genuinely liked.
     
  4. Vthuil

    Vthuil Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 3, 2013
    Interestingly, if I remember right Lucas seems to have considered the possibility that he wasn't at some point between the production of ANH and ESB.
     
  5. MOC Vober Dand

    MOC Vober Dand Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 6, 2004

    I agree with all of this, especially the last sentence.
     
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  6. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    They blew him up. BOOM!

    ...and as others have said, Leia didn't have time for a breakdown. She had to win a war against the totalitarian government that caused this.
     
  7. MOC Vober Dand

    MOC Vober Dand Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 6, 2004
    Yeah. Some people don't like her lack of response to the destruction of her planet, but I think it's plausible. In crisis situations, people often find a way to suspend the grieving process until the job at hand is done.
     
  8. Drewdude91

    Drewdude91 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 21, 2011
    Yeah he's definitely dead. If he wasn't, he would have rejoined the rebels.
     
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  9. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2011

    Ain't nobody got time for that, Luke Skywalker is there to rescue her. He's got her R2 unit. He's there with Ben Kenobi, come on!

    Plus, someone has to save their skins.
     
  10. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    Adywan's Star Wars edit shows that Bail was on Alderaan just seconds before the explosion (and for good measure, Jar Jar was there too!)
     
  11. darth-sinister

    darth-sinister Manager Emeritus star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 28, 2001
    Leia says to Obi-wan that her mission was to bring him and the Death Star plans to Bail on Alderaan and that he can retrieve the data from Artoo. Ergo, he was on Alderaan.
     
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  12. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Let's put it this way, here's the picture of Bail Organa that accompanied his bio on the 1998 Behind the Magic CD-ROM:


    [​IMG]

    (The BTM picture actually had a little arrow)

    And anyway:



    Case closed.
     
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  13. MOC Vober Dand

    MOC Vober Dand Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jan 6, 2004
    But remember it's not planet Earth. In the GFFA a being can be off-planet with a few moments' notice. Bail may have been away picking up some tacos when the planet blew up.
     
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  14. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Well, dying from food poisoning would certainly explain why he didn't show up later on, and the food vendors seen in the GFFA don't look the sort to follow standard cleaning practices. Fair enough.
     
  15. Among the Clouds

    Among the Clouds Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 18, 2001
    I figured he was good as dead. I simply would've expected more emotion from Leia. I'm sure she dealt with her grief off-screen, but it could've been alluded to a little better in the film. For example, when Luke is mourning Obi-Wan's death, Leia could've chimed in: "I know. These are difficult times. My father was on Alderaan when the governor destroyed it."
     
  16. thejeditraitor

    thejeditraitor Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2003
    he blowed up real good.
     
  17. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

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    Sep 2, 2012
    She wasn't going to give Tarkin the satisfaction. Granted, a whole planet exploding? That is a lot.
     
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  18. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

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    Jan 5, 2011
    Some people go numb when exposed to trauma.
     
  19. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 25, 2008

    I think Lucas forgot to show Leia's grief onscreen because he was too concerned with how Luke would react over Obi-Wan's death.
     
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  20. Darth Nerdling

    Darth Nerdling Force Ghost star 4

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    Mar 20, 2013

    I think this is why we don't see Leia's grief. The major focus of the story is Luke's arc. Clearly her loss was far greater than Luke's, but showing that would have worked against the Flash Gordon serial feel that GL was going for.

    Narratively, the destruction of Alderaan was meant to establish that the Imperials were really really bad and what the Death Star could do to Yavin 4 if it got in range and that's about it. It's real significance is downplayed.

    Certainly, if someone was writing a history of that period in the GFFA, then the most important events would probably be A) the destruction of the Death Star B) Luke joining the rebellion C) the destruction of Alderaan D) the Emperor disbanding the Senate. However, D would have been too boring to delve into in ANH, and C would have been too horrific to delve into at any great length in ANH, so I think GL just wanted to show Alderaan get destroyed and then make you forget about the implications of its destruction as soon as possible afterwards.
     
  21. Darth Nerdling

    Darth Nerdling Force Ghost star 4

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    Mar 20, 2013
    This clip probably explains in a more concise and humorous fashion than I just did why GL so quickly steered away from Alderaan's destruction in ANH:

     
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  22. darth-sinister

    darth-sinister Manager Emeritus star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 28, 2001
    I think the idea was that Leia was more rational and mature in ANH, which is why she doesn't breakdown on screen and prioritizes things. Notice how Luke shrugs things off to fight TIE Fighters and is fine until he talks to Leia about Han's selfishness. And even when Han is in danger in TESB, she manages to not breakdown. It isn't until ROTJ that she finally breaks down when Luke leaves to face Vader and after learning they're all related.
     
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  23. The_Phantom_Calamari

    The_Phantom_Calamari Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 10, 2011

    Talk about overkill. Why is this guy so popular again?

    (And why are people so obsessed with the idea that Jar Jar got blown up by the Death Star? Seems a bit harsh.)
     
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  24. Chewbacca89

    Chewbacca89 Jedi Master star 5

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    Oct 25, 2012
    I love how people act like they know what its like to have your entire planet destroyed. Like somehow your own personal experience gives you the ability to tell others how Leia was feeling and reacting after her planet's demise...
     
  25. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

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    Sep 2, 2012
    Agreed. Nothing we have gone through in our lives will compare.