CT Medal ceremony? Are you sure that's wise, princess?

The fourth draft (Jan 1, 1976) doesn't include any mention of the Senate being dissolved, and Tarkin isn't anywhere near as confident in the Death Star's power:

The dissolution of the Senate was added for the revised fourth draft (essentially the shooting script), along with Tarkin's dialogue about the regional governors having direct control over their territories:

It's a subtle change, but it emphasises the importance that the Empire was putting on the Death Star - and as a result, the importance of its destruction by the Rebels.

 

In the ANH novelization - some of Motti's lines are actually spoken by Tarkin.

 

Well, when I first saw New Hope in the late 80s, I didnt know of the sequels yet (been told about them week later), and I assumed the destruction of the DS was the end of the Empire, that the chain of events will surely lead to success - the biggest weapon has been destroyed, the rebel alliance is now a powerful force capable of taking down entire bases etc

 

That was my first thought on viewing the ceremony - even back when I was 8 - where did all those other pilots come from? Why weren't they in the battle? Furthermore, why the hell was Luke in the battle? He just got there yesterday and he's flying a starfighter?

 

Leia probably vouched for him after her rescue.

 

They used all the starfighters they had available there it seemed, and it wouldve been wise to leave someone for eventuall ground battle. And as Iron lord said, Leia definitely vouched for Luke, plus his actions spoke for himself - he just managed to get into the heart of Death Star, and with a help of two guys and HIS plan to rescue the princess, he did it AND returned with the plans.

 

So, he had rescued her. That didn't mean he was qualified to participate in the Yavin battle so soon.

 

They had more pilots than ships readily available. Also Too many ships may have ruined any sort of element of suprise they had. Also they could have been from another rebel outpost and transferred to Yavin to help with the evacuation after the battle.

 

The novelization explains that this was his requested reward for rescusng her. That, coupled with the fact that he and two other guys rescued Leia from the heart of the enemy was certainly more than enough to give him a place in the fighter

 

So did Biggs. Also, the radio adaptation features Luke in an X-Wing simulator to judge his skills. Red Leader tells him he only got killed twice, which made him a better-than-average pilot. So, he got the job.

 

Makes sense then I guess, I've never heard the radio adaption.

 

The DS was just destroyed. The rebels won the battle. The Empire wasn't going to hang around for the immediate aftermath. They would have retreated and then regrouped later for a new attack (alluded to the in opening crawl of Empire Strikes Back). Besides, we don't see any star destroyers in the ANH battle. This is probably due mostly to special effects limitations, but nevertheless they weren't there.

A celebration the night of the victory was easily practical.

 

Looks to me like Lucas was indeed trying to make the Death Star seem more important with those dialogue changes. But it seems natural to me that he'd want to make the adversary's primary weapon seem as important as possible, so that there's a greater sense of accomplishment when the heroes triumph over it. It doesn't necessarily mean Lucas was definitively trying to imply that that was the end of the Empire. After all, even if Star Wars wasn't a success, he was planning a low budget sequel in the form of Splinter of the Mind's Eye, in which the Empire is also still alive and well.

 

But it's on Yavin IV... an uninhabited world apart from the Rebel base. It's not exactly a public ceremony...

 

I recently read an article from a 1978 issue of Bantha Tracks, and Lucas states that the reason Chewie didn't get a medal is the Wookiees don't believe in medals. Finally, that mystery is cleared up! Would have been nice if they'd mentioned it in the movie, so that people don't think that the rebellion is racist. It's also mentioned that they didn't want Chewie to go totally unrewarded, so they flew to the Wookiee planet (not yet named Kashyyyk) for a celebration after the medal ceremony.

 

The Marvel Chewbacca miniseries has him get his medal which he gave away. And then there's Maz giving Chewie Han's medal at the end of TROS.

 

I'm glad that I haven't met a single soul who:

a) cared that much about it.
b) would immediately jump to the conclusion that it was some sort of racial discrimination/prejudice.

 

Was Carrie Fisher tall enough to hang a medal on Peter Mayhew's neck without using a stepladder?

 

Ok here's my theory to explain all the questions about the medal ceremony other than the fact George just wanted a celebration scene and probably didn't think about it too much. Because of the serious nature of what was gained from rogue one Leia personally worked to make sure the death star plans made it safely to the rebellion Leia and the Organa's were basically the main suppliers of the rebel cause meaning she was held in a high position and showing the importance of this mission that such an important person would put herself in harm for it. Meaning that compounded with the fact that the main leader of the rebellion was not only rescued by the main protagonists but also they personally destroyed the death star which might have been their ultimate end it makes sense why they would be congratulated. And due to the fact that the rebellion was at its Hight at that point and was trying to become more formal this medal ceremony might have been a way of carrying that out. Also if you are questioning why the empire might not have gone after them right away I would think that because the death star was at that point still a very secret project and because everything was destroyed except darth vader when it was blown up the only way the empire could have been alerted was by darth vader personally. And this gave the rebels a decent amount of time to have the ceremony and leave.

 

And where did they all come from has never been satisfactorily been answered.in all this time.

Looks like 5 rows of 6 pilots on each side, so where do 60 pilots come from?

Could it be pilots without craft? Could they be pilots of an unknown starfighter that has no bombing capability or U-Wings? Could be this is what pilots and crew of GR-75 medium transports wore at that time?.

The Battle of Yavin included 30 Rebel starfighters, 2 squadrons plus part of a 3rd to bring Gold Squadron up to strength. Massassi Base held 60 starfighters and two medium transports, if they're starfighter pilots why aren't they readied for a 2nd wave during the initial battle? I'm sure Leia would've thought of it if not Dodonna.

 

I thought Kashyyyk was under Imperial control around this time.

 

They obviously didn't know if there would be a sequel and so it is conclusive but just a little open ended with Vader surviving.

At any rate the head cannon would have you believe the Empire has suffered a major defeat and needs to regroup. The brief break is perfect for a big ceremony. The problem I have is that Chewie didn't get his damn medal. 'TROS' in it's most brilliant moment fixed that and if it didn't tug at your heart you're a monster.

 

Here’s what my understanding of the situation was:

The Death Star is destroyed. Word of the Death Star blowing up Alderaan and the senate being dissolved had just gotten out to the galaxy. When word gets out the Death Star is already gone, open rebellion breaks out on many planets. The empire is suddenly stretched thin to keep order.

Word of the Yavin Rebel base was not reported back to the Empire or Navy. Tarkin was going to take care of it himself and report back to the Emperor after the Rebels were destroyed. So this gives the alliance a little bit of time.

The Rebels immediately begin evacuating the Yavin base after the Death Star is destroyed. Other Rebel groups travel to Yavin to help with the move and provide Star fighter protection now that most of the Yavin pilots and ships are gone. After about a day the Rebels are ready to go.

Before leaving Yavin Leia leads a meeting with all the Rebels gathered and part of that is the medal ceremony. If the scene in the movie continued the gathered troops would have gotten orders about the evacuation. Pilots might be reassigned. Ground staff could be split up to different ships, etc.

Most of the pilots we see on Yavin just arrived and weren’t there for the Death Star battle.

 

Re: Chewie not getting a medal, I just thought that it was Han was the actual Captain-and presumably became so in the Rebellion, in terms of rank-and Luke was receiving a ranking position in the Rebellion, hence his medal. Chewie was Han's first mate-which is why he was actually able to be UP there, but not the one with an official rank. I imagine it would be the same if Han had a crew of like 10. Only Han-as the Captain-would get the medal, but not each and everyone of his crewmates.

So, I always kind of viewed it as an official "joining of the Rebellion," with the medals signifying their rank, rather than the whole ceremony being nothing more than one big "thank you."

 

Chewbacca not getting a medal was probably done for logistic and timing reasons. A filmmaking choice not a story choice. It would requires extra time to show Chewie receive a medal. The timing on the medal ceremony is perfectly edited as is. Hard to imagine showing Chewbacca get a medal improve it.

And then there is the height of Chewbacca. It would change the composition of the end shot if Chewie was standing next to Han and Luke. The film has Chewie standing two steps down while his head is a bit higher up than Luke and Han. Then there is the logistics of Leia putting a medal around Chewbacca’s neck.

On top of that it’s a very expensive scene to shoot with so many extras on set. That’s another reason to make the scene as streamlined as possible to shoot.

In early drafts of Star Wars a group of Wookiees assisted in the final battle, Chewbacca and a delegation of Wookiees are given gifts and a medal of valor.

The novelization for Star Wars actually has Chewbacca receive a medal with Han and Luke.

Here is George Lucas’s explanation from 1977.

“Chewbacca wasn’t given a medal because medals don’t really mean much to Wookiees. They don’t really put too much credence in them. They have different kinds of ceremonies. The Wookiee Chewbacca was in fact given a great prize and honor during a ceremony with his own people. The whole contingent from the Rebel Alliance went to Chewbacca’s people and participated in a very large celebration. It was an honor for the entire Wookiee race.”

Now the medal in The Rise of Skywalker is interesting. It’s great to see Chewie receive it. It’s also a major reveal, but I’m not sure how well it’s conveyed. Leia is holding Han’s medal when she passes away. It’s filmed in a way that purposely obscures what she is holding. I think Chewie being handed the medal is meant to confirm Leia is responsible for Han Solo appearing to Ben Solo. Somehow her holding it assisted in that.