ST Starkiller Base Discussion Thread

I didn't like Starkiller base. For me it just seemed utterly contrived how this group of Sith/Imperial holdouts somehow had the resources to develop the technology for this radically new weapon...and without the Republic knowing about it. The real-life equivalent would be like Panama building the world's first atomic bomb rather than the U.S., Britain, France or the Soviet Union.

 

It's Death Star 3.0 but the scenes where it destroys the Capital and gets destroyed are very nice to look at. And the saving Rey/duel with Kylo Ren is more of a focus, anyway.

 

Why in gods name would Palpatine be building the DeathStar 3.0??? He BARELY completed the first deathstar before it was destroyed and had the 2nd one in only partial completion. Where would he get the resources or man power to start Star Killer at all? Sounds preposterous from any logical or even illogical angle you can imagine.

 

Whoa, there. Sounds like you're taking discussion about spheroid planet killers a bit too seriously.

 

SKB not being the main plot of movie is why it is terrible and unneeded in the story IMO. In a movie about finding Luke Skywalker suddenly that main plot is mostly ignored in the final 3rd of the movie while the heroes of the story embark on a completely new subplot that overtakes the movie. Then once that subplot is concluded R2D2 magically wakes up and the main plot of the movie is concluded without incident.

 

It was Luke's destiny to destroy the Death Star.

Starkiller Base was created with the intention of killing Luke.

After all, how else would you kill a Jedi master unless you could destroy the entire planet he was on?

 

I think the urgency of an imminent threat does drive the plot to some extent. Unless there is the feeling that doom is imminent, there is not much at stake in terms of finding Luke NOW. Was SKB the best way to do that? Well, unlike some, I do not hate the idea. But there is no doubt that it emphasizes TFA as a recapitulation of ANH in many ways. I don't think that recapitulation is necessarily a bad thing. Establishing this new era of Star Wars required a grounding. But SKB was a bit on-the-nose. Now, it's not really the main plot, so in some ways it acts as a counter-melody to the main plot. In that sense, the simplicity removes the need for a great of exposition.... we understand the threat. It's familiar. But I would have preferred something less obvious. What, exactly? I'm not sure. Perhaps a Fifth Column in the Republic that attempts a coup? Perhaps the murder of the Republic's leadership by the Knights of Ren? Dunno. Still, not even close to a deal killer for me.

 

Well for me the whole Death Star idea is very iconic to the franschise and to spin of a new trilogy with just a remake of the Death Star might seem like lack of ideas but also an statement to all the fans out there. That even though George Lucas might not be a part of the new trilogy his legacy will still be respected and developed in this new trilogy. And yes even thou the whole Starkiller Base destruction might be anti-climatic it still brought us some cool dog fight action that I very much enjoyed.

 

They did explicitly say the Starkiller was meant for killing Luke in the movie.

1. Snoke "What? You didn't find the map? Crap! You know what this means? Now we can't kill Luke!!!"

2. Hux "I know, let's blow up the Republic!"

3. Snoke "OK fine. But I'm very very disappointed we didn't get plan A going!"

 

Ya know, I had never thought of SKB as a "Luke Killer." It kind of makes sense. They certainly don;t want to face him, so destroying the entire system he's in would make some sense.

 

Unless you are using a different definition for explicit than what is in the dictionary, no they did not explicitly say that Starkiller base was meant for killing Luke in the movie. They don't explicitly say what the original purpose of Starkiller base was, although based on the scale and cost of such a weapon I highly doubt it was to kill Luke.They may use it for that purpose, but I have little doubt that it was not created with the main purpose being to kill a lone Jedi. There are much easier and cheaper ways to kill a Jedi, such as bombers, missiles, overwhelming numbers of Stormtroopers, and your very own force user. Jedi aren't invincible.

 

How would you get them to him?

As they approach Luke's Jedi Spidey sense would go off, he would get in his ship and off to light speed he goes.

The first thing Snoke was pissy about was "Now we don't know where Luke is, RATS!"

Starkiller Weapon cost: $ Lots of Credits!

Finally getting rid of the last Jedi: Priceless.

 

He was also called Luke Starkiller while they were first shooting ANH so it's also a nod.

Snoke also knew the history of such weapons are sadly often "one time use".

Snoke's Hit List:

1. Kill Last Jedi.

2. Bonus killings.

 

But could´nt StarKiller Base just be a sort of power demonstration? To strike fear into the Resistance and subdue them by fear. Ofc it is an effective way to handle Luke with but a mastermind like Snoke must have had something extra in mind when he ordered the construction of the base. Just regarding the cost I would say that it is a strategic investment for terretorial dominance and a token of power.

 

Well sure. It seems unlikey they'd freate SKB just to kill Luke. But I had never considered that they would use SKB to kill Luke is all. If they found the map to the system he was in, killing him becomes almost trivial. Not sure why I never thought of that before.

 

They used SKB just one time... but they sure used it very well.

Destroy the Senate of the new Republic, and most of its military power in a single strike is a win for Snoke.

 

It's in the dialogue from Snoke "General! Our strategy must now change."

Killing all Jedi was Palpatine's main mission which he failed at, the Jedi returned and he was as a result destroyed. Killing the last Jedi we could presume would allow Snoke to rule unopposed so destroying any chance for the Jedi to return, no expense would be spared.

Governments rise and fall, but the Jedi were eternal and crucial for peace and justice. As the first lines in the film said "Without the Jedi there can be no balance in the force"

Snoke's first lines show what his #1 priority is: "The droid will soon be delivered to the Resistance. Leading them to the last Jedi.
If Skywalker returns, the new Jedi will rise."

Snoke wants the Jedi gone for good, forever.

 

Yeah, I got that. I had just imagined he'd send Kylo and the KOR after him. It never dawned on me he'd just blow up the whole system, though it now seems so obvious! I feel a little bit foolish!

 

Technological Terrors < Power of the Force.

Snoke wants to control the force itself. Luke is the only one who stands in his way being the only one left in the galaxy who can train anyone to become a Jedi.

The most important thing in Star Wars is the force, the story has been about who holds the power over it.

 

Absolutely! But the fact still remain that in order to control people you will need to control the territory that they live in, hence the purpose of StarKiller Base. A territorial dominant object that gives you army a strategic upperhand regarding destructive power and to end countless of lives with. StarKiller Base is also efficient because you don´t need to move it much in order to use it.

 

Agreed all around.

The bits I'm interested in with Rebels is the introduction of an ancient Sith Temple/Life Destroying Weapon combo they showed. What I've always suspected is that in ANH, using the force was required to destroy the Death Star more than just the small area of the target. (I suspect we will find out more about this in Rogue One) The reasoning behind Han's innocuous seeming "How do we blow it up? There's always a way to do that." then Leia "Han's right!"

I think there is a lot more to these super weapons than we know that they aren't just big and scary. (Which they are)

I think the "another day at the office" feel of the Resistance squad was intentional.

 

Yea exactly! Hopefully we can get some explanation in the future movies.

 

I had a love / hate relationship with Starkiller Base.

On the one hand I love design, the power, the concept but I don't like how it uses the sun to power it. It actually destroys 2 galaxies in one sitting if you think about it because if you take the sun from a galaxy it will die on it own and then Starkiller Base could travel to another Galaxy in order to use it.

 

Star System, I stand corrected. Thanks TCF!