CT What were George Lucas original intentions for the death of Owen and Beru Lars?

During the development of ANH, then known simply as Star Wars, there were many things that haven't been introduced at this time:

Stormtroopers using flamethrowers and Thermal Detonators for example.

There was also no thought of Boba Fett and Disintegrations

etc.

What were Owen and Beru supposed to be killed by and why did they have to die such a horrible death when the Jawas appeared to simply have been shot by a usual blaster setting?

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I've always assumed that they were killed by flamethrowers.

 

Maybe they were just intended to have been killed with blasters, like the Jawas?

The Jawa corpses seem to be lightly steaming, and the blast marks on the sandcrawler resemble scorch marks. Perhaps the intention was just that the Stormtroopers used their blasters.

 

That's my guess, too. Look at Greedo when Han shot him. But why and how was the couple burned so much that only skeletons remained?

Did it happen because the entire squad shot them or was it a higher setting? If it was the second, why did they use it?

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I've always assumed the Stormtroopers tortured them to death, trying to find out where the droids had gone.

 

They are found outside. I guess that's where they died. An explosion inside the homestead wouldn't have so much of an impact there that it could cause such an condition.

You mean "the burning"? Wasn't that invented by Daley after ANH was released?

I always found it an unrealistic explanation. Why would the stormtroopers keep on disfiguring their bodies after they must have died, looking at the condition of the corpses?


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Thank you. I'm sorry. Will be more attentive from now on!

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It's a bit of a stretch, but maybe after the burning starts, the bodies just keep burning by themselves until only the charred skeletons are left.

 

I always interpreted the burning as targeting and shooting at the bodyparts of the victims with blasters at a low setting until skin and tissue are burned away. If it was stopped the body would remain in the condition it was in at the time of stopping.

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I had always figured they were injured by the Stormtroopers who then set their home on fire, and in their attempt to escape they were caught in it and subsequently burned to death on their front steps.

But personally, I like the theory that it was Boba Fett who charred Owen and Beru. Why else would Vader turn to him in ESB and say "no disintegrations this time"? Maybe that wasn't the thought initially, but perhaps written in during the ESB writing process.

 

Nah, Boba was with Jabba. Vader is referring to a different matter with him. As to the Lars, I'm just going to say that they were shot and then their bodies incinerated by the Flametroopers. Just cause we didn't see them in ANH, doesn't mean that they didn't exist.

 

He was on Tatooine in close proximity to everything that happened, and unless there's some canon explanation about what he was specifically doing in the hours leading up to being seen with Jabba, it's entirely possible he accompanied the Stormtroopers at the Lars residence, and then went straight to Mos Eisley after that.

What else would Vader be referring to?

 

Boba worked for Jabba and routinely hung out at his palace as we saw in TCW and in ROTJ. Vader's reference is not important other than Boba prefers disintegrations. Boba has no reason to be working with Stormtroopers and be with Jabba. If he's on a job, he doesn't deviate from that job. Vader has not hired bounty hunters to find the droids. That's why he ordered a detachment to stay behind and search the planet. If Boba thought that Han was involved, he would have stayed behind. Nor would the Stormtroopers employ spies to find Obi-wan and the droids.

 

All true. But it still leaves the possibility open. Boba wasn't attached to Jabba at the hip. He could have left briefly to do another job and come back. There were others looking for Han on behalf of Jabba. And Vader was desperate at that point. So while Vader wouldn't have specifically hired Boba to find the droids, he could have offered him a reward to accompany the Stormtroopers and potentially find anything they can't come up with. And to remain in good standing with Vader, Boba took the job. I mean, when Vader offers you a job, you tell whoever else you're working for to hold up, you have to go do something real quick, and then come back. And what could Jabba have possibly done if Boba had done that? Again, not saying this is what definitely happened, just that it's possible.

And I do think Vader's reference is relevant and wasn't just some generic thing he told Boba. There's no other reference for Vader to say that to him. If anything, given the context and what happened in the previous movie, and the fact that Boba was in proximity to it, it's perfectly reasonable to suggest Boba was there and was responsible for the disintegration.

 

True. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't work for them. Because by the time of ESB, Vader and Boba are shown to have an established working relationship anyway, as seen on Cloud City when Boba accompanied Vader in his capture of Han and Leia. And it was Boba who provided that information in the first place on where Han and Leia went. And then to bring things full circle, Vader allowed Boba to carry Han back to Jabba, thus allowing Boba to complete his original job. That kind of working relationship, especially during this period, could not have sprung up in any short amount of time.

 

There was no Boba Fett, when ANH was filmed. It must have been the sandtroopers or maybe an airstrike by Tie Fighters or the Star Destroyer in orbit around Tatooine.
I'm after George Lucas original intentions in this thread.

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I just figured they were shot and then the place set on fire... This film didn't come out long after the Vietnam war finished - So a lot of the atrocities would have been fresh in the film makers minds

 

Let's see what we have:

Blasters have different settings, as seen by a stormtrooper stunning Leia.

Blasters can produce heat and cause burns, seen by the state of the Jawa corpses, Greedo and their impact on stormtrooper armor.

The Sandtroopers weren't carrying flamethrowers with them.

Thermal Detonators weren't introduced.

The Star Destroyer was in orbit around Tatooine.

Imperals have TIE's with them.


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If that's the case then I'd still say Owen and Beru were either injured or otherwise incapacitated somehow by the Stormtroopers, the Stormtroopers torched the place, and in their attempt to escape they were caught in the fire.

Although it does make you wonder why Vader didn't order to have them captured and brought aboard the Star Destroyer for interrogation, especially after the Stormtroopers traced the droids to them.

 

Because Vader wasn't on Tatooine. He had more important affairs to attend to and left it up to the Stormtroopers to handle. They don't need to report to him all the time. He's only informed of what went on when the Falcon took off with the droids.

 

The state the skeletons were found in and where they were makes it unlikely that it was a fire that was responsible for their condition.

I also think George used the Greedo scene for hinting that it were Blasters that turned them into this.

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