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Why didnt the Death Star tell Vaders squadron that the Falcon was coming from behind them?

Discussion in 'Classic Trilogy' started by Joe_Garelli, Jan 20, 2008.

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  1. Joe_Garelli

    Joe_Garelli Jedi Master star 1

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    Dec 22, 2007
    Seems like kind of a stupid error in judgement if you ask me, Darth Vader along with his Tie fighter escort squadron has been cleaning house and destroying every X-Wing and Y-Wing fighter that he has come across except for Wedge who he damages and lets go because he cannot fight anymore, so after Vader has destroyed Biggs X-Wing and is about to attack and destroy Lukes fighter why doesnt the Death Stars radio controllers get on the radio and tell Vader or his wingmen that there is an unidentified ship closing in on their location directly behind their flight path basically getting ready for an attack.

    Because in the military when planes or fighters are in danger of attack from enemy fighters the base usually radios it in to them so that they can take evasive action and avoid it or at least be alerted to their presence, also Darth Vader himself should have noticed the Falcon on his own fighters radar as well, either Vader becomes lost in the moment or doesnt maintain radio contact very often, which is evident from his shout of "What!? Vader just invites disaster with his lack of attention, Vader seemed to be pretty careless to allow Han Solo and Chewie to sneak up on his unit unnoticed like that, you'd also think that the power of the Dark Side would let him sense the danger and prepare for it before the Falcon arrived.
     
  2. Alpha-Red

    Alpha-Red Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Apr 25, 2004
    The ANH novel mentioned that the Death Star was jamming the Rebel fighters' sensors, so maybe it works both ways and jams Imperial ones too? Or perhaps the Falcon, being a smuggler ship, just switched its transponder to look like an Imperial vessel.
     
  3. Darth_Davi

    Darth_Davi Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Jul 29, 2005
    Seems like a logical explanation to me...
     
  4. Wookiee_Vader

    Wookiee_Vader Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2007
    Even so, it would have been clear that the Falcon was gearing up for an attack run.
     
  5. Alpha-Red

    Alpha-Red Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Apr 25, 2004
    Attack run, shmattack run. The Death Star's architects obviously didn't think the trench was that important, and probably didn't even have sensors that could scan down there (who in their right mind would fly through a trench anyway?). Even if they did have radar-based sensors they'd probably pick up tons of clutter from the walls of the trench and all those jaggity edges we saw in the movie. If that's the case then the X-wing and Tie Fighter chase was going on without the knowledge of anyone else on board the battle station (the guns could've been ordered to fire blindly in a particular direction after someone reported fighters in the trench).

    I think the physical geometry of that trench too would provide a major obstacle to signals intended to the ships flying through it. If that were the case then Vader might not have received any warnings intended for him. Even if the Force is tipping him off that something is amiss, he's pretty focused the fact that a Force-sensitive Rebel pilot in front of him is about to claim a massive chunk of hero points.

    Hence the Death Star commanders don't know where Vader is, they can't contact Vader cause he's in the trench....all they see is a YT-1300 going in supposedly to make a last-ditch bombing run on the thermal exhaust port so they try to vector in fighters to kill it perhaps? If so they probably failed and it's possible Han picked up a competent gunner crew from Yavin prior to taking off. If he was using a fake transponder then he could've gotten even further to his target in the confusion of the battle before an intercept attempt was made.

    Vader doesn't see the Falcon coming in at him (modern day jet fighters have foward-pointing radar only, assuming this is true for SW too), Vader's Force senses are going wild and he's still euphoric from killing Obi-Wan so he doesn't feel anything else. He's not picking up any transmissions and any signal traffic would only be an intercept order rather than a more urgent "you're under attack" so he wouldn't feel that through the Force either.

    Yeah, I dunno....just throwing stuff around =P
     
  6. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    Vader had tunnel vision and was focusing on trying to shoot down Luke. He wasn't aware of anything else.
     
  7. Darthbane2007

    Darthbane2007 Jedi Master star 4

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    Oct 31, 2007
    If they did, then we wouldn't hav ESB and ROTJ, would we?
     
  8. jedibri

    jedibri Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2000
    It's also possible they thought the Falcon was leaving.
     
  9. scf881

    scf881 Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2004


    i think that vader was too dead set on shooting luke down. he sensed his strength in the force, and wanted to take him down no matter what. he focused his attention completely on shooting luke that he wasn't paying attention to his instruments.

    or this...sorry typed before i read this post.

    Vader had tunnel vision and was focusing on trying to shoot down Luke. He wasn't aware of anything else.

     
  10. obi-rob-kenobi4

    obi-rob-kenobi4 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2007
    i think we are over thinking this one,i think that the simple explanation is that the falcon is way too fast for any one to see it coming,i mean after all it IS the millenium falcon were talking about here.the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy!;)
     
  11. _Sublime_Skywalker_

    _Sublime_Skywalker_ Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 8, 2004
    Han is right about his ship, it's pretty fast. Maybe even fast enough to slip threw imperial sensors and hitting Vader before the Imperials even knew he was there.
    Also, jamming the sensors usually works both ways, so that's a plausible explanation too.
     
  12. Darth_Davi

    Darth_Davi Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 29, 2005
    Here is a theory I just came up with...

    General Tagge, the one who Vader almost choked to death in the conference room, deliberately ordered his crew to not inform Vader. Still miffed about being choked, he had an axe to grind with Vader, and wanted to see Vader and his "Force" deal with the Falcon. Tarkin, being the highest ranked official on the Death Star, isn't going to be responsible for minor details like communications, He has other things to concern himself with, so its not as if Tarkin would have to have gone along with Tagge's treachery. Tagge truly felt the Death Star was invincible, didn't see the rebels as a threat at all, so he was just trying to get rid of Vader, who embarrassed him earlier. Tarkin would not find out later, if at all, that Tagge deliberately deprived Vader of the information, by which time, the Dark Lord would be dead, and Tagge wouldn't have to worry about being summarily executed. Tagge just didn't know that if that lone X-Wing survived, he would in fact, destroy the entire Death Star. Ironically, Vader, despite Tagge's treachery, is the only Imperial to survive...because Han knocked him out of the trench. Poetic justice, perhaps?
     
  13. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 2, 2007
    That was Admiral Motti who was choked. :rolleyes:
     
  14. skyysoblue

    skyysoblue Jedi Youngling star 2

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    Jul 15, 2005
    Another on this same theme:

    1. Why weren't other Rebel fighters going into the trench after Vader's ships to pick them off from behind


    The answer to my own question is that if they fire and miss they may be putting their own comrades in danger...

    Now for a new answer to the question:

    All of the ships attacking the Death Star primarily used weapons which fired forward from the front of the ship, so it would be extremely difficult, almost impossible, for a rebel ship to try and dive bomb over Vader's tie fighter.

    However, the guns on the falcon were on the top and bottom of the ship, thus it could fly over the trench parallel to the fighters below and try and pick them off. The person monitoring the fight was not aware of this and thus did not perceive the danger in time to warn anybody
     
  15. Darth_Davi

    Darth_Davi Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Jul 29, 2005
    Not according to the novelization...
     
  16. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 2007
    Admiral Motti: [image=http://www.starwars.com/community/event/celebration/img/c2_motti.jpg]
    General Tagge: [image=http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/a/af/180px-SWTagge.jpg]
     
  17. DuDisNow

    DuDisNow Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 2, 2007
    Because the Death Star can't talk.

    Probably every person on the Death Star were watching the attack on the rebel homebase.
     
  18. Darth_Davi

    Darth_Davi Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Jul 29, 2005
    The novelization says that it was General Tagge, and that's what I went with. If Alan Dean Foster got the names mixed up, considering neither Tagge or Motti are actually mentioned by name on film, it was an easy mistake to make. Substitute all the General Tagges in my theory to Admiral Motti, and it still applies.
     
  19. TwiLekJedi

    TwiLekJedi Pretty Ex-Mod star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2001
    right, it's a small correction anyway. and the novel got a couple things "wrong" anyway. Blue Squadron, anyone? :p (Maybe they didn't spot the Falcon because they were looking for it ;))
     
  20. LordVader66

    LordVader66 Jedi Padawan star 4

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    Aug 30, 2005
    Vader sound have sensed the incoming Falcon, period. There was no need for the Death Star to alert Vader that the Falcon was coming, he should have easily sensed it through the Force. The real question was why Vader was unable to. My guess, it had something to do with Luke Skywalker.
     
  21. scf881

    scf881 Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2004



    didnt i say this?
     
  22. GrandWarlord

    GrandWarlord Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2003
    I think the Falcon came screamin pretty fast inbound, and even if it showed up on sensors, I think Han has some fake ID's that would transpond it being just a regular "run of the mill" transport, not a threat to the Imperial ships. Vader and wingmen where all eyes forward, on Skywalker as he was the true threat at the time......
     
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