why didnt the stormtroopers on bespin set for stun?

sorry for another plot hole thread, but...


why didnt they?

 

probly because Leia and Chewie were firing blasters set on "Kill"

actually do we know for sure that their blasters were NOT set on stun? I know the ones in ANH shoot a different type of bolt, but regardless they could very well have been on stun.


and psst. it's Bespin.

 

Because it's not Star Trek!

 

It's not a plot hole.
Why in the world would they set for stun? Who cares what happens to the wookiee and the pompus princess? No one. Then there's that Lando guy, you know, the one who betrayed the Empire?

 

The big difference between the stun beam we see in ANH and all the other blaster beams we see is that the stun beam was blue. Sure, it seemed like a series of concentric circles rather than a bolt, but that might be because the stormie fired directly at the camera, so we saw the blast from a first-person point of view.

So, basically what I'm saying is, the stormtroopers might have been firing red stun bolts for all we know.

Or maybe not. Didn't we see their bolts taking chunks out of the walls?

 

The stormtroopers in ANH used stun because they needed to capture Leia alive to extract the information from her about the rebel base and the death star plans.

Vader instructed his men in ESB to set their weapons on stun because he wanted to capture Luke alive, and after Luke's fall from the platform in Cloud City, Vader knows Luke is probably not going to come willingly, and may try to kill himself.

This is not a concern for the stormtroopers chasing Leia, Lando, and Chewie.

 

Unless told otherwise Imperial stormtroopers probably tend to shoot first and ask questions latter. In this case they didn't care about taking anyone alive so why set for stun.

 

Don't forget the Princess and Chewie were Rebels, considered criminals by the Empire and wanted dead or alive. That, and like the other's said, Vader had what he needed from them. No reason to keep 'em alive.

 

"take the princess and the wookie to my ship"

vader said this even though he knew luke was already on the way. sounds to me like he wanted them alive too.

 

I think that the Stormies were missing on porpose. Notice that there wasn't a guard set on the Falcon, and that Piett's men deactivated her hyperdrive engines. Vader wanted them to get away (without making it odvious), so that they would rescue Luke. Leia and Chewie can't save the Son of Skywalker if they are lying stunned on the decks of Cloud City, now can they?

 

I thought you meant earlier, when they were shooting at Luke... the answer to that, is that it was a test. If he was stupid/unskilled enough to get shot and killed, he wouldn't have been that great an asset anyway, and the problem would be taken care of. But a Jedi that would be a "great asset" would survive, and one wouldn't want him suspecting that the whole point of all this is to capture him, would one?

As far as when shooting at Leia, Chewie, Lando, etc... the reasons posted already make sense, but I'd like to add some additional insights. Stormtroopers probably keep their weapons on the kill setting normally, since they are military shock troops. Vader wasn't around to tell them to set for stun, whether he wanted them to or not, since he was off fighting Luke in the carbonite freezing chamber. Not having foreseen Lando's treachery, he probably hadn't specifically anticipated the possibility that Leia and Chewie would be trying to escape with stormtroopers shooting them, so there would be no reason for him to tell the stormtroopers or their officers to set for stun, or "set for stun in this case," before he set up for the duel with Luke.

About the theory of actually shooting red stun bolts: The weapon used by the stormtroopers in ANH and TESB is the same- a BlasTech E-11 Carbine- and that weapon's stun shots are expanding blue rings. As someone with a completely different intent from mine stated, this is not Star Trek. There is no reason to have two different stun settings, if the blue ring one will knock people out.

 

*Bespin

 

I don't think Vader wanted the rebels to escape so they could rescue Luke. I mean, he's Darth Vader...he could have ordered his own people to rescue Luke. And he had no way of knowing Luke would be able to contact Leia via the Force, which is really how the good guys were able to find Luke, anyway.

Remember that the security code on the door leading out to the Falcon had been changed. Even Lando, who ran Cloud City, couldn't open it. The Imperials probably figured they didn't need to put guards at the Falcon because there would be no way to get to it. Unless, of course, you have a handy R2 unit with you, that is.

 

LOL nice answer Lukes_Lightsaber

 

"The Imperials probably figured they didn't need to put guards at the Falcon because there would be no way to get to it"

That and the Imps deactivated the hyperdrive as well so the Falcon wouldn't have gotten that far.

 

Why did the empire bother to even deactivate the engines if they didn't want the rebels escape?