Many bothans died...

Who cares? We've never met a Bothan, and we didn't see them die, so why does Mon Mothma go into this so much? It doesn't add to the story, and the way this bit is directed seems to want to make the audience care a lot more than they do

 

hmm..i really don't care about bothans.

 

I hope we see some bothans in the senate in Episode 3

 

The thing with the bothans is if you read shadows of the empire luke led a squad of bothans to get the info on the Death Star 2 on a ship that had only few of them survived without them bothans their might be no more rebels

 

Even though we don't know what a Bothan looks like (on screen), the line does convey desperation in it. Would the Alliance have been so willing to risk so many lives for something less vital? Plus, one does not know exactly how many Bothans perished getting those plans and I'm not even sure the EU has the total number.

I personally think the line is meant to convey that this attack, will be the Alliance's last act against the Emperor. It is do it or die day and they threw everything on the line. If one gets rid of elements of their Intel. staff, then it is plausible that there won't be any future need of them, or that the information is so vital to your survival that you are willing to risk it all for a single scrap of data.

 

12 Bothans died trying to get the plans from the freighter. Several more died on the ground when stormtroopers raided the facility.

 

I personally think the line is meant to convey that this attack, will be the Alliance's last act against the Emperor.

Why? Did the Bothans help in the attack on the original Death Star? No.

My point is two-fold.

1) Why is this race only mentioned this once? They've not done anything so far, and the loss of 'many' could hardly make a difference. Look at Alderaan. The rebels lost an entire planet, and still didn't really suffer for it

2) From a movie-making point of view, why make a big deal of this? You can't generate sympathy from an audience regarding a race that has only been mentioned once before - that time being about 2 minutes before realising many of them are dead

EDIT: 12 plus several more???? That's not 'many'!!!! In fact, that's nothing for a galactic war!

 

I think that the line was put in to emphasise the fact that the info had been hard to acquire, and that the Rebellion had to put in 100% to capitalise. Mon Mothma says the line with poignancy, IIRC, and it really underlines the fact that if this attack doesn't succeed, more people will die...

 

The thing is the line really does convey an act of desperation on the part of Mon Mothma. When she says "Many Bothans died. . ." it can mean that there are few Bothans alive and this was a signifigant portion of their numbers, or that the Rebellion had to risk it all for this one operation.

If anything it underscores the gravity of the situation and that the Rebellion could not afford to lose the amount of Bothans it lost for the information.

 

If anything it underscores the gravity of the situation

But why? If only 20 (12 + several) bothans dies, why is that grave? Why choose a race that we've not heard of until now? To be honest, "Many Jawas Died" would have greater emotional impact

 

Personally, I would have preferred "Many Ewoks died," but I'm not too fond of Bothans either. They bug me.

 

I don't think it meant anything in the movie. They just put that in there.

 

I think the main reason that line was put in there was to show us that this information is really important, and that some people are willing to give their lives so this information reaches the Alliance.

 

I don't think it meant anything in the movie. They just put that in there.

Exactly, so why have it delivered as though it means so much more than it actually does?

 

Hal, I think Mon Mothma is just honoring the people (Bothans, Humans, Mon Calamari, doesn't matter who it was) who sacrificed themselves for the information.

I thought she was doing a nice thing to the families/friends of those who perished for the cause.

\\shrugs\\

 

It's a "space opera," so it has to be dramatic. It's like the intergalactic form of soap opera .

 

I don't think they wanted anyone to feel bad for the bothans or feel sympathy. it's just a line methinks.

 

The line lends credibility to the Alliance.

They didn't just get the information out of the sky. Somone had to die for it. That means that clearly, the Alliance is taking losses too. Its a more "realstic" struggle that way.

As for feeling sympathy, its not to feel sympathy for the Bothans specifically, its for the Alliance's cause as a whole. And to do that, the point is "died" not "Bothans." What would be better, a list of extras that were given names and backgrounds in the EU?

And anyway, the sympathy aspect is subordinate to the attempt to add realism.

 

Frankly, when I first heard this, I never got the impression that "Bothans" designated a race. I assumed it was what they called an elite group of Rebel spies or something. Something like the "SEALs" in the U.S. Navy.

 

actually while waiting in line for hours to see AOTC I decided to ask everyone who their fav. character(s) are and one person said the bothans...

 

I don't think it was meant to have any emotional impact on the audience, just to emphasize how much the Rebellion had to sacrifice to get the plans. 12+ definitely isn't much in terms of a galactic civil war, but the Bothans who died were part of a spy network, IIRC, and 12+ may have been a noteworthy portion of that network.

 

Many bothans died...

Obviously not enough because the rebels were able to no only get the plans but also score the "Shuttle Tyderium."

The truth of the matter is No Bothans died. zero, not-a-one.... There were no Bothans to be found in the Rebel fleet either. Hmmmm.

It was all part of Palpatines plan. He most likley told his officials to do exactly as he ordered, to make his plan work.

They most likely struck a deal with the Empire as did Lando and the Cloud City gas mining deal.



The deal with Palpatine would be to give the Bothans something that they needed. They would deliver the Rebels what they thought would be the "trojan horse" to the Empires plans.

Palpatien set a trap that only a few of the Rebels figured out... and it was almost too late.

 

It's a throwaway reference like many others throughout the saga.

I disagree. It's not a 'throwaway reference' because of the way the delivery is given. It seems as tho there is a lot more importance to this fact than there actually is