Why not set all blasters to stun?

Okay, I can see the Empire wanting to strike fear into potential rebels, but why use lethal force when you can just incapacitate your enemy with ease? How can you justify killing stormtroopers when stunning them would have been just as effective? Stormtroopers are people too!

 

maybe it was cheaper to kill people. maybe the stun setting wasn't very cost effective.

 

If you were in a situation that could in end a stalemate or your death, you might want to take as many of them out as you can... permanently. Makes it easier for you and your allies later on.

 

Well, I think it depends on whether you're asking this for the Empire or the rebels. The Empire would only be interested in saving a life if that person can be useful as a hostage or prisoner later. The rebels are shown in some scenes to take stormtroopers hostage at gunpoint (blasterpoint?), but in other scenes there is really no feasible way to take them all hostage. If they are stunned and left there they will just get up and fight again. Also, the way the stun blast comes out (when it hits Leia) it appears to only be accurate from a short distance, if not to even only travel a short distance.

 

It may depend on how long the stun effects last. In the heat of battle, you would still have to secure a prisoner that had been stunned. I don't see them taking the time to slap cuffs on every trooper they shoot, especially under fire. In some situations, stun would work. But not in a large scale battle.

 

Yes, it does depend on how long the stun effect lasts. For large-scale battle lasting several hours perhaps it can be justified. But say when Luke, Han, and Chewbacca infiltrate the prison on the Death Star. Do they have good enough excuse to kill all those guards inside? It's close quarters and they can always stun them again if they wake up. What about when Leia shoots that stormtrooper just when they announce they're going to use stun?

Perhaps it's just an eye-for-eye justification? If you're going to fight with lethal force, we'll fight back with the same tactics?

 

Maybe stun settings only work at short distances? Maybe stun settings use up limited ammo and/or burn through energy quicker? Maybe stun settings create unfortunate electrical disturbances in the local vicinity? Maybe stormtroopers like to create a ruckus with their guns? It sort of looks -- to me, anyway -- that the stormies are trying to intimidate Han, Luke and Leia on the Death Star, or even choke them with fumes from scorched, laser-blasted areas. I dunno. It's an odd one. These kinds of contradictions make Star Wars a lot more fun on repeat viewings. That's been my experience, anyway.

Well, I guess you're talking about blasters full stop, but the one passage that always comes to mind, for me, is the one denoting the escapades of our main characters in ANH's latter half (hence the above). Once again: I dunno. There seems to be a lot of lethality in SW, one way and another. All the blinding flashes, loud engines, endemic ignorance, gross suffering, and casual maiming and killing. Gosh, anyone would think this was our world Lucas is showing.