According to the visual dictionary the Erso's use geothermal power so likely we are seeing a power plant and it's exhaust, whatever that might be out there.
Rogue One questions
- Thread starter Mr. Laser Beam
- Start date
So foreshadowing the eventual Death Star weakness???
Or not included since filmmakers underestimate fan nitpicking.
It probably looks identical.
Yeah the whole point of what Galen did was that it was so subtle literally nobody else of the engineering staff picked up on it.
I think people misunderstand RO and think that the thermal exhaust port was the flaw; it was not. The flaw was a reactor system that was VERY sensitive to pressurised explosions, so that any significant explosion anywhere near the reactor module would set off a chain reaction. The exhaust port was just the only way the rebellion could find to directly access the reactor module short of a suicidal mass boarding action. Presumably the worst that was supposed to happen if by some freak event someone managed to drop a proton torpedo past the vent's ray shields was that the affected module would scram and initiate a controlled shutdown, leaving the others online and still ready to go.
Also we literally saw what a "flawless" Death Star would look like in RotJ. It's just they hadn't finished it yet . . .
I think people misunderstand RO and think that the thermal exhaust port was the flaw; it was not. The flaw was a reactor system that was VERY sensitive to pressurised explosions, so that any significant explosion anywhere near the reactor module would set off a chain reaction. The exhaust port was just the only way the rebellion could find to directly access the reactor module short of a suicidal mass boarding action. Presumably the worst that was supposed to happen if by some freak event someone managed to drop a proton torpedo past the vent's ray shields was that the affected module would scram and initiate a controlled shutdown, leaving the others online and still ready to go.
Also we literally saw what a "flawless" Death Star would look like in RotJ. It's just they hadn't finished it yet . . .
I wonder if they even fixed Galen's flawed reactor design, and just patched up the exhaust port route and added some kind of regulator. So it took more than one shot to kill the Second Death Star...but it was still just two craft and a few torpedoes at the regulator and some missiles at the reactor, and the results were the same....just had to get the ships to the core directly.
That's been my theory since Rogue One; the Empire patched up the obvious flaw with the exhaust system, but either they never lost faith in Galen's work since everyone who knew him well died within the week of his not-being-broken-ness was revealed to Tarkin and Krennic, or Galen overestimated the capability and diligence of the Empire's other engineers and scientists and they genuinely never realized it wasn't an intrinsic fact of the Death Star reactor concept that it would catastrophically explode in response to even a small amount of damage. Either way, they didn't design a safer reactor for the Death Star II, they just added an external "power regulator" that, I assume, was supposed to keep the reactor from overloading and exploding if damaged, and didn't go any good at all if it itself was damaged before the reactor.
Did the Empire even know that's what the Rebels were targeting? I guess Vader could have told them if he realized it.
One of the officers reports to Tarkin that they figured out what the Rebels were trying to do and that they might be able to do some some serious damage ("Evacuate?! In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances."). Presumably, the Death Star was continuously reporting in telemetry and live-feeds, so headquarters would've gotten the same report.
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Which would have been physically impossible had the superstructure been completed. Again; Palpatine's overconfidence was his weakness. Had he waited a year or two or however long it would take, the rebellion likely would have been crushed. But he had to leak the location early to make it look good when fleet showed up. Arguably he was also motivated by fear of how powerful Luke was becoming, how much of a liability Vader was turning out to be, and how widespread the rebellion had gotten.
As for it just taking two ships and a few torpedoes: I challenged anyone to design a high energy reactor capable of vaporising planets that can also survive having weapons grade warheads blowing apart it internals. That's not an engineering flaw, that's just physics.
Again, the exhaust system was never the problem. Also it's not like it's the only thermal exhaust (it's specifically referred to as "a small TEP" and that it's "right below the main port") meaning there were other (probably many) small TEPs and the main port is sat atop the north pole and is gigantic (and can be glimpsed in RO.) That port just happened to have a direct line right to the main reactor, and probably for good reason.
So they really don't need to mess with it, just track down and fix whatever made the system to unstable. Which is probably what the function of the power regulator that Wedge took out was.
Yup, and thanks to the novel 'Lost Stars' we even know it was a young officer named Jude Edivon that figured out what they were trying to do from the initial runs by Gold Squadron. Of course she didn't figure out what Galen had done, just identified the exhaust port as the target and reasoned that they must have found something in the plans to make them think this was a target worth throwing everything the had left at.
So far as I'm aware it's never mentioned in any story whether or not they Imperials actually tracked down the flaw and fixed it (though several reference books probably feature conflicting accounts, which is typical.) It's entirely possible all they did was apply so kind of brute force patch to make things more stable or protected from explosions and called it a day.
but if he waited until it was impossible to fly a ship inside, the Rebels never would have shown up to try and destroy it, thus no opportunity to crush them.
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The rebels only knew as much as he wanted them to. He could have just as easily leaked false intelligence that the superstructure was still incomplete and open, which they wouldn't have been able to confirm until the fleet showed up, by which time: too late!
Note how the plan as executed involved the strike team going in under radio silence. There was no provision for an all-clear signal (likely because: jammers) so the fleet really did jump in blind on a timer. Had the infiltration shuttle turned and fled in an attempt to warn the fleet, it would likely have been intercepted and shot down. If not: eh. Not a huge problem because now they have a fully armed, operational and completely armoured battle station. The Alliance fleet would have been utterly useless against it.
Wanting to crush them all at once was just Palpatine being grandiose (and possibly a little nostalgic for Order 66.) He could have been patient and guaranteed himself victory, but he chose to be brazen and underestimate the rebels.
In the new canon at least, that hologram we see of the DS2 in ROTJ were from an in system scan, they weren't leaked/stolen plans or anything. Though they were caught and purposely were allowed to escape.
The location, the Emperor's presence and the false information about the super laser were purposely leaked.
In Legends yes, those were stolen plans.
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Sure you can always split hairs, but somehow I doubt Palpatine's grand scheme hinged on that particular incident. After all it's not a question of continuity, it's about characterisation and intent. He didn't move early because he had to, he did it because he was over confident and didn't see any reason to wait.
But if we must: recall that right before Endor, Inferno Squad was out there tying up loose ends and making sure the rebels only knew what the Empire wanted them to know, up to and including infiltration and sabotage raids. So he certainly had options when it comes to counterintelligence ops.
But if we must: recall that right before Endor, Inferno Squad was out there tying up loose ends and making sure the rebels only knew what the Empire wanted them to know, up to and including infiltration and sabotage raids. So he certainly had options when it comes to counterintelligence ops.
For anyone interested, a friend has painstakingly compiled & created a 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Archive'...
For anyone who enjoyed Rogue One - especially for those with an interest in the reshoots, changes made to the film, unused, deleted or alternative scenes & materials etc - or for anyone who just likes looking at content from the movie.
^ https://rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-archive.blogspot.com
'An archive of material related to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Including a detailed run down of the deleted and alternative scenes, production photos, concept art, promotional material, video and audio material and interviews'...
For anyone who enjoyed Rogue One - especially for those with an interest in the reshoots, changes made to the film, unused, deleted or alternative scenes & materials etc - or for anyone who just likes looking at content from the movie.
^ https://rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-archive.blogspot.com
'An archive of material related to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Including a detailed run down of the deleted and alternative scenes, production photos, concept art, promotional material, video and audio material and interviews'...
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That's fantastic. Please convey appreciation of this extensive and well-documented resource.For anyone interested, a friend has painstakingly compiled & created a 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Archive'...
For anyone who enjoyed Rogue One - especially for those with an interest in the reshoots, changes made to the film, unused, deleted or alternative scenes & materials etc - or for anyone who just likes looking at content from the movie.
^ https://rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-archive.blogspot.com
'An archive of material related to Rogue One A Star Wars Story. Including a detailed run down of the deleted and alternative scenes, production photos, concept art, promotional material, video and audio material and interviews.'
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