Questions about the Force Awakens? Spoilers Obviously

[Tom]

Instead of starting multiple threads. I thought it would be easier putting question in one thread. I will start.

1. Why didn't Leia go see Luke with Rey and Chewie? She is desperate to find her brother, why didn't she go? She could have left the Resistance for a little while considering they just dealt a big blow to the FO.

2. Who are the Knights of Ren? and why is Kyle Ren their leader. Are they former Luke students or just non-force followers of Ren?

3. How did the First Order get enough resources to build Starkiller base? It took the Empire 20 years to build the first Death Star. Also, the Resistance did not seem to know or care at first about the base until it blew up those planets.

4. Who was Max Von Sydow's character suppose to be? An old ally sure, but is it someone we have seen in the OT?

 

[{ Emilia }]

1) Other responsibilities.

2) We'll see.

3) How would anybody here know?

4) Nope, a new character we know nothing about.

 

[Ithekro]

1. Leia always takes her job seriously and it always comes first.

2. The Knights of Ren are basically Vader cultist. Aside from that we aren't too sure.

3. The First Order had about 30 years to do whatever in the Unknown Regions outside the view of the Republic. The Resistance was made to keep an eye on the First Order after the Republic more or less stood down from fighting the remains of the Empire.

The Galaxy is a big place and the Galactic Empire was huge. With what was left after the war, a group formed the First Order and took off to the hind end of space where no one looks and built a superweapon in a planet. They probably were able to do this at the expense of building a large fleet to counter the Republic's fleet. The lack of a massive arms buildup might have even worked to their advantage as the Republic would see the First Order not building up a war fleet and feel comfortable in leaving them be for decades. Leia was not so willing to leave them alone.

It is possible there were other remains of the Empire that had to be dealt with by the Republic, giving the First Order cover while eyes were not on what they were doing in the Unknown Regions. They did have about three decades since the Battle of Endor and the massive action at Jakku to figure something out.

4. I'm hoping we get something about this character in Rebels or Rogue One. I had to wait until the credits to even get the character's name, hoping it was someone familiar. He's not. Never heard of him before.

 

[Orac]

1. Why were there no Ewoks in TFA?

2. How do you spell BB-8?

3. Why did the Super Death Star blow up Martha Jones?

4. Does Captain Phasma's belly button stick out?

 

[Tom]

1. Why were there no Ewoks in TFA?

2. How do you spell BB-8?

3. Why did the Super Death Star blow up Martha Jones?

4. Does Captain Phasma's belly button stick out?

1. Slaughtered by the FO!

2. BEE BEE Eight

3. Yes because the Doctor did not save her. He was to busy saving Clara from the Raven.

4. Who knows. Phasma is the most wasted character in the film. They could not even take her helmet off so they will know she is really Breinne of Tarth.

 

[Ithekro]

B1. Ewoks are primatives. That or Ren used their fur to make his hair look like that after picking up Vader's helmet.

B2. BB-8 (Alternate Bee Bee Eight)

B3. The Doctor was out saving Clara?

B4. Needs exploration.

 

[davejames]

1. Maybe I missed it in the schematic shown in the movie, but was the entire planet supposed to be Starkiller Base (much like the Death Star), or was it basically just a portion of an existing planet that had a giant cannon and base of operations built into it?

2. Did they ever say in the movie how long Luke had actually been missing? I know they mentioned him training some new Jedi before things obviously went wrong, but I don't remember them giving any actual figure.

3. And most importantly... when did Poe find the time to take off his jacket during all the chaos of their escape, so that Finn could then take it and wear it himself??

 

[Ithekro]

1. It seems like they built it into a planet, though they would have hollowed it out the weapon went through the center of it. There is a second emitter on the other side of the planet. Still no word if it has a hyperdrive, or if it just has to wait for its sun to catch up on its fusion process before they can charge up again.

2. They did not, though it seems likely it was between ten and fifteen years. Long enough back so that Kylo would be old enough to take everyone out, but also long enough to that he will have been missing for so long people forget about him being real. So a decade or more. Back in the Dark Times, everyone seemed to forget about the Jedi within 15 years.

3. First Order ejection seats are weird. At least this new Special Forces TIE Fighter has some not equipment. Seems it had a hyperdrive, or else they wouldn't have bothered to steal it.

 

[davejames]

Oh and also,

4. When the lower cannon on the Falcon got damaged during the chase scene, why didn't Finn just climb up and use the other cannon to fire? Or were we just supposed to assume it was already damaged and no longer working anymore?

 

[Ithekro]

Either he didn't notice there was another cannon, or it clearly didn't work.

 

[Admiral2]

I only have one question: Does Rey get to keep the Falcon for herself? Chewie didn't seem to mind her sitting in the pilot's seat, and it looked like Han was thinking of grooming her to take over anyway.

 

[arch101]

Looks like Chewie has accepted Rey as the new Captain of the ship. Hopefully, Meyhew's health holds up long enough for him to do 2 more. I realize a stuntman did many of his fight scenes, but it was Mayhew for the closeups and he knows how to play the character like none else.

 

[Ithekro]

The co-pilot's chair us more comfy for the larger Wookiee. Also there is a better view on the right side of the cockpit than the left side.

 

[Ubik]

This one has been bothering me: what exactly are the periods of time we're talking about here? At some point in the (relatively recent?) past, a whole bunch of disastrous things happened; Ren betrayed Luke and murdered the other Jedi, Luke disappeared, and Han and Leia went their separate ways. I assume these things all happened in pretty quick succession.

But how long ago was it? How long have Leia and Han been separated? How long has Luke been missing? How long has Ren been working under Snoke? I feel like it can't be longer than, say, 2-3 years, maybe even less than that, but others have thought it was much longer than that. Did I miss this information somewhere in the movie?

 

[Ithekro]

Could be as much as fifteen years, if Rey's flashback tied into any of this.

 

[Tosk]

2. BEE BEE Eight

For what it's worth, Alan Dean Foster spells it Beebee-Ate in the novelization. (But usually just uses BB-8)

I don't know why all the characters insist on calling him his whole name all the time. Just Beebee will do, thanks all.

 

[Ubik]

Could be as much as fifteen years, if Rey's flashback tied into any of this.

Hmm...good point. But, in that case, why is Ren still having tantrums and feeling confused about what side to choose? I loved the character, but if he's been on the dark side for, like, 10-15 years, shouldn't he have figured out his shit by now? His confusion would make sense if it were only a year or two, but if he's been doing this dark side thing for, like, half his lifetime, it should be second nature to him.

By the same token, if Ren left his parents upwards of 15 years ago, they wouldn't still be sentimental and optimistic about him. Again, if he only left a year or two ago, it makes sense - everyone goes through phases - but if it had been 15 years, would they still be like, "No, we can still reach him....even though we don't know him anymore and haven't spoken to him in over a decade and even though, in the mean time, he has massacred literally billions and billions of people..." That long of a time frame just doesn't make any sense to me.

On the other hand, that flashback DOES seem to suggest it's been that long....so, what's up?

 

[Tom]

Rey being dumped on Jakku may have nothing to do with the academy Massacre and Luke taking off.


The implications in the film make it seem like it happened 2 to 3 years ago. Clues it being more recent is Ren is still conflicted, the search for Luke by the FO and the Resistance seem to be much more of a recent thing.

 

[The Wormhole]

2. Who are the Knights of Ren? and why is Kyle Ren their leader. Are they former Luke students or just non-force followers of Ren?

Is he in charge? While he's definitely in the senior leadership of the First Order, I figured Kylo is just one of the guys in the Knights of Ren. I haven't looked up the background sources or reference books or even the novelization, but my take is that when one gets initiated into the Knights of Ren they all take on Ren as their last name while adopting a unique first name.

I only have one question: Does Rey get to keep the Falcon for herself? Chewie didn't seem to mind her sitting in the pilot's seat, and it looked like Han was thinking of grooming her to take over anyway.

I imagine Chewie is likely in charge due to age and seniority. But he's just going to continue sitting in his favourite chair in the Falcon's cockpit.

 

[MacLeod]

Could be as much as fifteen years, if Rey's flashback tied into any of this.

Hmm...good point. But, in that case, why is Ren still having tantrums and feeling confused about what side to choose? I loved the character, but if he's been on the dark side for, like, 10-15 years, shouldn't he have figured out his shit by now? His confusion would make sense if it were only a year or two, but if he's been doing this dark side thing for, like, half his lifetime, it should be second nature to him.

By the same token, if Ren left his parents upwards of 15 years ago, they wouldn't still be sentimental and optimistic about him. Again, if he only left a year or two ago, it makes sense - everyone goes through phases - but if it had been 15 years, would they still be like, "No, we can still reach him....even though we don't know him anymore and haven't spoken to him in over a decade and even though, in the mean time, he has massacred literally billions and billions of people..." That long of a time frame just doesn't make any sense to me.

On the other hand, that flashback DOES seem to suggest it's been that long....so, what's up?

Well Remember Anakin fell to the Dark side ~22 years before his redemption. So why wouldn't Leia hold out hope that even as the years past her son could be redemeed?