Is there Star Wars canon to support this short hyperspace jump idea that everyone keeps faulting TLJ for not having the First Order do? Or do people just assume and/or feel that it ought to be possible?
Spoilers Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Grading & Discussion
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
None that I'm aware of. It might have been a thing in the EU, but that hardly a point in it's favour.
Even if it's possible, I stick by my "Hux is a grandstanding idiot" explanation. He'd rather make a big show of chasing the Resistance down and killing them by inches, than by outflanking them and getting it over with quickly.
Last edited:
The "Hux should've jumped ahead of the Resistance fleet" thing is a strawman concocted to avoid having to accept that Rian Johnson intentionally subverted fans' expectations about Hux's character and military prowess by showing him to be so overconfident and convinced of surefire victory - and so incensed by Poe's irreverent dismissal of him - that he deliberately pursued a less tactically sound course of action than he could have.
I saw it again. Downgrading my rating from C+ to C-.
Furthermore, Hux's ineptitude is lampshaded almost immediately when he 1) doesn't know turbolasers are useless against fighters at close range and 2) failed to order TIE squadrons to launch as soon as they jumped in, hence Canady's irritation. This is what allowed the bombers to get as close as they did before being intercepted.
Amusingly, novelisation mentions that not just Kylo, but Canady and Peavey think he's a moron and are just waiting until he inevitability crashes and burns.
Last edited:
That is the sound of inevitability...
Yeah, it's a good trope, and used in Star Wars before.
In all three of the original movies for sure: -
Tarkin dismisses the threat of the Rebel assault, despite numerous warning signs. Only a token force is sent out--and indeed, they only hone in on the real threat because Vader took the initiative when he noted a handful peel away from the main group. And of course he refuses to consider even preparing to evacuate despite an explicit warning from his own people.
Next, Ozzel of course blunders into the Hoth system giving the rebels enough warning to raise the shield, necessitating a ground offensive (remember that for Vader, the objective isn't to defeat the rebels but to extract Luke.) As a side-note, the very existence of the impractical walkers is a more doctrinal expression of this kind of blundering hubris. I even vaguely recall an interview with Muren where he mentions this was a deliberate allusion to the US's heavy handed use of ill suited military hardware in Vietnam.
And finally Palpatine manages to successful pen in the Alliance fleet, but instead of having his own fleet move in and take them apart he has them hang back while he makes a big show of picking them off with the Death Star. That provokes them into a desperation move. Where any sane commander would order all ships to scatter and try making a break for it, Lando instead has them wheel around and go at the Imperial fleet head-on. Something they weren't prepared for and since Imperials aren't terribly good at improvisation, their order of battle predictably turns to shit.
While down on the planet his colossal use of overkill in deploying a full legion to deal with a dozen or so commandos massively backfires when they're ambushed by primitives and promptly run off into the dense forest in all directions, leaving the shield generator all but unguarded.
I think Palpatine's example is the best of the 3, but it certainly isn't unique to Hux.
As Luke pointed out, Palpatine's weakness was his overconfidence. His plan hinged on everything going according to his foresight and as such he made no provision for any other eventualities. As a result he left very specific but very limited orders with a force trained to dogmatically obey without question, leaving them ill equipped to adapt and coordinate an effective counteroffensive. Right up until the end Piett is still doggedly trying to hold the blockade rather than redeploying the fleet to engage the rebels in a sane manner.
Through all these examples the recurring theme is arrogance. Specifically the arrogance of a materially and numerically superior force throwing it's weight around because it believes it's position unassailable and it's foes harmless. Which is a fairly common attitude held by superpowers in the real world, despite numerous historical examples of underdogs winning the day because the other guys were idiots.
Piett doesn't want to disobey orders, especially from a Sith Lord Emperor.
Tarkin's gamble almost paid off. He took bad advice from a Sith Lord.
And Ozzel was a rebel sympathizer. He was killed for it(by a Sith Lord).
Piett seems competent. ...it's gotta be stressful, though.
Tarkin is competent, besides his lust for planetary destruction.
Tarkin's gamble almost paid off. He took bad advice from a Sith Lord.
And Ozzel was a rebel sympathizer. He was killed for it(by a Sith Lord).
Piett seems competent. ...it's gotta be stressful, though.
Tarkin is competent, besides his lust for planetary destruction.
I don't buy the Ozzel was a Rebel fan theory.
Ozzel came from the Motti school of harboring contempt for Vader. That explains everything.
Watching coworker die will do that to a person.
The point is that Palpatine's orders didn't cover that eventuality and Piett refused to adapt to the changing situation. Orders or no orders, that makes him a fool at best and a coward at worst for putting his personal survival over that of everyone under his command.
By contrast, Sloane acted in a sane manner and got her people the hell out of there.
Vader was the one to recognise that the real threat was the small groups peeling away from the main fight to run down the one of the polar trenches. Tarkin ignored all warnings and didn't take the rebel assault seriously despite knowing full well they had the plans.
[Citation Needed]
Competence and arrogance are not mutually exclusive traits. Also, being sensible 99% of the time means exactly bugger all when the 1% that you're an idiot gets you and everyone around you vaporised.
Last edited:
The bad Sith Lord advice that Tarkin followed was allowing the rebels to escape with the plans in the first place.
"I'm taking an awfully big risk, Vader."
If he had simply taken them prisoner, I'm sure someone would've squealed the location of the rebel base.
*looks at 3P0, *looks at Solo
"I'm taking an awfully big risk, Vader."
If he had simply taken them prisoner, I'm sure someone would've squealed the location of the rebel base.
*looks at 3P0, *looks at Solo
I already presented my evidence, sir!
And yet, to @Reverend's point, there was not back up plan. Vader was the one who ordered the fighters launched, and Vader recognized the groups on the attack run as a threat. Tarkin had no back up plan, or contingencies in place to achieve his objective. So, yes, overconfident in his new battle station, just like Motti.
The Imperial credit stops with Tarkin.
That's a youtube fan theory video. Not even remotely close.
It really doesn't seem like popping a fleet right over the enemy's head with enough firepower to glass a planet is a big departure from standard Imperial doctrine. Rather, emerging at the outskirts of the system and skulking towards Hoth over hours or days using asteroids as cover seems like the unorthodox, even suspicious, plan. Plus, if Vader had done it his way, Luke would've already recovered and gone to Dagobah by the time they got there. I mean, he escaped anyway, so it didn't make a difference, but, still.
Didn't you know? Fan theories are always right
Similar threads
- Sticky
- Poll
