The deep dark secret of Alderaan...

[Lindley]

But yeah. Of all the planets from the original trilogy that could have genuinely benefited from a prequel treatment, Alderaan's second behind only the unnamed and unseen Imperial capital world (which, of course, we now know as Coruscant).

Well, we knew it was called Coruscant and that it was a planet-wide city well before the prequels. The Thrawn trilogy established that. (Not sure if there were any earlier sources on the matter.)

 

[Kegg]

Well, we knew it was called Coruscant and that it was a planet-wide city well before the prequels. The Thrawn trilogy established that. (Not sure if there were any earlier sources on the matter.)

I'm aware.

And as far as earlier sources go, the film was originally planned to appear in Return of the Jedi, as Had Abbadon. Beyond this the existence of an Imperial capital planet - judging from the original trilogy - is mostly a matter of likely conjecture.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I took it to mean that it was blown up because of Leia's connection and to get at her, and not so much because it was important.

Ah, but as Tarkin does say:

Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration.

Tarkin may have blown up Alderaan anyway even if the base was ideally situated (he is that kind of jerk), but it seems that Dantooine was so obscure a world that its destruction wouldn't have the fear-inducing impact the Death Star was supposed to be about.

But it does strike me as odd that while she's supposed to be in hiding from her father, that she was wearing the Princess role. That likely made it easier for Vader to track her down.

Leia wasn't hiding. The ship she was on was, officially, a courier on a diplomatic mission. The Tantive IV is going about very public business, and the star destroyer's sudden assault is quite arguably illegal. She was using her status as Princess as a shield and cover, basically, and it's only at the start of the film that she's summarily accused of being a rebel.

Thanks. I did get the impression that she was hiding, as the implication was made in ANH, and the prequels only reinforced that.

 

[captcalhoun]

Coruscant was also in the Worlds of Star Wars art book thing someone else mentioned, i tihnk there it was referred to as "Imperial Centre", retconned in the novels as the name the Imps gave Coruscant.

Leia was an Alderaani senator, like her dad. the Princess thing's probably a ceremonial title or maybe Bail is a member of Alderaan's royal family.

*checks wookiepedia*

oh, okay, he's a Prince Consort and his wife is Queen of Alderaan. source of that is background fluff on the starwars.com databank.

 

[Candlelight]

Utapau was also the name for Tattooine in basically all the scripts for the original film. In the end, though, no name for Luke's desert world was ever said on screen.

Good thing too:

The name "Tatouine" comes from the Berber word "Titawin" which means "sources". The city of Tetouan in northern Morocco has the same root. The word "Tatuin" (pronounced the same) in Spanish also means temporary tatoo, or a skidmark that you often leave in your undergarments.

 

[Myasishchev]

So is there some deep dark secret event that took place on Alderaan before it was reduced to a ring of dust?

You have to be very strong now:

http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/funny-gifs-alderaan-shot-first.gif

Most non-heinous.

I wonder if Naboo was originally planned to be Alderaan, but Lucas realised that the daughter of Padme as a senator from Alderaan would be too easy to figure out...

Almost as easy to figure out as naming Anakin "Skywalker" and leaving his son with close relatives on his native planet.

It amazed me that he didn't revert to "Starkiller" for the prequels. It closes a plot hole and presents a fun fannish moment all at once.

 

[Candlelight]

I wonder if Naboo was originally planned to be Alderaan, but Lucas realised that the daughter of Padme as a senator from Alderaan would be too easy to figure out...

Almost as easy to figure out as naming Anakin "Skywalker" and leaving his son with close relatives on his native planet.

That's like Obi Wan changing his first name to avoid discovery but not his last name.

 

[The Wormhole]

I wonder if Naboo was originally planned to be Alderaan, but Lucas realised that the daughter of Padme as a senator from Alderaan would be too easy to figure out...

Almost as easy to figure out as naming Anakin "Skywalker" and leaving his son with close relatives on his native planet.

That's like Obi Wan changing his first name to avoid discovery but not his last name.

Which reminds me, how many people knew who Obi-Wan and Ben were the same. It's implied Uncle Owen knows, and even though Leia says "Obi-Wan Kenobi" in her message, when Luke tells her he's with Ben Kenobi she recognizes the name.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

So is there some deep dark secret event that took place on Alderaan before it was reduced to a ring of dust?

You mean, besides the rampant incest?

Luke: The Force runs strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And... my sister has it. Yes. It's you, Leia.

Princess Leia: I know. Somehow, I've always known.

Mmmhmmmm.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Almost as easy to figure out as naming Anakin "Skywalker" and leaving his son with close relatives on his native planet.

That's like Obi Wan changing his first name to avoid discovery but not his last name.

Which reminds me, how many people knew who Obi-Wan and Ben were the same. It's implied Uncle Owen knows, and even though Leia says "Obi-Wan Kenobi" in her message, when Luke tells her he's with Ben Kenobi she recognizes the name.

Well, we know that Yoda and Bail Organa knew. I would also assume he told Owen and Beru, if only for the sake of his mission to watch over Luke (it would kind of hard to protect Luke if his actual guardians didn't know who he was). And Bail telling Leia that the two Kenobis are one and the same isn't that much of stretch.

So, I'd say five people, at least, knew of his cover name.

 

[Dream]

I wonder if Naboo was originally planned to be Alderaan, but Lucas realised that the daughter of Padme as a senator from Alderaan would be too easy to figure out...

Almost as easy to figure out as naming Anakin "Skywalker" and leaving his son with close relatives on his native planet.

That's like Obi Wan changing his first name to avoid discovery but not his last name.

We don't know how common the names Kenobi and Skywalker are in the GFFA. They could be like Smith from our planet.

Keeping the last names the same however is a good way to allow people to find you, like how R2 found Obi-Wan, but only if people already know that you are still alive. If Obi-Wan had changed his named completely, Leia would have been screwed.

 

[Skywalker]

Naboo was actually called Utapau in early scripts (The name was eventually used for the ROTS planet)

Utapau was also the name for Tattooine in basically all the scripts for the original film. In the end, though, no name for Luke's desert world was ever said on screen.

At the end of TESB, Luke tells Lando and Chewie that he'll rendezvous with them on Tatooine.

 

[Myasishchev]

Almost as easy to figure out as naming Anakin "Skywalker" and leaving his son with close relatives on his native planet.

That's like Obi Wan changing his first name to avoid discovery but not his last name.

We don't know how common the names Kenobi and Skywalker are in the GFFA. They could be like Smith from our planet.

Keeping the last names the same however is a good way to allow people to find you, like how R2 found Obi-Wan, but only if people already know that you are still alive. If Obi-Wan had changed his named completely, Leia would have been screwed.

I'm actually sort of confused by why Leia was seeking out Kenobi anyway. Yeah, he was famous, but going by the prequels he quit twenty years ago. Why bother?

Hell, Jabba, who at least appears to have some interest in destabilized government, would be more likely to be of assistance than some old guy who lives in a hole and whose anti-Imperial c.v. consists solely of "once tortured Darth Vader almost but not quite to death."

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'm actually sort of confused by why Leia was seeking out Kenobi anyway. Yeah, he was famous, but going by the prequels he quit twenty years ago. Why bother?

From her holographic message, her father wanted him to help the Rebellion.

Yeah, it's not totally clear to me either at what point this was realized, but she also said it was he who was needed to safeguard R2.

 

[Kegg]

^
Leia wasn't on her way to meet Obi-Wan Kenobi. She was on her way to deliver the droids to Alderaan. Then they got pulled over by an Imperial Star Destroyer, and she needs to quickly think of a way to get the plans out of the Empire's way.

Well, by pure damn luck the planet they're orbiting contains someone she actually knows of, via her father. It's a long shot - an only hope - but shunting the droids into an escape pod and having them try to find this guy is basically the only card she can play at this point. Hope the droids can find Kenobi, and hope Kenobi can finish what she set out to do and bring the damn things to Alderaan.

At the end of TESB, Luke tells Lando and Chewie that he'll rendezvous with them on Tatooine.

Yes, but that's not the original film.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

^
Leia wasn't on her way to meet Obi-Wan Kenobi. She was on her way to deliver the droids to Alderaan. Then they got pulled over by an Imperial Star Destroyer, and she needs to quickly think of a way to get the plans out of the Empire's way.

Well, by pure damn luck the planet they're orbiting contains someone she actually knows of, via her father. It's a long shot - an only hope - but shunting the droids into an escape pod and having them try to find this guy is basically the only card she can play at this point. Hope the droids can find Kenobi, and hope Kenobi can finish what she set out to do and bring the damn things to Alderaan.

I was going by this. From a transcript:

LEIA: General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.

So, at some point she decides Ben's going to be the one to take R2 to Alderaan as well. Whether that was a decision she made on her own, in consultation with her father, or with Captain Antilles, we don't know, and I suppose is beside the point, since there was basically no other choice I imagine.

 

[Candlelight]

Obi Wan probably felt the time was right to come out of retirement. He seemed pretty easy to suddenly blow his cover of 19 years and encourage the one he was protecting to go with him. Or he realised it would only be a matter of time before the Empire found the droids and thus they had to run for it anyway.

 

[Skywalker]

At the end of TESB, Luke tells Lando and Chewie that he'll rendezvous with them on Tatooine.

Yes, but that's not the original film.

Doh! Apologies, I misinterpreted your post.

 

[Anwar]

Which Luke seems oddly eager to do, considering it would make more sense for him to be mourning his Uncle and Aunt that just died instead of forgetting about them utterly...

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Uh, I thought (a) he already always wanted to go fight the Empire, (b) he returned to Ben with grim determination, full of shock and grief, (c) he had nowhere else to go, (d) he recognized his peril if he stayed.