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Why, yes, this video is 12 hours long. We have a lot to cover, so we need to keep things concise. Star Wars has a great deal of lore to analyze. Over time, the history of its universe has been modified. The most significant change was during the time of the prequel trilogy. A great many things were added, and some were altered. This can be hard to research, especially from official websites and wikis. One goal of this video is to examine what lore was changed. Where possible, we trace each detail back to a book reference. We will infer what we can from the movie, combined with background information. This is not a defense of Episode 1. Nor is it an attack. The idea is a detailed, fair, and informed analysis. We'll go over the entire movie, giving credit and blame as needed. Think of it more like disassembling to inspect the circuit boards. While we have it apart, we ought to replace any faulty components. It's fair to say: The Phantom Menace is not a flawless movie. Given a small number of subtle changes, it could be much better. Many interesting concepts from the movie have been overlooked. Other parts make far more sense, or far less, than we thought. In the process of making this video, we learned a lot. We hope there's something in this video that you hear for the first time as well. Well, thought you had to wait 71 days to see Star Wars? .. in exactly, 29 days and counting .. And finally, the new Star Wars must run in the largest theater in the movie com- This is a huge deal for me. I was sick from school today. Midnight was zero hour at the Ziegfeld Theater. The original trilogy was just so phenomenal. We've been waiting since the last one came out for 16 years. The hype that it got, Jesus would have to walk out of the screen. Yeah, I didn't like it at all. I thought there was no story. There was no plot. I didn't care about any of the characters. Two are no longer Star Wars fans. It's— it's exciting. Ah, it— The critics don't know what they're talking about. It was great. I loved it. Go see it as quick as you can. It was better than the old movies. It was good, dude. It was really good. So worth it! Good job. I think that little Anakin Skywalker, and everyone's going to say it, stole that movie. Subtitles by: ED-1TA, DZ, SkywalkerFoe If you're not sold on sitting through a 12 hour video, we'd like to present a testimonial from a member of our community. I couldn't tell you the age I was, only that I was very little, and my memory at this point was not fully formed. It was a sunny day, as I was with my father, not on some moisture farm, but shopping. While I had my hand held, my dad peered at a selection of washers and dryers, either with the intent of buying, or just window shopping. Next to the entrance stood a large plasma TV, costing who knows what at the time. I glanced at it for just a few moments and saw two people, and an odd figure, walking towards a desert town. The weird figure stepped on something and reacted to it, I wondered what exactly was on that screen. Was it a movie or a show, it intrigued me to no end. To my little 5 year old mind, it was out of this world, and it sparked my imagination. Somehow, either through the Clone Wars premiere on Cartoon Network, or through my triplet cousins, I would learn that what I saw was called Star Wars, and my childhood was then set ablaze. Funny that, considering that my first memory of Star Wars was, in fact, Jar-Jar stepping in Space Camel shit. After this, it was a bit of a blur. A young child's interests can either be stashed in one mental sphere, or scattered around like spent buckshot. These memories include moments like buying a Yoda figure, and losing it in a big lots after my mom spent many hours shopping. I remember waking her up when I saw the teaser for the Clone Wars cartoon early in the morning. Like many childhood memories, they are all non-linear events. However, I am sure that it was my cousin's excitement for Star Wars that was to fuse for my own love of the franchise. While staying at their place, we would play a DVD of Episode 1 and watch it, talking about how cool the battle droids were, and how we liked Jar Jar's antics. The spark that lit that fuse was when my grandma bought me the Star Wars Trilogy for Christmas in 2004. I must have been talking a lot of Star Wars back then for her to know exactly what I would have wanted. Receiving that box set was my initiation into the world of Star Wars, and much of my fully formed memories would center around the original trilogy. It wouldn't be until recently, however, when I learned that that wasn't true. It was with Episode 1, The Phantom Menace. A couple years later, I clocked in quite a few miles on the internet, and got away from Star Wars for a bit. That's when I discovered the attitude of the fandom at the time. For example, I played flash games of Jar-Jar getting shot with a blaster on Newgrounds. Later, I watched a video of an advanced age man pretending to be an obese, recluse, murderer, film critic, talking the biggest takedown of a film not since the Italian government took down Cannibal Holocaust. Somehow, I began to agree. I probably thought something like, well jeez, I guess I was just a kid, this really is a dumb movie. I cringed at the politics and the juvenile Jar-Jar Binks. Episode 3 impacted me greatly, having watched it with my mom in theaters. Despite it and my attachment to the prequels, I disregarded them. Eventually, my conclusion would become this. With the exception of Episode 3 as a mildly good movie, the prequels do not come close to the great classics. For many, Star Wars ended in 1983. This remains the consensus. George Lucas, a man of great ideas and passionate philosophy, only does his best when working with others on equal ground. His prequels, while good in concept, fail in execution. It's seemingly how many beyond the theater screen feel. It was how I felt, but not now. I don't think that's true anymore. I cannot convince anyone directly of changing their mind, taste is taste. But do take the time to reignite your love for the saga by exploring the prequels. I can't even begin to start with the modern history of Star Wars and how complicated, controversial, and ruthless it has become. It's been rough for many to proudly say that they are a Star Wars fan. First world issues, right? The Lucas bashing of prequel era Star Wars looks like a mild gripe when compared to the current stated franchise. The rapid corporatization of the brand and the stories, and the mishandling of new established lore feels haphazard in general. I think it's best to let go of this. Let go of it all. You can now come back to the things that made you, you, in your youth, and value it in a new perspective. I started that with Episode 1, and I'll be damned, it was better than I remember. Ultimately, I hope that the following retrospective convinces you of the positive merits of The Phantom Menace. Engaging with Episode 1 seems to require standing up for its position in the saga, which is unfortunate because it can get in the way of appreciating the film for what it is. I hope that this analysis proves to justify the lack of an outright defense, as it highlights the film's strengths in atmosphere, mythology, worldbuilding, and characterization. These are the qualities that make Star Wars, Star Wars. There's much that can be extracted here, but let's see what the lore says. Thank you for hearing me out, and enjoy. Let's start at the beginning, a very good place to start. The title is great, possibly my favorite title of any Star Wars movie. Where the original trilogy was about overt conflict, updates on the state of rebellion: this is completely different. At this point, the old republic is in power, there is no large-scale conflict, but the audience is aware that a change is coming. The Phantom Menace is truly worthy of the name Star Wars, despite its differences. The conflict is not between an evil empire and the good guys. It is something elsewhere, elusive. This is why the opening crawl begins with the taxation of trade routes. Turns out taxes are quite a hot topic, might even have started a war or two, but this decision is good even beyond that. Taxes are quite clearly something the old republic must have dealt with. Even if their stance was, we have no official position regarding taxation. We never knew all that much about the republic, so it's critical to set the scene. Everyone can agree that the old republic must have dealt with taxes. The only point of contention is to say that taxes are boring, so all of this should be off-camera. This is incredible! We recommend a commission be sent to Naboo to ascertain the truth! The congress of Malastaire concurs with the honourable delegate from the Trade Federation! But that's the entire point. Yes, a minor trade dispute is mundane: it's supposed to be. This is the last normal thing that happens. The precise nature of the objection seems to be: "I don't want to think about this." Not that these events wouldn't have happened, but that they aren't exciting. It's clear to me that the Republic no longer functions. I pray that you will bring sanity and compassion back to the Senate. Can't we just have a bad guy chasing a princess or something instead? This is Mickey for the new millenium. Struggling with smartphone addiction and impossible burger syndrome. We've seen where that line of thinking leads. Right to a certain vermin company. The most foul rodent gives no thought to the history of the galaxy. Which is a mistake. You can't have a setting if the universe only exists where the camera is looking. The Rebellion will continue to gain a support in the Imperial Senate as long— [int.] The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us! Regional governers now have direct control over their territories. This is perhaps the point that the prequels understand best and the reboot does not grasp at all. Knowing the situation of the galaxy only makes the action more interesting. The first ship on screen is excellent. I love this ship. In fact, I think this is the greatest design that appears anywhere in the prequels. It's hard to see why. This is certainly not a flashy ship. It doesn't have any weapons or a hangar of starfighters. To fight in a Star War, this little red ship is completely useless. Fighting is not its purpose. The name given to it is Republic Cruiser. We'll come back to the name in a moment, but first we have to compare it. This is the first ship on screen in the Prequel Trilogy, and it intentionally matches the first ship of the OT. The Corellian Corvette and Republic Cruiser are nearly the same ship, from their design to their usage. This is not an accident. Let's get some names involved. The new ship from The Phantom Menace is named the Radiant VII. The original ship from A New Hope is named the Tantive IV. The term Blockade Runner is more complex than you might think, though we all know it refers to Leia's ship. The Empire has noticed that this type of ship is suspicious, and matches the famous Rebel Blockade Runner. After the fall of the Empire, we all know that in fact, the Tantive IV did all the blockade running to earn that name. That's a bit questionable, since we know Leia uses diplomatic immunity to get out of trouble. This is a consular ship. We're on a diplomatic mission. If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador? Blockade running, in a way that can be tied to the Rebellion, is sneaky. For that, your ship needs to slip through the crossfire and escape. To use diplomatic stasis as a consular ship on a mercy mission, that's unsneaky. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan. It only works if everyone knows who you are, and the Imperial Senate would defend your mission. Blockade Runner and Consular Ship are completely different modes of operation. It might work in cases where you disable your ship's transponder, stopping it from broadcasting a fingerprint code. Otherwise, the first Blockade could just report: <i>"Senator Organa is a traitor."</i> You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away! Worse still, prequel-era information tells us the red stripes on the Tantive IV mark it as diplomatic. How many of those are there in the galaxy, and why has nobody noticed? Would Leia have to paint over the red stripes every time the ship goes incognito? We know the Rebellion has at least four of the Corellian Corvettes by the Battle of Endor. None of these was the Tantive IV, because Leia's ship was destroyed after its capture. We know these are a very common model of ship, just like the inconspicuous YT-1300 Freighters. Republic Cruisers also have a civilian model, but they don't seem to be quite as popular. Next, to actually look at the designs. Now, I happen to know the Tantive IV is about 150 meters long. It's hard to find references to the length, and for the same reason, I can't give a model number. Still, we know the length of a Star Destroyer. By looking at its proportions, we find the main hangar is 150 meters long. The hangar takes up more than 150 meters of space inside, but the capacity seems to be 150. This lines up with Star Destroyer documentation, meaning someone has already measured it. Still, the blockade runner doesn't fill the entire docking bay. A decent portion is unused, so perhaps the Corvette is 125 meters long. I do have a West End reference to a 150 meter long Corvette. This doesn't line up with what we see and know about Imperial Star Destroyers. If it were 150 meters long, the Corvette should completely fill the hangar. This seems to be just a misunderstanding, taking the hangar length as if it were the Corvette length. This is a perfect example of why you can't just look it up and take the first number you see. By understanding where this number comes from, we know why to disagree. Contrast this with the Republic Cruiser. The Radiant VII is only 115 meters long, which is definitely a little smaller than the Tantive IV. We can easily assume all the internal corridors are the same size, and the main body with the wings is identical. The main differences are in the far ends of each ship. One obvious difference is the bridge. The Tantive IV has a hammerhead, measured perpendicular to the main body. The Radiant VII is mostly missing that feature, though the shape is still there. It has been rotated into line with the thrust axis, and is proportionally smaller. The bridge has been moved out from dead center, up to the top of an additional structure above the hammer. We can clearly see a line in the center of the Radiant VII's hammer. This puts it into a category alongside a lot of Star Trek ships. Some say the original Constitution-class Enterprise had landing legs on its saucer, for use after separation. The Galaxy, Sovereign and Intrepid-class have a shuttle docked on the bottom of their saucers. The captain's yacht is generally never shown in action, despite being designed into the ship. It can be hard to tell what was originally intended, and what's a later invention. Going back to Star Wars, the cockpit of the Falcon is sometimes said to be an escape pod, something that can detach from the rest of the ship. I don't believe this was intended for a second when building the model. I can imagine it being a rare modification, they have the technology. As standard, this seems completely implausible. But it's important to remember, there is no such thing as a stock light freighter. The Republic Cruiser has an escape pod as the forward half of the hammerhead. This is never seen in the movie, but it's more useful than a mere escape pod. Besides, the ship already has a set of escape pods, like the one R2 and 3PO used. Being a fully self-contained ship, this pod is modular by definition. If the ship was going to a planet with an aquatic race, it might swap the pod for a specialized one, install extra humidifiers and spa pools. But of course, the planet Naboo doesn't have any amphibious species worth mentioning. [zap, followed by pain sound] How wude! The chosen pod was probably not waterproof. The other main difference between the Tantive IV and Radiant VII is the engines. The Corellian Corvette has 11 engines, while the Republic Cruiser has only 3. Cutting off the top and bottom rows of engines from the Corvette would look terrible, unbalanced. The three engines on the Republic Cruiser are much larger, each one is nearly the size of an entire engine cluster. The Tantive IV has what you might call raid engines: a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives. They're relatively long, where the Radiant VII has short and wide engines. If you can throttle them independently, the Blockade Runner can be very agile. The engines make up the rest of the difference in length between the two ships. I also bet the three huge engines are hard to maintain. A set of smaller engines have more room to compensate for one or more failing. They're surely easier to carry spare parts for, and arguably take less precision. However, the Republic Cruiser is smaller and has larger engines. The only conclusion must be that the Radiant VII is faster than the Tantive IV. The Republic Cruiser is a perfect link between the prequels and the original. I hope that explains why I love it so much. There's one issue, though. The name. It's important to distance yourself from the terminology of Earth's wet navies, mostly because the Earthmen naming these ships didn't know much about any kind of navy. Destroyers are small on Earth because of the invisible apostrophe. They are built to destroy small ships, so they are small and have small, fast-tracking guns. Destroyers are large in Star Wars because the name sounds cool. In an Earth wet navy, there are battleships and cruisers and battlecruisers. These are some of the largest ship classes, with cruisers prioritizing speed. Star Wars inherits some of this naval classification. In order of size, there are starfighters, corvettes, frigates, and cruisers. Tiefighters are fighters, and the Corellian Corvette is a corvette. The Rebel Medical Frigate is a frigate. The Mon Calamari Cruisers are cruisers. Simples. Next, the term Capital Ship. For this, it's instructive to make a reference to Homeworld. Bays 8, 9 and 10 sealed. Scaffold decks A, B, C secure. Decks D and E secure. Scaffold secure. All systems green. Release crews standing by. What a beautiful sight. In that game, there is a dichotomy between capital ships and strike craft. Fighters and corvettes are small and have limited fuel. They don't carry hyperdrives, but they can dock inside larger ships. Frigates are where capital ships begin, and destroyers, carriers, and heavy cruisers are super capital class. This is not how it works in Star Wars. In a book from 1996, a capital ship is "any military ship 100 meters long". The West End RPG books talk about ship classification mostly in terms of crew. A corvette has a crew of between 40 and 200 men. A frigate may have up to a thousand, and anything larger is automatically considered a cruiser. A normal Imperial Class Star Destroyer has 37,000 crew. The Super Class Star Destroyer was considered "the biggest cruiser yet built at 280,000 crew". I trust you are starting to see the problem. Cruisers are defined as the largest and most powerful ships in space. That has been the case since before the prequels were created. Yet this ship, the Republic Cruiser, is smaller than a corvette. By crew it's even worse. Only 8, well below the 40 for a corvette. Just another mistake made by the prequels then? Throw it on the pile and get back to work. Well that's not good enough for me. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Wahuhuhuhuhuhhh! <i>Pee. Yewsa.</i> It turns out that someone has covered for this mistake years before it was made. The fine print on the standard Imperial classification system has an excuse. First of all, the Rebel Alliance doesn't need to keep everything the same as the Imperial Standard. Second, sometimes a ship is just given the wrong classification. Once I wrestle my indignation down to a dull roar, I like this. It makes perfect sense that Luke is aware of a speeder somewhere with a silly name. He knows he can't fix it, that they'd never listen to him and it's too late anyway. But it bugs him that a manager on Sullust called a mere speeder bike an S-swoop. For that matter, we don't hear its name spoken in the movie. Newt Gunray mentions a cruiser, but it's not the Radiant VII. One Naboo cruiser got past the blockade. The Naboo Royal Starship definitely doesn't have the size or crew to be a cruiser. We have a good view of the boarding ramp. It's clearly not a very large ship. It'd be nice to own, granted, compared to some grimy freighter. The cross-sections list this as 76 metres long with a crew of two to six. That's not a corvette, it wouldn't even be a capital ship. If you installed a firing port for your blaster pistol, it would technically be a fast attack vessel. Calling this a cruiser doesn't seem at all accurate. The best explanation I can come up with is a quirk of Trade Federation or Naboo terminology. Not very satisfying, but it solves the naming inconsistency. There is one more notable ship referred to as a cruiser, a space yacht owned by Jabba the Hutt. Like his sail barge and skiffs, Jabba's space cruiser was a Ubrikkian design. I don't have any numbers for it, length or crew capacity. We do know it's large enough for a throne room to be a minor detail. We know it has a hangar containing several Z-95 Headhunter starfighters and two shuttles. Given that a Headhunter is the same size as an X-Wing, that's a decently large hangar. Jabba's space cruiser is also large enough that there are rumours about a Rancor pen. If it were a small ship, it'd be obvious that there is or isn't room for one. We know it's not an enormous ship like a Star Destroyer because it's designed for atmospheric flight as well. Jabba's cruiser is as fast as a Victory-class Star Destroyer at sublight. That is very unimpressive. The Victory-class are notoriously slow. [chain clinking, speaking Huttese] It also has six turbolasers, which is a good way to gauge the size. The Death Star had 15,000 turbolasers. An Imperial Star Destroyer has 60 turbolasers and is 1.6 kilometres long. That's a good start. Take a tenth of that and we can immediately guess Jabba's cruiser is 160 metres long. A standard Nebulon B frigate has 12 turbolaser batteries, the most of anything in their class. The Rebel Medical frigate had that reduced to six, matching Jabba's cruiser. The Tantive IV had six turbolaser turrets. Finally, a Corellian Action VI is 125 metres and one has been modified with three turbolasers. That allows us to make an educated guess as to the size of Jabba's cruiser. It must be around the size of a large corvette or small frigate. It must be larger than 150 metres, but less than about 300 metres. That means it really isn't a cruiser, by the Imperial classification system we all use. Perhaps we should think of these luxury yachts as more like passenger cruise liners than military cruisers. Moving inside the Radiant VII, we see the interior of the bridge at exactly two minutes. This is quite a slick introduction. First, there is an establishing shot of a ship with familiar lines, approaching the blockade mentioned in the crawl. Cut to inside and we see two robed figures, the Jedi Knights mentioned in the text. Tell them we wish to board at once. The Jedi hail the blockade, introducing us to the greedy Trade Federation. Well, the Jedi don't open hailing frequencies. Qui-Gon Jinn addresses the Radiant VII's captain. This turned out to be the largest surprise until Jar Jar, or the battle droids. The captain of the ship leans forward and we can clearly see that he's a little boy. Yes, Sir! Tell them we wish to board at once. I was quite confused. Why do you have a prepubescent kid in charge of a starship? It doesn't make sense. This choice is immersion breaking. Did they put a child in a position of authority to appeal to a young audience? Why is the movie like this? What were the writers thinking? Most shows from Super Mario Nation were made for a family audience, just like Star Wars. However, the star of Joe 90 is very clearly stated to be a nine-year-old boy. Boy. Aged about.. nine. A nine-year-old boy. And he was nine years old! Nine-year-old. I believe that was really declaring the target demographic. The Phantom Menace is the one with Anakin as a wee lad. Could this child ship captain be the same thing? Maybe it doesn't mean anything that he looks like W.I.N.'s most special agent. Maybe his species just looks like that and he's really 900 years old. After all, Nien Nunb isn't very tall. [speaking Sullustese] Nobody thinks he's a child just because Sullustans are short. This has always been a minor gripe of mine. It's not all that bad, but it's strange and really doesn't add anything to the movie. You have Jar-Jar in this movie for the kids. Is it that important to have a child on screen so early? There's no way he's been properly trained for a secret mission this important. It makes the Old Republic look incompetent, unless he's an alien. But it doesn't really matter, because he dies in a couple of minutes. Shields up! [sounds of little boy and adult man dying] This was my stance until last week. Then, while looking through TPM for clips, I noticed something about the captain. Upon closer inspection, I don't think he's a little kid at all. Turns out, that was a woman with short hair. In my defense, she was only on screen for 10 seconds. Apparently, her name is Maoi Madakor. The expanded visual dictionary also names the co-pilot as Antidar Williams. This is a much more sensible situation than I'd always thought. Besides, you know what makes space travel so interesting? Uh-huh? [waiting for punchline] By the time the passengers find out a woman is flying the ship, .. it's too late to get out. Be gone with 'im! Anyway, I was talking about how the movie begins. In just a few seconds, we have met the important characters for the start of the movie. By the third minute, we see the faces of the Jedi. I have a bad feeling about this. At 4 minutes 30, we meet the man who will be Emperor. What is it, you gross dork? This scheme of yours has failed, Lord Sidious. It is clear that he is evil and the puppet master behind the Trade Federation. Yes, my lord. Minutes 5 to 7 are spent establishing the abilities of the Jedi. [sounds of lightsabres igniting] Uh oh. Blast 'em! [sounds of lightsabre and blaster combat, triumphant music] They have extraordinary power, but they are immediately shown to have limits. At the very start of the movie, there is a protocol droid. I sense an unusual amount of fear for something as trivial as this trade dispute. A silver one, in service to the Trade Federation. We have always known there are various casing options. The first droids we ever see are an R2 and two colours of 3PO. [combat sounds, siren blare] In fact, C-3PO himself has a silver right leg. We see a white protocol droid on Hoth and a silver one on Bespin. Nice to see a familiar face. E chuta! How rude! These colours are completely meaningless. We know there are multiple options from the factory. It will be easy to have your 3PO painted or to buy customised plating. I'm TC-14, at your service. As etiquette demands, the droid introduces itself as TC-14. This way, please. Two things are slightly surprising. First, that number doesn't line up with C-3PO at all. Second, this droid has a woman's voice. Visually, TC-14 looks identical to a 3PO model. There are multiple different ways to explain this. My preferred option is the simplest. TC-14 is a 3PO like any other. The Trade Federation just selected silver when placing a bulk order. Make yourselves comfortable. My master will be with you shortly. As for the number, maybe that's a Federation naming convention. There's no reason a 3PO has to have 3PO in its name. That approach avoids adding or contradicting any lore. The alternative is to fixate on some detail and create a new model. Originally, the 1999 Visual Dictionary avoided the topic. There was no reference to what model TC-14 was. It was 2002 before something went awry. The New Essential Guide to Characters. It says that C-3PO uses a part from a TC droid, the Tranlang-3. Less than ideal, but it's okay for a TC series to exist. I draw the line at parts from 2006 and 2012. There's a significant difference in the 2012 expanded Visual Dictionary. It adds a data file box containing two factoids I can't abide. Both of these can be traced back to the New Essential Guide to Droids. All the later lore assumes TC-14 cannot be a 3PO model. These two books explain the difference as being a single component. The Tranlang-3 communications module, first used in the TC series. A luxury variant of the base model, but still technically a TC-3PO. Like TC-14, all of them are said to use female voices. These ideas are completely unacceptable for me. We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life. They contradict existing lore while adding nothing of value to the setting. Based on this newly invented lore, the 2006 book claims something absurd. That the most famous 3PO isn't really a 3PO at all. That our 3PO uses parts from a TC, so he's really one of those. By my own rules, I should only disregard this if older lore disagrees. Conveniently, everything contradicts those changes. The oldest I can find are from 1987 and 1990. Even back this far, it was clear. Threepio was a 3PO. He is a Cybot Galactica 3PO series protocol droid. The 3PO was defined as the type of droid that C-3PO is. We see a very similar situation for the internal components. Even in 1990, the Tranlang-3 had been defined. Each 3PO unit has an AA-1 VerboBrain and a Tranlang-3. These are the core of the droid series, what sets a 3PO apart from the competition. When Industrial Automaton built a copy, they used an AA-1 and a Tranlang-3. According to lore from 2006, the 3PO series was designed around a Tranlang-2. After decades of production, a more expensive variant was created. These new TC droids would carry a Tranlang-3 instead of 2. Eventually, the Tranlang-3 became a standard part on all new production 3POs. There is no basis for this idea except for TC-14's name. The only supporting evidence comes from EV-9D9. How many languages do you speak? I am fluent in over 6 million forms of communi- Splendid. Any fan of Star Wars could tell 9D9 that. A 3PO's Tranlang-3 supports 6 million languages. That implies she expects some variation in 3PO specifications. To be fair, C-3PO has spent time in a Jawa Sandcrawler. Don't shoot! Don't shoot! There's no guarantee how original all his parts are. The 2006 New Essential Guide seems to be the problem. It implies the 3PO was built with a Tranlang-2. Personally, I think 3POs were given Tranlang-3s for a reason. The reason is that both machines have the numeral 3 in the name. Now, for no reason at all, I think we should look at a different droid. A J-9 worker drone from Roche Hive. In the new book, J-9s are stated to have a Tranlang-3 communications module. However, this is the one place we'd expect to see a Tranlang-2. The 1999 Essential Guide to Droids also describes the J-9. That one specifies a Tranlang-2 module with 1 million languages. That mutated into a Tranlang-3 with only 1 million languages. These can't both be right, and one makes less sense than the other. I reckon that proves the New Essential Guides are sometimes wrong. Where they contradict, we'll assume the original version is correct. Claiming C-3PO isn't a 3PO, well, that contradicts everything. I completely reject the idea of a TC series with different internals. If we take that difference away, there's no substance to the newly invented model. There is one characteristic left for you to base a 3PO variant on. Whut?! Whut did you sey? The ambassador Unlike every protocol droid of the original movies, TC-14 has a female voice. Is that enough to justify an entirely new model number? Given that they use the same translation hardware, I think not. I conclude that the model doesn't exist. There is no TC series. C-3PO and TC-14 have identical hardware. If the TC series was meant to be a female variant of the 3PO, we'd expect some new parts. Protocol droids are built to be generic and neutral. A Twi'lek would notice a lack of head tails. Wookiees would see a 3PO as short and hairless. However, they would all agree, 3PO is a metal man. That's no gynoid, the droid is an android. I'll <i>always</i> remember you, Fry.. MEMORY DELETED. [dies] Of course, there's no such thing as a male or female droid. When a droid turns up in a list of characters, Star Wars does it correctly. The sex is listed as N/A because droids are non-biological. In the case of R2 and 3PO, inapplicable masculine programming. That's by far the third most common sex for a Star Wars character. It also tells us the answer: No, you don't need to create a TC series. There aren't any unique parts, it's all done in software. You'd never find a female voice box for a translator droid. To be fit for purpose, their vocabulator can accurately produce any sound. Our C-3PO could mimic any voice or accent in the galaxy. [incoherent, mumbling gibberish] Right. What'd he say? [slightly less incoherent, mumbling gibberish] We know this to be true. In the Ewok village, 3PO imitates the sound of TIE fighters. Laser cannons, lightsabers, even Vader breath. There's nothing remarkable about TC-14 having feminine programming. It certainly doesn't justify a new model of droid. Cybot Galactica would offer both options and any color you like. It can't be a difficult operation either. Toshi Station could probably manage it. Okay.. Turn this into a woman! [laugh track] I'm serious. So am I! Most people don't really care, and most droids don't come with programming options. Nor do they have options for gloss and matte or color. Books from 2006 and 2012 fixated on this detail. They consider TC-14 to be the template for a new model, instead of a minor variation. From there, it makes sense to distinguish the TC by making them mostly female. In 2006, that's understandable. When designing a droid, that's usually decided for the entire series at once. However, in 2012, things got worse. The expanded Visual Dictionary felt the need to explain why. It claimed that feminine programming is traditional for protocol droids. At least for ones in diplomatic service. As far as I can see, there is no basis for that idea. Diplomatic service is the standard environment for a 3PO unit. We don't see one with feminine programming until the prequel era. The only evidence we have, see 3PO, is a counterexample. If there were such a tradition, Cybot Galactica would use a different design. You wouldn't make an android if you know it'll end up with feminine programming. Or if you would, don't pretend it's for the sake of tradition. The 2006 book makes no mention of this supposed tradition. Feminine droids are uncommon, but sometimes they happen, and that's fine. Oh! Excuse me. Let's quickly take a look at a couple of examples. The first one I always think of is 9D9. That is, a Merendata model EV. This comes from the original trilogy, in Jabba's palace. A spindly thing with a bad attitude and inhuman form. WE HAVE BEEN WITHOUT AN INTERPRETER SINCE OUR MASTER GOT ANGRY WITH OUR LAST PROTOCOL DROID AND DISINTEGRATED IT. The EV series are droids built to supervise other droids. Jabba's example, EV-9D9, is loved by the fans. At least I assume she's popular, I've never heard a complaint. YOU'RE A FEISTY LITTLE ONE, BUT YOU'LL SOON LEARN SOME RESPECT. 9D9 has three tiny eyes, which is not standard for her model. The mouth flap is perhaps her strangest feature. Maybe her masters want a visual cue that the EV is working. The duties of a supervisor droid are mostly related to speech. 9D9 is as evil as a machine could possibly be, so let's move on. PI-TY: I HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD. EX-TER-MI-NATE. From the prequel era, the first one I think of is Dexter's Waitress. Someone to see you, honey! Jedi, by the looks of him. This is a very simple machine. There exist many variations on the concept. A competing design of droid might be the R-10, a self-propelled serving tray. You can accomplish much the same thing with a shelf on an R2 unit. R2, what are you doing here? [droidspeak] Well, I can see you're serving drinks, but this place is dangerous. All of these droids have to stand out in some way, and this one shows a striking design. The WA-7 Waitress is only moderately more agile than R2-D2. .. Sub-Tyrell, beyond the outer rim. This baby belongs to them cloners. For a customer-facing role, though, having a face may be an advantage. Do you want a cup of Jawa juice? Oh yes, thank you. The final example is an LE model from Cybot Galactica. That designation was actually used twice centuries ago. The older of the two is an LE repair droid. Their primary function is ship repair, much like an Astromech. Unlike an R2 unit, the LE can speak basic. Their humanoid form is closer to 9D9 than Threepio. No polished bronzium plating, just exposed joints and wiring. This one is not specifically an android, but has masculine programming. As a secondary role, the LE droid is the radio man. A freighter captain like Dash Rendar has other priorities. An LE can handle the landing permits on your behalf. No, I don't have a landing permit. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, let me explain! This brings us to another LE model from 300 years ago. That's three times older than the Threepio series. We can tell they were older protocol droids, since that's what an LE is. The LE manifest droid is based on Threepio's ancestor. Instead of etiquette, a manifest droid knows about paperwork. What had been a secondary function of a repair droid was now the sole purpose. There's no need for much translation, a dozen languages would be plenty. The critical knowledge is of spaceport regulations and red tape. Like the R3 and R4, this is a droid for a different market. Han Solo likes Astromech droids and Treadwells. They're very useful in repairing his ship. Check it at the other end. Wait a second. You alright? He doesn't have much patience for C-3PO and would never buy one. Sir, sir! Might I suggest— Shut him up or shut him down! [Chewbacca intensifies] However, you might be able to sell an LE manifest droid to a freighter captain. If I owned a Gitrok 720 and an R4, this would be my second droid purchase. Though based on a protocol droid, there are certain hardware changes. Perhaps most notable is the waist. There is no gap in the droid plating. Most droids of that kind have a flexible section at the waist somewhere. We can assume the LE has a more limited range of motion than most droids. While that might work in a throne room, it's safer to have the waist covered. Aside from that, an LE has only one notable feature. Her feet are said to be magnetic. That would serve no purpose for a diplomat, but aboard ship it's quite helpful. There you go. Now you just walk around like you're in pumps. How do you know what it's like to walk in pumps? I didn't always work in space. Cybert Galactica has made one other modification from the base protocol droid. Princesses and senators are content with the 3PO series. Freighter captains tend to lose patience when dealing with etiquette droids. As part of fixing this, LE droids were built with feminine programming. A droid's personality is a very important feature. That's why the R2 is so popular. By having an endearing attitude, a droid can avoid the off switch. The Empire may be gracious enou— Thank you.. Let's bring this back around to TC-14. I have always considered her to be a normal 3PO droid. There are millions of droids, so the names must be more elaborate than what we hear. Droids would have to select a locally unique name. There's also a preference for putting the model number in the name. That would mean TC-14 and TC-3 are normal names for 3PO droids. There is no TC model, and C-3PO is a 3PO. All the hardware is identical. No 3POs used Tranlang-2s. Nor is there any merit to the claim of traditional feminine programming. That seems to be an invention of 2012 with no basis in Star Wars. As a standard 3PO, TC-14 can't come from a mostly female production run. We've seen what Cybot Galactica does when making a new kind of protocol droid. If you wanted a protocol droid of a different model, LE would be the one. Manifest droids were made for customers just like the Trade Federation. Let's not try to infer any lore from TC-14. The Phantom Menace changed Star Wars forever. Traditionally, a lightsaber was always described using three words. Cut, through, anything. Sometimes it's almost anything or practically anything. In the original movies, they were always used as blades. Han slices a Tauntaun, which tells us almost nothing. Hang on kid! We do see flames dancing along the saddle straps. Luke cuts open an AT-AT hatch, which is the most tool-like usage. Episode 1 changes everything by establishing limits. We will not survive this.. Qui-Gon strides boldly over to a door. This appears to be a normal interior door, a quarter decimeter thick. Much like the doors aboard the Death Star or the Enterprise. The lightsaber slices through with contemptuous ease. So far, it's all gone as expected. Everyone knows that a saber can cut through anything. Perhaps the best example is from Cloud City. Darth Vader slices through a set of triple columns, leaving an exposed cut. It seems fair to assume that the exterior is metal and possibly all the way through. The exposed surface is blackened, even more so after the duct tape has been removed. That's a lotta damage! This sets the standard for using lightsabers against metal. In the time of the prequels, we have significantly more options. Qui-Gon leaves a glowing trail in the wake of his blade, as if the metal of the door is left white-hot, gradually cooling down. It certainly seems to blister, trying to flow away from the blade. Qui-Gon will be through this door in seconds. However, the Nemoidians have a trick up their voluminous sleeves. Close the blast doors! That's right, blast doors, as seen on the Death Star. Open the blast door! Open the blast door! These doors seem to be an inferior design to the Imperial version. Both types slide apart into two halves. However, these Trade Federation ones don't have any overlap. When the doors close, they actually interact with the blade. The first blast door causes the lightsaber blade to bend. We can still see the blade, despite the door closing around it. Finally, the second blast door hides the lightsaber from view. Blast doors are extremely large and heavy slabs of metal. Opening and closing them takes real effort and big drive systems. Qui-Gon, standing right next to the door, senses a heavy double thud. Our Master Jedi doesn't finish the incision. This time, he stabs into all three doors. Immediately, the metal begins to sizzle and smoke. Before long, the center of the door melts away. A chunk in line with the saber falls to the floor. Things are looking grim for the Federation. These Federation types are cowards. This looks amazing, and it's informative. We're shown that the lightsaber can still cut through almost anything. More importantly, it adds a limit. Qui-Gon can't wave his sword at a wall and have it fall away. Even cutting through a thin door will take 20 seconds. To get through multiple blast doors, it could be several minutes. That's an exceptional solution to the Red Faction effect. The door's jammed. Blast around it if you can. If your sword can cut through anything, why not use it? Luke could have sliced a path directly into Leia's cell. [error tone] It's no good. Let me try mine. [explosion] The moment a character gains certain tools, the world falls apart. And now, your highness, we will discuss the location— Kool-Aid to the rescue! Suddenly, the strength of a lock doesn't matter. It's always easier to get in through the wall. This scene tells us why Jedi can't walk through walls. That part is good, but it gets better. Despite putting limits on them, lightsabers didn't get weaker. As far as we can see, they still cut through anything. The lazy answer would have been lightsaber-resistant materials. Placing a limit on battery life wouldn't solve anything. You'd just reload your saber batteries after cutting each door. Using time is a much better constraint, and it lines up with the original lore. Most of the original lore, at least. There's one detail out of place. [sound of being wanged by training remote] Lightsabers are said to emit no heat. That metal is glowing red-hot, so what's going on? We know it's some kind of stable energy loop. Battery life is almost unlimited, multiple years of use. A lightsaber only loses energy when the blade touches an object. [MandaloreGaming reference] With this information, we can make an educated guess. When the lightsaber is idle, it doesn't give off any heat. Sabers are not a containment field around some hot plasma. The blade itself isn't particularly hot. It toasts.. bread.. while you're slicing it. I reckon the heat only appears when an object resists the saber blade. That would mean you can cut through paper and kindling without causing a fire. The perfect fire hazard would be some kind of dense hardwood. That also allows for a flesh wound to be cauterized. Think back to the Tauntauns saddle straps. Only the leather caught fire because of the dense material. For a lightsaber to cause any significant heat, it needs a lot of metal. No matter the door, the blade passes through with virtually no resistance. Like a monomolecular blade through, well, anything. [death sounds] Looking for evidence, we find some subtle hand movements. Little click out of pin one. [click] If I'm right, we'd expect blade movement to generate heat. The door wouldn't get any hotter unless there's solid metal touching the blade. What Qui-Gon does is similar to the optimal move. There's not enough movement to cause a real difference, though. I'm not sure what the official answer is. Not anymore. On one hand, certain Disney books avoid saying the blade is hot. "Melt after exposure to a lightsaber blade", is vague. Other books are less cautious about lightsaber technology. Original lore may say energy, but never plasma. Saying a lightsaber blade is plasma would imply it's very hot. Personally, I see plasma blades as a serious problem. A hot blade must emit light and heat. Any time the plasma saber is active, it would lose energy. Suddenly, battery life becomes a serious concern. There's no way a portable heater can run for years without recharging. Lightsabers being hot would genuinely shatter my immersion. Think of when Mr. Spock heats up a rock with his phaser. It would be unbelievable if the phaser battery never ran out. — to function with a substitute fuel supply. Our phasers. I can adapt them and use their energy. Hot plasma blades work the same way. You need a much bigger power source. Something backpack-sized, I would say. Let's see now.. That one there.. Regardless of how sabers work, it will take time to cut through. Qui-Gon never gets a chance to finish the job. The Phantom Menace has more than a few surprises in store for us. The next is another kind of battle droid, the Droidica. These are mobile blaster turrets, a kind of super battle droid. When set up on all three legs, Droidicas have a slow walking speed. This lack of mobility would have been a severe flaw. To compensate, these destroyer droids were given a wheeled mode. [the boys are back in town] Transforming between them takes about one second. Originally, they were called Baron Droids, though this name was dropped. Early concept art was simply a heavier version of the standard battle droids. One of these designs would reappear under the name of E4 Baron Droid. Destroyer droids have a combination of technology that represents a true threat to these knights of justice. The second time we ever see a lightsaber used, it's to deflect bolts of energy. Being able to parry a blaster volley is also the second force ability we see. It is absolutely right for Jedi to be able to block a withering torrent of fire like this. But they aren't invincible, and with good planning, their enemies can win. That puts the movie into a grounded realm. We're not dealing with Superman or the Hulk here, they can't just pull out a new power. I don't think so. :\ No one can kill a Jedi. I wish that were so. (Us too, Qui-Gon.) To beat them, a blast door, a shield, and a repeating blaster are all it takes. If you have a squad of Space Marine Devastators or Fire Warriors, you can force a few Jedi to retreat. From the OT, we know that an ambush or a dark side force user can also work. Will you take it easy?! Let's just figure out a way to get out of this thing! When I left you, I was but the learner. [lightsabre combat noises, pain bark, lightsabre clatters] Combined with trying to protect others, that makes it easy for the movie to present a threat. In fact, two battle droids are already enough to match the Jedi in combat. Jedi do not crave combat, there is no reason to stand and fight. They are in a difficult situation, a narrow corridor, a kill zone. Every blaster bolt flying down the corridor is a danger. Retreating under fire would be hazardous, even with lightsabers. Naturally, the Jedi pull out a new power. This is an unexpected move. To escape from the destroyer droids, the knights use a force sprint. It's a standoff! Let's go! Cheese it! [running and panting] ROBOT HOUSE! This isn't a recurring feature, we almost never see it again. This power of celerity is related to the agility of the Jedi. The combat in the prequels is acrobatic, much more than in the original movies. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon both display an incredible jump height. The force jump ability is actually from the original trilogy. In Empire Strikes Back, Luke jumps out of the freezing chamber. [machinery sounds, gas sounds, mechanisms move] This is a vertical jump, several meters straight up from a standing start. It is impressive, most impressive. It seems logical to assume the same ability can be used in another direction, such as along a corridor instead of straight up. It bothers me far less than, say, R2-D2 having hover thrusters. [R2-D2's hover thrusters bothering DZ] Since the Jedi are not warriors, it's perfectly fitting for them to run away. There are alternatives to fighting. At the 8 minute mark, we are introduced to the mother of the Skywalker siblings. A transmission from the planet. It's Queen Amidala herself! As queen of a small planet, she starts with as much prestige as Princess Leia did. It makes sense for the royal Organa family to have adopted that lineage. However, notice how everything so far has taken place in orbit. There has been no sign of the planet Naboo except the establishing shot of the blockade. It lurks in the background, out the windows. The Jedi have decided to stow aboard the landing ships. This is an odd play for the Trade Federation. We've got to warn the Naboo and contact Chancellor Valorum. Let's split up, stow aboard separate ships and meet down on the planet. 15 seconds later, Queen Amidala appears for the first time. The first sight of the planet is at 9 minutes, after the Federation start talking about the surface. The next minute shows a communications disruption on Naboo. We have just seen Lord Sidious communicating via hologram. Kill them immediately. Now, we see someone else using the same technology. The queen addresses him as Senator Palpatine. [garbled transmission] Massive spoiler alert, but it turns out Sidious and Palpatine and the Emperor are all the same man. For someone watching this movie before the OT, there's just enough similarity to pick up on. Two people using holograms within 4 minutes? Coincidence? I think not. The Emperor appeared only in hologram form until episode 6. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi. [Vader breathing] More importantly, the name Palpatine is never spoken in the OT. To those who read the novelization, he was Emperor Palpatine. To a casual viewer who only saw the movies, he is only the Emperor. — just received word that the Emperor — — the Emperor — — the Emperor now, the Emperor comma— — the Emperor, the Emperor, the Emperor, to the Emperor — — want the Emperor's, the Emperor — THE EMPARARRR! — join the Emperor. The Phantom Menace was definitely made with these two viewpoints in mind. On one hand, those without prior knowledge get to know Senator Palpatine. I feel confident that our situation will create a strong sympathy vote for us. I will be Chancellor.. At some point during the prequels, these people will realize Darth Sidious and Palpatine are the same man. We must do something quickly to stop the Federation. I think we're going to have to accept Federation control for the time being. The other camp recognizes the name Palpatine. They know he will become Emperor, but the characters do not. There is a question of procedure.. But, I'm confident we can overcome it. That's dramatic irony, that is. The 10th minute of the movie shows the Trade Fed. landing their ground forces. [start of the best song on the soundtrack] [body of the best song on the soundtrack] This is good. As we all know, you can't just fly a Star Destroyer down into the atmosphere. If you could do that, you could deploy your ground forces by extending a crane from a hovering ship. [Star War sounds] It's very clear that the Federation harbor ships can't descend below orbit. The Luka Hulk class has a diameter of 3,170 meters. But since it's a circular ship, that doesn't really get the size across. Times pi, that's 9,959 meters of circumference. If you straighten the ship out, it's 10 kilometers long. Quite a massive ship, and the fleet has dozens of them. If they didn't have a droid army inside, their cargo bays would be big enough to hold a dwarven city. [sounds of a Star War] 10 kilometers is a remarkably large ship. It's the size of 8 Mon Calamari MC-80B cruisers, 1.2 kilometers. 6 Imperial-class Star Destroyers, 1.6 kilometers. It'd be more than half the length of the Eclipse, 17.5 kilometers. 2 kilometers longer than a Super Star Destroyer, 8 kilometers. Or, if you prefer, 1,037 A-wings long, 9.6 meters. There's no way you can bring something that ungainly into land. We'll get around to tackling Star Destroyers in atmosphere, don't you worry. Instead, the Trade Federation army comes with landing craft. [landing craft sounds] Each of these has a wingspan of 370 meters. I suppose you could just about use these as cargo shuttles for non-military goods. To handle the strain of landing something that large, they're mostly held together by structural integrity fields. All seems fine to me. You'd need something that large to transport a grand army. With this, we've established that the Federation has phenomenal cargo capacity. In order to justify that, they must have enough money to fill those immense holds. That's also the scale of organization you'd need for this, to build a droid army with custom designs. The Old Republic is exactly the place you'd expect to find a wealthy merchant fleet. Though we've never seen them before, these Nemoidians are a credible threat. Ahh! Vic-tor-ree! They do seem awfully similar to the Duros. Duros are one of the oldest races in the galaxy, experienced spacers. Generally well-respected and good-natured. With the size of their fleet, it's clear the Nemoidians inherited some of these traits. We have taken over the last pockets of primitive lifeforms. With their actions, it's no wonder the Duros deny any relation to them. This is a perfect example of something all too often overlooked. You don't need to save the galaxy every week. Not everything needs to affect the balance of power in the wider universe. The story of Episode 1 is mostly mundane, though it does leave ripples through history. Though small on a galactic scale, there are billions of battle droids here. It's hard to maintain security on such a large scale. Federation war freighters weren't made to repel borders. The Jedi use their superior mobility to escape. They've gone up the ventilation shaft! On a military vessel, there probably wouldn't be such convenient vent shafts. You assume too much. The Trade Federation responds slowly to each new event. How many of their battle droids can fit inside a ventilation shaft? They could try gas again, but that already failed once. [lightsabre ignites] Uh, oh. The only other option would be to pump out the air from your own ship. I, uh, especially approve of the way the air is pumped out of the vault, sah. It's a huge risk. The bridge doors don't close anymore. Jedi can poke holes in a ship faster than droids can patch them. In much the same way, the landing craft will have little security. [music, landing ship sounds] They will maintain air pressure inside since most of their flight is in atmosphere. Our Jedi could hide anywhere so long as there's a chance to sneak in. Let's split up. Stow aboard separate ships and meet down on the plannet. I tend to think it was underneath the main floor, behind the landing ramp. There's a lot of room that would be hard to monitor. Captain, we've searched the ship and there is no trace of the Jedi. They may have gotten on one of your landing craft. Splitting up doesn't affect the movie much. Since neither Jedi was caught, both land safely. There is only one consequence to splitting up. [panicked Jar-Jar noises] Qui-Gon spends a few moments alone until shortly after landing. That leaves him free to meet our next character. Are you brainless? I speak. The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. The eleventh minute of the movie introduces Jar Jar Binks. Meesa called Jar-Jar Binks! Meesa your humble servant! Oh dear. I think we can safely conclude he's aimed at a certain audience. Specifically, those with ages a single digit long. This goes beyond slapstick comic relief. People a few years older than the target are not fond of Jar Jar. What if I told you there was a way to fix him? More?! Well, I remember seeing a re-edit that removes him from the movie. That works well enough in my eyes, but I do reckon Lucas knew what he was doing. Careful, Ani! Careful, Ani! I might alter the nature of the comic relief, but it's there for a reason. Ideally, the fix would leave most of the movie untouched. Honestly, it might not take any visual changes, or it might need a single one. Make him unintelligible. That's it. That's all you need to make Jar Jar a character everyone can like. I'm serious. You must unlearn what you have learned. [speaking Huttese] That didn't take very long, did it? Let go of your hatred. Forget Darth Jar Jar. Say goodbye to marauder shields. Here's what we do. Right from the first movie, there have been a lot of people speaking a lot of languages. Most sci-fi settings don't have translator droids wandering around everywhere. Ask him! C-3PO: [begins speaking Ewok] Han: We need some fresh supplies, too. C-3PO: [resumes speaking Ewok] Han: Try and get our weapons back. [exasperated Markiplier reaction] That makes Star Wars stand out a fair bit. We can use that strength. Greedo and Chewbacca don't speak a language the audience can understand. The same goes for Jabba the Hutt, Nien Nunb, Watto, and many others. In fact, let's appreciate this one guy. This is a spy named Garindan. He is a Kubaz, and he tips off the stormtroopers in an alien language. I don't think I could even make those noises. [speaking in Kubazian] Which way? [answers in Kubazian] Another detail to notice is that Garindan has no subtitles. He doesn't need them. What's really important, though, is how to address the greatest spy in Mos Eisley. The preferred name for one of his stature is Long Snoot. Stop giggling. We'll have none of that in this technical briefing. The way language works in Star Wars is that only one is translated. [speaking in Shyriiwook] Well, you said it, Chewwie. This language is called Basic. I believe in Middle Earth or D&D, it's called Common. Other settings might include a trade language or Belter Creole. Oye, beltlowda! Most characters will speak this one language, which becomes English in most cases. If you watch it in Italian, they're still speaking Basic. It's just been translated to Earth differently. Certainly, most organic beings and droids can understand Basic. They can't always pronounce it, but you can carry on a conversation in two languages. [speaking in Droidspeak] I dunno. This happens all the time between Han and Chewie, or Han and Jabba. Jabba, I'll pay you triple. You're throwing away a fortune here. Don't be a fool! Characters will only be fluent in a few languages, but which ones they are is key. Jar Jar will have a grasp of Galactic Basic. Otherwise, he couldn't 'speck' to other people. We can even have him start speaking Basic for key scenes like when talking to the droids or the Naboo. When Jar Jar does this, he's being a bit condescending. Yousa thinking, yousa people gonna dieeee? I don't know. Gungans no dyin' without a fight. Weesa warriors. He might start speaking English, but reverts to Gunganese around the Jedi. When he's talking to Queen Amidala, he speaks Basic. He knows she sees him as stupid and annoying. They're also both aware that she doesn't speak a word of his language, but <i>he</i> knows most of hers. There's no downside to this. Most of Jar Jar's actions aren't based on language. Do we need him to say icky yucky goo? Ohhh! Icky, yucky goo. No, that gag works without words. He steps on something, we hear a squelch, and then makes noises of complaint. Being able to understand the words Jar Jar says doesn't enhance anything. Another example, in Watto's shop. Blowing a raspberry, playing with a pit droid, and juggling. We're leaving, Jar-Jar. None of these require Jar Jar to speak. The actions are funny, they speak for themselves. Another scene, he tries to steal some fast food. Ahh, moy moy! Alas, it is securely fastened. [cartoon sound effects, followed by splash] The shopkeeper tells him off, so Jar Jar walks away whistling innocently. [Jar-Jar whistles] It doesn't work. A confrontation with Sebulba ensues. This entire sequence happens without needing a single word of Basic. The locals all speak Huttese, and Jar Jar just makes noises. As for interaction with other characters, consider Padmé Amidala. When she first meets Jar-Jar, she asks if he is a Gungan. You're a Gungan, aren't you? Is she being polite, or does she not know what Gungans even look like? How'd you end up here with us? My no know. Mr. Binks tries to have a friendly conversation with her. Meesa day startin' pretty okiday with the brisky morning munchin', then boom! When he reveals that he is terrified and out of his depth... ...she laughs. Everyone laughs. They find his pain and panic amusing. The Queen will not approve. She can say what the Queen disapproves of. Is it so much to say the Queen's guards will protect everybody aboard? Captain Panaka seems like a decent bloke. We can enter the city using the secret passages on the waterfall side. Weesa ready to do ours own part. That's not a real part. There's no arson in this plan. Weesa ready to do arson. I'm not sure what you wish to accomplish by this. Arson. Okay, fine. Just this once, you old scallywag. [Boss Nass shakes his head, gathering cheers] Binks knows the others see him as a joke. Only the Master Jedi treats him with any respect. Muy, I love you! You almost got us killed. Are you brainless? I speck! The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get out of here. Even young Obi-Wan can't stand him. What's this?

• A local. Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic life form? When Qui-Gon leaves the ship, Jar-Jar follows him. He doesn't want to be left in the ship, where he is tolerated at best. Now stay here and keep out of trouble. Tatooine is nearly the worst planet possible for Mr. Binks. He is a giant frogman and the desert air immediately starts affecting his skin. This sun doing murder to meesa skin. It would be sensible for him to turn back. Mr. Binks grumbles but keeps pace with Qui-Gon. Before they can leave, the Queen interferes. Wait! The Jedi is commanded to take another pathetic life form with him. Her Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you. One of the Queen's handmaidens, Padmé. She doesn't interact much with Jar-Jar, mostly just laughing at him again. Awhh! [cheeky droid noises] - Ah! Gotcha.
• Hey! [impact sound] Only after spending time in Anakin's home does she start to understand. To free her homeworld, she must have her servants aid this slave boy. How might I serve you? He's perfect. Oh? Perfect? There are three characters working on the Podracer. Anakin is a pilot who has repair skills, an obvious synergy. He had fixed a pair of engines on his own already. His pair of Radon-Ulzer turbojets were meant to appear worthless. With this? You're such a joker, Ani! Like the Millennium Falcon, intentionally deceptive in appearance. R2-D2 was also at work on the engines. The only other person contributing, that would be Jar-Jar Binks. [music, sound of tools] Padmé walks towards the Podracer, thrice. Once when Anakin's friends arrive, and once when they leave. The final time is to get Jar-Jar's hand out of the jet intake. For the rest of the day, she stands on the sidelines, watching the others try to accomplish something. The Handmaiden stays in the shade when we know humans can survive in this desert. As for the alien, whose native habitat is the eternal night at the bottom of the sea? He's only been standing in the blazing heat of this world's G1 and G2 binary suns. It's a risky thing Mr. Binks is doing. The audience just laughs at him. The night before the race, or on the journey to Coruscant, they talk. You have a big day tomorrow. Not only was Mr. Binks working in the worst environment for him, it was using foreign tech. Gungan technology is fundamentally different from what Anakin has access to. The conversation involves some of the Gungan language. Showing the first sign of interest, Padme asks Jar-Jar what that means. Before long, he falls asleep, and the Handmaiden turns to little Ani. Adding a language barrier to Jar-Jar is the most elegant solution. It changes the least, and gives the most improvement for that. This adds more depth to the two best scenes featuring Boss Nass. The first is the initial courtroom scene. Boss Nass will speak mostly in Basic, to show off. When talking to Jar-Jar Binks, he uses the language of his own people. Yousa, have the life play with this 'n' this'n? Be gone with him! The Jedi can mostly follow the discussion, and the audience may or may not get subtitles. The other scene is later, when the party goes to the Gungan sacred place. Do you know where they are, Jar-Jar? When in trouble, Gungans go to sacred place. Meesa show you, come on, meesa show you! The Queen of Naboo goes to beg for help from the Gungans. The scene begins with a conversation between Boss Nass and the decoy Queen. I am Queen Amidala of the Naboo. I come before you in peace. A lot of this is in the Gungan language. Yousa bringen the mechanics. Yousa, all bombard. The decoy, Sabé, is bewildered and out of her depth. The real Queen, Padmé, steps forward. We wish to form an alliance. Your Honor! Whosa dis? I am Queen Amidala. Originally, she kneels and begs for help from the Gungans. It plays out much the same now, with one little addition. She ends this plea with one short phrase in the Gungan language. No, I beg you to help us. We are your humble servants. Our fate is in your hands. We will have seen her learning it from Jar-Jar earlier, but he never expected her to remember it. In fact, the Queen from the start of the movie would never have done this. After watching how the Jedi treated Jar-Jar, after all they've been through, Padmé can see the value of the amphibians. This is what secures the alliance. [Boss Nass laughs] Yousa no thinkin' yousa greater than the Gungans? Meesa like dis. If the Queen had managed to flee straight to Coruscant, she would have found no help there. But more importantly, she would never have listened to Jar-Jar Binks. Amidala went to the Republic Senate looking for an army. Gungans no dyin' without a fight. Weesa warriors. Weesa got a grand army. That's why you no likin' us, meesa thinks. Turns out the real army was the friends she made along the way. Using the threat of the droid army, the Jedi obtain a guide. Jar-Jar has been exiled from Gungan society. My afraid my have been banished. My forgotten. The bosses would do terrible things to me. It's actually illegal for Mr. Binks to return home. His world is changing, and he has sworn a life debt to Qui-Gon. Fans of Star Wars may find that concept oddly familiar. It originally appeared as part of Chewbacca's backstory. As a young Imperial officer, Solo saved Chewie's life. The Wookiee version is more about honour than "demanded by the gods". Meesa your humble servant. That won't be necessary. Oh, but it is! 'Tis demanded by da gods, it is! Still, if we are to admire Chewbacca for his loyalty, the same applies to Binks. Despite his doubts, Jar-Jar leads our heroes into the Gungan city. Let's get right to it, shall we? The Gungan city is perfect. A jewel at the bottom of a murky lake. [music, underwater sounds] The novelization makes it clear that Otoh Gunga is hundreds of metres down: minutes of swimming. The only light down here comes from underwater sources. Naturally, Jar-Jar is at home here. The Jedi are using A99 aquata breather devices. [music, water sloshing] There is a problem with these. Books from the time showed a different prop from the one used in the movie. This was corrected in a new edition, but both say air tanks. These tiny tubes the size of a finger, and they're supposed to hold two hours of compressed air? That sounds absurd, even for sci-fi. If they're supposed to be liquid gas tanks or something more exotic, you'd expect bigger conversion machinery. We can't prove this with feelings and general sci-fi knowledge. If only there was a reference somewhere. Something that predates the prequels and describes air tanks in Star Wars. As it happens, there is. Here's one about the planet Mon Calamari. We see air tanks are considered bulky, cumbersome, unwieldy. That doesn't line up with the A99. This book is from 1996, so by my standards it overrules all newer contradictions. Do you mean the canon controls your actions? Partially, but it also obeys your commands. I'm going to make this a catchphrase. You can't stop me. The lore will lead you away from infinite possibility. It will guide your pen or proton torpedo to the right place. To the only <i>correct</i> stories which you can write skillfully. You can even add your own personal style while writing within the established universe. This book offers both proof and a fix. The pre-established lore forbids air tanks that small. It also tells us that an organic gill exists at around the same size. We say the A99 is a mechanical gill, made using Old Republic expertise. By putting the lore through this harmonisation process, we cleanse it of paradoxes. The bionic gills are new, but now they're consistent too. Later books came to this same conclusion. By 2004, a New Essential Guide had been published to include prequel items. It specified that the A99 extracts oxygen from the water. However, think about it. Look at Jar-Jar's face. He has nostrils that can seal, and he can hold his breath. Like whales, Gungans can't breathe water. Gungans can dive to the city, but how was it built? Gungan civilization needed time to develop bubble technology. Sooo good being home! [crowd gasps, fear] That means their ancestors lived near the surface. Retreating downward into hidden cities, that's cultural. You might well ask why swamp-dwelling primitives have forcefields. We are sending all troops to meet this army assembling near the swamp. It appears to be made up of primitives. I'm fine with that. If you notice, these shields are about the only technology the Gungans have. [music, weapons fire, shield bubble warble, shields start] The city itself demonstrates a mastery of them. Besides that, plasma grenades are their only technology. [booma slots into catapult] If you have shields, obviously you need some energy-dense substances. As long as it's only those two things, I reckon that's fair. [animal cries] Otherwise, the Gungans mostly have beasts of burden. They have wagons. They have catapults. They use slings, one of the most ancient human weapons. They have two more devices to throw grenades at long range. The atlatl is a short lever, and existed on Earth. The cesta is a grenade cup at the end of a spear. Gungans have electrified spears, which is still fine. [Jar-Jar yelps] If you can make plasma grenades, you can figure out a point-ed stick. They have army-scale shields and handheld shields. All of those are fine. They make sense with two unlocked technologies. We'll get to all that plasma stuff. There's only one Gungan machine left. It's time for Dr. Bob to begin his bongo practice. Good grief, it's talking bread! ;) The main vessel of the Gungan Aquanaut Security Patrol. [Jar-Jar gasps] This submarine has an organic shape and a whirly bit at the back. Wait, that's the one that torpedoed Steve Irwin. This is the real bongo. [Bongo submarine moves through water] The most attention-grabbing detail is that it has a forcefield canopy. I certainly wouldn't notice much else while aboard. Hmm, this seem ovverly. Still, the city proves this is safe enough. The bongo sub is listed at 15 metres long. The other interesting feature of the bongo is its propeller. As depicted, that probably wouldn't work. It does remind me of those vertical propellers for tug boats. [bathed goat screams] Besides, we know they have the ability to apply force to water. That's one of the only things the Gungans have. It doesn't surprise me that this gives unreal traction. [music, Bongo submarine moves through water] The cross-section's book says these are agitators. There is a drive field generated behind, and the spinning increases the amount of affected water. I don't think there's anything wrong with the submarine at all. What's wrong is the navigator, namely Jar-Jar. At the next intersection, turn — [Morshu-beatbox meme] The movie provides three terrible words: "THE PLAAANETT COAARRR." The movie would like for an entire planet to be homogenous. Well, that is to say, 100% of the volume is underwater caves and tunnels. The top metre of the crust? All underwater caves. The next 6 million metres down? Exactly the same, all underwater caves. That's absurd. It's nonsensical. It's unnecessary. How can you do this? This is outrageous. It's unfair! It doesn't add anything of value. This is a terrible idea that should never have made it into the final version. The fix doesn't need to change anything about the visuals, or even the dialogue. It's compatible with the unmodified version of the movie. Before we start fixing the planet, let's explore exactly what is broken. Boss Nass gives directions through "the planet core". How did this happen? Wait a minute. How did this happen? We're smarter than this! I think I've found the cause. I do not like this lore, of the planet Naboo lacking a molten core. The idea of underground rivers, a tunnel network? That's absolutely fine. It's a great idea. I don't care if Naboo isn't unique like that. The problem is caused by how deep the tunnels go. If you want them to extend 100 metres down, that's fine by me. 1 kilometre? That's fine too. Underwater caves all the way down to 10 or 11 kilometres? No problem, go right ahead. I have no objection to a submarine diving as far as Challenger Deep. 100 kilometres? Still okay. 1000 kilometres? Whatever you say, George. It's fine for the submarine to dive that far. I may have gone too far in a few places. It's okay to have underwater passages 1000 kilometres deep. The problem is when you go beyond that. Because I have no objection to diving 100 or 1000 kilometres, it doesn't stop. Next, 10,000 and 100,000 kilometres. At this point, your advisor is obliged to step in. No, George, we can't go 10 million metres under the sea. I want you to get out of this office right now! I'm sorry, sir. No way! No way! Out! It definitely can't be 100,000 kilometres. The planet isn't that big. You can't even go 10,000 kilometres down. That's the planet core. The planet Earth is 12,742 kilometres in diameter, or close enough. Naboo has a diameter of 12,120 kilometres. The point is, you can't dive 10,000 kilometres, because the centre is only 6,000 kilometres deep. This is quite a reasonable objection, but it gives George a terrible idea. What if it wasn't impossible? What if you go down there anyway? Running out of veto power, the advisor relents. The point is conceded. The core of Naboo is removed, and now the whole planet is underwater caves, except the land which sticks up above the water. This allows for a voyage 10,000 kilometres under the sea, except that nowhere in the movie gives an exact depth. Everything underwater could be 300 metres or 3 million metres down. It makes no difference to any part of the plot. Cut. Let's try it again. Give Naboo its core back. Of course there is a molten core and a mantle around that. That doesn't do anything to stop you from having deep-sea tunnels. Every adventure the Bongo submarine goes on can happen at any depth. Let's pick a deep enough number that the Gungans can call it the core. They have mapped tunnels as deep as 300 kilometres, and they believe it goes deeper still. That's enough room for anything you might possibly want to do. The principle of a fix is that it should still accomplish the same things as the broken part. In this case, it justifies needing to go on a dangerous journey deep underwater. Ota Gunga is at the bottom of a lake, and Theed is far away from that lake. That works fine in the new version. The unmodified movie includes the line, "going through the planet core". The planet core. Going through the planet core? We need a navigator to get us through the planet's core. That works either way. We can say Boss Nass is being poetic. The visuals of the route don't show anything about the planet core, just tunnels. One thing remains, that plasma used in Gungan technology. Extra material describes the plasma erupting from the centre of the planet. These plasma eruptions create the tunnel network throughout the entire planet. Planety planet. This is matched with a deep sea plant called Locap. It burrows through rock to extract plasma, which the Gungans then harvest. In contrast, the humans of Naboo have their own plasma power station. It has a deep shaft that will be useful later. All of this still works if Naboo has a core like every other planet in the galaxy. Almost nothing needs to change at all. The Gungans still harvest plasma from the Locap plant. Farming is dangerous business because these plants have teeth. But the Locap only collects and refines the plasma. The origin of the plasma is something else. I suggest it is biogeothermal. Deep below the mapped tunnels, there is a life form nobody has ever seen. Down where the crust of Naboo meets the mantle, there are colonies of giant single-celled organisms. They have set up a natural geothermal power station. The plasma is a by-product of their life cycle, and it makes its way up toward the surface. From there, the Locap taps into pockets of raw plasma and naturally refines them. From my perspective, this change has only positive consequences. Having a uniform cave system through 100% of the planet's volume was bad. It didn't make any sense in 1999, and it still doesn't. That's not how planets work. A planet of only desert is one thing, but this is supposed to be our universe. Believe it or not, Star Wars is science fiction. I know, some people say that having melee weapons in the setting makes it fantasy. If you say Warhammer 40k has melee weapons, that doesn't really help your case. Star Trek is always recognized as sci-fi, but that's due to the writing. If it is the only survivor of a dead race, to kill it would be a crime against science. Mr. Spock. An episode of pre-reboot Trek is written as a sci-fi story. There is a concept, and to explore that idea, we need characters. You could write a sci-fi story set in 17th century Italy. Who put the Tribbles in the quadrotriticale? I remember once Peter the Great had a problem like that. He... Captain. Kirk here. By its setting, Star Trek is not very hard sci-fi. Forget the writing style. Star Wars is harder sci-fi than Trek. Not everything can be solved with a special pulse from the main deflector. You can't just erect a force field somewhere. You need a machine to do that. It needs to be installed right by the area that needs shielding. We're opening the magnetic field. [sounds of a Star War] You can't discover a new space-time anomaly in every nebula. You won't find the Falcon being shrunk into a Christmas tree ornament. We seem to be tethered to some kind of large plant. Computer, I need a wider angle. You can't hide from me, Q. With the exception of the Force, the Star Wars universe is very industrial. Androids aren't for debating the personhood of artificial beings. Droids are made to work. What are we going to do? We'll be sent to the spice mines of Kessel, smashed into who knows what! Do you think they'll melt us down? [speaking in Droidspeak] You can't reach Warp 13 on a scale that goes up to 10 by thinking. What is our velocity? It's off the scale, sir. With the Force, it is possible to make a hyperspace jump without a computer. That's about the most you can do, and Trek goes beyond that every week. My point here is that as described, Naboo does not belong. In the expanded universe, Naboo is described as unique. There is literally nothing else in the universe like it. Having a planet city is something much less drastic. That only concerns the surface area of a sphere. The honeycomb structure of Naboo would affect the entire volume of the sphere. The 2009 Essential Atlas book describes Naboo as peculiar. The series of Inside the Worlds from the year 2000 goes further. Naboo is an enigma unlike any planet in the galaxy. It is bizarre and unique. That's because it doesn't belong. The book The Science of Star Wars tries to explain how such a planet could exist. It was published in 2000. Apparently, the explanation available didn't mention locap plasma. The planet is said to be made of large rocks. Being potato-shaped, they don't fit together perfectly. The gaps between are flooded due to water from comets. This is all good and well, except it still leaves problems. As you go deeper into the ocean, the pressure increases. This is because of the weight of water above you. That principle applies to stone as well. You know why planets are spherical? All that gravity pulling down on the rock. Any surface irregularities are crushed back into line, even on a planet as small as Pluto. What do you think happens to a cave at the planet's core? We would expect the pressure to melt the rock, even if no heat came from forming the planet. Naboo is listed as having either one or three moons. Presumably, we can interpret this as one significant moon and a couple of captured asteroids. I believe Luna was created through quite a warm process and has a molten core of its own. How about Naboo's moon? Does that one have a molten core? Was there any heat involved with the collision that formed it? Or was it a captured satellite? Not having a mantle would also mean no volcanoes. The only eruptions would be raw plasma. There would be no tectonic plates. The oceans would be nothing like those of any other planet. No seafloor vents or geothermal energy. This doesn't line up with what we see. We know Naboo is a sphere. Its size is almost exactly like Earth. Its gravity appears to be 1g. Everything about it looks like Earth. [animal noises, Jar-Jar shakes himself off and blows a raspberry] If not for one line of dialogue, we would assume it's a normal planet. There are two options here. One, it's a planet like any other. There is a natural explanation for a substance named plasma to exist. It is produced deep below the surface of the planet in ways we do not understand. The plasma itself, and the locap plant that eats it, shape the world. The crust of the planet is riddled with caves and tunnels, all flooded. Monsters lurk in the deep places of the world. A skilled navigator can lay in a course from the sea to an inland city, all underground. That lines up with everything the movie shows us. Even the line "the planet core" makes perfect sense as a figure of speech. Theysa settin' yousa up. There is one alternative. I call it "that's no planet, it's an aquarium". Naboo is unique because it is a constructed planet. Its purpose is as a fish tank, so Magrathea designed a honeycomb of tunnels, capable of holding more usable water than any similar world. Normally, much of the ocean would be dead, too deep for photosynthesis. Some creatures need solid rock to anchor on, and Naboo has cave walls all over. They installed a plasma generator at the center to feed the ecosystem directly. Maybe there's no molten core because it's a black hole. At the center of the planet, it would act as ballast to fix the density. Without a normal planet's core, Naboo would have different gravity. It's the same size, but has no core and a lot of water. A lower density with Earth's diameter, that means low surface gravity. Unless, Naboo was a building project far greater than the Death Star. Welcome to our factory floor. [scared screaming, followed by oof, laughter] Alright, Frank. That's Frank. Aha. The—they've nearly finished the oceans. It's certainly a fun idea, but that just isn't what we see in the movie. Nothing about Naboo looks like an artificial world. There are mysterious statues, implying this world has been home to more than two species. The statues predate the Gungans and the humans. Just as you would expect, the oceans are teeming with life. There are animals in the swamps and on land. The Gungans are native to this world, but they might not be the first. A planet of shallow oceans and swamps is exactly where you'd expect lifening to strike twice. Speaking of life in the deep, that's where the bongo is going. The first monster we see is the big gooberfish. Or rather, the Opee sea killer. [music, Opee sea killer stalks] Not surprising at all. Of course there's a 20-metre crayfish. I wouldn't be surprised if a Gungan city can fight off half a dozen of these. Ambush predator. Sticky tongue. Fast swimmer. That is quite clearly a grabby organ at the end. [slowed video, audio artifacts] Then it has two sets of nested jaws. Exactly what you'd need to hold on to strong, slippery prey. It has two lures on the head. That's the perfect missing element. Making sure the fish is effective. Not a single complaint regarding this creature. Next up in scale is the colo clawfish. About 40 metres long, so twice the length of an AT-AT. Power's back. Huh? WAHH! IT'S A MONSTER, ARHHH! It's a nice escalation from the first monster, and with not a feature in common. Well, you could say teeth and eyes, but I have those too. The colo clawfish uses its claws for clawing. [music, monster and submarine noises] This monster is also the only one that glows. Documentation says the clawfish is venomous. Fair enough, the sea killer doesn't need that. Clawfish can unhinge their jaws and swallow large prey. That's another common one for snakes or eels. It'd be weirder if the colo couldn't. It is said to have chin lures as well, which does line up with the glowing. However, I draw the line at this next bit. It has a hydrosonic shriek. Not just that, but specifically a weird one. As opposed to your bog-standard everyday hydrosonic shriek. Glowing, lures, venom, claws, jaw. That's all fine. Why does it have to be sonic as well? You're a beta male, Sonic. Yes, the clawfish roars in the movie. [music, Jar-Jar screaming, monster noises, submarine noises] But that's what monsters do. All of them make a noise. [animal noises] Did they feel it was of utmost importance that they provide a definitive answer to why the neck has flesh in it? Sound effects are something Star Wars does particularly well. [lightsabre ignition and hum, Vader's breathing] When you hear an R2 unit or a tauntaun, you know exactly what it is. [R2's Droidspeak] [Bib speaking in Huttese] [Tauntaun noises] The engine of a TIE Fighter. The sound of a blaster or turbolaser. [TIE engine, turbolaser firing] A lot of kids could identify the call of an acklay or a seismic charge going off. [sounds of acklay combat] [ship sounds] [sound of seismic charge] Spelling their own names, that would come later in life. Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is. I think that's enough to explain the sound effect. The monsters just make noises. That's all there is to it. Finally, we arrive at the biggest fish. Every time the bongo gets into trouble, one of these leviathans intervenes. [music, sounds of underwater monsters engaging] The Sando Aqua Monster is far larger than any other creature in these tunnels. At 160 meters, they're longer than a Star Destroyer's hangar. The Sando Aqua Monster is three times the length of a Reaper Leviathan. [audio artifacts due to slow motion] It is remarkably convenient. Bit of a Deus Ex Machina. The tone of the scenes is that the monsters are difficult to comprehend, let alone combat. The Jedi can't hope to get out and fight with sabres. The novelisation establishes this, though the movie doesn't. There is a scene of the Jedi meeting back up, along with Jar-Jar. Obi-Wan is pursued by a battle droid on a vehicle. - Oh no!
• Stay down! [sounds of blasters, combat, followed by explosion] This is the STAP, Single Trooper Aerial Platform. It uses familiar repulsor tech, and it has a twin-linked blaster. Young Kenobi has to run away from it, but Qui-Gon Jinn has no problem. This isn't just to indicate his lack of training. Against the Destroyer droids, he kept up with the blaster bolts easily. [sounds of blaster fire, lightsabre deflection] They have shield generators! It's a standoff. Let's go! Something else is going on here. The book tells us Obi-Wan's lightsabre wasn't functional. His master says he should have turned off the power. Not again. Obi-Wan's gonna kill me. It has cosmetic damage, and will take a long time to clean. It's implied to have short-circuited and drained the power cell. To recharge it will be quick. Sabres don't use very much power. While it might be possible to waterproof a lightsaber, this is not a standard feature. Presumably, Obi-Wan had charged his sabre from the bongo's lighter socket. [engine resumes] Power's back. Huh? For either Jedi to fight, they would need to keep the sabre hilt inside the canopy bubble. That could certainly make for an entertaining combat sequence. This detail doesn't contradict anything we know about lightsabres from the OT. Anyway, back to the Sando Aqua Monster. Sound of underwater monster. With its appearance, it seems more like a land animal than a fish. However, it also has gills. There's no indication that this creature ever leaves the water. It does seem to walk on the sea floor, but it might have trouble shifting that bulk on land. [music, monsters engage underwater, chomp] It's face is also rather square, instead of pointy like a shark. [music, under water monster sounds] Not very hydrodynamic. Under the sea! Haha, ohh! [laughter] The map we have says the caves under Theed are home to the Sando, one of the most notorious locations for them on the planet. If they wandered into the city, we'd probably hear about it. Combined with various lines, the bongo trip seemed quite natural, powered by one remarkably convenient turn of events atop the next. [limb falls, bell dings] Granted, but it works. Where are weesa going? Don't worry. The force will guide us. The impression is of a dangerous route, much like Han going through the asteroid field. You don't use the Force to clear some rocks out of the path. Here, it is subtle. The Jedi slip through the ecosystem without disturbing it. [music, underwater sounds] [music, noise from Trade Federation vehicles] Back on the surface, the invasion is already over. The capital city, Theed, has fallen. The Queen is en route to be <i>processed</i> at one of the camps. Process them. Captain, take them to Camp 4. Roger, roger. Let's take a closer look at how this happened. A central pillar of the plan is that everything appears to be legal. Yes, of course. As you know, our blockade is perfectly legal. Despite the size of its fleet and the droid army, the main concern is with the law. The Nemoidians expect to lose, if the Republic opposes them. The Queen has great faith that the Senate will side with her. In the beginning, they ask Darth Sidious to confirm his illegal orders. He admits that the actions are currently prohibited, but laws can be changed. Is that legal? I will make it legal. The Trade Federation disrupts the planet's communications, to prevent any distress calls going out. They've knocked out all our communications. Their Sith master has slowed down the government's inner workings too. I have the Senate bogged down in procedures. They will have no choice but to accept your control of the system. Accordingly, there is one thing they need from the Queen. To resolve this in a profitable manner, they need a treaty. How will you explain this invasion to the Senate? The Queen and I will sign a treaty that will legitimize our occupation here. In time, the suffering of your people will persuade you to see our point of view. First, they invade, capturing the world with overwhelming force. Then the planet is signed over, leaving the Trade Federation in control. Any such treaty should be worthless, given that it was signed at gunpoint. However, the Trade Federation has a lot of money. In a corrupt system like the Republic of this era, that brings great influence. Enter the bureaucrats, the true rulers of the Republic. And on the payroll of the Trade Federation. The authorities will do nothing to defend the citizens of this world. Invading Naboo went off without a hitch, to begin with. The Trade Federation had de facto control over the planet already. Queen Amidala was being escorted to her cell until she was willing to sign. Only the intervention of two Jedi derailed the plot. We could criticize the Viceroy for only assigning eight battle droids as an escort. That should have been enough to defend against most threats. Still, Nute Gunray was aware that two Jedi were on the loose. It may have been better to lock the Queen inside the palace instead of moving her. On the way, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi drop in. [sounds of a Star War] Hoo-hoo! Having dealt with the droid escort, they all head for the nearest ship. The hangar building shows a different way of handling captives. A group of pilots has been rounded up, guarded by battle droids. [footsteps] We'll need to free those pilots. As usual, the droids are effective despite being outnumbered. Keeping these particular prisoners <i>here</i> is dangerous. Get to your ships! [sounds of blaster fire] These are fighter pilots, sitting meters away from the ships they fly. This is far more unwise than moving the Queen. A single pilot flying away could cause weeks of fighting. Once again, the Jedi are the ones to free these prisoners. The best pilot is selected to fly Queen Amidala's ship, which would be Ric Olié. Ric is a fighter pilot with experience in the N-1 Starfighter. Unsurprisingly, he is quite capable of flying a unique Royal Starship. Those are the forward stabilizers. And those two control the pitch. His piloting skill will later be responsible for some of the only blockade running seen in Star Wars. The Federation blockade and the escape from Hoth are all I can think of. [iconic music plays] Now for the other side of the equation. We've mentioned what the Trade Federation plan to do. It's clear they don't have a full understanding of the situation. The Nemoidians have entered into a deal with Darth Sidious, though we are not clear of the details. This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them. We should not have made this bargain. We can see that it gives him some authority over their operations. This is likely a deal where he has offered political influence in exchange for their puppet strings. Viceroy, I don't want this stunted slime in my sight again. This turn of events is unfortunate. The real question is how much the Sith intended to happen. Naboo being affected by a boycott was definitely part of the plan. Darth Sidious went to great lengths to set up that scenario. At the start of the movie, he appears to be caught off guard. The Jedi were sent on a secret mission to resolve the situation. And, the jedi? The Chancellor should never have brought them into this. Kill them immediately. This was requested by the Supreme Chancellor, Valorum. May I present, Supreme Chancellor Valorum. Welcome, your Highness. We'll be talking about him more later. For now, I'll just say Terrence Stamp is brilliant. We march for Macragge! And we shall know no fear! Despite the rampant corruption in the Senate, news of this mission never made it to Palpatine. You didn't tell him about the missing Jedi. No need to report that to him. That means everything the Jedi do is unforeseen. Gassing the Jedi was an attempt to keep Palpatine's scenario on the rails. Originally, the plan was for Amidala to sign the Treaty of Occupation. I want that treaty signed. Invasion was a risky move, so it must have been intended to pay off. There is a suggestion that Sidious would use this to modify the laws regarding tax. There had been new taxes imposed, which the Trade Federation object to. I sense an unusual amount of fear for something as trivial as this trade dispute. The blockade is Sidious' idea. It's out of character for the Federation. Knowing this, we can better appreciate the evil scheming of Palpatine. All his plans are thrown into disarray at the start of the movie. This is an unexpected move. Somehow, the cunning politician manages to get far more than he'd expected. Honestly, I think Palpatine's entire plan was to cause a bit of mayhem. [in-sidious laughter] Not because he's evil, though he is that as well. By stirring up trouble, he helps the Old Republic continue its steady decline. When he discovers Jedi involvement, Darth Sidious starts to rework his plans. As the Queen escapes, he wants the Jedi eliminated and Queen recaptured. Move against the Jedi first. You will then have no difficulty in taking the Queen to Naboo to sign the treaty. By the time she arrives to meet Senator Palpatine, he has a new idea. It will take very little effort to nudge her into making the wrong decisions. You could call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum. People often play up Palpatine's foresight, saying he planned everything. I'd argue the ability to improvise and improve his plans is scarier. Senator Palpatine has been preparing this for decades. Instead of continuing to wait, he jumps at the chance to accelerate his plans. By turning Amidala against the Chancellor, her leverage topples the leader. This is where Chancellor Valorum's strength will disappear. The resulting power vacuum is suspiciously, intentionally Palpatine-shaped. I will be Chancellor. The Senator persona was created to ascend to the highest levels of galactic power. Senator Palpatine was unimpressive, a politician so boring he didn't even have many enemies. Where every other candidate had supporters and opponents, the Naboo were no threat. Palpatine deflects attention through his apparent lack of ambition. When there is a chance to gain power and influence, Senator Palpatine politely bows out of the competition. Nobody in the Senate sees Palpatine as a rival to be defeated. Mostly, they see a useful pawn to be moved by the real players in the game of politics. In fact, Palpatine is so useful that each Senator might already owe him a favor or two. Until the time of the Prequels, Palpatine never became Supreme Chancellor. Before the Emperor was Emperor, he had ascended to the head of the Senatorial Council. That is to say, he was elected as President of the Republic. That's just the way it was. Of course the Old Republic is led by a President. Why wouldn't it be? No, that is absolutely not what those diary entries show. That is not what those diary entries show and the whole thing is totally nonsensical. Why, Mr. President, whatever do you mean? Personally, I much prefer the names used in Phantom Menace. Besides that detail, the prequels exactly follow the path we already knew. Nobody was surprised to see Senator Palpatine. We always knew that would be his position. A dark wanderer on his way to becoming the ultimate power in the universe. The Trade Federation had always been intended as disposable pawns. Remember that this movie is all based on taxation of hyperspace trade routes. Why would the bad guys attack Naboo in particular? The reason they're doing all this is to protest Law No. BR-371. Naboo was chosen as the target because Senator Palpatine supported Senate Resolution BR-0371. BR-0371. [musical sting] Yeah! [crescendo] With some urging from a Sith Lord, the Nemoidians do something rather rash. This would have been a long-term occupation of Naboo, perhaps lasting many years. With a treaty signed and approved by the Senate, resistance would be futile. Uh, that doesn't compute. We can assume Palpatine used most of his original scenario. His response to the Jedi was to accelerate, not change the plans. This turn of events is unfortunate. We must accelerate our plans. Palpatine was always going to use the invasion to collect sympathy votes. I feel confident our situation will create a strong sympathy vote for us. This was the situation he created in order to become Chancellor. Palpatine may have tried to organize a rescue mission, meant to fail. Now they will elect a new Chancellor. A strong Chancellor. One who will not let our tragedy continue. Then, months or years after the invasion began, he is elected Supreme Chancellor. The Queen would be rescued just before or after, if she lived that long. From this, we have to conclude that Palpatine is patient and skilled. He can make long-term plans that come to pass as he foresaw. Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. He can also respond to unplanned events, turning them to his advantage. There is a great disturbance in the Force. We have a new enemy. These are all traits that we saw in the Emperor from the original movies. It would have been more surprising if anything else had happened in Episode I. Your boldness has saved our people, Your Majesty. It's you who should be congratulated. Back to our heroes, who plan to liberate a ship and its pilot. There are too many of them. The Jedi are as effective against battle droids as we would expect. However, this ship is small. There are a lot of captive pilots and only a few board the Queen's ship. The rest of the prisoners run back through the door the Jedi entered from. We can infer that the extra pilots met up with C.O. Bibble. His position is apparently that of planetary governor. The death toll is catastrophic. We must bow to their wishes. You must contact me. He stayed behind on Naboo while Queen Amidala escaped. The battle droids probably recaptured him within an hour. This invasion will gain you nothing. We're a democracy. The people have decided. Take him away. It is true that the Naboo Royal Starship is small. Still, there weren't all that many pilots. You could fit them all into the throne room or the astromech storage bay. The one-of-a-kind chrome ship is ready to fly within minutes or seconds. [music, sound of N-1s departing] There is some room for ambiguity on the exact timing. Long start-up times are specified in the lore. When the Millennium Falcon takes off from Docking Bay 94, it takes time to get the ship airborne. In the next movie, escaping Hoth also shows the Falcon needs time. [sound of hyperdrive failing] Would it help if I got out and pushed? Captain Solo, Captain Solo! — It might! The Essential Guide tells us the Falcon takes about three minutes for its start-up sequence. This is stated as remarkably fast, something that gives Han the advantage. Perhaps the Naboo pilots had warmed the ship up before they were captured. A fair estimate might be four to five minutes of start-up time and pre-flight checks. Almost enough time for the battle droid reinforcements to arrive. Nothing in the movie contradicts the start-up time lore. Infer one little timeskip here to fix everything. We can also question the time taken to reach space. From surface to orbit could take seconds or minutes. I tend to like slightly longer numbers for travel time, so perhaps a minute or two. Repulsorlifts will be doing most of the work, until the edge of the planet's gravity well. Once in deep space, the ship can engage the hyperdrive to escape. Unfortunately for the Queen, there is a blockade in orbit of her planet. [sound of starship engine] There's the blockade! Our heroes' ship attempts to run past the blockade fleet. The Trade Federation ships open fire on the Chrome Naboo yacht. Here's where things get interesting. [sounds of a Star War] The blaster bolts hit the ship, blowing a panel off the hull and starting a fire. [warning alarm, explosion] Shield generator's been hit! The pilot, Ric, announces that the shield generator has been hit. That's very interesting, because the shields would have been up. Normally, we would expect deflector shields to block all damage as long as the shields are working. The shield must be deactivated if any attack is to be attempted. I can think of four examples for, and three against. First, ray shielding on the Death Star's thermal exhaust port. The shaft is ray shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes. These shields completely prevent the laser cannons from being effective. Second is the energy shield around Hoth. ComScan has detected an energy field protecting an area of the sixth planet of the Hoth system. The field is strong enough to deflect any bombardment. This was strong enough to ignore a fleet of Star Destroyers. As before, this shows impenetrable shields. Third, the shield around the second Death Star. Nobody suggests trying to defeat this shield by shooting it a lot. Oh, I'm afraid that the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive! Fourth is from this very movie. The shields used by the Gungan Grand Army. Once again, they block every shot completely. The pattern is quite consistent, until you look at the counterexamples. These are the Executor, Padmé's ship, and the Invisible Hand. The best example is the Super Star Destroyer. Famously, it was destroyed after Arvel Krenned flew through the bridge windows. Arghhh! Too late! [music, explosions, screaming] This is the sort of thing that looks spectacular in a movie, but would cause problems. Wouldn't you just build an anti-bridge missile? Take a Starfighter hull and put in a basic droid brain. Knock out a Star Destroyer for half the cost of an A-Wing? What a weapon! The solution, already in the movie, is that shields would have stopped an A-Wing. Just earlier, a pair of A-Wings made an attack run against the bridge tower. We've got to give those fighters more time! Concentrate all fire on that Super Star Destroyer! [sounds of a Star War, explosion] Rebel ships open fire on a spherical structure present on all Star Destroyer bridge modules. These turn out to be the bridge deflector shields. Sir, we've lost our bridge deflector shields! Intensify the forward batteries, I don't want anything to get through! This is a perfect example of shooting at a shielded target. Undeniable and very prominent. It rules out some of the ways to explain this. Intuitively, scale seems like the perfect answer. Trade Federation ships are much larger than the Queen's yacht. That could be what allows the cannons to hit through shields. The SSD bridge incident disproves that idea. A-Wings are tiny compared to any kind of Star Destroyers. If large cannons could bypass small shields, that doesn't apply to the A-Wings. Making sense of it, shielding cannot perfectly block blaster cannons. We see support for that in one other scene, the Battle of Coruscant. Two Jedi are flying towards an enemy hangar. Obi-Wan points out that the hangar shields are still up, which is bad. Well, have you noticed the shields are still up? Sorry, Master. In response, Anakin shoots the ship and blows up the shield systems. [sounds of a Star War, explosions] Again, we can assume there are other shields that he must shoot through. Bringing all these facts together, we can tell shields do not offer a perfect defense. Ships of any size have the possibility of bypassing deflector shields. Unexpected, but we can see support for this, too. In the very first movie, there is an unusual concept. Angling the deflector shields. Looks like an Imperial cruiser. Our passengers must be hotter than I thought. Try and hold 'em off. Angle our deflector shields while I make the calculations for the jump to lightspeed. When under attack, one of the Falcon crew may decide to angle the rear deflector. Angling the deflector is a way to make it more effective. Perhaps an angled deflector causes a turbolaser bolt to ricochet off. Fire! [richochet off of hull] Just a ricochet. We're okay. Bullshit, that's a kraut high-velocity gun, I can hear it whistling. This turns up again as the Rebels approach the Death Star. Switch your deflectors on. Double front. We're passing through the magnetic field. Hold tight. Switch your deflectors on, double-front. We have a clear indication that ships have multiple shield systems. Switch all power to front deflector screen. It's also possible to set multiple shields to cover the same arc. This is fairly conclusive. You would only do that if you don't trust the shields. One layer of shielding is ineffective, or you wouldn't need a double front setting. Two layers of shielding can be effective, or there wouldn't be a double front setting. That would seem to be the most effective and flexible answer. Having partially effective shields allows for all kinds of story events. A ship can withstand many hits if needed, or can be instantly destroyed despite deflectors. Sometimes characters will talk about the shield strength, but this is a minor part of combat. The levels are fine, one more hit and we're done for, and we've lost shields. Contrast this with Star Trek, where a character will constantly call out shield percentages. Direct hit, sir! Our shields are weakening. The ship might as well have 100 health points. When the alien vessel takes you from 80% to 68%, it did 12 hit points of damage. [alarm] Shields have failed. Structural integrity is down to 20%. In contrast, Star Wars runs on more of a luck system. Most shots will miss, and a few hits can be absorbed. [sounds of a Star War] Luke, are ya alright? I got a little cooked, but I'm okay. When your luck runs out, the next attack will be fatal. I copy, Gold Leader. It came from behind. [explosion] In the Star Wars universe, it is impossible to activate a hyperdrive near a planet. Planet, moon, star, black hole, or any other source of gravity. The only way to get anywhere is to climb well above the atmosphere, up into deep space. Unfortunately, there is a Trade Federation blockade sitting in orbit. The harbour ships were intended to prevent any traffic to or from the planet. We only see one ship attempting to pass by, which succeeds. The same ship later comes back the other way without incident. If you do the maths, that works out to 0% blockade effectiveness. Trade Federation weaponry is actually quite good for this purpose. Remember the Empire's problem with Alliance starfighters? We count 30 rebel ships, Lord Vader, but they're so small they're evading our turbolasers. We'll have to destroy them ship to ship. Get the crews to their fighters. When the Death Star was attacked, turbolasers could barely hit anything. That's because the cannons are so large and heavy. Aiming a turbolaser turret needs heavy-duty motors to traverse and elevate. A starfighter can dodge by a certain number of degrees per second. Turbolasers just can't aim at a high enough speed to keep up. The Imperial Navy is well aware of this problem. There are two main solutions to this. If you happen to have your own fighter squadron, launch those. Starfighters are the best way to fight other starfighters. This was how the Death Star responded to the rebel trench runs. At that point, numbers tend to be the deciding factor. The side with 144 TIE fighters will usually beat 30 X-Wings. As it happens, the Trade Federation has a lot of good starfighters. The Vulture droid starfighter can be extraordinarily effective. For quantity, each Lucrehulk can carry 1500 droid starfighters. That could be anywhere from 15,000 to 60,000 starfighters chasing one target. Failing to launch these was the biggest mistake the Neimoidians ever made. There is one other solution to the turbolaser tracking problem. Install something lighter than a turbolaser with a faster turret motor. This solution was extremely common. Stepping a turbolaser down inside, you get a laser cannon. The Death Star included several deck guns, firing out through forcefield windows. These were definitely a reference to 20th century anti-aircraft flak guns. That was also the role the turbolaser towers filled during the trench run. You can see these routes every once in a while, when laser bolts explode in empty space. Almost like an 8.8 cm shell with a timed airburst fuse. Many anti-aircraft guns are made from four machine guns bolted together. This approach is common in Star Wars as well, in the quadlaser cannon. We first saw these aboard the Millennium Falcon, a pair of quadlaser turrets. These firing pairs are balanced between rate of fire and number of bolts. Being well aware of how effective starfighters are, the Empire designed new ships. The Lancer frigate has 20 of the Corellian quadlaser turrets as used on the Falcon. Luke's new hand was installed aboard a Nebulon B frigate, captured from the Empire. A standard Nebulon B comes with 12 turbolasers and 12 laser cannons. Both ships were created to fill an anti-starfighter role in the Imperial Navy. Now, let's get back to the Trade Federation ships. They have quite an unusual set of weaponry. There are 42 quadlaser turrets scattered across the hull of a Luka Hulk. That's it. A complete list of every weapon system on the ship. Going all in on a single weapon type is a risky idea, no matter what you pick. Quadlasers are the best possible choice for the Trade Federation. They don't expect to get into a broadside battle with other large ships. Turbolasers would generally be overkill, though you may want a couple. I'd have put them on a spinal mount, facing out through the gap in the ring. Some kind of heavy weapon, like a missile launcher or railgun, might also work. Another choice would have been blaster cannons. This would have been a terrible choice. Very few starships use blaster cannons as a primary weapon. They're just too small and low power. Any decently large vehicle won't want a laser cannon. Blasters could be used on large ships, as point defence guns, used to shoot down incoming torpedoes or starfighters. Even so, laser cannons would be better for most cases. Quadlasers are a perfect compromise between speed and firepower. They can swivel fast enough to hit starfighters, and they're still strong enough to threaten a capital ship. Despite all their firepower, the blockade cannot shoot down the Queen. Several shots hit the shields, a few even cause damage. R2-D2 is sent up to repair the shield generator, which he does. All we can really tell from this is that something was bypassed. Most likely, the power supply to the shields had been destroyed. R2 connected a power lead from some other system running nearby. That was enough to restore the shields for a moment. Alas, there was considerably more damage than just to the shield power supply. The hyperdrive has also been damaged. This works out a bit differently from previous hyperdrive failures we've seen in Star Wars. In Empire Strikes Back, a faulty hyperdrive takes you nowhere. Oh yeah? Watch this. Would it help if I got out and pushed? Captain Solo, Captain Solo! Any time the hyperdrive isn't in perfect working order, it has no effect. There is also the potential for a navigation failure, making a bad jump. None of these are the case for the Naboo starship. Its hyperdrive is leaking, rather an unusual term. There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant. The hyperdrive is leaking. The best explanation would be that it's a radiation leak of some kind. The hyperdrive is described as not having enough power for a long trip. Electrical failures would generally not be described as leaking. There is one that would count, in Disney Wars 8. It features a scene from the perspective of an astromech droid. That's great, except that RJ is here for a bit of comedy. Sparks start to appear all over a bank of resistors. The droid fixes this by sticking a finger into each leak. A transparent reskin of a standard jape. One step removed from drilling a hole in your boat to let the water out. The veneer is sci-fi electronics, but the joke is really about holes in a container of fluid. This gag is mostly there to foreshadow the leaky suit joke. We'll assume electricity works about the same as in reality. This could be a fuel leak instead. A limit on how much power can be generated. Qui-Gon does mention the ship will need to be refueled. An alternative explanation would be a coolant leak. Malfunctions in cooling would put a limit on how long the hyperdrive can operate. Pushing this to the limit may leave liquid metal where the hyperdrive used to be. Whatever the cause, the result is a limit to the range of hyperspace travel. A direct route to Coruscant will be impossible. Young Obi-Wan has already been looking for new landing sites. He picks Tatooine, a relatively unremarkable planet. A scorching desert world that orbits twin suns. The only reason this planet has any significance is that we know Luke Skywalker will grow up here. We could criticize the movie for bringing us back to Tatooine. Personally, I think it works well. Tatooine and Alderaan are the only worlds that would make sense to show. Every other planet was meant to be obscure. A remote hiding place. Hoth, Dagobah, Yavin 4, Endor, Cloud City, and Tatooine. They all fit the same description. A place your enemies would never think to look. The Phantom Menace reveals that the Skywalker family comes from Tatooine. This is an excellent choice. It means Luke's ancestors have lived there as long as we can trace back. That wasn't necessarily the case until the prequels came out. A long time ago, Uncle Owen used to be Obi-Wan's brother. Later in the prequels, it was decided that Owen was biologically Luke's uncle. On this map I have here, Tatooine is fairly close to Naboo. Coruscant is about three times as far away. Notice how the route curves around the center of the galaxy. Travel into the deep core is challenging. There are many obstructions to navigate around. Hyperspace lanes are corridors where the paths of all relevant hazards are known. If they fall into disuse, deep core hyperlanes can decay quite rapidly. Taxation of trade routes exists for a reason, after all. Captain Panaka objects to the idea of visiting the world of poor people. This is because he buys into harmful stereotypes. As soon as he hears the planet is ruled by Hutts, he says some very un-PC things. How can you be sure? It's controlled by the Hutts. You can't take her royal highness there. The Hutts are gangsters. If they discover her... He starts ranting about Hutts being gangsters. If allowed to continue, he would have accused them of being greedy, slimy, dishonest and greedy. You can't take Her Royal Highness there. The Hutts are [censored]! Qui-Gon attempts to defuse the situation. He suggests Captain Panaka should stay on the ship, so as to avoid offending any Hutts. This same conversation is reiterated in the throne room, where Panaka advises against landing. His motivation is to protect the queen. The queen isn't helping, since she will immediately decide to walk into town. Here's another odd change the prequels made. Qui-Gon tells us that Tatooine is under Hutt control. That's quite interesting, because there was no mention of this in old lore. We knew that there was an area called Hutt Space. At the time of the Empire, Hutt Space is in this shape. Hutts are one of the more influential races in the galaxy. They have maintained their own territory as far back as history records. The shape may change. It will expand and contract. Before the Clone Wars, the galaxy looked quite different. Hutt Space extended across a large part of The Galactic Rim. Tatooine just barely falls into its most distant tendril. Our Jedi friends persuade the Naboo that Tatooine is a good choice. In theory, nobody should be able to follow the queen. It starts getting interesting after the Naboo ship arrives in orbit. Obi-Wan starts scanning for a place to land. At this point, the movie subverts your expectations. That's it. Tatooine. There's a settlement. Land near the outskirts... we don't want to attract attention. Fans interpret "a settlement" to mean a familiar location. Two of the three Star Wars movies take place on Tatooine. We've heard of several places mentioned, so this could be any of them. Mos Eisley, Anchorhead, Tosche Station, Jabba's Palace, Beggars Canyon, The Pit of Carkoon, The Jundland Wastes, and the Dune Sea. The Lars homestead and Old Ben's Hutt. Star Wars fans could have expected any of these locations. That's not the entire list, though. We also knew about Bestine, Motesta, and Arnthout. Perhaps the most interesting place was Fort Tuscan. The Sand People attacked this fort, the first act of violence in a long history. Ever since, we have referred to these creatures as Tuscan Raiders. That was a story the prequels could have told. The Phantom Menace shows us none of these places. The queen's ship lands outside a town named Mos Espa. This is a relatively large town, yet one we've never heard of before. Creating a new town is sensible. It's safer than using a name from the lore. With the kind of story that needs to happen, only Bestine would have been large enough. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, and the Queen walk into town. Top priority is to repair their hyperdrive, allowing them to continue their journey. Other repairs, such as to the shields, are likely to be simple. Fuel? Even less of an issue. The West End books describe fuel in terms of "fuel cells." A ship like the Falcon carries about 50 fuel cells. At a starport, these can be recharged by plugging into the mains power. This is extremely cheap. It might cost 100 credits for the fuel needed by the ship. There also exist fuel converters and solar panels. With a solid fuel converter, they could turn sand or seawater into rocket fuel. It takes about 5 tons to charge a single fuel cell, so 25 to 50 tons should do the trick. The solar option is slower. It needs a day to charge a few cells. All that really matters is a replacement hyperdrive. Qui-Gon directs the party into a relatively small shop. As he is trying to avoid being detected, the larger buildings are risky. The Hutts would be likely to have their eye on the major locations. While Jabba the Hutt is not actively searching for the Queen, he's still bad news. Avoiding notice is the wise course of action. As it happens, Qui-Gon selects Watto's shop. Depending how you look at it, this could be a tremendous coincidence. Watto has two things that can't be found anywhere else. One of these is exactly the hyperdrive Qui-Gon needs. If Watto is to be believed, he has the only T-14 hyperdrive on the planet. The other coincidence is that Anakin Skywalker happens to be at the same shop. Really, our only option is to say the Force did it. I don't sense anything. The mystical energy field that controls destiny sent Qui-Gon to the right place. We already know the Force can give you telekinesis and lightning powers. It can handle a little bit of coincidence. Qui-Gon describes the parts he needs. Let's go over each word of this jargon. I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian. Ah, yes, Nubian! we have lots of that. Oddly, he does not say "Naboo" for the ship type. The ship was made on Naboo, yet he calls the ship: "Nubian." It's possible that George Lucas intended "Nubian" and "Naboo" to mean the same thing. [George Lucas:] What am I doing? That wouldn't explain why Watto would have any of those parts, though. The Cross Sections book has another answer in mind. Nubian spaceship parts are very common throughout the galaxy. The Naboo engineers made the hull themselves to their own high standards. For the drive systems, they purchased a set from a proper factory. An encyclopedia from 2008 mentions Nubia. Information on it is very sparse. Nubia is located on the outer edge of the galactic core region. As a natural consequence, civilization got there a long time ago. 22,000 years ago-- give or take a millennium or few. The world appears to be an inhospitable desert. Water is actually a lot more plentiful below the surface. Nubia has enormous aquifers, very helpful for agriculture. Nubia also proved to be a good site for mining, the mountains in particular. Mining led to refining, then on to manufacturing. Over the myriad years, the Nubians became quite good at building ship parts. That covers the term: "Nubian." It turns out "J-type" also means something. The Cross Sections say J-type means twin radial sublight engines. "Radial" isn't a normal bit of engine terminology. Naboo ships tend to have their engine exhaust in a ring around the engine. Standard engines have a large two-dimensional area for the engine exhaust. That entire part glows so hot it's the color of a lightsaber blade. That is to say, white in the middle with a colored halo. For these radial engines, the exhaust area might as well be one-dimensional. To get any performance out of such an engine, they must have incredible exhaust velocity. A wide exhaust nozzle can expel a lot of particles at relatively low speed. This isn't an option for radial engines. There are only two alternatives. Very fast exhaust and ultra-fast exhaust. A radial engine could be tuned for relativistic exhaust velocity. Every particle that comes out the back is moving at nearly the speed of light. We'll call this the high-power radial engine. From a certain point of view, this is efficient. The propellant is consumed as slowly as possible, so those fuel tanks last ages. The trade-off is that it uses an incredible amount of power. Or we can build another engine with lower exhaust speeds. High-volume radial engines use much more propellant. Despite the narrow exhaust ring, they attempt to pass more matter through the narrow area. The same amount of electrical power is applied to a far larger amount of reaction mass. Efficiency is a tricky question here. Clearly, it dumps more propellant out the back than relativistic engines would. However, I suspect there is a loss of efficiency as your exhaust reaches light speed. Better to keep the exhaust velocity well below the universal speed limit. Either way, we expect radial engines to need smaller fuel reserves than normal. Now we know what radial engines are, we understand it J-type. It turns out that J-type is not very specific. The Queen's Royal Starship is a J-type. It is 76 meters long. The N1 Starfighter is 11 meters long, but has similar radial engines. Both ships are J-type Nubian vessels. They have two radial sublight engines, the right type and number. The same goes for a pair of later ships, Padme's personal ones. The one from Episode 3 has twin radial sublight engines as well. It is named as a J-type Nubian Starskiff. Size is right in the middle, 29 meters long. The same should apply to the ship from Episode 2. Padme's yacht is 48 meters long. This one has an entirely different layout. Engines tucked underneath the fuselage. Logically, this ought to be J-type as well. It has the correct type of engines and the correct number of them. They aren't extended on struts or wings, which should make no difference. The cross-sections say this one is an H-type. Unexpected, but let's continue. The last one is Senator Amidala's Chrome Cruiser. This one has four radial engines, so it should be a different class. The cross-sections say this one is still J-type. Perhaps twin radial engines is broad enough to mean two pairs. That would mean everything is a J-type, so long as it has an even number of engines. This classification is not the most useful system. That covers almost every term Qui-Gon uses to describe the ship. All but one set of numbers. I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian. Ah, yes! Nubian! We have lots of that! Parts for a J-type 327 Nubian. This number, 327, was clearly chosen because it sounds good in context. Numbers do all the heavy lifting, supplying all the missing information. Clearly, the N1 Starfighter has a smaller set of engines than the Queen's ship. 327 is a number from the Nubian parts catalogue. That is indisputable. I say these have to be the sublight engines. Support for this idea is mixed. The cross-sections book uses these numbers inconsistently. On the N1 Starfighter, it is said to have Nubian 221 engines. Other Naboo ships have this number listed as their hyperdrive model number. The Queen's Starship has a Nubian 327 drive system. Quite a respectable speed. It can outrun a lot of military warships. The successor to this ship, the Sanctus Barge, has Nubian 288 engines. Padme's personal yacht has Nubian 150 engines. It would make sense for Qui-Gon to say the model number of the part he needs most. The movie addresses this. It's clear that the Nubian 327 is a set of parts. Nubia's catalogue offers a set of radial sublight engines, paired with a hyperdrive. These are the most important parts, the ones that can't be made locally. Ship hulls are built on Naboo, around the engines and hyperdrive. And no one else has a T-14 hyperdrive, I promise you that! Qui-Gon asks for a Nubian 327, yet Watto is talking about a T-14 hyperdrive generator. It's only reasonable to assume that Watto knows his salvage. What is valuable? Exactly how much he can charge to which customers. This interpretation is also supported by the cross-sections book. All it fails to mention is the T-14 on the Queen's ship. This hyperdrive is class 1.8, so relatively quick. Faster than many military vessels, such as the B-wing starfighter. The N-1 fighter uses a Nubian Monarch C-4 hyperdrive, class 1. The Senator's diplomatic barge has a pair of S-6 hyperdrive generators. The idea is that even if one is damaged, the other should still be in working order. These bring the hyperdrive class up to 0.7, very nearly as fast as the Falcon. Padme's personal yacht has an S-5 hyperdrive, class 0.9. Slightly less exceptional, granted, but still very impressive. From what we've established so far, Nubian drive systems are highly advanced. They do things in a way that looks nice, but is needlessly difficult. We've talked about the extreme exhaust velocity of the radial sublight engines. The only hyperdrive we see in the movie is similar, in its own way. The hyperdrive generator's gone, master. We'll need a new one. That'll complicate things. Conspicuously elegant, it looks ornamental instead of mechanical. Remember that this hyperdrive sits hidden away underneath the floor panels. It may only be seen for a few hours every month, and it still looks this good. We can assume that's a selling point, that there are photos in the Nubian catalogue. The only problem with this style is the cost. Replacement hyperdrives don't come cheap. Be wary: I sense a disturbance in the force. I feel it also, Master. Don't let them send any transmissions. Cost. Replacement hyperdrives don't come cheap. Be wary: I sense a disturbance in the force. I feel it also, Master. Don't let them send any transmissions. There is one last detail about Nubian engines I'd like to bring up. In hindsight, this one is blindingly obvious. Take a close look at the exhaust nozzles for both Naboo ships. The Royal Starship and N1 have a very specific shape in the middle. Not just a cone, there's a complex taper and a long tail. Later Naboo ships would lose the rat tails. This choice of curve is an important part of nozzle design. Naboo ships appear to use something called an "aerospike." The idea is an alternative to traditional rocket nozzles. Let's take a Star Destroyer for example. Notice how the inside of the nozzle is a dome. That bell-shaped curve is the norm for rockets. It allows all of the exhaust to be directed straight out the back. One of the most iconic uses of the bell nozzle is on an escape pod. There goes another one. Star Wars doesn't use the bell nozzle very much. Most engines are a cylinder with straight walls all the way along. We also see a lot of moving parts inside. Ion turbines, all kinds of rotating vanes and shafts. On most ships, sublight engines were made for spaceflight. Atmospheric flight is far less of a priority. The difference matters. Each environment needs a different nozzle. In a high pressure scenario, a shorter bell will suffice. Ideally, the exhaust pressure would match the air pressure outside. As the parabolic curve gets longer, the volume inside increases. The same amount of exhaust gas spreads out. Of course, pressure varies with altitude. You can never have a perfect engine design. Optimising for sea level is a trade-off against high altitudes. For a deep space nozzle, it's the opposite rule. As there is zero pressure outside, the exhaust will never be balanced. A perfect bell nozzle gets longer as the outside pressure drops. Mathematically, the ideal nozzle has infinite length. Since that can't be done, we have to accept some lost efficiency. Unless you can modify your nozzles in flight, that is. We can see plates around the engines of the Falcon. These could be used to fine-tune the balance. Naboo takes an alternative path, the aerospike. A spike takes the bell nozzle and turns it inside out. The linear version of an aerospike is a wedge. Instead of containing the exhaust in a bell, we use an imaginary one. Engines are set up at the wide end of the wedge. Exhaust streams along the curved surface of the wedge, just like a bell nozzle. When air pressure is high, that interacts with the exhaust flow. On one side, the exhaust meets solid metal. The other side is empty air, which completes the nozzle. That's the secret of the aerospike. It works at any altitude. When at sea level, the air is relatively substantial. As the pressure drops, the imaginary bell changes size. Aerospikes will self-compensate for altitude changes. That's the linear version of aerospike. The Millennium Falcon could have used these, but it doesn't. We're more interested in one with rotational symmetry. The radial aerospike, or toroidal if you prefer. All the principles are the same as before, just wrapped into a circle. This produces a very familiar spike shape. Look at the way it tapers, especially near the base. The cone lines up perfectly with the Nubian radial engines. Really, the only difference is the length of the spike. These photographs show a truncated or short spike. During episode 1, Naboo ships have an extremely long tail. This is actually a point in their favour. According to maths, the perfect aerospike has an infinite length. The shorter versions we see are just a compromise. Because of their superior technology, Naboo can create a much longer nozzle spike. We don't want to accept the extra weight of building an infinitely long spike. This is a perfect example of the aerospike and I can't believe I didn't notice it myself. I've played Kerbal Space Program, I've used aerospikes. Someone in the comments pointed out the similarity. Watto seems to be doing quite well for himself. He has a large stock of parts, a shop, and even a damaged podracer. We're particularly interested in two of Watto's possessions. The Skywalkers: Shmi and Anakin. It's hard to tell exactly what they're worth, but it's thousands of credits. We know that one slave and a podracer are of similar value. The boy and his mother. No pod is worth two slaves, not by a long shot. Luke's landspeeder sold for just over 2,000 credits. A podracer must cost at least 5,000 credits. If that's so, then a slave must be about 5,000 to 10,000 credits each. That's the price of a hyperdrive. Qui-Gon can't just go around buying everyone. Slavery is a bit of a heavy topic to bring up. The original trilogy does not use the word itself. Apart from a reference to the Spice Mines of Kessel, it's not even implied. They're heading in this direction. What are we going to do? We'll be sent to The Spice Mines of Kessel, smashed into who knows what! Jabba the Hutt has several... involuntary visitors, of course. Fans universally refer to this particular costume as "Slave Leia." Boba Fett's ship is named "Slave I." Apart from that, only the expanded universe has anything to say. For example, that Admiral Ackbar had been the personal slave of Grand Moff Tarkin. The Death Star was mostly constructed by Wookiee slaves, on a world named Despair. Depicting slavery was not something we expected from Episode I. Most of the time, slavers and pirates only exist as background characters. A generic bad guy to attack your ship in deep space. That can't be good. No, it can't be. Someone's locked onto us. All controls are overridden. Chewie, throw 'em in a pod and sell them at the nearest inhabited planet. Wait, no! Hippolone, stay there until I say so. Making Anakin a slave was a good choice. It's the only thing keeping him on that planet. The first thing we ever knew about Anakin was that he spent time aboard spaceships. No, my father didn't fight in the wars, he was a navigator on a spice freighter. That's what your uncle told you. No matter how young he was, this would not be a pleasant life. Annie would definitely try to fly away. I'm a pilot, you know. And someday, I'm gonna fly away from this place. You're a pilot? Mm-hmm. All my life. Watto is the only force that could keep little Annie on Tatooine. Even then, it takes extreme measures. All slaves have a transmitter placed inside their body somewhere. I've been working on a scanner to try and locate mine. Any attempt to escape, — And they blow you up! Boom! The explosive implant prevents his escape, and Annie has a plan for even that. Anakin first appears 32 minutes into the movie. The story had no place for him until that point. Like with Luke Skywalker, he dreams of leaving the planet. Never his mind on where he was. Hm? What he was doing! Hrm. Like Luke, he does not have a rich upbringing. Like Luke, he is a great pilot and a decent mechanic. The similarities are intentional. We always knew they would exist. Even in the first movie, characters often compare Luke to his father. Mostly because of my father, I guess. Huh? Father? Powerful Jedi, was he! Hee-hee! Mmmm! Powerful Jedi. --Oh, come on. How could you know my father, you don't even know who I am. Luke's just not a farmer, Owen. He has too much of his father in him. That's what I'm afraid of. Much anger in him. Like his father. If you were to recreate both characters in an RPG, they would have similar stats. In fact, they both use the same exact lightsaber. The two Skywalkers are very similar. Their purpose is to be Jedi. Luke is on the way to become a powerful Jedi. Anakin is going to have once been a powerful Jedi. When we first meet little Annie, he is nine years old. Boy, aged about nine. Normally, this would be an odd choice. When Luke was about twenty, he was constantly referred to as young boy. Come, boy. Young fool. Great, kid! Don't get cocky! Starting with Anakin as a teenager would seem like a better idea. Excuse me! I'm in charge of security here, milady. That would have been good in most ways, except for one critical function. This boy will become Darth Vader: the most fearsome man in the galaxy. General, prepare your troops for a surface attack. Yes, my lord. His youth in episode one is meant to contrast with his later evil. Had he been a moody teenager, we would constantly be reminded of Lord Vader. It's all Obi-Wan's fault! He's jealous! He's holding me back!! George Lucas starts with the innocence of a child. That's not enough, so this movie also establishes that little Annie is a lovely boy. He is skilled at navigating his hometown. Storm's coming up, Annie. You'd better get home quick. Do you have shelter? Anakin is kind and generous. Here, you'll like these pallies. Here. Thank you. Well, he knows nothing of greed. Half the things he repairs are to make life easier for his mother. ...He's a protocol droid, to help mom. Watch. Little Annie even manages to talk a violent thug into backing down peacefully. Your buddy here was about to be turned into orange goo. He picked a fight with a Dug. These are not the actions of a dark lord of the Sith. People take this contrast for granted. Portraying Anakin this way was intentional, an excellent choice. When Qui-Gon arrives in Watto's Junk Shop, Anakin starts chatting with the customers. Are you an angel? What? An angel. Though the characters don't know it, We know these two are destined for each other. Anakin is Luke's father, and Padme is Luke's mother. The quality of the romance is debatable. What really matters is that the romance is functional. We know these two have kids, so we might as well introduce them early. The Phantom Menace spends its time putting pieces on the game board. Every one of significance to the prequel trilogy is introduced here. All this movie needs to do is show that Annie and Padme like each other. I'm glad to have met you, Anakin. I was glad to meet you, too! She leaves the shop empty-handed. Despite being Queen, she cannot afford to repair her ship. Taking pity on the poor monarch, Anakin catches up to the party. You'll never reach the outskirts in time. Sandstorms are very, very dangerous. The slave offers The Queen and her knight shelter in his hovel. Mom, I'm home! These are my friends, Mom. Hel-lo. At this point, there is one tiny detail with great significance. Right at the end, Qui-Gon lifts his poncho and reaches for his belt. He plans to take two things from their pouches. The first, I am sure, is the food Anakin had bought earlier. The other is the cap from a ballpoint pen, the ones with the clip. These are meant to contain Jedi food capsules. If you miss this detail, it seems like a bad day for Shmi Skywalker. The main problem is that Jar-Jar is going to eat all her apples. We must survive on our own. GULP 'scuse me. Qui-Gon contributing to the meal changes the meaning of the scene. Jedi do not function as parasites, in theory. Mom, you see, the biggest problem in this universe is... The Hutts are gangsters! Over lunch, Anakin hears about the plot. Our ship was damaged and we're stranded here until we can repair it. But first, we must acquire the parts we need. Obtaining the expensive spaceship parts will not be easy. The main challenge is a lack of acceptable money. But uh, we might as well buy a new ship. It would be cheaper I think, eh? Qui-Gon has 20,000 Republic credits, which Watto does not accept. Republic credits are no good out here. I need something more real. Obviously, there is an exchange rate of some kind. That's enough money to buy a spaceship. It's still worth something. All you need to do is fly closer to Republic territory before spending the credits. Currency conversion is likely to be controlled by the Hutt crime lords. Would you like to discuss it with the Hutts? I'm sure they can settle this. Attempting to change such a large number of credits would bring too much attention. The only way to obtain such a large sum of money would be to win a race. Conveniently, there is a large prize pool available the very next morning. Expecting to hit the jackpot would be a terrible gamble. The only reason Qui-Gon expects this plan to work is the Force. The Jedi senses that Anakin has a great deal of Force potential. Not wanting to trust everything to a mere hunch, Qui-Gon tests the boy's blood. I need an analysis of this blood sample I'm sending you. I need a midichlorian count. The reading is off the chart. His apprentice analyzes the sample. It is clear that little Annie is unusual. Little Annie will grow up to be one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy. The movie goes out of its way to establish this fact. The Force is unusually strong with him. That much is clear. Doing so has made a lot of people unhappy and is widely regarded as a bad move. I don't understand. With time and training, Annie, you will. In order to quantify how powerful Anakin was, this movie explains the Force. George Lucas probably figured this was no big deal. I'm all set. All I need is an idea. Elaborating a little on what had already been established... The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things, it surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together. The Force is an energy field that connects all living things. This movie is the first to mention "Midichlorians." Previously, the Force had been mysterious. Where weesa goin'? Don't worry. The Force will guide us. Ohhh, maxie big da Force! Nobody really knew anything about how it worked. How is it that Vader can move objects with his mind? How does Force lightning work on an electrical level? These questions have no real answers. All we can say is: "the Force did it." I've been wondering. What are midichlorians? Midichlorians are a biological component to the Force. Midichlorians are a microscopic life form that resides within all living cells. This caused a minor kerfuffle amongst the fans. Some felt that biology cheapens the mystical, magical, occult aspect. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. They had imagined a different magic system from Lucas'. There may also be some confusion by taking the Force as more religious than it is. As you may notice, I don't understand the anti-midichlorian position. Perhaps some people don't like the idea of putting a number to the Force. Ha! You want me? You got me! Vegeta, what did you say his power level is? It's over 9,000 penises. From the very first movie, we know Force strength is variable. The Force is strong with this one. The Jedi have the ability to sense that the Force is strong with someone. Numbers are inevitable. They would have many classification systems. The Jedi have been around for a thousand generations. An attempt has definitely been made to quantify one's Force potency. It just happens that midichlorian count is a very good way to measure the Force. Perhaps some didn't like the idea that Force strength is genetic. This is implied in the original movie and stated outright in the second. Luke's father was a Jedi Knight, therefore Luke can use the Force. The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi. Had he been a navigator on a spice freighter, no Force potential would be expected. No, my father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter. That's what your uncle told you. We have always known that your Force affinity can be inherited. The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. My sister has it. As for biology, we always knew that must be involved. The Force is described as connecting all living things. We always knew that droids could not become Jedi. Life creates it. Makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us... and binds us. All organic life forms are involved in creating the Force. Certain individuals have a hereditary talent for Force sensitivity. Think about how this would need to work. There cannot be a Force gland, some organ that grants Force powers. That would be very obvious. A Jedi is anyone with three kidneys. We can't say the Force is related to brains and consciousness either. Trees don't have brains, but they still affect the Force. What about single-cell organisms? Can they interact with the Force? There can be only one answer. The only way to explain all of these is for the Force to be sub-cellular. Whatever physical structures are involved in the Force, they are smaller than a living cell. These organelles live inside all life in the Star Wars galaxy. They live inside me. Inside your cells, yes. And we are symbionts with them. This explains why everything that lives has a presence in the Force. It explains why an entire family would be strong in the Force. Handily, it also explains why the viewer cannot become a Jedi. Our galaxy has no midichlorians, so the Force doesn't exist here. Without the midichlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. It's clear that The Phantom Menace is getting at one idea in particular. Multiple times throughout the movie, a character will explain symbiosis. This first appears as a way to describe the Gungan and human populations of Naboo. You and the Naboo form a symbiont circle. What happens to one of you will affect the other; you must understand this. Mostly, this exists to foreshadow the midichlorians. Symbionts? Lifeforms living together for mutual advantage. The symbiote angle had never really been part of the Force until now. While I don't think this is a bad change, it's worth noting that the symbiosis was news to most fans. While a few reacted badly, midichlorians seemed to fit in. A few questions even become clearer. When levitating objects, where does the weight rest? Where does the Force come from? Is it in the head? Midichlorians tell us. Every single living cell at the same time. The Force is evenly distributed throughout a Jedi's body. Midichlorians are not a twist. I am your father. They aren't meant to subvert your expectations. There was no intention to rewrite the universe. Regardless of what ideas George Lucas had in which year, it works. It is a very hard movie. Midichlorians line up so well with the Force in the original movies. If there were no genetic aspect, that would be an argument against midichlorians. Or, if it wasn't tied to biological life, that would also be evidence against midichlorians. Life creates it. Makes it grow. Really, the only flaw is a line from Qui-Gon. Without the midichlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. This causes a slight problem. If life really can't exist without midichlorians, then everyone on Earth must have them. Which means the Force exists here too, and so could the Jedi. This really is inexcusable, but it's easily fixed. We can say Qui-Gon meant, "life as we know it," then all is well. However, it does give us an interesting idea. Qui-Gon might think this because of the exact role midichlorians play. Our cells have a microscopic symbiote as an organelle. Suppose that midichlorians are basically the same thing as mitochondria. They are an essential part of breathing and digestion. The difference is that mitochondria generate adenosine triphosphate, midichlorians generate the Force, and some ATP as a byproduct. It turns out that midichlorians are what give the Jedi his power, just like they do for everyone else. Given this, it's understandable why Qui-Gon thinks they're so important. Another function of midichlorians is that they may be Anakin's father. That's quite a complex topic. Who is his father? That's quite enough microbiology for the time being. Right now, what's important is the Force-assisted piloting. Use the Force, Luke. Let go, Luke. Tomorrow, Anakin will make one of his most unpopular decisions. You've never won a race? Not even finished? Kitster's right, I will this time. This next chapter stands out as one of the most spectacular in the movie. Podracing gives us a lot of fascinating machines. We shall treat them with all due seriousness. If these were jet engines, would they work? How do they differ from Earth turbojets? In order to do this justice, we need more than the movie. We will use several sources, including books and websites. To get a better feel for each podracer, we'll also bring in a computer game. Star Wars Episode I Racer. This game features every single vehicle from the movie and more. Each podracer has been quantified in several aspects. Without the game, we would have only speculation about their handling. Now, we can cross-reference with vintage 1999 speculation. Barring a few exceptions, they do line up well. The origin story of Anakin Skywalker shows him as a pilot. I'm the only human who can do it. You must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods. Anakin meets his best friend in Episode I, already a pilot. When I first knew him, your father was already a great pilot. We always knew that would happen. Obi-Wan said so. From a certain point of view. That's a handy skill, because the plot has a tricky obstacle. Let me take you out back, ehh? We'll find what you need. Qui-Gon needs free stuff from a boy who has nothing. He gives without any thought of reward. To solve this, Anakin's piloting expertise gives him prize money from winning a race. The boy's good. No doubts there. That's about the simplest and most elegant solution possible. Luke started the movie owning two vehicles, and Anakin has one. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to give your characters. Can you help him? I don't know. I didn't actually come here to free slaves. May the Force be with you. What is a podracer specifically? A type of anti-gravity sled with oversized engines. Podracers use a different engine technology from most vehicles in Star Wars. The most common drive in the galaxy is the Horch Kessel Ion engine. These are the sublight engines seen on all starships. Speeder bikes use only repulsor lift drives. Podracers use both turbojet engines and repulsors. Anti-gravity tech allows the pod and engines to hover instead of needing wings like a jet aeroplane. Jet engines breathe air so they don't work in space. Jar Jar gets his hand stuck in the air intake at the front of the engine. The air passes through the engine, is combined with fuel, and comes out the exhaust. Oddly, there doesn't seem to be enough room for fuel on the pod. Arguably that is the case for most spaceships as well, but podracers are very bare. From this we can infer that Star Wars fuel is very dense and efficient. At this point it's time to discuss another aspect of jet engines. Not all the air that comes in the front needs to go through the entire engine. Instead of using jet thrust, it's possible to use a turbine to run a propeller. Just replace the piston engine with a turbine one. It's a little more complicated than that sounds, but the point is it's possible. That would be turboshaft and turboprop engines. The other option is to combine the propeller with the intake turbine. This creates a turbofan engine, still much like a propeller. Instead of generating thrust from the engine exhaust, it uses air flowing outside the engine wall. The intake fan bites into the air, propelling the jet forward. Part is diverted into the engine, the rest flows along beside. To look for a turbofan, we expect it to be wider at the front with a smaller core. There also needs to be a gap for the air bypass. Relatively few podracers use engines like on a jumbojet. The podracer is quite an unusual craft. While they aren't unique to Star Wars, very few go into as much detail as Phantom Menace. The sound effects don't sound like jet engines either, not entirely. The X-Wing sounds more like a jet than the podracer does. It's clear that this is really a car race, just without the car. The result is some of the most glorious machinery I've ever seen in science fiction. We sometimes call the Millennium Falcon a hot rod, but podracers are on another level. For one thing, they spin. Another fun thing about podracers is that every one is unique. Let's take a closer look at some individual examples. And in the front row, left-side pole-position: Maaawww-honic! Before we can talk about Mahonic, we need to talk about Diablo II. There is the Moon Clan, Blood Clan and the Death Clan. Mahonic, he is a relatively famous racer, a Gran, the three-eyes goats of planet Kinyan. Gran are described as highly social, yet have a reputation as criminals. This is because of Re-Yees, a Gran from Jabba's Palace. He was exiled for his crimes, which is worse than you might expect. It seems that it doesn't take much before they're driven mad by loneliness. In the prequels, they are said to be from Malastare. That was resolved by saying Malastare is one of their earliest colonies. Mahonic is later determined to be from another Gran colony, Hock. We can speculate on why Mahonic might choose to race pods. His pod racer is quite unusual. It is a Galactic Power Engineering GPE 3130. The cockpit has a smooth casing in a pale green. His engines are the smallest of any in the race, at least in length. There are also an extra set of outriggers on the outside. These must be quite powerful and lightweight. Where other racers go for size above all, Mahonic cares about power to weight ratio. We can tell he must be confident in his skill as a pilot. The engines are likely also advanced, expensive, precise. In the Boonta Eve race, Mahonic was the first pod racer to be destroyed, rammed by Sebulba, the main antagonist of Tatooine. The game gives him exceptional traction and cooling. Turning and top speed are below average, and acceleration and braking are terrible. Another very strange choice is to put the exhaust on the outriggers. During the race, no visible exhaust comes from either the main body or the outriggers. That would mean the smaller side engines are mostly there as afterburners for a boost. The next person to lose the race was Ratz Terrell, an Alina from the planet Alene. This is one of my favourites, because I like his Vokov Strud Titan 2150 engines. Nice large intake at the front, and quite a unique design of exhaust nozzle. If there is any benefit to having large engines, and I suspect there might be, Ratz has the size. It might take a lot of tinkering, but there is endless potential. Ratz's engines look like a good example of a low-bypass turbofan. There is only a small gap for the bypass duct, and it may not even be a turbofan. By altering the ratio, this jet engine produces more thrust from the exhaust. Terrell's exhaust nozzle is an unusual star pattern, far smaller than the intake. I will constantly interpret this, intake larger than exhaust, to mean speed. With large engines and a low-bypass turbofan, they should have high performance. Ratz Terrell ought to do well. He does not. Ratz becomes a fireball after what's known as a CFS, a controlled flight into a stalagmite. BOOM This happens on the first lap, which makes you wonder how much experience Terrell has. In the game, he has one particularly bad stat, acceleration. That is mighty strange, I would expect the exact opposite. The game gives him quite good traction and top speed. Turning and braking are also respectable. The in-game model also has a higher bypass ratio and a visible exhaust flame. The movie shows no visible exhaust and only a small gap behind the intake. The game model has a wider intake and narrower body than in the movie. Both versions look good, but this is not the most accurate likeness. There is also no bypass duct in the game. Behind the intake is solid metal. The cockpit has an array of rudder vanes on the sides, a moderately prominent animation. Enoch of the mighty Wormo! I see Ben Quadrineros from the Tund system. Ben Quadrineros clearly was named after his podracer, instead of the other way around. Ben is announced as being from the Tund system. It turns out his species is the Tung, of planet Tungel. His pod is given the name Bolter-Trabat, BT-310. Each engine is 4.5 meters long. This design is exactly what it looks like. There are four engines, but each one is the smallest in the race. It would appear that complexity was its undoing. Literally, the podracer flies apart on the starting line. This is described as engine trouble, but that isn't the case. Well it looks like Quadrinaros is having engine trouble also! The engines are idling just fine, and indeed have enough thrust to fly away. The fault lies in the sci-fi equipment attached to the engines. The most visible failure is of the energy binders. These are the purple energy arcing between the engines. We can infer that they hold the engines together, which does make sense. The repulsor lifts keep the engines up, but there is no chassis on a podracer. The engines aren't bolted to anything. The podracer is not so much a vehicle as it is a collection of parts flying in formation. There must be a way to synchronise the repulsors, that's probably in the binders too. Given the way these podracers can rev their engines, we can also tell that the repulsor lifts can act as brakes. The question of anti-gravity traction is one we can't easily test. However, we can tell other properties by looking at the engines themselves. Excitingly, we can tell Ben Quadrinaros has exactly what we're looking for, his engines are large at the front intake fan and narrow behind. These are the turbofans we expected not to see. We have a good look at the back of the intake fan. That looks like a lot of air bypassing the core of the engine to me. The podracer itself should be a powerful design. It might have a lower top speed than other pods, but I expect good acceleration. The weak point here is mostly in the pilot. Another significant factor could be sabotage, of course. It is rumoured that Ark "Bumpy" Roose might have been to blame. In the game, most of Ben's stats are very low. Quadrinaros has good traction and an exceptional top speed. Braking, cooling, acceleration and turning are about as bad as can be. A visually interesting craft, you could certainly do worse than this. Next to set out the race is Odi Mandrell, an Irk-hit. Like Anakin, Tatooine is Odi's homeworld. He is notable for his pit droids, according to the movie. I can see why he invested in pit droids, his engines are already great. They are Exelbrock XL-5115 turbofans, clearly. They are some of the largest and heaviest engines in the race. His pod is another of my favourites, along with Ratt's Terrell. If I had either of these machines, I would not go looking for a replacement. Only incremental upgrades to the base engine. Naturally, it's one of my favourites to play in the racer game. These engines also match the target profile. The air intakes are enormous, but at the back they are as small as Anakin's engines. This means it's time to introduce another term for turbofans. Bypass ratio refers to how much air is pushed by the fan, instead of going into the combustion chamber. Ratt's and Quadneros have low-bypass turbofans. These generate a good amount of thrust from the air the engine breathes. The fan helps, especially at lower speeds. Overall, they are still jet engines. Odi Mandrell has a high-bypass engine design. At the centre is a powerful turbine engine, which drives an enormous fan. Thrust from the engine itself is minimal, though it looks like he has an afterburner. To tell which engine type is optimal, the rule of thumb is that turbofans are good below the speed of sound. For a supersonic plane, the turbojet is preferred. That's very interesting, because I have their speed listed here. Sebulba can reach 829kmh. Anakin reckons his is the fastest ever built, at 947kmh. If you believe his estimate, nobody has a pod that can break the sound barrier, let alone Mach 2 or 3. That means Odi Mandrell has chosen wisely. He can apply an incredible amount of force with a fan that size. This may not be the perfect trade-off. It is definitely a good balance, especially with access to an afterburner. That increases the thrust through the centre, changing the ratios. In the game, his stats are generally quite high. The weakness is top speed with acceptable turning and cooling. Everything else is above average, making Odi a good choice in the game. One more thing: We're introduced to Odi Mandrell with praise for his team of pit droids. With his record-setting pit droid team! How good are these droids? One of them walks into the intake of the jet engine. It does not seem overly harmed, but the engine is destroyed. There is no way it could be repaired in time to finish the race. And yet, what's this? There is a shot here of a many-armed food salesman. In the background, a large pod racer goes past. If we pause on the right frame, this is unquestionably Odi Mandrell. Yet the food salesman shot was placed after Odi's engine was wrecked. If everything in the movies is canon, perhaps Odi had a spare engine standing by. Otherwise, the pit droids rebuilt the engine in 30 seconds. An editing error? Maybe, but certain rules would say it must also be canon. The next racer is quite odd. A Fooey, from the planet Foo. Mars Guo has some of the largest engines in the race, mostly. They are named Colopondrat Plug-2 Beermoth. These have a large diameter at the front and back. From the side, we can see the engines go very narrow in the middle. However, from above, we see that the width is consistent. Most jet engines are rotationally symmetrical. Not exactly, there are all sorts of pipes and wires on the surface. Having a rectangular section like this is very unexpected. Looking from the back, this is quite informative. We see that the exhaust only comes out in a flat line. All the vertical parts in the back half seem to be unimportant. There are clearly slats here, so perhaps they're for steering. Diverting part of the exhaust out one of these ducts changes the thrust vector. That seems like a good idea to have on your engines. Most pods do not have thrust vectoring. Another surprising detail is how quickly it narrows. The intake fan on a jet engine is called the compressor. Normally, this means a series of turbine stages all in a line. These are used on Anakin's engines and are called axial compressors. They extend along and rotate around the central axis. Mars Guo has a different kind. There is only room for a centrifugal compressor. These are wide instead of long and produce a shape much more like Mars's engines. Instead of directing it backwards, the intake air is flung to the outside edge. In the case of Mars Guo, it must be concentrated into two ducts on the sides. That explains the rectangular shape of the engine's core. This air will feed a fairly large combustion chamber. Overall, it would seem Mars Guo has quite a good racer. As with Odi Mandrel, the air intake is a vulnerability. Still, the large cross section for a small exhaust should mean high speed. In the game, Mars Guo has quite good stats overall. There is a notable weakness in cooling, the stat used for the boost system. Top speed and traction are particularly good. Everything else is above average. You acquire this pod early in the campaign. It is a good choice as your main pod racer. The next racer to be knocked out is Teemto Pagalies. A Vecnoid from Munus Mandel. On the canyon dune turn, there are Tuscan raiders taking pot shots. All it takes is one solid hit to the engine to cause utter destruction. Bit of a shame, because Teemto is my favourite of them all. In the pod racer game, I have played Team Toe more than all the other pods combined. All the pod racers are unique, but some are more unique than others. Teemto Pagalies has the least aerodynamic cockpit pod of anything in the race. The leading edge is not so much a blade to cut through the air, more of a flat brick. On the other hand, this pod is also the most complex one. The trailing edge is a rudder, which is probably of some use. The rudder animation is a large part of why I like flying this in the game. The cockpit has two other features. One of these is a large lever entering the cockpit from outside. The cross section labels this as the main throttle, but that can't be right. We can see Teemto's wrist move as he revs the engine. This is a motorbike control scheme. Rotate the hand grip to increase power. Obviously, your choice of controls will depend on what limbs you have. Anakin has a similar near-human body layout to Teemto. He also uses similar controls. The other neat feature of the cockpit is based on its circular shape. It was decided that this has a heavy gyroscope running around the ring of the cockpit. That would mean Teemto Pagalies has two extra systems in his cockpit, beyond everyone else. On top of that, he also needs a screen on the inside of the cockpit. Since it blocks his view forward, this allows all sorts of sensors and readouts. It must be tricky facing backwards and driving by a TV monitor. Ah, you get used to it. Where Anakin and Sebulba have to look down for their displays, Teemto has it all in one place. Teemto's engines are visually interesting. These are called the IPG-X1131 Longtail, made by Iodani Performance Group, the longest in the race. They have the feature of large spinning intakes, which looks wonderful as ever. The most unique feature is a cowling on the upper half of the engine, a very distinct look. The intakes are not significantly larger than the engine body either. That means these are the first engines to be a simple turbojet. No bypass duct after the fan to act like a propeller. All the air goes through the engine to generate jet thrust. That is associated with far higher speeds. With all of this put together, this is a podracer I like above every other. Teemto rams Anakin, much like Sebulba did. He's a solid bet, if you were to gamble on these awful races. In the game, he has good stats in most categories. Top speed is the notable weakness, but can be fixed with upgrades. Turning and cooling are also not particularly great. Traction, acceleration and braking are all above average. Speaking of Sir Bulba, here's a strange one. The grunny champion who peeps so little, Sir Bulba! I've heard it said that walking on his hands is a personal decision. That most of his species, the Dugs, walk in a way we would consider normal. This is a fascinating idea, but it doesn't line up with the other information we have. Nothing I can find points to Sir Bulba walking differently from other Dugs. The evolution of this knowledge is quite interesting. When Qui-Gon thinks about podracing, the first planet that comes to mind is Malastare. They have podracing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous. This may have been spoken twice in The Phantom Menace. The second time, one of the Goatmen names himself the Congress of Malastare. The Congress of Malastaire concurs with the Honourable Delegate from the Trade Federation. All of this would be fine in isolation until you try to put it all together. The expanded universe had already named the world of the Gran Trigoats. That completely changes the political implications of the scene. Lucas probably intended Malastare to be the Goat Planet. Star Wars disagreed with George Lucas on that matter. The Grand are usually assumed to be evil, because one appeared in Jabba's palace. The Grand must have another seat for the planet Kinyan. Malastare becomes a colony. Sir Bulba is given the podracing planet as his homeworld. Suddenly, Dugs are native to the planet Malastare instead of the Grand. As with many colonies, it turns out someone else had already called dibs on the land. The Dugs have the Good Continent on the west. The Old Republic established a spaceport on the eastern continent. Grand decided to settle there from off-world, in significant numbers. Ugh. That's the Wahootashag. To be or not. Just screw any dolepot, Slimo. Next is one of the strangest machines in the race. Where many engines have a massive circular intake fan, Sir Bulba does not. His engines are named Split X, which does line up. Collor Pondrat Plug-F Mammoth Split-X, to be precise. Perhaps each one is supposed to remind you of a V8. The good thing is that all the front surfaces seem to be air intakes. The cross-sections book also decides the Split X has the repulsor lifts in it. These engines are as large as any other, only the X is unusual. On the inside we find both types of compressor I mentioned. Starting behind the X intakes, there is the axial compressor we see at the front of most podracer engines. This drawing has either 7 or 8 stages to the compressor, which sounds entirely normal. Anakin's is specified to be 8 stages. Behind Sir Bulba's axial compressor is a centrifugal one. This arrangement is not uncommon, though it was unexpected. What I do find bizarre is a system of baffles. After leaving the compressors, the airflow needs to make two turns of 180 degrees. That strikes me as a distinctly bad idea. When you put corners in a pipe, that usually causes it to slow down. This is the hot part of the engine, where the fuel is injected and ignited. Perhaps that's enough to offset any losses from the u-bend. After that, there is a final spike like on other engines. In this case, the end cone is fully hidden inside the engine. Finally, there is an afterburner nozzle. Another questionable choice is the jet fuel. The placement is right next to the hottest part of the engine. There are fuel tanks built into the afterburner exhaust nozzle. There is an angular fuel tank wrapped around the centrifugal compressor. This is a good idea in some ways, given that the fuel is near the places it needs to go. It also seems like a relatively small amount of space, given how much fuel these engines must burn. We can assume the fuel used is extremely dense and efficient. Also, that it can be stored safely at high temperatures, given the location of these tanks. We do have a name for the fuel. It is tradium power fluid, pressurized with quadronium. It is activated with injectrine. Granted, that's all a load of nonsense. Power fluid makes sense, that's just a term for jet fuel. Tradium is capitalized, so that's likely a brand name. Some specific formula that is stable for transport, even if not ideal for usage as fuel. It's hard to account for what quadronium might be, how it would add pressure. Likely, this is a fuel additive that helps it stay compressed in the tank. Finally, the fuel needs to be activated. Hello, Overline, is this Microsoft Tech Support? Yes, this is Microsoft Tech Support, how may I help you today? This could mean the jet engine runs on a two-part fuel mix. Or, if it has been stabilized for transport, activating undoes that process. Injectrine could also be some kind of fuel accelerant to help the engine burn. Perhaps injectrine releases oxygen as it burns, somehow. That would allow for the engine to run more fuel-rich than is possible otherwise. Sebulba is notable for one other thing. He wins by having the fastest podracer that's still in working order. This can be through sabotage, as in the case of Anakin's pod. Perhaps the problems Quadrinaros had weren't entirely his fault. For Mars Guo and Mawhonic, it's through overt action during the race. For this, Sebulba often has weapons on his pod, such as a flamethrower. This would have been used in a deleted scene against Anakin. It wasn't my fault, really! Sebulba flashed me with his vents. I actually saved the pod! (mostly.) The EU tells us that Clegg Holdfast's pod was destroyed by flamethrower during the race. The advantage of using a flamethrower is the lack of evidence. Since you already have jet fuel running through the engine, nothing looks suspicious. There will always be heat damage to the engines, so it isn't evidence against Sebulba. There's no need to carry fuel for the flamethrower either. It can operate using the fire of the engines themselves. In the cross-sections, it looks like a side door next to the combustion chamber. It could even be disguised as an axis hatch for working on the engine itself, to access the fuel injectors or something. A key part of Sebulba's strategy is to have his weaponry removed before his pod can be inspected. This also goes for Mars Guo, throwing a lump of metal into the engine intakes. After the part has been thrown, there is no evidence left in Sebulba's pod. Before the flame emitter, his earliest weapons included a nail launcher. Far less subtle than a flame, more likely to get you caught. It specified launching a stream of nails into faces instead of the engine intakes. That seems like a particularly bad idea. It wouldn't line up with the normal injuries to pilots. As Sebulba's pod was obliterated during the race, he needed a replacement. He ended up buying Anakin's pod from Qui-Gon, and went on to use it. In the game, Sebulba has terrible stats. Traction is good, turning is acceptable, everything else is abysmal. The only positive feature is one of the highest top speeds in the game. This lines up with what we would expect, a focus on a single aspect. Sebulba wants speed, and the rest isn't very important. He doesn't win through piloting skill, like Mahonic and Gascano. The game also lacks the deep, slow ticking sound from the movie. It seems the game was made before the sound effects in the movie were finalised. Fair enough, and I imagine it'd be easy enough to mod in the engine sound. The problem with Sebulba in the game, is that Quadrinaros is arguably the better choice. The perfect contrast to Sebulba is little Annie Skywalker. They are both short, though Anakin will continue growing. Sebulba uses the largest engines that are allowed, by cheating. He discourages anyone from looking too closely at the race rules, with regard to his pod. The only human podracer pilot takes a different approach. His engines are smaller than anything else in the race, with only two coming close. Ben Quadneros has smaller engines, but twice as many. Elan Mak and Ark Roose have quite small engines, but they're still larger than Annie's. We'll get to the remaining races after discussing The Chosen One. Mostly, his small engines are to make Skywalker the underdog. All the other races have bigger and more expensive cars than our hero. Everyone in this race literally has inhuman reaction times, including the human. I'm the only human who can do it. You must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods. Anakin's podracer shows his mechanical ability as much as his piloting skills. Our ship was damaged and we're stranded here until we can repair it. I can help! I can fix anything! I believe you can. He obtains parts by getting them for free, salvaged or given away. Each part is seen as worthless, too damaged to justify repairing. The result is the fastest pod ever built, extremely valuable. The engines appear to be standard turbojet engines. They are Radon Olsa 620C that had been discarded as unusable. At the front, there is an air intake and compressor. This is listed as an 8-stage main compressor, a normal number for a jet engine. Then the airflow passes the fuel injectors and enters the combustion chamber. Finally, it exits the thrust nozzle to create thrust. The engine gets work done by adding and burning fuel. More gas comes out the back of the engine than went in, and at higher speed. The nozzle at the end is a key part of turning that gas into thrust. Anakin has a cone at the center of his exhaust nozzle, which is a common feature of jet engines. The center of the jet has metal in it, so the airflow needs to merge back when exiting. It's also preferable to have the exhaust pressure match the atmospheric pressure. Having a nozzle that can move like this allows much more control over what the engine is doing. The secret of Anakin's speed is said to be his fuel atomizer and distribution systems. In a change from the original design, far more fuel is added. Additionally, this is a finely calculated modification. These engines are extremely efficient, getting maximum burn from all of that fuel. We can assume this extra combustion uses as much oxygen as possible too. The cross sections say the entire engine is an afterburner. That sounds silly at face value. How can you have an afterburner unless there's a beforeburner? I think I've found the answer, and I've never heard anyone mention this before. Podracer engines are not turbojet engines. They appear to be, but there is one critical detail missing from the cross section drawings. A turbine engine works by having two turbine clusters on the same shaft. The rear turbine is set after the combustion chamber, and it powers the intake compressor. This works because fuel is added and burnt in between the two turbines. Podracers do not work in the same way. There is no rear set of turbines to power the intake. See the large structure in the centre of Anakin's intakes? That is labelled the turbine drive motor. There is no power turbine, because the engine runs on electricity. The jet fuel is used only to create thrust for propulsion, not to spin the intake turbine. On a real jet engine, electric motors would be used to start the engine, never to power it during flight like a podracer. Here, use this power charge. Yes sir! Come on Kitser, let's move away. Suddenly it makes sense for Qui-Gon to hand Anakin a power charge pack. With a space battery from the Starship... Space! Anyway— The cockpit pod has enough juice to spin the turbines. The mechanical load of the compressor is because it does a tremendous amount of work. It compresses air. And if it was driven by an electric motor, it would need 30,000 horsepower. This explains the idea of the entire engine being an afterburner. Without the rear turbine, the engine can move directly from intake compressor to the extra fuel injectors. This also explains another feature from the movie, the spill air doors. These flaps could be mistaken for air brakes. They are placed right behind the intake compressor, before the combustion chamber. The doors are most clearly seen when Anakin has an engine fire. Normally, there should not be fire that far forward in the engine. It has travelled forward from the fuel injectors, a definite malfunction. Anakin closes the spill air door and the fire goes out. I don't understand why that would help, but I can't say it's the wrong choice. This engine was sabotaged by Sebulba before the race started. Given the location of the engine fire, the broken part must be a fuel line. To me it looks more like an electrical part, but I'm not a jet engine mechanic. Little Annie knows exactly what he's doing, for this problem and the others during the race. These problems are necessary to demonstrate his piloting skill, beyond just winning a race. It's also likely Anakin disabled the fuel feed from the main tank in his left engine. There are two fuel tanks aboard Anakin's pod. One is in the central shaft of the intake compressor, the other is in the exhaust nozzle. The central cone is a fuel tank. They hold a less exotic fuel than Sebulba uses, a simple blend. Straight Tradium power fluid, activated with injectorine, no additives. This is probably less of a choice, more that the race entry fee only covers the basics. How can you do this?! Not on Republic credits, I think, ah? Hahahaaa— My ship will be the entry fee. Ooouuhhhh, not bad, not bad, huh. There will be a big tank full of tradium and a little one of injectorine, most likely spaced out. Wouldn't want them to leak at the same time. [fire whooshes] Woah~! After the fire is out, Anakin has lost the fuel reserve from that engine. Either he dumped the fuel on purpose, or it leaked out from the sabotaged fuel line. Annie's next move is to reach for a patch cable. This has a curly wire and a double pronged connector. This redirects a resource from the right engine to the left. Fuel would need to be pumped along the control cables, through the pod to the other engine. Electricity could pass through the purple energy binder instead. The result is enough to keep both engines running, with reserves for multiple laps of racing. The next control we see used is a momentary switch. This is the ignition, and I will hear no arguments to the contrary. Anakin reaches for this switch exactly four times in the movie. First was during the engine test, before the race. Second, to start the engines as the race begins. Third, to restart his engines after he stalls them. Fourth, after one of his engines has a flame out and shuts down. This ignition switch is never used when the engines are running. This sort of consistent control scheme is what makes the podracer sequence work. Even if you didn't know what this switch does, you know Anakin knows. Every time he uses it, that is the correct decision for him to have made. Other controls are less evident. The repulsor lifts are particularly hard to fathom. Once, Anakin is forced onto the service ramp. His vehicle is launched into the air, well above the hover ceiling of the repulsors. After the apex of his arc, Annie starts flicking switches. The only system it makes sense for him to fiddle with here are the repulsor lifts, to absorb the landing. It's certainly a fun shot of the cockpit, but we can't learn anything from it. A similar detail crops up after Mars Guo's pod is destroyed. In dodging the wreckage, one of Anakin's control cables detaches. His engines are held together by the energy binders, but the cockpit is free to spin. Anakin flips a switch, and on the next loop the pod stabilizes. This must be a setting for the repulsor lifts on the pod, it's just barely plausible. This is a different switch from the one used during the jump. That one would have been next in sequence, right to left, but it stopped beforehand. Coming out of the spin, Annie's pod is not in good shape. The power coupling is starting to flicker, clearly about to fail. Anakin reaches out with the tool, taking his eyes off the level terrain in front of the pod. He is able to grab the cable and reconnect it to the side of the cockpit. This is perhaps the least plausible fix in the entire race sequence. Even with inertial dampers, it should be disorienting. Grabbing the control cable also seems a bit implausible. This part was not in the version of the movie that I first saw. Perhaps something went wrong with the taping, a mistake from whoever was manning the VCR. That was probably my fault, I know part of A New Hope was missed. On the other hand, that was a part with the special edition changes, so no great loss. Even with the risks of taping this way, it's better than having ads play in the middle of the video. More likely, a different cut of the movie was chosen for broadcast. Cutting this particular scene is a good choice, the others are too important. Without the mishaps, Little Annie would be entirely unbelievable. The most distinctive feature Anakin added was two sets of triple air scoops. These are exactly what they look like, movable veins that bite into the air. This will be good for cornering, especially with how large they are in relation to the engines. In the pod racing game, there are also large flaps on the cockpit pod. These open when going around corners too. These are barely visible in the movie, but it's a nice bonus feature. Animations on the cockpit or engines are uncommon in this game. Fitting the central figures of the saga, there are animations on both in the game. Anakin's stats are extremely good, with two notable exceptions. Little Annie's pod, the fastest ever built, lacks top speed and acceleration. Traction, braking and cooling are better than most other pods. Turning is a little less exceptional. Since so many people will pick this, makes sense for Anakin's to have good stats. It can be modified to increase its speed, just as Anakin repaired the engines. Of all the racers, Gasgano is one of the more prominent. He doesn't have the largest engines, but he stands out anyway. Gasgano has a great many spindly limbs, and is very competent. He is a Zexto from the planet Troikan. Gotta love Troikan, that's where VT-MB was made after all. Vampire the Masquerade bloodlines. His pod is a unique design from Ord Petrovia. As with Anakin and Waterwell Qui-Gon, the pilot has a sponsor. Gardola the Hutt, previous owner of the Skywalkers. From the start of the race to the end, we see Gasgano right behind Sebulba. The most likely podium finish would have been Sebulba first, Teemto Pagalies second, Gasgano third. As the race played out, Gasgano was in second place behind Anakin. We'll try to figure out who might be third later. For engines, there is one remarkable feature, and one unique one. What is most notable is the size of the exhaust cones. The cone itself is larger than some exhaust assemblies. This means a lot of airflow is channeled into a very small ring. The result must be extremely high exhaust velocities. While the engines are fairly large, they are nowhere near the size of the competition. Gasgano achieves his success through piloting skill and clever engine design. The other two leading the pack were much less clean racers. Teemto and Sebulba both attempt to ram Anakin. Gasgano blocks him from overtaking for a while. Very different. Driving in such a way that your opponent can't overtake, that's entirely fair. These engines are a bit of a mystery. There is no large intake fan visible, but there is room for one. The front of Gasgano's pod engines have a pair of brackets. From seeing them in the background, it's clear there are two large flat intakes. It's unclear what happens behind those, but I suspect a centrifugal compressor. That could generate some high airflow, and leave room for a large combustion chamber. In the game, Gasgano has atrocious braking and cooling. Acceleration is also not particularly quick. Top speed, turning and traction are quite good. All of this can be worked around if you have enough skill as a pilot. Gasgano does have that skill. A solid choice in the game, even if not the optimal one. In what has to be the second most surprising fact of this video, I have identified who could have come in third place. Anakin, Gasgano, and then Ark "Bumpy" Roose. This is completely unexpected. His is one of the least prominent pod racers. His cockpit is one of the least aerodynamic. Nothing we see from him implies that he would be anywhere near a podium finish. It's surprising that he even survives the race. After we last see him, he collided with Dud Bolt and failed to finish the course. Ark Roose is a Nuknog from the planet Sump. Let's see what the secret to his success might be. The most distinctive feature is that his engines are really a cluster. They are named Vokoff-Strood Plug-8G 927 Cluster Array. Like with Quadrinaros, there are two fairly small engines on each side. The difference is that Bumpy has all four side by side, bolted to a frame. It also has a circular gap in the middle of each engine cluster. Wow! This would seem like an inefficient design, one that can't possibly compete with some of the larger engines. Apart from the main engines, there are several other parts to the engine cluster. There are a couple of parts 90 degrees offset from the large side engines. On the top and bottom, there are some considerably smaller tubes. Then, at 45 degrees, there are another four small tubes per cluster. The very bottom engine of the cluster is by far the longest. The X formation are by far the smallest. For any of this to make sense, it needs to be extreme specialisation. Perhaps the smaller engines respond faster to his control inputs. It may also allow for more sophisticated thrust vectoring. Perhaps every sub-engine has a swivel to the exhaust nozzle. The other most likely advantage would be acceleration. I expect each cluster has one set of engines for a specific speed. The closest comparison we have is Mawhonic, who has outriggers on his engines. These look like smaller versions of the main turbojet. It makes the most sense to me for the small ones to be optimised for low speed. The small engines give Mahonic and Ark Roose an advantage off the starting line. The same applies any time the racers slow down. Having extra small jets gives high performance. At a speed range most racers neglect. Bumpy takes that idea to an extreme, having jets with multiple different performance characteristics. As the smallest ones stop being useful, there is a slightly larger set already taking over. Almost like having a gearbox to keep a single engine within its power band. In the Podracer game, this is reflected in Ark "Bumpy" Roose's stats. Everything is unremarkable to bad, except he has great acceleration. The pod cockpit also has a small wing that pivots from horizontal, and a rudder. The official record claims that Eldar Bedo came third, Bumpy did not finish. Still, he was definitely the next in line the last time we knew the order of racers. He started back in the fourth row, and there were only five rows. Next to cross the finish line would be Aldar Beedo, a Glymphid from the planet Ploo-2. His vehicle was made by Manta Ramair, named a Mark IV Flat Twin. This is quite an interesting shape of vehicle, almost like another cluster engine. Each one has a large rectangular assembly at the front, and two circular exhausts. Once again, these appear to be ordinary turbojets. Chances are, these two turbines share a lot of machinery, like cooling, intake, fuel tanks. Unlike Ark Roose, all four turbines are the same size here. The cockpit also looks very interesting, insectoid even. Far more aerodynamic than at least half the pods. The biggest concern with Eldar Bedo's engines is the intake size. There is only a narrow opening at the front, it even tapers in. This would seem like a bad idea, a pointless restriction on the incoming airflow. It's unclear exactly what one might find underneath those covers. Aldar seems to get similar performance to Gasgano and Teemto Pagalies. We can imagine this is as much through brute force as piloting skill. The engines do have the appearance of a flying brick. Overall, I see this as one of the more practical and straightforward podracer designs. It's just a pair of jet turbines for each engine, plus the repulsor housing and fuel tanks. Each of the jet turbines is the size of one of Anakin's engines. I fully believe the air intakes are enough to feed these. There's definitely also room for the motors to spin the compressor shaft. Aldar Beedo starts in the far side pole position, opposite Mawhonic. From there, he maintains a position at the very front, in the running for a podium finish. In the game, Aldar Beedo has poor acceleration. All his other stats are moderately high, not exceptional by any means. I've become quite fond of this Podracer lately. There is a cockpit animation so minor it's hard to even detect. A couple of tiny veins that move as the pod turns corners. It should also be mentioned that Aldar Beedo has another source of income. As well as racing, Aldar is a mercenary. During this race in particular, Wan Sandage paid for Sebulba to have... a little accident. Poodoo! Aldar Beedo never managed to collect that bounty. [sounds of immense and unrelenting suffering] Another of the surprising discoveries is how Elan Mak performed in the race. If you were to ask someone which of the Podracers was... a joke, Elan Mak would be a top pick. After all, the entire Podracer is shaped as three balls. One for the cockpit, and one as the body of each engine. The length of each engine is shorter than Anakin's engine, which is very uncommon. The only others would be Mawhonic, Wan Sandage, "Bumpy", and Quadrineros. This is an obsolete pod, a Kurtob KRT 410C. The best to compare might be Mawhonic. In both cases, these engines start at their widest, then narrow down to a smaller exhaust. While there is room for a turbofan to work, I think all the air flows through the engine. Concentrating the airflow through a smaller exhaust nozzle like that should produce a higher velocity jet. In this case, with the spherical engine housing, I suspect another centrifugal compressor is behind the intake fan. Like Gasgano, we expect Elan Mak to skillfully use relatively small engines. We don't see this craft very often, more towards the beginning of the race. I expect to see him in the middle of the pack, yet he doesn't stay there. Early on, Elan Mak is up with Sebulba and Aldar Beedo. Later, he drops back to a group in the middle, where Anakin overtakes. Elon Mack is a flagarian from Plu-4. In the end, he finished 5th. Now, I know what you're thinking. Perhaps you've looked up Elan Mak on the wiki, and found the name is written backwards. How could they have made such a mistake when it was written right there? Despite what you might be thinking, this is not a new development. I have traced this back to

2001. It is quite venerable lore. His name is Kam Nale. Aldar Beedo kills his father. This left Nale with a grudge and the remains of his father's criminal empire. He converted these assets into enough funds to buy a once-great podracer, to enter the same race as Aldar Beedo. In the game, Elan Mak has terrible stats. A particular weakness is acceleration, the opposite of Ark Roose. That makes sense. Mak has one turbine optimised for high speed, instead of an engine cluster. These stats imply that Elan Mak is an exceptional pilot, to have done well in this machine. The engines have a large scooped flap on the top, acting as an airbrake. They are some of the largest braking surfaces relative to the engines. Another podracer is often spoken of in the same breath. It's easy to see how these two are linked. Ebe E. Endocott has small engines with a red and white colour scheme. They are named JAK Racing J930-8. Ebe is a Triffian from Triffis, an experienced racer. He has won three tournaments on Malastare. He was skilled enough to earn a new Corellian freighter. A light freighter costs 15,000 to 25,000 credits, used. To buy a new one costs at least 100,000 credits. With a track record like that, it's no wonder he survived to take fourth place. In terms of engine design, they couldn't be more different. Endocott's engines look a lot larger than they really are. There is a set of long sheets attached to the side, extending well in front of the engine intakes. They don't seem to have any purpose that I can see. Technically, they're similar to Sebulba's Split-X, but far smaller. It's possible they might contain repulsor lift emitters. They would function as aerodynamic control surfaces, even if that is complex. By far the most likely explanation is that these are radiators. They extend forward, as far away from the hot parts of the engine as possible. For their entire length, cool air flows along the huge radiators. Personally, I would have a more complex shape to increase the surface area. This might be an ideal trade-off to minimise drag, and they provide enough cooling as they are. In the game, Ebe Endocott has great traction, cooling and repair stats. That would line up with these being repulsor and radiator fins. The engines are quite narrow, though they do get wide at the middle. I believe this implies an axial compressor first, then perhaps a centrifugal one. I also consider it particularly likely that Endocott has afterburners installed. In the game, everyone has a boost ability, and cooling determines how much it can be used. That means Ebe does have relatively good afterburners. Next is one of the largest and most visually interesting of the podracers. Boles Roor with the large green egg-shaped engines. They are named Bin Gassi Quadrijet 4Barrel 904E. It's clear that this is just a shell, covering the true shape of the engines. There is a single large intake at the front, and four small exhaust nozzles at the back. The top two are short, the bottom two are long. It would appear that Boles Roor has a refinement of the engine cluster design. Where Ark "Bumpy" Roose uses many engines with their own intakes, Boles combines them. The intake compressor feeds each turbine more efficiently than it could manage itself. The two different lengths must have some functional purpose, like on Bumpy's cluster. If we look to the game, Boles Roor is given extreme top speed. Traction and turning are both quite reasonable. Everything else is terrible. The logic of cluster engines granting better acceleration doesn't line up with that. To explain the speed, we need to look at the surface area. The air intake is not as large as on some podracers, but it is still quite large. The intake for each engine is larger than all the exhausts put together. It would logically follow that to get more air through a smaller area in the same time, it needs to go fast. When your exhaust velocity is nice and high, that should make for a substantial amount of thrust. Boles Roor's position on the starting grid is third row, as close to the centre as would be possible. Bowls himself is a Sneevel from the planet Sneeve. He is announced as two-time winner Boles Roor. The visual dictionary doesn't agree. It declares the two-times champion is out of his league. However, that his pod is near stock, and his skills are subpar. His previous two wins were in Boonta races. This is exactly his league. Doesn't line up with the movie at all, nor the fact that he seems to do fairly well in the race. Early on, we see him near Ark "Bumpy" Roose, who ends up just behind the winners. It's possible that his previous wins have been in far easier races, but unlikely. I just don't believe the book's description. In the game, Boles has unimpressive acceleration and cooling. Traction and turning, and braking, are quite decent. The top speed here is incredible, almost as good as Sebulba's. In fact, Bowls Roar seems to be nearly the same stat distribution as Sebulba. Incredible top speed, but his other stats are average instead of terrible. This makes Boles Roor one of the least known, but best choices in the game. Before this video, I hadn't planned to play Boles Roor very much. Now, his podracer looks like it may have become a favourite of mine. Now it is time for one of my favourites. If Ody Mandrell is second behind Teemto, Clegg is third. Holdfast is a Nosaurian from New Plympto. He has much of the same style as Ratts Tyerell and Ody Mandrell. That is, an enormous air intake as wide in diameter as even Mars Guo, followed by a turbine body that is at least as large as anyone else's. Clegg Holdfast also has a wide exhaust nozzle, more so than any other podracer. The wide intake meets the diagnostic criteria to suggest a turbofan. However, we get a clear shot of this engine from the back. His position on the starting grid is the second row to Anakin's right. The shot pans from Ratts Tyerell back over Clegg's engines to show the exhaust. There is no bypass duct. All the air passes through the engine. The intake air from the giant fan is constricted into a far narrower tube. This seems like an exceptional design of turbojet engine. They certainly have the size for it. The huge exhaust nozzle reminds me of Gasgano's central cones. It forces the airflow through an even tighter space, so expect these to have extreme power. In the game, Clegg has very good traction and acceleration. Braking is a weakness and top speed is not particularly good. Clegg is one of the few to be announced along with the name of his vehicle, a Voltec KT9 Wasp, which fits the relatively narrow middle of the engines. The full name being Kesar Voltec KV-99B Wasp, apparently. He barely appears after the race starts, despite his apparent confidence in medals. In the game, Clegg has almost no braking ability. Traction and acceleration are remarkably good. Other stats are less notable, but entirely sufficient. There is a cockpit animation, two wings that twist. This would act to roll the podracer, but they're shown in use for all cornering. Holdfast has the dubious honour of being the one to taste Sebulba's flame emitter. He survived until halfway through the race, then was destroyed in the second lap. It turns out that the other racers see Clegg as a joke, which sounds a bit mean. They allege that Clegg is a journalist for Podracing Quarterly. That is a serious accusation. We mustn't throw the J-word around lightly. We find incriminating evidence in the race results. Despite having his engines scattered across the desert, officially, Clegg finished 7th. That is last place, but surprising for a vehicle in a million fragments. We can only conclude that Clegg Holdfast used his journalistic connections to commit fraud. In order to look better, Holdfast had the official results changed. If there was one podracer that is almost completely unremarkable, it would have to be this one. Wan Sandage has a simple, unobtrusive pod with no notable event during the race. He is barely in the movie, and his pod looks a lot like Mawhonic's. An Elsinore-Cordova TurboDyne 99-U. For one thing, it's green, and the size is very similar. Like in that case, these must be based on power-to-weight ratios. Extreme speed through lightweight and pilot skill. Wan is a Devlikk from Ord Radama. He has been racing professionally since he was 2 years old. That means little Annie is not the youngest pilot in the race. Wan Sandage was 6 years old at the time. The Devlikk lifespan is a decade on average. His position on the starting grid is the 5th and final row, to the left of Quadrinaros. He's barely even in frame of the camera. Similarly, he doesn't appear much in the movie. We don't see Anakin overtake, we don't see Sebulba destroy his pod. He starts in the background and remains there throughout the race. Nobody gives him a second thought, or a first one. Much of the same logic from Mawhonic applies to Sandage's engines. They compress a large cross-section of the air into a much smaller one, implying good exhaust velocity. Going back to the game, we see interesting stats on the vehicle. Top speed is Wan Sandage's weakness, explaining why he might fall behind. Sandage's cooling stat is also very low. Turning and acceleration are quite respectable. Traction and braking stats are incredibly high. This means Sandage has better control over his pod than anyone else. You may outrun him, but you cannot turn a tighter corner or brake as well. Wan Sandage specialises in finishing the race, not coming first. Nobody has reason to ram him, because he isn't competing for the podium finish. By being so slow and unremarkable, Sandage avoids drawing any fire or animosity. That is a facade, because Sandage hired Aldar Beedo to go after Sebulba. Nor does he finish the race. Wan crashes into a sandcrawler before the finish line. And back again, it's the mighty Dud Bolt! With that incredible racing machine, the Volpterine 327! Dud Bolt looks like a crocodile. Volpterine 327 is the name of his vehicle. It also turns out to be the name of his species, from planet Volpter. There are two particularly distinctive parts to this, the front and the back. At the back is a structure that seems superfluous. It doesn't appear to be a rudder, it's just a hollow arch. It makes most sense as a radiator, especially since it's attached to the afterburner. The other most interesting structure is the wide, flat wedge intakes. Just like with Aldar Beedo, these seem to deflect away a lot of air from the intakes. For that to be sensible, airflow must not be the performance bottleneck here. Improved air intakes cannot make Dud Bolt any faster, or he would have them. It seems clear there are repulsor lifts at the front, there's no room elsewhere. I was confused by these narrow intakes, so I went looking for answers. It appears hiding the intake is associated with anti-radar design. That makes sense, pod racers are designed based on how cool jet fighters are. This is a feature from fighter jets, therefore it is cool. The real reason is simpler, the engines are backwards in the movie. There were originally large intakes at the front, coming down to a flat, narrow exhaust. Dud Bolt's position on the starting grid is the second row from the front. Anakin starts just to Dud's right. In the game, he has exceptional traction. Every other stat is on the line between mediocre and bad. Dud is another one who rarely appears in the race, no interaction with Anakin. The announcer describes his racing machine as incredible, so it must have some potential. The game also shows the exhaust extending all the way up the vertical section, when the movie shows a circular exhaust. The game also has a set of flaps that pivot out from Dud Bolt's engines. These flaps are used when steering, or as air brakes. As it happens, Dud Bolt optimizes his vehicle for durability over speed. He is secretly being paid to support Sebulba during these races. Though we don't see it, Dud Bolt uses similar tactics of ramming to eliminate the competition. He gets paid cash for every opponent he causes to crash. During an attempt on Ark "Bumpy" Roose, both pod racers are eliminated from the running. A shame, since both could have done well otherwise. Finally, there is the strangest pod racer of them all, Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film. All are unique, but some are more unique than others. Neva Kee has a pod racer that's been constructed backwards. There are no control cables attaching the engines to the pod cockpit. The pilot's seat is just in front of the engine intakes, potentially a hazardous design. This pod racer has a rigid chassis that all components are firmly bolted to. Its model is Farwen & Glott FG 8T8 Twin Block 2 Special. This is not the standard design, and I imagine there is a reason for that. Aside from the odd layout, Neva Kee has quite a good pod racer. The engines are as large as any in the race, so we expect similar performance. One consequence is that the giant engines are outside your field of vision. Anakin can see when there's an engine fire, without needing to rely on the instruments. Assuming all is well, that ought to make no real difference. Another consequence is that the jet exhaust is behind the pilot, which seems like a safety feature. In the game, Neva Kee has bad turning, cooling, and top speed. Airbraking and acceleration are remarkably good, better than most. Traction is about as good as it is possible to be. Traction must refer to the repulsor lifts, which are probably simpler on a rigid vehicle. The game has an animation on the engines, with large fins in a ring around the exhaust nozzle. These can be deployed as airbrakes for steering or stopping. Neva Kee never actually appears in the movie, yet he is well known among the fans. Neva is a Xamster, from the planet Zagobah. With a name like that, surely he must be the hoobiest fruit in the race. He was too cool to finish the race and officially wandered off. That's a euphemism if I've ever heard one, given he was never seen again. His podracer does appear on the cover of a book in the Jedi Quest series. In this story, Anakin is dragged back into the racing scene during his Jedi training. This pod was likely chosen because the camera can be closer to the pilot, while still showing the engines. In the actual book, I don't believe Neva Kee turns up at all. The podracing game is relatively old now, as you may have noticed. Its full title is Star Wars Episode I Racer. Quite a mouthful, but I bet it did well in search results at the time. While it isn't overly complex, it was an excellent simulation for its time. Every vehicle is recreated with enough quality to be recognised. The same goes for the pilots, but the real key is the sound. There are dozens of easily recognisable sounds throughout. Everything sounds like it should. The music is a bit loud by default, and does get repetitive. Having the familiar music just adds another layer of simulation. Racer is available on Steam and GOG, and it runs well with little to no tweaking. The most surprising aspect of playing it is the control scheme. The throttle is bound to W, right trigger, and A. Turning left and right is with the cursor keys, or left stick. A and D, or right stick to the side, is to flip the pod on its side for narrow gaps. Left stick forward and back, or arrow keys up and down, tilt the pod's engines. Tilt nose down is required for a second before you can boost. Tilting the engines up should let you jump a longer distance, I think. Braking is on S, or B and right trigger. Boost is X on controller, or shift the sprint button. Later on, a sequel was released. Its name was Racer Revenge, and it was exclusive to the PlayStation 2. Where the first game was on everything but the PS1, the next was only on the PS2. I had been aware of a Jango Fett and Jedi Starfighter game on PS2, before my research. Despite enjoying the original, I didn't know about Racer Revenge. The most notable changes in this version seem to be that Anakin is years older, and the cockpit hover. In the original, the cockpit floats in the same position as during the race, metres in the air. Racer Revenge has the cockpit low, and the cables hanging down from the engines. I'm not sure which version I prefer. Gameplay seems largely the same as the last game. The most striking change is that you are expected to survive the entire race. Gameplay When it comes to actually playing the game, there are two parts. Before and between each race, you need to select your podracer. There is a good selection to start with, including Anakin's pod. Everyone who was missing can be unlocked by satisfying some sort of challenge. You will get a few unlocked during your first tournament. After a race, you will be paid in Truguts. These can be used to buy upgrade parts from Watto's shop. All parts are essential to the functionality of the podracer. They cannot be removed, only downgraded. Each upgrade part affects a single stat of the podracer. Airbrakes will only affect braking, never acceleration. The complication is that each part has an individual durability level. Each part wears out over the course of a few races. This will make your podracer worse handling in every aspect. You could buy replacement parts as each one wears out, but only cheap ones. Instead, buying a pit droid will keep one upgraded part in working order. You can only have four pit droids, so you have to pick your upgrade parts carefully. When it comes to the racing itself, there is a certain amount of skill in flying around obstacles. If you run into a cave wall and explode, you respawn back on track. This is very convenient because some races are still difficult for me to survive. Knowing the track beforehand is extremely helpful, but there is a map. Most of the gameplay comes from managing your boost. Cooling is the stat that determines how long you can boost for and how quickly it recharges. Boost too long and it causes an engine fire. Each engine also has durability to be lost through collisions. Luckily, there is also the option to repair while you're in flight. It can't replace an engine that's been destroyed, that still requires respawning. While you can build a pod to avoid using the boost, it is generally powerful. The trick to every course is finding when and where you can get away with boosting. It requires a minimum speed before the boost is unlocked. You need to tilt the engines to charge the boost, which generally takes a straight for me to use. Some corners I can even maintain a boost through. This boost is the core of the racing gameplay. All things considered, the game is an exceptional simulation. It can be somewhat confusing. Knowing the track and its specific shortcuts can make a tremendous difference. Overall, the campaign is compelling enough to extract tens of hours of racing from. Difficulty is generally forgiving in allowing you to cross the finish line. To advance to the next level, you need to place at least third in the previous race. You also have control over the prize distribution within the top few places. If you expect to win, set it so the entire prize pool goes to first place. When you can't be sure of that, set it to a more even split. With enough money, parts and unlocked vehicles, it gets easier. If you find the race too easy, you can reduce the stats of your podracer to achieve game balance. At last, the podrace has ended. Anakin has achieved a victory in the biggest race possible. This also happens to be the first time he's completed a race. Ah well, all's well that ends well. Watto is forced to honour all his wages. Though he complains, I don't see what Watto has lost. Qui-Gon has taken ownership of Watto's best slave. Other than that, Watto should be pleased. The deal made with Qui-Gon was for Watto to take all the winnings. Minus the cost to the parts I need implies payment. Whatever price Watto charges for the parts, Jyn gets that much from the winnings. He then gives his share to Watto, buying the parts. When the Naboo ship leaves, Watto will have 100% of the prize money. Qui-Gon did not ruin a small business on a backwater planet. Watto is only having trouble because he bet on Sebulba to win. It seemed like a sure thing. A waiter doubled his money. Watto will disable the explosive implant and officially free Anakin. The Phantom Menace tends to create its characters in pairs. Two Jedi, two Sith, two Nemoidians, two Hutts. These are the matching pairs. We could say that there are two so they can talk to each other. Having two Jedi lets them talk about the Force amongst themselves. But Master Yoda said I should be mindful of the future. But not at the expense of the moment, be mindful of the living Force, young padawan. Explaining the Force to an outsider is an entirely different conversation. We can also pair them into a hero and his personal antagonist. Queen Amidala has a conflict with Nute Gunray. Anakin must deal with Sebulba. Shmi Skywalker's main tormentor is Watto. Obi-Wan's patience is tested by his foe, Jar Jar. As for our dear friend Palpatine, he must defeat Chancellor Valorum. Every character needs an appropriate foil. It wouldn't be proper for little Annie to address the Republic Senate. The biggest problem in this universe is the Hutts are gangsters. The nemesis allocated to Qui-Gon was Darth Maul. Two of our characters are Jedi Knights, extremely powerful beings. They need an opponent of a similar power level to cross blades with. Against a trained Jedi, most battle droids are no threat at all. A competent, menacing adversary is needed. Drawing your sword in a cantina isn't particularly heroic. For a proper lightsaber duel, you need someone like Lord Darth Vader, capable of defeating even an experienced Jedi in combat. We can't expect Emperor Palpatine to wield a red lightsaber himself. That would be undignified. Also a bit incriminating, if he was caught with one. Darth Maul is quite similar to Vader. Both are apprentices to Emperor Palpatine. Both are physically imposing and visibly hostile. Maul has far less elaborate clothing, since he isn't a cyborg. Not as many buttons and switches on his chest. Aside from his weapon, Darth Maul has two distinctive features. First is the red and black tattoo pattern all over Maul's body. Since Maul is a full-time Sith Lord, he can get facial tattoos. Otherwise he might run into career issues. The other thing is that Darth Maul has horns instead of hair. These exist to make Maul look menacing, even without wearing a black mask. Sometimes we speak of Darth Maul more as a weapon than a person. A sharp implement whose purpose is to be wielded by a superior. From a certain point of view, this is absolutely correct. Maul was never a Jedi like Vader once had been. His entire life was dedicated to being the best Sith apprentice. Once upon a time, Palpatine discovered a valuable resource. A Force-sensitive child the Jedi don't know about. From that point on, little Maulie was trained in secret. Since the Sith are so clearly sinister, this training could easily prove fatal. It included being locked in his bedroom with a pack of dingoes. Darth Maul is a Zabrak. This is a species new to the prequels, with two notable examples. Maul himself is from the Zabrak homeworld of Eridonia. The only other example of a Zabrak is on the Jedi Council. Eeth Koth has a different skin colour and horn layout. Finding a consistent explanation for this variation has eluded me. Darth Maul and his master are very different. Darth Sidious can only appear when Senator Palpatine is out of the public eye. He gives instructions and plans his schemes. In contrast, Darth Maul can roam the galaxy and take action. Secrecy is essential, since Palpatine does not intend to be discovered. Maul cannot act overtly. He must be stealthy and subtle. These tactics are effective, even if they may not be his preferred style. Maul is first called in to deal with a range issue. Qui-Gon led the Queen well away from the Trade Federation. Outside their own territory, the Nemoidians have little to no influence. They cannot walk in and claim Queen Amidala from a Hutt prison cell. Sending a droid army to Tatooine would be even more unwise. Do not meddle in the affairs of Hutts, for they are subtle and quick to anger. Nute Gunray is right; The Queen is out of their range. Even if they knew her exact location, there is no way to capture her. Darth Sidious sends his apprentice to resolve the situation. His plan starts with a little deception. The Queen gets a message from Sio Bibble. The death toll is catastrophic. I must bow to their wishes. You must contact me. Back on Naboo, the situation is rather grim. The Trade Federation are withholding food until the Queen returns. Obi-Wan, the heartless monster, suggests this is a trap. It's a trick. Send no reply. Send no transmissions of any kind. I suspect Sio Bibble has no idea he is bait. Viewing the message is almost certainly a safe operation. Being able to track that way would be catastrophic. Sending some kind of trace report through the comms network means increased traffic. A subspace message system would not establish a two-way TCP connection. That would only be possible with two subspace radios in range of each other. Doing that using a relay system would be too slow. Subspace messages back and forth across the galaxy use UDP packets. As soon as they hit the relay network, they are on a best-effort delivery system. This message has likely been relayed across the subspace comm network. If so, it will have been broadcast across the entire galaxy. The Naboo ship's subspace transceiver picks up the message as it passes through Tatooine. Alternatively, this could be a holonet message. Move the ship out of the asteroid field so that we can send a clear transmission. The holonet was the system used by Vader and the Emperor to talk. This is how real-time, two-way conversations can happen across the galaxy. In this case, it was a pre-recorded message. There was no live conversation going on, so even in the case of the holonet, it's fine. There still should be nothing to give away the Queen's location. Technology is not the weak link that causes the security hazard. Immediately after the Jedi establish that this message is bait, we cut to Coruscant. Two Sith Lords are taking a stroll around the city. They casually discuss how they have already traced the Queen to Tatooine. Send no reply. Send no transmissions of any kind. This sounds like bait to establish a connection trace. If the trace was correct, I will find them quickly, Master. Despite how funny that is, the movie doesn't play the interaction for laughs. Someone aboard ship ignored Obi-Wan's instructions. It's hard to say who that might have been, since the Queen had left already. It could have been a pilot, or one of Captain Panaka's security officers. One would expect those military types to appreciate the value of radio silence. Though I think there are only a few likely suspects. Handmaidens are more likely to have taken the bait. Specifically, I blame Sabé, the one serving as decoy for the Queen. If not her, then it's probably definitely Rabé. We'll get to the bottom of this, one way or another. Send in the ITO interrogator droids. Transmitting our response almost doomed the Queen in exile. By subspace relay or holonet, the reply gives away its location of origin. All Darth Maul knows is which planet to search. He sets off immediately. Maul's ship arrives above Tatooine on the same day as the race. This is quite clear from the sequence of events in the movie. First, it's daytime in Mos Espa when Maul traces the holocall. Darth Maul lands that night and attacks the next afternoon. Crossing that distance, a quarter of the galaxy, took only a few hours. To make matters worse, we know things about its hyperdrive. Darth Maul flies a ship named Scimitar. The type of ship is a Sith Infiltrator, which primarily means this ship has a cloaking device. Or rather, had one installed afterwards. Scimitar is modified from a Sienar Design Systems courier ship. The ship isn't all that much larger than a TIE Fighter, except for the length. Main issue is that the Scimitar is listed as having a Sienar SSDS-11A hyperdrive. The hyperspace speed of this ship is class 3.0, slower than many freighters. If this ship can travel that far in 6 hours, a better hyperdrive can do it even faster. The galaxy rather shrinks. Anyone can get anywhere in a few hours. Frankly, it's unbelievable that a Sith Lord has such a slow ship. Unless the cloaking systems are so cumbersome they can't fit a faster hyperdrive. An Infiltrator's primary asset is its stealth in sublight situations. Having a fast hyperdrive isn't strictly necessary for the mission profile, I suppose. However, that cloaking device is obscenely expensive. Given that you're already spending so many credits, you could at least buy a class 2 hyperdrive. One of the later RPGs addresses this inconsistency. According to Wizards of the Coast, The Infiltrator has a class 1.5 Hyperdrive. That's much more reasonable, slightly faster than the Queen's ship. Having landed on Tatooine at night, Darth Maul disembarks. He has the general location of his quarry. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to locate the Queen's ship by scanning for it from orbit. The Sith Apprentice starts to examine the landscape in front of him. He has spotted at least two settlements nearby. Using a set of electrobinoculars, he can see easily in the dark. Each town forms a glowing spot on the horizon. That's quite a lot of ground to cover. Maul isn't going to search it on foot. He releases a set of Dark Eye probe droids. These split up along the way to the various towns. The Sith probes search all night, and the next day. There are plenty of droids buzzing around by the day of the podrace. These are not particularly suspicious to the casual observer. Many kinds of lightweight droids look like this. It is specified that Darth Maul built the Dark Eye droids himself. The design is a perfect replica of a blueprint he found in a Sith holocron. What's really nifty is that the droids were assembled using standard components. Watto probably sells all the parts needed to build one. Putting a new droid together probably takes less than half an hour. In the novelization, Maul's probe is destroyed as little Annie leaves home. The movie has a Dark Eye droid reporting back to Maul in person. The Sith Apprentice has unloaded a speeder bike from his ship. In contrast with the original Stormtrooper bikes, this is unarmed. Maul's bike is named the Bloodfin. It's a Sith speeder. A similar situation to the Dark Eye droids, based on an ancient design. Or so the Sith would like us to believe. Everything about the speeder bike's hardware is modern. Where the name Razalon FC-20 comes from is unclear. I think the Razalon company makes a base variant, which Maul modifies. Perhaps the Sith holocron has generic advice to offer about bike maintenance. Increase your top speed by 30% with this eeevil trick! A coating of paste made from the blood of orphans to eliminate all air resistance. Who can say what fiendish Sith alchemy they get up to. All speeder bikes are fast, this one more than most. The Bloodfin represents the only vehicle smaller than a spaceship. If Maul needs to walk a long way, he has the option of taking a speeder bike instead. As we can see, there is a small thruster at the back. The other distinctive feature of the bike is its shape. A circular body with a seat in the middle. Compared to other speeder bikes, this makes the Razalon FC-20 a compact design. There is also talk about the circular design having a lower center of gravity. That really depends how you look at it. A normal speeder bike is mostly linear. All the machinery is directly underneath the seat. Plus it extends forward and back. Importantly, all of its weight is down low. The rider sits on top of the bike, which does shift the center of gravity. When a scout trooper bike goes into a spin, the rider rolls around the bike. Its path doesn't even seem to wobble during the spin. If this were a center of gravity issue, the bike would also spin around the trooper. The two would orbit, pivoting around the center of gravity. Unless this is all due to repulsor lifts, COG is inside the body of the bike. For Darth Maul, imagine it starts out as linear. Then you bend the center of the bike downwards. You have shifted mass downwards, both the bike and the rider. Surely, this would have to lower the center of gravity. On the Razalon circular bike, that isn't necessarily the case. While the middle has been lowered, the front and back are considerably higher now. It's not a big deal for the front, the handlebars and dashboard. That rear section looks rather heavy. And look at the placement of the thruster. The center of thrust is directly behind Maul's sternum. If we assume that the bike has a low COG, the thruster would be off-axis. There is no lower thruster to balance out any rotational forces. With a low COG and this engine placement, the bike would roll forwards. On a bicycle, rolling forwards is exactly what you want to happen. The Bloodfin is almost wheel-shaped, come to think of it. The competing assumption is much safer, that the center of gravity is along the axis of thrust. By putting the COG right in front of the thruster, the rolling effect goes away. The only other explanation I can think of is the repulsor lifts. Perhaps they work to spin the bike in the opposite direction. It's as if the green ion engine was paired with a ventral one, lowering the axis of thrust. That would allow the bike to keep a low center of gravity. On a fast bike like this one, intercepting the Jedi is easy. Darth Maul landed about as close to Mos Espa as the Queen's ship. Qui-Gon is on foot, slowed to the running speed of a small child. They cross paths just as Qui-Gon returns to the ship. Being a very bad guy, the Sith Lord aims his hoverbike at the wee child, a kid that did not appear in Palpatine's briefing. Maul has never heard of Anakin. He doesn't have a good reason to dislike Annie. He just wants to run over a child because of how evil the Sith are. Remember that Force users have the ability to sense each other's presence. He is here. Obi-Wan Kenobi? What makes you think so? A tremor in The Force. Someone with as much potential as Anakin really stands out. Trusting the Jedi, Anakin ducks under the bike. Next, Maul discards the bike. Not to worry, the Bloodfin has automatic brakes on a Dead man's switch. This is the first lightsaber duel since the original movies. I think that justifies giving it a very brief look. Sort of a cursory once-over, you understand. Would be a shame to gloss over it completely. We shall see what is good and bad about the fighting style of the prequels. Maul ignites his saber as he gets off the bike, which I like. As the lightsabers activate, they are already in motion. Qui-Gon draws his lightsaber from his belt, exactly like he would draw a steel sword. Lightsabers are generally worn in such a way that the blade emitter faces down. Qui-Gon Jinn draws his sword with one hand, raising his arm up to shoulder height. While I am no swordologist, that looks like a good defensive stance. At this point, Maul is barely one meter out of his seat. His red lightsaber blade has just finished its activation sequence. We can't see much yet, only that the sharp end is pointed toward the enemy. So far, we're off to a promising start. These all look like sensible actions for everyone to have taken. The next beat in the fight has Qui-Gon bring his saber around to point up. This looks like mostly a rotation at the wrist. Again, Qui-Gon makes a good choice. Getting the blade point up seems like it'll be an advantage. You want to finish drawing as early as possible. At the same time, Darth Maul does a flip. He rolls forward and swings his saber down toward Qui-Gon. If you look carefully, the blade is aimed nowhere near Qui-Gon's body. Maul has made a wild swing toward the Jedi Knight's sword. This is a profoundly bad omen. The characters are trying to win the fight. They should be trying to hit the opponent. Aiming for the other guy's sword is a laughably bad move. Anyone can see that. So unrealistic. We've already got a flip and a swing aimed at a sword. Surely, these are the indicators of a bad fight scene. Well, I've got a couple of ideas. Perhaps aiming properly is difficult to film. Dangerous to the actors. We'll just have to keep that in mind. On the other hand, maybe Maul is also making good decisions. Instead of attempting to cause a fatal wound already, this is a control move. Maul knows that he can win this fight. He wants to enjoy it. By attacking Qui-Gon's saber, Maul keeps the green blade away from his head. He only wants to be certain of a safe landing. He gets it. Instead of taking an aggressive action, Qui-Gon once again tries to improve his chances. He brings another hand from his poncho, switching to a two-handed grip. Technically, I think this demonstrates that the lightsaber is a bastard sword. It pleases me mightily because bastard swords are amazing. My ideal sword is a bastard sword by a wide margin. You'd need a chainsword or a vibro-sword to be any more appealing than a good old bastard sword. Qui-Gon goes into a horizontal guard position. The bad guy is to his left, so Qui-Gon moves the blade to his left. Again, this looks very competent to my eyes. Having a sword in that position should let you defend against many kinds of incoming slash. Our Jedi Knight now yells, "Go!" In the background, Anakin finishes standing up and starts running. How far does he run, and in which direction? This combat encounter started less than 100 meters from the Naboo starship. Maul's bike came up to them from behind, then rode past both. Darth Maul is between Anakin and the relative safety of the ship. Once again, we find that Maul's decisions are sensible. Think of where would be the best place to stand during this fight. Obviously, you want to get between your prey and its refuge. Darth Maul has behaved like someone who is very interested in achieving his goal. You have been well trained, my young apprentice. They will be no match for you. He strikes at a time when his greatest threat, the Jedi Knight, is alone. This is a duel that the Sith apprentice has the best chance of winning. If he can manage to take out Qui-Gon, everything else will be easy. He's already tracked down the Queen once, despite her best efforts at stealth. Even if Obi-Wan gets away, Maul can just track the ship to its next destination. Then he'll have one last saber duel and mop up the stragglers. Captain Panaka would barely slow down the Sith Lord. At this point in the duel, Maul has his saber raised. It looks like he's preparing to swing it either down or from that side. Qui-Gon has his blade high, covering against an overhead strike. He is prepared to defend the side that Maul will attack from. The next move is what's known as a feint. Or rather, this had been a feint to distract from the coming move. By pretending to attack, Darth Maul has forced the Jedi to block in a certain way. A few frames later, Maul has changed the angle of his sword. He moves to strike the area that Qui-Gon hadn't been covering, around the back of the hilt. By the time Maul's aim changes, the Jedi has already started reacting. When the strike begins in earnest, Qui-Gon is halfway into position to block. The strike connects near the base of the defending saber. Qui-Gon has made a good decision to block in this way. Leverage makes his guard stronger here. If Maul had hit near the tip of the green saber blade, it would take far more effort to block. That's not to say Maul has made a mistake, that Qui-Gon did the better thing. The trade-off for power is that the sword tip can be moved very quickly. That's exactly the goal, getting behind Qui-Gon's guard. He doesn't want to connect with the lightsaber at all, so Maul isn't concerned about leverage. During the flip, I said that Maul was aiming for the sword instead of the enemy. This time, he's trying to avoid the sword and hit flesh. The final aspect of this engagement is the footwork. Three characters take one or two actions each. Little Annie regains his footing and starts running. Qui-Gon turns around. Darth Maul does a flip. After the feint, Jedi takes one step back while defending. Sith takes one step forward while attacking. You could read a lot into that. Symbolism about aggression versus adaptability. Looking at it purely from a combat perspective, that looks about right. This is the correct footwork to go with these sword movements. There is a lot of established wisdom about the importance of footwork in a fight. In much the same way, there is a trick question regarding tanks. If anyone asks you what the chief weapon of a tank is, there are three acceptable answers. They want you to say the main cannon. Someone too clever by half might say it's really the coaxial machine gun. Maybe the smoke grenade launchers or the radio. The correct answer to the trick question is the engine. Either the engine or the tracks, which amounts to the same thing. Mobility is always relevant in a fight. As far as I can tell, this fight choreography has been flawless. Everyone constantly makes the best choice he possibly could. Assuming this pattern continues through the movie, I'd like to speculate. Darth Maul is one of the most popular characters in the prequel era. In fact, he's so beloved that some would rank Maul above Vader. Part of this is due to the appearance. Part is because his lightsaber is particularly cool. I'd like to suggest Darth Maul is popular because he is competent. The same applies to Jango and Boba Fett. Both present a legitimate threat to our heroes. Much like Boba Fett, Maul is a relentless hunter. We find him appealing because he can present a genuine threat to our heroes. When Maul succeeds at something, we don't sense the hand of the writer intervening. Maul doesn't teleport around. He either follows you or lies in wait. He's just a guy who was motivated to get the job done. After about 10 minutes of analysis, the camera angle changes. It had stayed in the same place for this entire saber duel so far. I really appreciate this. Instead of shaking the camera or hiding the movement, it's all visible. Jumping off the bike, a flip, a two-hand grip, a feint and a block. All of this happened in the space of 2 seconds. It was clear what everyone was doing at all times. The new camera angle is a close-up of Qui-Gon and Maul. The saber positions don't entirely line up with the previous shot. Maul's saber starts to withdraw before the camera change. The last we saw Qui-Gon, his saber was raised above his head. When we return, the lightsabers are crossed quite low down. This doesn't look like an editing mistake. The overall position is the same. We just missed half a second of action. With the camera change, the roles reverse. Darth Maul withdraws his sword so it can be used defensively. Qui-Gon Jinn also draws his sword back in order to make his first attack. The Jedi is going for an overhead chop. His aim is true. This would instantly end the fight if Maul hadn't parried. The Sith uses the same horizontal overhead block that thwarted him earlier. At this point, Qui-Gon disengages long enough to give one final command. Tell them to take off! Anakin sprints toward the boarding ramp. Maul's motivation is still to kill the Jedi. Capturing the Queen is a secondary objective. A loose end to tie up afterwards. Move against the Jedi, first. You will then have no difficulty in taking The Queen. Qui-Gon wants to protect that ship and its contents above all. Removing the Queen is Qui-Gon's current mission. Anakin's safety and training are very important to Qui-Gon. And most of all, his apprentice is aboard. Qui-Gon doesn't know if he can win this duel. All he can be sure of is that he can keep the attacker busy. If the ship were to fly away and leave him, I know Qui-Gon would consider that a success. Besides, if he won the duel, he could just send a message. His comlink has more than enough range to reach orbit. Worst case scenario, he has to hide out from Watto for a few weeks. Perhaps he can find a way to free Anakin's mother with all that extra time. Fitting his role as a distraction, Qui-Gon continues to attack. In fact, he repeats the same overhead attack as before. Maul blocks in the same way. A high guard with the blade horizontal. This is not the most varied of engagements so far. Still, both men have used the same attack and the same block multiple times. The same factors still apply from earlier in the fight. If this downward slash was the best choice earlier, it probably still is. Parrying that in the same way uses the same reasoning. The main reason you need to vary your attacks is so you aren't as predictable. Speaking of which, Maul now does something rather unexpected. First, he pushes Qui-Gon's blade up and out of the way. Then, he spins 360 degrees and walks away. For the first time in a fight, a less than ideal move is made. This spin should have little to no practical benefit. Turning your back on the enemy is generally a bad move. At least, before spinning, he creates an opportunity. That gives a moment of leeway that can be used to spin. There can only be one justification for this. The Force. Given that this seems to be a bad idea, perhaps it helps to summon the Force to aid you. If that's the case, the excuse only applies to Force users. When anyone else does it, a taunt is all it could be. Maul does seem to fight with renewed ferocity. He starts advancing while delivering a flurry of attacks. Qui-Gon retreats significantly, doing nothing but defend. First, Maul prepares an overhead vertical swing. Qui-Gon uses a horizontal block, but at a lower height than other times. This is only at shoulder height. The previous ones had the saber above his head. Darth Maul continues with a horizontal sweep, though this one may not have been aimed well enough to land. Another apparent mistake, unless this was an attempt at controlling the opponent's blade. Qui-Gon is forced into a vertical guard, hilt up at shoulder height. The Dark Lord immediately follows up with a low attack, as far away from the blade as possible. That was no mistake. The two swings were meant to go together. Qui-Gon barely manages to block the second attack in time. This time, he blocks with the tip of the blade instead of the root. There isn't a lot of force to this strike, so the leverage isn't an issue. Besides, it's hard to get your hands down to knee height during a retreat. Qui-Gon Jinn is willing to let himself be pushed back. He can see the Naboo ship over Darth Maul's shoulder. When Maul gains ground during the fight, he is walking away from the defenseless targets. Maul wants to finish the fight quickly, then resume pursuit. The fighting style reflects that. Once again, the characters are acting consistently with their motives. A hundred meters away, little Annie has just arrived at the boarding ramp. He is expected. There will be a guard standing just inside the ship. Captain Panaka was probably talking to Amidala at the time. Guarding a door is a little beneath him. What's the worst that could happen? A hut slithers up the ramp. Back on the ground, the saber duel continues. Maul executes another spin, starting with a horizontal slash. Qui-Gon ducks under the blade, even if he didn't need to. This attack looked poorly aimed. It may have missed even without a dodge. The Sith Apprentice continues to attack with a series of horizontal swings from opposite directions. The intention with these is to overwhelm a knight whose skills are rusty. Darth Maul has been through slightly more intense training than a Jedi Apprentice. A single failure to block would end the fight immediately. If ever you gamble, eventually you'll lose. Defending forever is a losing strategy. Qui-Gon makes a horizontal slash, connecting in the strong of both blades. Immediately after attacking on his right, he makes an opposite slash. Maul blocks both of these with his saber-held vertical. Jedi knights understand feints and blade control. Qui-Gon follows the horizontal swings with a heavy attack. His favorite one, The overhead vertical war strike. Maul blocks this one with a horizontal guard, well above head height. This is quite interesting and varied dual choreography. The flip and the spinning add a bit of extra visual interest. Both warriors clearly come across as competent. All the variation in their attacks serves a purpose. A flurry of strikes can be very effective, especially if you know what you're doing. Every swing that would have missed was meant to. There are enough concepts in this fight to make a decent lightsaber game. You need about four options for attack direction: High, low, left and right. Add in horizontal and vertical saber positions during attack and defense. Finish the combat system with a punishable taunt spin. Spinning gives a moderate bonus, nothing too overwhelming. Let's check in on the Naboo ship. Anakin has come aboard and relayed instructions from the Jedi. Qui-Gon's in trouble! Take off. Over there. Fly low. It is good that the Jedi apprentice has a plan. Nobody else knows what to do. Options are limited by the equipment on hand. As a diplomatic vessel, the Naboo ship is completely unarmed. It does have what look like recesses for weapons. With four laser cannons and a fixed forward mount, it would have been well armed. Early scripts mention the Naboo ship having weapons, so these may be left over. These were explained to be recesses for the ship's headlights. Another problem, Is that it's difficult to fire into melee combat. Even if the ship was armed, it couldn't aim precisely enough. Worse still, there are two lightsabers involved. A blaster bolt could be deflected in any direction. Those aboard the ship are almost completely incapable of helping. Obi-Wan Kenobi commands the action here. He interprets Qui-Gon's order to take off. He decides not to abandon Qui-Gon, which is the correct decision. Still, we should recognize that the option was there. If Maul had won, nobody would blame Kenobi for returning to Coruscant. Instead, he orders the ship to fly low, to hover above the fight. As the ship takes off, we get a view of the fight through the cockpit windscreen. These figures are minute on the screen. There is no room for detail. To be easily readable at that range, Darth Maul does another spin. This creates the greatest movement possible for his lightsaber. Qui-Gon holds his saber fairly still, which presents the red blade as the aggressor. For the two seconds this is on screen, that's a fine choice. Spinning has been established as a good trick. If you're going to have a spin, this is the best place for it. Moving the saber around a lot is the most important part of the cockpit view. The Naboo Royal Starship takes off. In a very neat touch, the landing gear is retracted right away. The boarding ramp remains extended. The Star Wars universe behaves differently here because of its anti-gravity tech. An aeroplane would take off by rolling down a runway on its wheels. Having the wheels down makes the plane a lot safer at lower altitudes. If you end up touching the ground, better to hit the wheels than the fuselage. Repulsor lifts allow these ships to use landing legs instead of wheels. Everything can take off vertically, so nobody needs a runway. Back on the ground, Qui-Gon misses a horizontal swing. The blade clearly goes over Maul's head. None of our usual explanations will account for this miss. Something completely different is happening here. Force skullduggery. Qui-Gon misses his attack because of the interaction between two force powers. Darth Maul was preparing to make a force-assisted leap. The other was a force-sense ability. Qui-Gon, being a Jedi, can see things before they happen. He misjudges the time and swings far too early. The lightsaber blade goes over Maul's head. Then, a fraction of a second later, Maul's neck and waist rise up through that location. Only the timing was off. The aim itself was exactly correct. Maul's jump turns into a flip, which I should really have seen coming. Unlike when dismounting the bike, there is no good justification for this. A spin could just barely be interpreted as gathering the force to you. Surely a force jump must tax your reserves, even if just a little. Darth Maul doesn't seem to gain any advantage from making this move. It isn't even part of an attack, not really. The blade does go near Qui-Gon, I suppose. Qui-Gon doesn't attempt a block or even dodge, so this isn't a serious threat. Now that Maul is on the ground, we can see the most likely reason he jumped. Going over Qui-Gon's head was meant to put Maul between him and the ship. On the other hand, Qui-Gon is now clear to reach the boarding ramp. This flip is the first move that seems unarguably a bad idea. That's because we know Qui-Gon escapes from the saber duel. Upon landing, Maul is forced to block. Qui-Gon has prepared an overhead vertical attack, which makes sense. He has plenty of time to prepare for Maul's landing. This overhead swing is the heavy attack, slow and powerful. A familiar attack comes with a familiar block, the high horizontal guard. This one starts above head level, dropping down as far as shoulder height. Immediately after the parry, our sithy friend does another spin. That actually lines up with the idea of spinning regaining your force mana. By which I mean, it doesn't make sense any other way. That spin will turn out to be Darth Maul's last move. Qui-Gon looks up, decides the ship is close enough, and jumps 25 meters into the air. We don't see the exact distance, but it's more than 5 meters. 5 meters is about the distance to the top of the carbonite freezing chamber. Qui-Gon goes a far greater distance than Luke jumped in the Original Trilogy. That makes sense to me. Qui-Gon is a Jedi Knight from the Old Republic. Of course he would have a masterful grasp of the force. This is the same principle as Yoda lifting an X-Wing that Luke cannot. Maul was not expecting a jump quite like this, and nor was Qui-Gon. I believe this plan was improvised halfway through the fight. Qui-Gon had intended to be left behind. When his apprentice provided a better option, Jinn jumped at the chance. The Sith apprentice is left to seethe in the desert sunshine. Maul stands up straight as he deactivates his saber. We have not seen the last of him. Aboard the Naboo ship, Qui-Gon collapsed back onto his elbows. When he deactivates his saber, he is out of breath. He is immediately surrounded by friends, two humans and a droid. Naturally, they want to know what happened. Qui-Gon describes his opponent's training. He says that the Sith was well trained in the Jedi arts. Silly Jedi! Don't you know the Sith are something completely different? Well, we saw both of them using the same lightsaber technique. It turns out that Sith are descended from the Jedi. Nearly every group of dark side adherents is made of ex-Jedi. If not the rank and file, the leader will still have a Jedi background. This extends to lightsaber combat. Since the Sith diverge from Jedi teachings, they inherit many things. There are some of seven different lightsaber forms, for example. These were specifically developed by the Jedi, often for use against the Sith. By this point in the timeline, any Sith apprentice will know all seven. Qui-Gon is absolutely right. The lightsaber and fighting style are Jedi arts. They have been stolen and corrupted by the darksiders. I want you to pay attention to how Maul is treated here. The characters do not panic, but they respect Lord Darth Maul's skill. Our heroes correctly deduce that Maul was here to capture the Queen. Despite the threat he poses, nobody has a plan. Qui-Gon advises patience. As long as they reach the core systems, everything will be fine. Even if civilization can't provide protection, there are other resources. Coruscant is home to a temple full of Jedi knights. Hundreds of warriors could converge if the Sith moved openly. No, the only sane plan is for Maul to wait. He has failed to prevent the Queen from reaching the Republic Senate. His master, Palpatine, will have to modify the plan. At last, the first lightsaber duel is over. Would you believe the entire fight takes only 50 seconds? If you include the bike ride, it's still only a minute and a quarter. Despite all that, we still managed to breeze through it in only 20 or 30 minutes. We like to keep these things concise, as you have just witnessed. Tatooine has been quite an exciting place. With pod racing and a saber duel, there's plenty of action. From this point on, our heroes are relatively safe. Nobody will face any danger until the final battle. The movie slows down just as our characters get moving. The chrome transport ship had barely taken off at the end of our last video. Everything is calm as we reach space and leave orbit. For the moment, Padme is still disguised as her own handmaiden. She activates a hologram recording, thinking about the suffering of her subjects. Then, Padme notices that she isn't alone. She walks over for a brief interaction with the newest passenger. While casually talking with the kid, the monarch says something scientifically inaccurate. Little Anakin mentions that he is cold. It's very cold.. ;_; This is great, it's a wonderful idea. The movie is far better because of this scene. You come from a warm planet, Ani. Space is cold. Everything about this makes perfect sense. Anakin is from a desert planet. He's used to the heat. This spaceship was built to keep Naboo royalty comfortable, so it'll have fancy aircon. It will be configured to suit the Queen above all. Humidity will be higher than Anakin likes, but not as much as Jar Jar would prefer. The Jedi are quite adaptable. Everyone else is from Naboo, so they're pleased with the temperature. Anakin will not have clothes designed for warmth. He's used to an environment most humans find unbearable. This is all a natural consequence of the characters and the situation they're in. It also serves to advance the romance plot which will be necessary in future movies. There's just one problem. Arguably, space isn't cold at all. For once, Kenobi has a point. The answer to this depends on how you look at it. Space being cold is the traditional depiction. A lot of sci-fi will show someone exposed to space as being frozen. This will form within seconds of leaving the airlock. This has never been the way space works in reality. It is true that spacesuits need heaters, that you could freeze without them. The same applies to space ships. Heating is part of the life support systems. What they don't mention is that cooling is just as important. Put it this way. A spaceship can only exist in two possible states. The ship might gain and lose heat at exactly the same rate, or they can be different. These are the only two options, and one means the ship changes temperature. All we care about is equilibrium versus anything else. Dealing with heat is just part of being a spaceship. As it flies closer to a star, the sunlight gets stronger. Landing on a planet can have an even greater effect on temperature. Imagine visiting Hoth and Mustafar. A blizzard on Hoth would sap far more warmth than still air. That changes the balance. It would heat up or cool down. Given that this never seems to happen in Star Wars, heat is a solved problem. Every ship can vary its heating and cooling as needed, moment to moment. To get rid of heat in space, you need radiators of some kind. It has to be a radiator, because convection and conduction don't work in a vacuum. Two of the three ways to change temperature depend on the environment. A computer's cooling fans only work because they're surrounded by air. The constraints on a radiator are a little different from an airflow heatsink. Every type of cooling depends on surface area, one way or another. Computer heat-sinks use a lot of fins, all lined up side by side. Radiators need a different approach. Far fewer fins at wider spacing. Any time two radiators are side by side, they'll just dump heat back into each other. Maximizing surface area can lead to some surprises, like droplet radiators. A curtain of water has far less surface area than a mist of droplets. All you need to do is spray your coolant out from one point on your ship, then collect and recycle it at the far end. The warm droplets dump their heat during the trip through empty space. Regardless of practicality, using a droplet radiator would look really cool. Especially if the droplets freeze before hitting the collector, then are melted in order to recirculate them. Best of all, some of the potential coolant fluids are liquid metals. For exotic technology like that, you normally need to look beyond Star Wars. Vacuum itself doesn't really have a temperature. Space can still be cold because it isn't entirely empty. There are bits of interstellar hydrogen just floating around the universe. The average temperature of particles floating around in space is very low. Anything in deep space, far from a star, will be even colder. With no incoming sunlight, there's no heat to replace what has radiated away. The terrible secret of space is that it can be hot and cold. The average temperature of things floating in space space is very chilly. At the same time, there is no seawater in the ocean of space. Getting rid of heat in a vacuum is a lot harder than you might think. The other challenge is from your ship's systems. Life support requires heaters and air circulation. Weapons draw power and generate heat. Sublight engines also put out a lot of heat. Shields and hyperdrive, we can assume they get hot under heavy use. Worst of all, your main reactor. We'll be destroyed for sure. This is madness! Whatever technology we have, power keeps coming back to making something very hot. From there, we can't do much more than using heat to run a steam turbine. The details of Star Wars reactor tech are completely irrelevant to this question. It would be fair to assume the engines generate more heat than you get from distant sunlight. No matter how cold space is, a ship flying through it will be considerably warmer. All of this tells us that Star Wars has very good heat management. We don't even see any failures of heating technology. Installing components too spicy for your cooling, that'd be a design flaw. Speaking of design flaws, look at the radiators on the ARC-170. This is an ancestor to the X-Wing, opening its wings to expose the radiators. Wings on Starfighters are often said to be radiators, which I generally like. However, when you look at the angles, a lot of heat is radiated straight back into the ship. Even TIE fighters have a similar problem with suboptimal radiator placement. Officially, TIE wings have always been solar panels. On the other hand, in the prequel era, they are said to be radiators. The Eta-2 Actis has ancestors of TIE wings, as well as the cockpit window design. The way Padme says, "Space is cold," it sounds like this is out of her hands. As if she can't raise the temperature of this compartment by a few degrees. No matter how cold space is, I can't believe it's a hardware limit. To be able to withstand Hoth and Mustafar, a ship needs good temperature control. The way to salvage this line is for it to be a description of spaces. Space is only cold because the ship crews configured it to be. Despite all the stories Annie had overheard, he didn't expect it to be this chilly. When you look at it that way, it shows Anakin's overconfidence. He thought he knew all about space, yet failed to see the cold coming. On the whole, I think this is an effective scene. It's beautiful, but I don't need to remember you. For the past hour of the movie, Coruscant has been the goal. Everything will be fine if only they can reach the capital city. The planet Coruscant is at the heart of the Old Republic. Not in the geographic center, rather the most ancient core of territory. Over the years, its influence spread to most corners of the galaxy. What sets Coruscant apart from most worlds is its terrain. Another term for a planet city would be an ecumenopolis. An ecumenopolis ecumenopolis something along those lines. This world used to be like any other planet. Over the 20,000 years of history, its cities expanded. Now the seabed has been paved over. The world has the same environment over its entire surface. For Star Wars, that is exactly what we expect to see. All desert, all ice, all ocean. Regardless of how realistic this might be, it is a traditional approach. It's only a few thousand meters tall anyway. It's just the entire surface area of the planet, plus the volume of a tiny layer on top. If there was any one planet we'd expect this to happen to, it would be the galactic capital. A planet city is not all that different from building a Death Star, especially given the timescales involved. Coruscant wasn't built in a day. It took millennia. Death Stars only take a few years for the Empire to build. One particularly fun bit of lore talks about the lower levels of the city. Deep down by the roots of the skyscrapers, life is nasty, brutish and short. At the top levels you might get natural sunlight and fresh air. The deeper down you go, the more crime appears. I love this vertical stratified city idea. It turns up in other places. The hive cities of Warhammer 40k have this aspect to them. In that case, each city has a hive spire for the most influential residents. Each hive city narrows at the top, completely unlike Coruscant. Other sci-fi settings might feature giant arcologies for their luckiest citizens. For the rest of us, perhaps just endless habitation blocks. There is another comparison to make within Star Wars, if you know where to look. Two worlds with nothing in common to the casual eye. Maybe you've thought of it already. A world covered in a blanket of spires, extending about 3 kilometers from ground level. These structures are home to roughly the entire population of the world. Most importantly, the lower levels of this environment are considered a death trap. Everyone with any sense stays much higher up. That world is Kashyyyk, homeworld to the Wookiees. Instead of skyscrapers, they have Rosha trees. Instead of violent thugs, the Wookiees have monstrous creatures to fight. Giant lizards, slugs, spiders, carnivorous plants as well, you know the drill. On either world, visitors should stay in the safety of the upper levels. Exactly like the city of Coruscant, the soil will never again see the light of day. And nor will you if you try going that deep. Let's get back to Coruscant. This world has rather a special place in the galaxy. Coruscant is the home planet of humanity, or if that's not the case, the Coruscanti have rewritten history. Whichever world we come from, it doesn't really matter. Humans can be found on nearly every world and every ship in the galaxy. Coruscant also has a particularly memorable set of galactic coordinates. 0, 0, 0. In much the same way that the center of the Earth runs through Greenwich. Where else would your prime meridian be? Paris? Coruscant is not really in the center of the galaxy. They've just redefined the center to be their location. Now, regarding galactic civilization, it's time we looked at the history of the galaxy. The best evidence comes from Ben "The Liar" Kenobi. Crazy old Ben is trying to tell us about the Jedi. For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. This tells us the age of the Jedi and the Republic. When you try to convert generations into years, it's very easy. A generation is about 25 years, at least on Earth. That means civilization is 25,000 years old. We don't need a book reference for this one, though obviously we have it. Any moderately informed fan can work out this number on his own. 25 millennia is a long time. Going back to before the Old Republic is almost unthinkable. The overwhelming majority of stories are set in the past 5,000 years. To cover the Republic, we need to discuss the most ancient of history. Beyond about 30,000 years we know almost nothing. Various wonderful locations indicate the existence of ancient and powerful aliens. For example, Han Solo is from Corellia. That star system has five habitable planets in it, far more than average. Speculation has it that aliens constructed the whole system. Moving forward a little, there are two events everyone needs to know. Two empires that rose and fell as far back as we can see. The order of the two is the Rakatans. There existed life all over the galaxy, yet nobody could travel. The Rakata created some of the first proto-hyperdrives. These depended on The Force, which is still better than nothing. At the time, humans used generation ships to get anywhere. Later, they would upgrade these to sleeper ships using carbonite freezing. These technologies are good enough for interstellar colonization. For anything on a larger scale, you need to go faster than light. The Rakatan infinite empire was inevitable, given their hyperdrives. In the Star Wars galaxy, one side is largely unexplored, even in the present day. The Rakatan homeworld was on the far side of the galactic core. Rakata were not very popular with the rest of the galaxy. Their infinite empire lasted about 5,000 years. Somewhere around 25,200 BBY, they caught a bad case of the sniffles. Their slaves took this as a signal to revolt. Good on them. When your slaves are revolting, that reflects badly on you. If there is no bread circus, then let them drink blue milk. With the fall of one empire comes the rise of another. Using leftover Rakata tech, something vaguely like a hyperdrive was developed. The Teyon hegemony lived around 25,100 BBY. They were led by Zim the Despot, a man with exceptional taste in symbols. Using a death's head skull for your insignia is pretty cool. Are we the baddies? Zim the Despot conquered quite a sizable region of space. Some of the earliest droids are Zim's giant war robots. These are 2.8 meters tall and incredibly future-proofed. An army of Zim droids is still a fearsome sight after 25,000 years. Zim the Despot made his undoing when his borders ran up against Hutt's space. With a history like this, we start to see the benefits of the old republic. Zim the Despot is a very old bit of lore from before the prequels. The Infinite Empire is newer, established no later than 2005. Development of the first true hyperdrives made all the difference. Both Corellia and Coruscant will claim to have invented the first hyperdrive. The Duros had also been experimenting with the same technology. I am unwilling to assign credit to any one of these worlds. All of them were simply trying to modify old Rakatan take. The modern hyperdrive has existed since 25,000 BBY. We can't exaggerate how significant that is. With the ability to visit another star in hours instead of decades, you get trade routes. That leads to crime and piracy, as well as lawyers. Lawyers lead to disputes about how much tax you have to pay at each starport. It was inevitable that some form of galactic government would pop up. For the first few thousand years, the republic was an alliance of core worlds. Coruscant, Alderaan, Corellia, Duro, Kuat, Rindeli, Nemoidea. Most of these worlds were ancient human colonies. Obviously, we can't say civilization is exclusively a human idea. Still, everyone noticed that the republic has a lot of humans in it. As we are now in the hyperdrive era, the old republic expands rapidly. Every few thousand years, the republic doubles in size. Partially, this comes from diplomacy, absorbing new civilizations. The rest is from colonizing uninhabited worlds. Borders gradually creep across the map as colonies are established. A few worlds will decide not to join the republic. This is one of the differences between republic and empire. How voluntary it is. In theory, you may insist the old republic leave you alone. Not sure it makes much difference once your world is parsecs deep into republic space. Hyperdrives control the shape of the republic. A straight line is no longer the fastest route between points A and B. Travel along an established hyperspace route is far safer than the direct path. In the early days of the old republic, there are two main hyperlanes. One extends off in this direction towards Mon Calamari. The Perlemian trade route defined one end of republic territory. On the opposite side was the Corellian run. These two are critical to understanding galactic geography. Between the two, there is a wide arc called the Slice. Eventually, it reaches all the way to the outer rim. The Slice was the focus of republic efforts for 20,000 years. We definitely don't have time to go over the entire history of the old republic. Parts of it will come up later in order to explain the Jedi. It's mostly important to understand the size and age of the old republic. Now let's take a brief look at how the modern republic works. We have always known that there must be a Senate. At the start of the first movie, Leia mentions the Imperial Senate. The Princess is formally considered to be part of the Empire. She turns out to be a double agent, secretly working for the good guys. That isn't the only time we hear about the Senate either. If you're paying attention, the very first movie is filled with boring politics. Grand Moff Tarkin is the last person to mention the Senate. This isn't simply a boring, optional bit of lore. Star Wars depends on this exact scene. Think about it. The Senate was part of the old republic. That tells us a lot more about the setting than you might think. Obi-Wan had already explained a little about life before the Empire. We knew that the Empire had appeared within living memory. The Empire was a recent corruption of all that is good and right. From Leia's first reply to Vader, the Senate is powerful. She thought it could defend her from the Emperor's right hand. Darth Vader needs to move carefully to avoid the Empire unraveling. Thanks to Tarkin, we know that the Senate was not an Imperial idea. Rather, it was one final relic of the old republic. The Empire will keep the local systems in line. Before the first movie, Leia had tried to work within the system. Institutions like the Senate still existed, still had power. The Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the old republic have been swept away. Not anymore. The Emperor has just destroyed the only formal restraint to his power. A peaceful restoration of the republic was no longer possible. That had been laughable before, but now it doesn't even work in theory. All we really knew from the original movies is that the Senate matters. Even Imperial officers believe it is necessary to control the galaxy. From the context, it is clear the Senate is a hierarchy. Princesses make up the Imperial Senate and have the authority to rebuke Darth Vader. We knew that regional governors already existed during the Empire's reign. Regions are some of the largest divisions of the galaxy. Core Worlds, Outer Rim, that sort of thing. There are only a few regions, so their leaders would make for a very small council. The Phantom Menace shows the Republic Senate on screen for the first time. The exterior is an enormous mushroom-shaped building. An establishing shot like this constantly appears throughout the prequels. While the shape is a little unearthly, it's not too remarkable. The real magic happens inside. Inside, we see a vast array of seating. Hundreds of individual balconies. Every one of these is a flying saucer, capable of floating around under its own power. I found the design very unexpected. The best kind of unexpected. The sort that makes sense in hindsight. These are the same size as Luke's floating car. Very mundane technology. Senate pods only travel at very low speeds, so they might be cheap to build. They certainly look cool for the audience, adding visual interest to these scenes. There is a practical purpose in-universe as well. Without levitating seats, politicians in the back would be too far away. This allows every senator in the building to have an equal footing. Finally, in the centre is the Chancellor's podium. At the very top is a station with room for three, maybe five people. Valorum has standing room, as well as a chair. There is a lectern front and centre, for documents and such. Every senator's pod has a similar lectern in front. Any relevant treaty can be displayed to everyone. If your species needs special infrared hollow emitters, you can get a modified pod. That's also how the more distant seats can see anything. At the centre of the room, hollow camera droids capture the debate from all angles. Below the Chancellor is a circular bank of screens. This is where the support staff monitor and transcribe everything that goes on. Look at that design. Isn't it interesting? Large petals raked back and with a blue interface on the inside. If you think that seems familiar, it's because you've seen them before. Aboard the second Death Star, in Palpatine's throne room, these are stations for guards, even though in the movie they remain unmanned. Where are you taking this thing? How can we be sure what the blue panels are for? I wasn't notified. Because we've already seen its ancestor. Aboard the first Death Star, they weren't lit up in blue. I'll have to clear it. The shape and layout are exactly the same. This reference is subtle yet intentional. The movie is telling us that the podium already belongs to the Emperor. In a way, the entire Republic exists for Palpatine to destroy. The prequels are telling two main stories, one large and one small. There is a personal tale of corruption, of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. On a larger scale, the entire galaxy is starting to fall apart. The old Republic had grown corrupt, complacent. The Republic is not what it once was. The Phantom Menace is about Palpatine taking control of the government. Logically, there must be a predecessor, someone already sitting in the biggest chair. This is a character who absolutely must have existed, yet isn't very important. In the very first Star Wars movie, the Emperor has a similar role. We knew there was an Emperor at the top of the Empire, and that's about it. It was obvious that he existed, but he had little influence on the events of the movie. Palpatine's predecessor is named Supreme Chancellor Valorum. He is everything you would expect him to be, refined and weary. We are not meant to think of Finnis Valorum as a bad guy. Finnis did not make the best Chancellor in history. Nonetheless, we should recognize that he was entirely adequate. While he couldn't put a stop to corruption, Valorum was not part of the creeping rot. For a politician, he is astonishingly inoffensive. Had Valorum remained Chancellor, very little would have changed. Queen Amidala says that Valorum had been an ally to Naboo in the past. Call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum. He has been our strongest supporter. We don't expect him to have roamed around the galaxy, so that means one thing. Valorum and Palpatine have spent a lot of time together. They are as close to friends as two politicians can be. Remember how the plot is based around taxation of trade routes? Palpatine suggested that very tax to Valorum in private. The Chancellor thought it would help with public opinion. When Valorum proposed tax BR 0371, Palpatine loudly supported the idea. The Trade Federation were not pleased about this development. Senator Palpatine suggested everyone get together for a chat on Eriadu. Playing both sides, Darth Sidious had some advice for the Federation. Everything went according to plan, which is to say Eriadu was a catastrophe. Almost all the Trade Federation leadership wound up being assassinated. I need to reach my friend! I hope your friend is God! There had been seven members of the Trade Federation Directorate. One Gran, one Sullustan, four humans, and one Nemoidian. The only one who survived just so happened to be Newt Gunray. With such a power vacuum, the Federation's leaders instantly became very Nemoidian. Such a disaster reflected badly on the one who organized it, Chancellor Valorum. Palpatine had nearly finished setting up his planned checkmate. The final attack was to rob Valorum of his redeeming feature. Say what you like about him, but Supreme Chancellor Valorum was not corrupt. The Republic remained corrupt under his rule because Valorum was ineffective. Finnis would have preferred to clean up the disgrace the old Republic had decayed into. That was his key selling point. At least Valorum isn't corrupt. Darth Sidious had made it look like Valorum was out for profit. Evidence had been planted to link the Valorum shipping company with new taxes. Even Senator Palpatine says the corruption scandal is baseless. If I may say so, Your Majesty, the Chancellor has little real power. He is mired by baseless accusations of corruption. Everything is set up. Next move? All that's left is to spring the trap for Palpatine to take power. Finnis Valorum has no idea that his good friend Palpatine was planning a betrayal. Normally, I don't bring up actors as you may have noticed. And who is your superior? I answer only to the President. And he will answer to me! Valorum is played by Terence Stamp, and I think that's perfect. He has all the dignity and refinement that we would expect from the Old Republic. Welcome, Your Highness. It's an honor to finally meet you in person. Even the English accent points to the Old World, a more civilized age. The Galactic Empire isn't old enough to develop an accent of its own. Any lesser actor could never have been so convincing. As for the rest, the weak shall be winnowed. Terence Stamp has been in too much dimension, so I'll just point to Captain Severus. If he can lead a company of Ultramarines into battle, he can lead the Republic. What size was the Imperial First Contingent, Captain? Data says 100 battle brothers. Overall, I am entirely pleased with how the Old Republic has been presented. It needed to be spectacular to show the height of civilization. The prequels succeeded at presenting a universe Obi-Wan would have remembered. Coruscant is exactly the sort of place Ben Kenobi left behind to guard Luke. Almost everything on Coruscant has been perfect so far. However, I smell a rat. And something about this rat seems fishy. My complaint about the Senate has nothing to do with politics being boring. Aliens fill the background of scenes in the Senate and on Tatooine. Most of these I'm fine with, but there are two species I will not tolerate. One pod contains these little brown ones here. These are ETs, a crossover reference to a completely different movie. That's the sort of thing that could be inexcusable. If you were to put Klingons in the Republic Senate, I'd never forgive the movie. First of all, the Klingons would never join such a feeble Republic. I will actually give a pass to the ETs. With the great variety in aliens, they don't seem at all out of place. An alien like this could easily have existed in the Star Wars galaxy. For that matter, the ET movie could even take place in the same universe. There's plenty of time for the ETs to develop intergalactic travel. No, I object to having these squid abominations in the building. If I had my way, they would never have left their homeworld. Letting them into the Senate chambers was one of the biggest flaws in the prequels. These squid heads are named the Quarren. They're a very cool species. I understand why they're in the movie. They look highly distinctive and can breathe water. Quarren are also a paired species. They come with classic enemies. We like to contrast the Quarren with their Mon Calamari neighbors. The Quarren like to live on the ocean floor, or at least below the surface. Mon Cal's build floating cities, in which they prefer to live above the waterline. Where Quarren are content at home, Mon Cal's look to the stars. Mon Calamari have technical know-how, but they can't mine as deep as Quarren. Later, the dichotomy will extend into the Clone Wars. Mon Calamari are the good guys who side with the Old Republic. As for the Confederacy, they get Quarren instead. This is all great except for one thing. Before the prequels, Expanded Universe lore already explained the history of the Mon Cal people. It had to. These are the largest ships in the Rebel fleet. There are a crew of fishmen who appear in the last movie of the OT aboard the best ships. Oh crap! Prepare to jump into hyperspace on my mark. Alright, stand by. Admiral Ackbar appears to be in military command of the entire rebellion. That level of coolness cannot go unanswered. At this point, it's important to remember the rules of the time. The prequel era had always been off limits for lore. Saying the Mon Cal had been around for ages, that is forbidden. You would be adding lore that affects the prequel era. Under constraints like these, finding a compelling backstory isn't easy. The solution was that Mon Calamari made first contact recently. They had their own primitive hyperdrive and they controlled a tiny bubble of space. The Empire discovered the planet Mon Calamari shortly before losing the Death Star. This lore is great, and most of the old lore carried over into the prequel era. Trouble is, George Lucas didn't know enough about Star Wars. It'll be better for the universe, it'll be better for everybody. They did everything right. Original Quarren lore left room for the prequels. The old lore is too good to throw out. I'm keeping that. I don't believe the Quarren are even shown as part of the CIS, not in the movies. This is not looking good at all. We must disregard all prequel era appearances of Quarren and Mon Cals. This inevitably leaves a gap. What you need is some kind of aquatic bad guy species. It would be preferable if there's also an internal conflict, some kind of civil war. I suggest you set a course for the Goo Goo Gajoobe system. Goo Goo Gajoobe! There you will find the planet Ando, very similar to Mon Cal in most respects. By which I mean it's almost completely covered in water. Aqualish is the race of that one thug from the Mos Eisley Cantina. He thinks you look like a nerd. Ponda Barber picked a fight with the kid and lost. I also think you look like a nerd. When Kenobi cut off Ponda's arm, he literally sliced the species in twain. This arm is the one Ponda Barber pokes Luke with initially. When the arm is sliced off, it has fingers instead of a flipper. To explain this inconsistency, we learn that there were two subspecies of Aqualish. One with a club-shaped flipper, the other a hand with five digits. When the prequels came out, that expanded to three. The new version of Aqualish have a secondary set of eyes below. They also have a third type of hand, one with only three digits. Flippers are the vast majority of the Aqualish population. They are called the Aquala and are the most aquatic. Ones with human-style hands are called Quara and make up a tenth of the population. That's a similar fraction of the population as left-handed humans. In both cases, the wrong-handed were feared and blamed for all manner of misfortunes. Finally, the four-eyed mutants are named Yualak. These can fill the same role as Quarren in almost any situation. Instead of having two races on the same world, we have three variations on a base template. You can split these up into factions assigned to different sides of the same war. In fact, there was already a moment of Aqualish unity. One day, the wider galaxy made first contact with the planet Ando. A ship descends from the skies, inspiring the Aqualish to come together. As one, the sub-races murdered the alien crew and captured the ship. This incident allowed the Aqualish to venture forth into the galaxy. Now, the Walrusmen have a bad reputation. They are said to be belligerent and aggressive, so they are often employed as tax collectors. Shortly after reaching orbit for the first time, Aqualish ships ventured into the galaxy. To set up a trade route? Buying and learning from off-world technologies? Ha ha! No. They planned to invade the Old Republic. As you might expect, the race that discovered space travel yesterday was not prepared. The Republic crushed their pitiful fleet and forced them back to their homeworld. They insisted the laughable fleet be demilitarized. Today, the Aqualish are considered better off due to Republic aid. Why is it so important to use Aqualish instead of Quarren and Mon Cals? There is one reason above all. First contact with Mon Calamari was only a few years before the Battle of Yavin. You cannot have anyone from Mon Calamari in the time of the Old Republic. Whereas for the Aqualish, we know they fought against the Old Republic. It wasn't quite so old at the time. Looking up the timing, the Andu incident happened in the year 15,000 BBY. That means Aqualish have been around for more than half the lifespan of the Republic. The only time Aqualish are off-limits would be before the Kaimudorn era. To put that in context, the Hutt homeworld is named Nel Hutta. Around the year 15,000 BBY, the Hutts arrived on Nel Hutta. Well, they arrived on Ivukar and renamed that Nel Hutta. Before that point, Hutts evolved on the planet Val. My point is that if you go back before the Aqualish, a lot changes. They're almost always available. Any time you want Quarren in the Old Republic, just use Aqualish instead. The best example is during the Clone Wars, where Quarren are the bad guys. It's one of their key uses. Aquatic soldiers of the CIS. Aqualish fill that role perfectly. They officially sided with the Separatists. For as long as Star Wars has existed, Anakin has been a Jedi. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough. He mostly existed to inspire Luke in the original movie. But your uncle wouldn't allow it. It was clear that any prequels would need to show the process of Anakin's training. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your father did. What is it? Your father's lightsaber. The Phantom Menace begins with little Annie knowing stories about Jedi. One day, a very suspicious chap walks into Watto's shop. You're a Jedi Knight, aren't you? What makes you think that? I saw your laser sword, and you look like a hippie and a wizard had a baby. Thank you. Oh, my bones are aching. I can see there's no fooling you, Anakin. The Skywalker boy quickly notices a chance to escape Tatooine. It's clear he doesn't quite understand what it means to be a Jedi. Have you come to free us? No, I'm afraid not. I think you have. Why else would you be here? At the very least, Annie realizes he can escape slavery if he gets recruited as a knight. Will you take him with you? Is he to become a Jedi? Yes. Our meeting was not a coincidence. Nothing happens by accident. At first, Qui-Gon hadn't paid any attention to the slave boy. If Watto had accepted Republic credits, Obi-Wan might never have met Skywalker. What, you think you're some kind of Jedi? It takes an hour or two before Qui-Gon really notices the wee lad. You should be very proud of your son. He gives without any thought of reward. Jedi knights have never been particularly numerous, for their order to survive requires a constant stream of new apprentices. To make matters worse, being force-sensitive is quite a rare trait. While this was not intended as a recruitment mission, Jyn is prepared. Well, I have acquired a part in a game of chance the fastest I've ever built. Clearly, Jedi are equipped with a midichlorian testing kit. They need to take advantage of any time a force-sensitive is found. Part of that process is being able to easily evaluate candidates in the field. It's also important to have an objective standard you can point to. When you're dealing with some local princess, you need to know where your scapegoat is. No. No. The one I'm pointing to. No. No. No. You never want it to be your word against hers. Sorry, exalted one. I just get the feeling your daughter won't make a good wizard. That won't do at all. You need to take her side against the cruel machine. If it were up to me, you'd be on the Jedi Council already. But the test says you only have six midichlorians. That's a poor midichlorian count for a glass of water. Anakin doesn't have to deal with such problems, of course. He passes the test with the same colors and with bells on. His cells have the highest concentration of midichlorians I have seen in a life form. It is possible he was conceived by the midichlorians. This kid is so incredibly awesome that he set the all-time high score. Qui-Gon is absolutely certain that no Jedi has such an affinity for the Force. Over 20,000? Even Master Yoda doesn't have a midichlorian count that high. No Jedi has. The Jedi Order had calibrated their midichlorian scale, expecting Ani not to exist. I'm certain the Jedi Wiki was updated with Except for Skywalker on all the articles. To properly induct the lad, Qui-Gon's next task is very important. Training to become a Jedi is not an easy challenge. And even if you succeed, it's a hard life. After this conversation, the Jedi can say I told you so. It's all Obi-Wan's fault. Anytime Anakin complains, he'll hear Can't say we didn't warn you. Where Luke wasn't ready to leave home, little Ani jumps at the call to adventure. And pack your things. Yippee! That's a good thing. There would be no point in anything else. Skywalker has to become a Jedi. Might as well just get on with it. It makes Vader all the more tragic if Anakin had always loved the Jedi. I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves. This cannot be the usual scenario, though. The movie tells us that there are ways of finding potential Jedi. Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early. The Force is unusually strong with him. That much is clear. Qui-Gon seems confident that if Anakin had been born on Naboo, the Jedi would have noticed. We know of two ways to detect that someone is strong in the Force. One is to have a Jedi close enough to sense the Force potential to work on a galactic scale. Not even Jedi can detect every Force-sensitive in the star system. It'll work. It'll work. Vader's on that ship. That leaves only one option. The midichlorian blood test. An exceptionally simple and easy process. Obi-Wan activates a small device that is clearly shaped like a microscope. Wait a minute. I need a midichlorian count. I need a midichlorian count. This machine is called a meson-teloscope. It can't be too specialized because it doesn't belong to the Jedi. We would have seen them carrying it off their ship and through the ventilation shafts. They've gone up the ventilation shaft. Meson-teloscopes are just something the Naboo ship had on board. Testing for midichlorians is not particularly difficult or expensive. Had he been born in the Republic we would have identified him early. Only one conclusion makes sense. Qui-Gon was talking about an organized campaign of blood tests on a galactic scale. This is actually quite practical despite the magnitude of the task. A wealthy planet like Naboo can test all its own citizens. Out on the fringe of the Republic it would work quite differently. Instead of each city doing its own tests they don't happen anywhere on the planet. Each part of the galaxy contains about 50 inhabited star systems. All you really need is one meson-teloscope placed on the capital world of each sector. Outlying star systems only need to send a blood sample attached to the paperwork. This is all part of registering your colony as having a new Republic citizen. Best of all, you might be able to do this via email. Remember that Qui-Gon has the actual blood sample in his comlink. Obi-Wan has the machinery that carries out the midichlorian test. Wait a minute. How do you get a file of blood from your walkie-talkie to the microscope? There is no physical connection. The sample tray doesn't fly away under its own power. This entire process is carried out over the wireless. You could just call it a mistake, but I don't think so. It's too blatant. I need a midichlorian count. The reading is off the chart. Blood tests over the radio is a fantastic sci-fi premise. That one idea could support an entire series of novels. Adding this concept was intentional and it was very cool. Sadly, few people even noticed. A bored journalist might write a listicle of prequel plot holes. Do other channels mention this in their prequel videos? How about those red-letter media ones? If I get a brain aneurysm as the result of this review, can I hold the filmmaker's response? I'm genuinely asking. I don't have a transcript handy to look it up. Assuming it was intended, how would that even work? We know that it doesn't teleport the blood. Star Wars does support teleportation, but not this casually. Transporters in Star Trek can eliminate the short walk to and from the turbolift. What the hell is going on? I've had it. Let's put all this technology to work, figure out what is going on and get the hell out of here. Almost everyone in Star Wars will tell you it's physically impossible to teleport. They will say this even as they travel through hyperspace on a ship full of droids and aliens. Therefore, Obi-Wan has no physical blood sample to work with. Qui-Gon's comlink must have sensors in it, capable of reading all relevant information. There are actually two machines involved here. One is a tiny module with a sample tray and midichlorian detectors. The other is the main comlink with a large expansion slot at the bottom. It's a good design, similar size to the equivalent from the original movie. I happen to know that this particular prop is based on a razor. A Gillette branded women's razor to be precise. Those shoulder buttons on the comlink are actually the blade release catch. We could be stuck here a very long time. There's something about this boy. We see them used just like the transmit key on a walkie-talkie. This was always obvious, right from the first day the movie was released. A mold was taken of the original razor, then multiple props were cast from that. Each comlink has a few extra bits attached and they're painted metallic. This doesn't break my immersion. I actually respect this choice. The wavy lines on the grip are perfect. They bring to mind radio waves. Originally, that part of the grip was a different material. Either tall rubber structures for grip or translucent plastic with shallow grooves. For the props, only the shape remains. As a bonus, the handle has already been optimized. A large company spent a lot of money designing this shape to perfectly fit the human hand. You'll find the maker of the banana, almighty God, has made it with a non-slip surface. It was also meant to look nice on the shelf, just like the comlink would. I can believe Galaxies came up with this design on their own. As for the expansion slot, that was not present on the original razor. Even that detail is critical, otherwise the blood sensor would be built in. Making it modular allows the Jedi to buy standard comlinks off the shelf. The confusing part is why Obi-Wan is involved. What's the Meson telescope doing if Qui-Gon has the MIDI sensors? All we can tell is that it must be some kind of analysis, processing the data that comes over the radio in some complex manner. Anything more would be just speculation. The next logical question is how Palpatine escaped detection. We know that Naboo is a planet within the Republic. They have their own senator. Jedi expect all force sensitives to be detected. Surely that means Senator Palpatine has been tested in the past. In fact, he should have been identified as a baby and trained as a Jedi. Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him earlier. One answer would be that Palpatine was detected. Everything went exactly as planned. The test found him, so the Jedi arrived. Oddly enough, the parents decided not to give away their infant son. That would mean the Jedi know Senator Palpatine is force sensitive. Under that interpretation, the story still works. Declining an offer of Jedi training isn't a crime. Unlike the audience, the Jedi Council doesn't know he'll become Emperor. If it's public knowledge already, there's no risk of a test giving away the plan. Everyone knows Senator Palpatine's midichlorian count. It's no secret. On the other hand, the system is easily bamboozled. It would be easy for the wrong blood sample to be submitted. Perhaps the data kept getting corrupted during transmission. Most likely, Naboo reports all the force sensitives that it can find. Palpatine was tested, detected as normal, and put on a list. By the time that list was broadcast at the end of the month, one name had gone missing. In an unrelated note, the Palpatine estate donated a luxury landspeeder to a subspace comm technician. The midichlorian testing isn't meant to have a perfect detection rate. All that matters is creating a large pool of potential Jedi recruits. Knights are sent out to recruit as many as possible. From there, the child is taken to the Jedi Head Office. By now, everyone should be familiar with the Republic Senate. A fairly short distance away, there is another relevant building. The Jedi Temple is somewhere over the horizon from the Senate. The geography isn't clearly established. We never see the two buildings on screen at the same time. No discussion of the Old Republic could be complete without mentioning the Jedi Knights. Both organizations date back to the edge of recorded history. Remember exactly what Obi-Wan told us about their ages. Jedi and Republic have worked together for 25,000 years. Where did the Jedi Knights come from? That depends who you ask, and when. Our old lore specifies that Jedi originate on the planet Ossus. The expanded universe was careful in how this was phrased. Well-informed Star Wars characters believe Jinnai came from Ossus. This lore was specifically designed with the intention of being modified. Some kind of Jedi planet was needed, and we know there was a first one. The lore goes out of its way to say other Jedi worlds can be created. Ossus was meant to be one of the earliest. The best guess that's widely known by experts. Without any doubt that Ossus was an ancient Jedi world. Ossus was at the far end of the Perlemian trade route. Of the two main hyperlanes, this was the spinward of the two. At the time, this was as far away as the Republic extended. Their choice of home was quite good since it lasted 20 millennia. Eventually, Ossus was devastated in the year 3996 BBY. It's important to understand that back in AD 1998, the Jedi weren't associated with Coruscant. The Jedi had been based at the edge of the galaxy. The government was located in the center of the galaxy, as far away as possible. We often divide the galaxy into two main parts, the rim and the core. Luke Skywalker lives on the outer rim, which implies at least one other rim region. The outer rim, the mid-rim, and the inner rim. Most of the planets we see are somewhere in the outer rim, with few exceptions. Ossus, Tatooine, Kessel, Dagobah, Sullust, Yavin, Indor, Ryloth, Bespin, Mon Calamari, Dantooine, and Dathomir. There are quite a few recognizable place names, many of them spoken in the movie. Other rim regions don't have quite as many. To an average fan, the mid-rim is most notable for its distinctive alien races. Wookiees from Kashyyyk, Ithorians from Ithor, Rhodians from Rhodia. Another notable location is Ord Mantell, mentioned in episode 5. Solo had visited the world not long ago. Han actually says Ord Mandell instead of Ord Mantell. You could call that a retcon, something the expanded universe got wrong. Given that the novelization spells it with a T, I doubt that. Han Solo just has a very thick Corellian accent. All that's left is the inner rim region. This one has even less of note. One of our best references to the inner rim involves Han again. Lando mentions the Battle of Tanab, where he single-handedly destroyed a fleet of pirates. This establishes Lando as more of a tactical genius than a pilot. The other two most notable worlds in the region are Onderon and Bestin. The latter is actually a reused name. Bestin is a town on Tatooine. That's not really surprising. A lot of colonies give old names to their new towns. Bestin is the homeworld of Jake Pawkins, hero of the Rebel Alliance. The name is a bitter joke. One Bestin is an ocean planet, the other is a town in the desert. Much of the Star War takes place on the galactic rim. The core of the galaxy has its own regions, though they are a bit smaller. Its outer shell is called the Colonies region. These are some of the oldest colonies in the galaxy, founded about 20,000 years ago. Next there is the ancient seed of the Republic, the Core Worlds. Despite the name, there is another layer. We call the very center region the Deep Core. In this part of the galaxy, stars are so densely clustered they affect hyperspace. All these overlapping gravity wells play havoc with the navi computers. For all of galactic history, the Deep Core has been seen as more trouble than its worth. For 25,000 years it sat undeveloped. Even after the fall of the Empire, the Deep Core is mostly uncharted. If it could be done, Deep Core settlements would be extremely valuable. That would be guaranteed, given its location near Coruscant. Naturally, there was some early expansion, but it didn't get far. Before there was an old Republic, human colonization used generation ships. Ten levels of environmental engineering, crew quarters, schools, wastewater treatment, machine shops, forges. After traveling for several lifetimes, one such ship arrived at Corus. This would go on to become one of the more prominent Deep Core colonies. Corus exported raw materials for carbonite, which would be used in new ship types. After generation ships came sleeper ships, using carbonite freezing on the passengers. These used dimensional drive, an extremely primitive form of faster than light. Remember when Han boasted about the speed of his ship? What a piece of junk! She'll make .5 past light speed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. Before we knew about hyperdrive classes, that just meant 1.5 times the speed of light. That's the level of performance these sleeper ships can manage. A dimensional drive can travel 40 light years in only 30 years. Eventually, hyperdrives were developed, making generation ships obsolete overnight. Galactic travel would now be practical, allowing the Republic to exist. Trade continued to flow much as it always had, only with the cargo arriving in hours instead of years. One of the oldest hyperspace trade routes is the Corus trunk line. This is exactly where we need to go, right into the core. A little way past Corus, the planet Tython is the entire reason for this geography lecture. Remember how the planet Ossus left room for an older Jedi world? As time went on, a revised origin of the Jedi cropped up. Tython was the site of a conflict known as the Force Wars. The dark side of the Force had tempted many on Tython. Left to its own devices, that's what the dark side does. All it needs is a supply of Force-sensitive individuals. Sooner or later, one will get unlucky. The Jedi Order was created on Tython to oppose the dark side. Actually, I should bring up a few names. Before the Jedi, there were the Jedi. That's an apostrophe and a double I. Their name for the light side is Ashla. As for the dark side, they call that Bogan. Well, it was. Sadly. We're the Bogans from Buffalo. You heard me. It turns out, Jedi have always been anti-Bogan. You don't know the power of the dark side. That accounts for the Jedi Order. Some of them left Tython and ventured forth into the galaxy. These wanderers were the first to be called Jedi Knights. After starting in the Deep Core, they made the longest journey possible. The Jedi Knights flew out along the Polemian trade route as far as they could go. At last, the Old and the Less Old come back together. The planet Ossus makes a return, for that is where the Jedi land. Back in these days, the Old Republic was very young and quite small. Without the Jedi to help, the Republic might have barely lasted a thousand years. Ossus was a planet at the edge of known space, along the longest hyperlane in the galaxy. A fortress monastery to guard the road against Hutt, Despot, or anything else. This is why the Jedi have a reputation as guardians of the Republic. For anyone who lives on the Outer Rim, the Jedi are much closer than the Senate. That was the situation 25,000 years ago. Under the watchful eyes of the Jedi and Republic, civilization covered the galaxy. We can skip over a great deal of history here, since the Jedi are our real interest. The next moment we need to focus on is 7,000 years ago. At this point, the cordless lightsaber still hadn't been invented. Our Jedi friends are about to unleash a force with terrible powers. How big of a mistake are they about to make? Bad enough that it has a name. The Hundred Year Darkness. This incident also changes the way we refer to Dark Jedi. Darth Vader, only you could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not... It all started with a sect of Darksiders in the Jedi Order. That would seem to imply they were on Tython, where the Jedi Order was founded. Those who left the Deep Core for the planet Ossus were called Jedi Knights. Either way, the Bogan side of the force figured out a few abilities. They learned how to mutate life using the force. It allowed for all manner of abominations to be created. It reminds me of a Warhammer 40k character named Fabulous Bill. Since there weren't all that many Dark Jedi, they created a mutant army. The variety of soldiers was quite remarkable. Most of the army was still vaguely humanoid, with inconsistent workmanship. Some might have claws and inhuman strength, while others are barely able to stand. More powerful Bogans were able to create giant monsters, walking siege engines. Not even these minions could manage to secure victory for the Dark Side. It took a century for the forces of niceness to triumph over the forces of rottenness. Once it became clear that the Jedi were winning, the bad guys bravely ran away. Like the Jedi Knights, they fled from the Deep Core to the Outer Rim. Instead of stopping at the borders of known space, the Darksiders kept flying onward. Out in the Uncharted territories, the Bogans discovered an inhabited planet. You may have heard of it. The planet is Korriban, and the native species was named Sith. This is when the Dark Jedi and the Sith first joined forces. As a species, the Sith had been around for quite some time. Korriban had been attacked by two interstellar empires in its history, by the insectoid Kilik and the Rakatan Infinite Empire. Both times, the Sith had enough experience with the Force to fight off the invaders. For the third set of interlopers, the result was quite different. The Bogans had access to Jedi lore, as well as experience with the Dark Side. Unlike the natives, the exiled Jedi arrived with starships and hyperdrives. Sith and Bogan joined forces to create a small Sith Empire. For a couple of millennia, everything seemed fine. This new Sith Empire had forgotten its hyperspace routes and galactic maps. They were lost at the edge of the galaxy, expanding into nearby star systems. The Republic had never known where the Dark Jedi fled to, only their trajectory. While the Sith Empire would have liked to strike back, they didn't know which direction to look. This created a period of relative peace. Civilization continued to expand throughout the galaxy, adding new colonies and hyperlanes. Plans for the development of the outlying regions of the galaxy involved the building of a hyperspace express route through your star system. And your planet is one of those scheduled for demolition. This is where we bring in the Great Hyperspace War. Around the year 5000 BBY, the Light and Dark Sides came back into conflict. Explorers from the Republic stumbled upon the planet Korriban. Nobody will be surprised to hear they arrived during a Sith power struggle. Being a Sith is all about waiting for the moment where you get to betray someone. Every apprentice is prepared to kill his master, and vice versa. Kill him. Kill him now. In this case, the Sith Empire was under new management. Marka Ragnos, the old king of Korriban, had died. Two candidates stood out as potential replacements. Ludo Kresh preferred to gain power to develop a tall civilization. An empire with relatively small borders and complete control of a tiny area. His opponent was Naga Sadow, who wanted to invade the Old Republic. Through a combination of brutal culling and cunning brutality, Naga Sadow prevailed. That's not to say he got the most votes. Rather, Sadow had the strongest battle fleet. Starbreaker-12, the Republic scout ship, had been captured immediately. Soon after, Starbreaker escaped from the Sith civil war. Naturally, it ran to the opposite side of the galaxy. Just as planned, for Naga Sadow had placed a homing beacon aboard. This finally solved the Sith Empire's navigational difficulties. Even worse, the scout ship had discovered a new hyperspace route. This was perfect for an invasion. It led straight from Korriban to the Deep Core. Instead of fighting their way through Republic territory, the Sith jumped directly to its heart. The Republic was caught completely off guard by the attack. Naga Sadow's fleet swept through multiple systems in the center of the galaxy. There was even a skirmish on Coruscant, mostly defeated by the Jedi. The Republic is far larger than the Sith Empire, with proportional naval capacity. Surprise was the primary advantage, striking before the Republic could respond. Naga Sadow pushed his luck as far as possible before retreating. Inevitably, the civilized galaxy rallied its fleet to strike back. That same hyperspace route runs in both directions after all. The Republic retaliation fleet dropped back into real space above Korriban. Displaying the typical weakness of the Sith, they had been infighting. Ludo Kresh had ambushed Naga Sadow's returning fleet. Where Sadow once had the advantage, attrition from the war had brought balance. In the end, both sides of the Sith civil war lost. Much of the Republic fleet was undamaged, having been stationed too far away to defend. This victory settled the Great Hyperspace War. Once again, the Jedi had defeated the Dark Jedi. They might have called themselves Sith, but at least they're gone now. In actual fact, Naga Sadow had escaped to the moon Yavin 4. Remember how the Rebel base was hidden in some ancient ruins? That's right, they were built by the Sith. Specifically, the Massassi bodyguards Naga Sadow had brought with him. Other Sith forces scattered across the galaxy, into the unknown regions. Once again, everything seems to be fine for a while. Long enough for the Republic to get complacent again. By 4800 BBY, the Jedi invent the Cordless Lightsaber. That is to say, the modern form of the weapon. From this point onward, all lightsabers are as good as Luke's one. In fact, a saber might still work after being dropped 4000 years ago. They do not tend to wear out, and the power cell could last for years of use. History doesn't always give us the nice round thousand year gap between wars. This period of peace lasts 6 centuries. We pick up the story on Yavin 4. In the year 4400 BBY, a Dark Side force user emerges. And as always, he's an ex-Jedi. His name is Freedon Nadd, and he manages to follow Naga Sadow. Having gained as much power as the Jedi would teach him, Nadd looked elsewhere. Upon awakening Naga Sadow from hibernation, Nadd studied the Dark Side. As is tradition, Naga Sadow was betrayed and murdered by his new apprentice. From there, Nadd moved to the planet Onderon, a minor world outside the borders of the Old Republic. Nadd's master had ruled the Sith Empire, so this world was easy to control. As the centuries ticked past, Freedon Nadd eventually died. The Republic continued to expand, and in 4000 BBY it reached Onderon. Jedi Knights were sent to act as diplomats to settle tensions on a newly assimilated world. Onderon turned out to be a bastion of the Dark Side. The current ruler kept dark relics around, such as previous rulers, the sarcophagus of Nadd, and an ancient king. Both of these were not quite dead yet, and the Jedi disapproved. A reasonable reaction, considering the centuries of war on Onderon. The Sith can be directly blamed for most of that world's problems. In 3998, Republic ships brought peace through superior firepower. All the Dark Side relics were confiscated, and locked into a vault of Mandalorian iron. This will not have been cheap, and it was commissioned with a service life of... millennia. Hopefully, it will be worth the expense. Let's just quickly skip forward until the vault is opened. We pick up the story in the year 3997 BBY, one year later. That seal is a thousand times less effective than it was advertised to be. A young Jedi apprentice named Exar Kun walks up and cuts through the door. This is a perfect illustration of what we mean by lightsaber-resistant materials. If you have a few hours alone with the door, even Mandalorian iron isn't good enough. At this point, there can be only one outcome. An ambitious young Jedi in a room with a bunch of Sith relics. Exar Kun immediately became apprenticed to an undead Freedon Nadd. He roamed around the galaxy for a while, visiting Sith worlds. From Onderon to Korriban and on to Yavin 4. At every stop, he collected more dark knowledge and power. When Exar Kun returned to the Jedi, he had some radical ideas to share. For a while, this was only a problem for his fellow Jedi. The wider galaxy doesn't really care that the youth of today have some funny ideas. It quickly stops being an internal Jedi matter. Around the year 4000 BBY, we encounter the Sith War. Cultists of Nadd create a vast military called the Krath. These created enough battle droids and warships to threaten the galaxy. Yet again, ex-Jedi have caused a galactic war. It would take a great deal of droids to fight the Republic, too many to build in just a few years. The other half of the Krath military was the Mandalorians. Their combined forces posed a serious threat to the Republic. Without these fallen Jedi, most of these wars would never have happened. Though Exar Kun is eventually defeated, it was not without effort. Remember the planet Ossus, home to the Jedi Knights? Well, the Sith managed to use one of Naga Sadow's weapons to destroy it. Not completely, the planet is still there, but nobody would survive. The entire Jedi Order had to evacuate Ossus in 3996 BBY. This left several Jedi Knights available for a mission to track down Exar Kun. He had been hiding on Yavin 4 in one of the Massassi temples. With great compassion, the Jedi set the jungle on fire. There's no way that Exar Kun could possibly have survived that. This marked the end of the Sith War. The Republic shattered the Krath and defeated the Mandalorians. This moment is a scene where the prequels and the old lore are connected. With the planet Ossus devastated, the Jedi move their headquarters. They set up shop on Coruscant, in the very same temple from Episode 1. That leaves only a few thousand more years. The Mandalorian Wars, and up to the start of the prequel era. Remember how during the Sith War, half of the forces were Mandalorian? These are some of the only warriors in the galaxy capable of standing up to the Republic. Where the Krath had been thoroughly defeated, Mandalore was too far away from the Republic. Only a few decades after being defeated, Mandalore controls enough territory to make the Hutts look small. You get it, because the Hutt Empire is large, and the Hutts are... Anyway, the Republic was not particularly eager to jump into another war. Much safer to let the situation get out of hand first. Jedi Knights, guardians of peace and justice, also opposed the war. The Jedi in general, that is. There were a few exceptions. We shall use a pair of examples, named Malak and Revan. They were much more interested in the defending than the peace part of the Jedi way. After consolidating power in the Outer Rim for a decade or so, Mandalore invaded. This was an excellent pretext for our heroic pair to prove their might in battle. Those unhip squares on the Jedi Council would never understand how cool this was. Revan might not be the nicest guy around, but he is quite good at war. Eventually, Revan defeated the leader of Mandalore, named Mandalore, in a duel. Occupied with opposing wars and protecting the innocent, the Jedi disapproved. It worked exactly as intended. By exploiting a loophole in the Mandalorian honor rituals, Revan officially ended the war. Immediately after the Mandalorian wars, both of them fell to the dark side. Turns out the Jedi Council might know a thing or two about the risks. Peace lasted for several years, 3961-3958 BBY. This part of history is named the Second Sith War, or the Jedi Civil War. The newly named Darth Revan managed to steal an entire Republic fleet. Many officers and Jedi were willing to ignore the new name and that helmet of his. Darth's Malak and Revan returned to the old Sith Empire, allowing them to revive its name. This also makes sense defensively, keeping away from the heart of the Republic. Revan's Empire was in the same place the Mandalorians had rampaged through earlier. The Second Sith War ended in much the same way as the Great Hyperspace War. That is to say, thanks to Darksiders and their infighting. Darth's Revan and Malak turned on each other, allowing the Republic to win. Revan was the victor of the internal struggle, defeating Darth Malak over Rakata Prime. With this newly created power vacuum, a new generation of Sith rose up to replace the fallen. This period is called the Sith Civil War, a skirmish with malleable teams. Darth Sion, Darth Kreia, Darth Traya, and Darth Nihilus were not exactly friends. When the last Sith was destroyed, that should have been an end to it. The Dark Side seemed to have gone into hiding. There were no similar Star Wars for quite some time. In the year 3000 BBY, the galaxy was reshaped by a new hyperlane. The Hydean Way runs from one side of the galaxy to the other, passing by the Core Worlds. No longer would civilization be limited to the Slice. This new road allowed for entire new regions to be settled. All seemed well until the year 2000 BBY. From the year 2000 to 1000 BBY, the Sith returned. If you've been paying attention, you can guess the cause already. That's right, a former Jedi turned to evil and started a new Sith cult. Over that millennium, the Sith gained power in the usual way. By the year 1466 BBY, a Sith army was able to soundly defeat Jedi forces at Misra. The Old Republic was beginning to get quite feeble and corrupt. Everything would finally be resolved 1000 years ago. This was the Battle of Ruusan, in a time of grandiose names. The Brotherhood of Darkness versus the Army of Light. Despite losing, the Darksiders kept trying to negotiate. Sit down. Have a drink. Drink with this fucking animal! Best out of three. No, five. No, seven. Despite going all the way up to seven, the Sith only managed to win two of the battles. At least this time, it seems to have had the desired effect. There would be no Sith Empires popping up like mushrooms. We have returned. Only one Sith Lord had managed to survive, having been poisoned and left for dead. His name was Darth Bane, and he invented something called the Rule of Two. Instead of forming an Empire, the new Sith would focus on stealth. Always true there are. No more, no less. A master and an apprentice. Meanwhile, the Old Republic tried to recover from the previous era. Centuries of decay have left it in bad shape. In the year 1000 BBY, the Republic was transformed. It was called the Ruusan Reformations. This moment is another scene where the Phantom Menace is attached. I may have exaggerated how perfectly the prequels line up. Expanded Universe Lords do not show quite the same Republic. Yet because of the time differences involved, both versions can exist. Everyone always knew the time of the prequels was off limits. Foresight allowed Lucas the freedom to tell his own story. Locked out. Even I can't get past the security. All it required was an event in the history of Star Wars. After we found out what Lucas's prequels looked like, that defined the galaxy. We know that in Anakin's time, the Senate had those floating pods. If you go back far enough in history, those would change and disappear. The same principle applies to the Republic itself. A thousand years ago, the galaxy became more Lucas-like. First of all, the Supreme Chancellor is named Valorum. The Ruusan Reformations were the work of Tarsus Valorum. This man is clearly the ancestor to our Finis Valorum. Most changes are required because of the first two prequel movies. Lucas shows the Senate granting ultimate power to Palpatine. I love democracy. A thousand years ago, the Senate was given that authority. Previously, the Chancellor had considerably more personal influence. Another unexpected change was the state of the Republic's military. Attack of the clones implies there is no Republic Army or Navy. This is a crisis. The Senate must vote the Chancellor emergency powers. He can then approve the creation of an army. Since one had already been depicted, this moment removed the army. The final stroke was for the Jedi to be given Republic status. Instead of an unofficial understanding, the government can now give orders. Sending a secret mission to Naboo, for example, or Palpatine appointing members of the Jedi Council. The Council doesn't like it when he interferes in Jedi affairs. I swear to you, I didn't ask to be put on the Council. That brings us back around to the present day. The scene is set for Skywalker to join the Jedi. Be mindful of your feelings. Your thoughts dwell on your mother. If you've seen a few of our videos and feel like we've earned your support, please take time to check that you're still subscribed to the channel. Leave a like, perhaps. Fiddle with the notification bell, so you're notified as soon as we upload new videos. Why not join us on Discord? We promise it's only half as bad as that sounds. What did you have in there? Everything. Most of it dangerous. If you'd like to support us financially, consider becoming a patron or clicking join under this video. YouTube members get access to Imperial rank insignia in the comments section. Aboard ship, the Skywalker boy is comfortable. Anakin grew up learning about starships and other vehicles. It makes no difference that he's never seen this particular ship before. He could have installed the necessary spare parts, alone if needed. I can help. I can fix anything. I believe you can. The same goes for many of the people aboard. Jedi knights are so wizard and now there are two of them. Meet Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hi. You're a Jedi too? Pleased to meet you. Little Annie realises that the knights are likely to be busy. He doesn't want to piss to them. Qui-Gon, sir. I don't want to be a problem. You won't be, Annie. Instead, the kid strikes up a friendship with the most relatable lifeform aboard. Anakin meets Ric Olié, the greatest pilot Naboo has. They get on fairly well. How do you know so much? I listen to all the traders and star pilots who come through here. Ric isn't concerned about having a child in the cockpit, which would generally be risky. Coruscant. The entire planet is one big city. There's Chancellor Valorum's shuttle. By winning a pod race, Skywalker has established that he is competent. He demonstrates an interest in Ric's job and he can make educated guesses. Those are the forward stabilisers. And those two control the pitch. In the movie, these lines are primarily aimed at the viewer. Given that Anakin knows about the moons of Iago, he also knows Coruscant. Only the audience needs to hear that the planet is all city. The entire planet is one big city. Though it isn't developed much, the relationship between Ric Olié and Anakin is great. Little Annie would have joined the Naboo pilot academy if the Jedi didn't accept him. Besides the pilot, most of the souls aboard are royal attendants. Anakin is very aware that he has nothing in common with them. He thinks one of the handmaidens might be nice. Maybe. Well, I don't approve. You assume too much. The only trouble is trying to figure out which one you met yesterday. After her! This one's a decoy! When the ship lands on Coruscant, the child is the third to disembark. Two Jedi are just in front. Jar Jar is half a pace behind. Anakin follows the example of the Jedi and thus kneels before Chancellor Zod. Though nobody realised it at the time, this moment has great significance. The Emperor and Darth Vader meet for the first time. What is thy bidding? The Queen and her security follow the Jedi down the boarding ramp. As the politicians start to interact, little Annie is carefully moved to the side. Qui-Gon has both Anakin and Jar Jar standing next to him. They are his responsibility after all. Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic lifeform? Young Kenobi will be pleased to see that both lifeforms are leaving with Amidala. Anakin walks off in the centre of the Naboo party. Padme is to his left, with another handmaiden behind and on the right. The kid keeps looking at the Queen and the Supreme Ruler of the Galaxy. In this next shot, it almost looks like he's staring at her plumage. Knowing Anakin, I bet his eye is on something else. One neat detail of Coruscant is all the air traffic, along invisible roads in the sky. Finally, little Annie realises the Jedi are no longer with him. Nobody had bothered to explain their plans to the lad. Unsure of what's happening, Anakin stops walking. Both Qui-Gon and Padme notice and she tells the boy to follow the Queen's group. Annie, come on. While Anakin does resume walking, he checks if this was what Qui-Gon wanted. It wouldn't do to miss being a knight on a flying bus. Excuse me, sir. When does this bus get to the museum? It doesn't. The bus in question can fly, of course. Jar Jar and Anakin climb into the front bench seat next to the driver. Captain Panaka and Senator Palpatine take the far ends of the back seat. The Queen and her handmaidens fill out the middle of the passenger area. At this point, Mr. Binks speaks up. The Queen is being grossly nice, Mr. Binks. The Queen is being grossly nice. That must be a Gungan word, but it almost sounds Germanic. The Goths have a similar word, and it looks very cool. Grob. Now, this one is a little tricky. Grob is pronounced more like gross. Gross. Translated into English, that comes out as muchly or perhaps great. Amphitheater. Is the Queen really being nice, though? The ones in the front seat could be valuable pawns to her. The Gungans have also been blockaded and invaded. It may help to wheel out your token frogman to ward off the anti-human voters. The little human kid has the potential to be even more necessary. If the Queen needs to explain herself, Anakin will be mentioned. Her story doesn't make sense without him, so it might be wise to keep the kid nearby. You'd look pretty foolish if your story involved a child, but you can't find him. By the way, Professor, where is your boy? Well, Commander... Jar Jar also comments that the Queen is pretty hot. Pretty hot? I tried to look this one up, but the reference books didn't mention one way or the other. We may never know the canonical answer to the question. She died when I was very young. What do you remember? Where's Natalie Portman when you need him? Personally, I think Jar Jar has the wrong approach. Try complimenting her on her face paint and elaborate dresses and headdresses. She was very beautiful. Chicks like it when you notice how well preened their feathers are. At this point, we need to look at the various vehicles. There are either three or four in this clip, depending how you look at it. The most obvious is the shiny one, Naboo's Royal Starship. Others have smaller craft docked, an air taxi and a shuttle. The fourth vehicle is the landing platform itself. Just like with Cloud City, the anti-gravity platform is as stable as solid ground. An argument could be made that it's a vehicle, droid or even a building. It seems a safe bet that if this can hover, it can relocate. The only question is who flies it, a simple droid brain or a person? We can see the repulsor lift machinery underneath the platform, but no cockpit window. I suspect these platforms are contracted on an hourly basis. They would be extremely convenient since they can float anywhere in the world. For long-term parking, I don't find this at all credible. I predict there must be a large enclosed hangar somewhere, potentially a kilometer below the surface level with several enormous doors. After the Royal Cargo had been unloaded, the crew would fly the ship elsewhere. With the hangar damaged, it would need extensive repairs. No matter how good Watto's parts might look, would you trust them with your life? No, I expect everything was torn out and replaced with brand new components. There is one more idea I'd like to raise. What if one company owns the floating pad and the hangar? Their banking clan will sign your treaty. We have to assume these floating platforms need to recharge and refuel every so often. Why not combine that with an opportunity to make a lot more credits? Suppose you offer those same refueling and repair services to your customers. The entire landing pad docks with a reinforced socket, with or without a ship parked on top. So outlandish, does it? An unearthly system of parking, made possible through technology. To avoid the parking problem, the Queen and Senator use a taxi. This being Star Wars, it would only make sense to have a flying car. Technically, this taxi is an air speeder, since it uses high-power repulsor-lift drives. There are two large cylindrical ones in the centre of the keel. These are the lift repulsors, allowing the speeder to hover motionless at any altitude. There are another set of repulsors, spread through the entire bottom section of the craft. They allow for more precision during flight, though they can't support the taxi's weight alone. Around the edge, we have yet another repulsor-lift array. This third set is even lower power. It doesn't count as a drive system. The edge repulsors are more of a safety feature. They function as a buffer, like putting tyres around the edge of a boat. When the taxi comes in to dock, the repulsors keep it from scratching the paintwork. As for the engines, these appear to be standard spaceship ion engines, tuned for high efficiency and low speeds, with an hour's flight time. As one might expect from the transports used by politicians, the taxis are quite safe. Like most vehicles, their pilots are trained to fly outside the auto-navigating skylanes. It includes a set of three large headlights, essential for visiting the lower levels of the city. Most safety features are already accounted for, except for two little details. There is no enclosed canopy to offer protection from the elements. We can assume there is some solution installed, even if we cannot see. An invisible force field bubble to serve as windscreen. I cannot imagine queens and senators would just accept being out in the rain, even if Coruscant has its weather set to manual control or has no rain at all. There is another feature notable for its absence. None of the seating aboard the taxi comes with restraints. There are no seatbelts whatsoever. No visible safety gear. At least for the prequels, this is fairly normal. Inertial dampers allow you to keep your footing during flight. There is no need for seatbelts, because the seats themselves are the protection. This is most clearly seen in the episode 2 cross-sections book on Anakin's stolen speeder. We see a cutaway, an array of tractor-beam emitters behind the seat cushion. They aren't ship-scale, they're just strong enough to keep the passengers seated securely. That's a very sci-fi concept. You might as well add it in. Valorum's shuttle is an Eddicus-class. Not much is known about this one, and for good reason. This, a boring ship for boring people, had escaped from the lore. The only thing anyone could know is what you see on screen. That was the case until about 2005, the year the internet was invented. The official Star Wars website included a way for you to give it money. They called this Hyperspace, and it came with many benefits. A forum where you have to pay money before you can post, a concept which has never been attempted before or since. Hyperspace also entitled you to the opportunity to buy things. At some point in the past, it seems to have included a magazine subscription. The most interesting thing about the Hyperspace fan club In the year 2007, the Wayback Machine records an entry written by user JMMC. Everything about the Eddicus-class shuttle originated here. Valorum's shuttle is 32 meters long, considerably smaller than the Naboo ship. It was made by Kuat Systems Engineering, which is owned by Kuat Driveyards. Other famous KSE ships include Jedi Interceptors and the Cloak-Shaped Fighter. On Earth, the most popular example is Slave 1, Fett's Firespray class. Kuat mostly makes military starships. The Cloak-Shape is the closest one to a shuttle. The Eddicus and Cloak-Shape are both designed for use in an atmosphere. While I'm sure the ship is airtight, it's only a planetary shuttle. There will be no hyperdrive aboard, no support for leaving the star system. The Eddicus shuttle has two notable features, and one of them is the door. At the front of the vessel, there is a small tower with a clear dome. This is an enclosed guard station, an observation dome. Probably a weak point, though it might help with parking. Speaking of which, notice how the shuttle docks with the platform. Like the air taxi, Valorum's shuttle is still floating under its own power. The Eddicus has all the luxury features you might expect. Since its passengers are likely to be paranoid, it will have decent defensive hardware. The Senators are more interested in anti-snooping than shield generators. Palpatine has arranged for the privacy tools to contain listening devices. Sometimes, the cone of silence is more trouble than it's worth. There is one questionable part of the shuttle's lore. The class is named after Anwis Eddicus, an old Supreme Chancellor. On its own, there is nothing wrong with the name. JMMC has correctly identified a name that had already been established as part of Star Wars. It appears that this comes from the official website in 2002. The shuttle data says that Eddicus ended the Deathseed Plague. Fair enough, that would be a good reason for Anwis to be famous. Deathseed is a terrible thing. It's caused by tiny insects called Drox. They are 5mm long, closer to a large ant than a small earwig. The only concern is that the Deathseed Plague normally refers to a specific event. Luke and Leia were responsible for ending it, not Eddicus. We do have an upper limit to the age of the Deathseed Plague. In the year 750 BBY, a new prison colony was created. The world is named Nam Chorios, a barren, gloomy rock. A non-human species called the Grismath Dynasty, with mostly human prisoners. Next, we have two facts that seem to be in conflict. Drox are both native and invasive. Grismaths brought black skittering insects to the planet. These are the Drox species, which originate from a planet they were introduced to. There can be only one way for both to be true. The invasive foreign bugs were something else, distinct from the Drox species we know and love. Over the course of decades or centuries, they evolved into true Drox. That sounds a bit implausible in our galaxy, though it depends on the ancestor bugs. As it happens, Nam Chorios is what we call a force nexus. Like the planet Dagobah, this place is strong with the force. Sith have been established to create dark side mutants. If that can be done intentionally, surely a few beetles can evolve a bit. This knowledge tells us roughly when Chancellor Eddicus could have lived. No more than 700 years ago, since there was no plague until then. The timeline of Nam Chorios says the prison became a colony of farmers. Growing things on this world was not easy. Guard and prisoner had to join forces. After generations, Nam Chorios quarantined itself. After that, we can assume no more Drox escaped the planet. Eddicus must have lived around 6-700 years ago. After that point, the quarantine stayed in effect for quite some time. The next notable incident was during the time of Senator Palpatine, centuries later. After the Empire rose and fell, Luke Skywalker solved the Drox threat. Putting this all together, Chancellor Eddicus contained the plague. The self-imposed quarantine prevented any more insects from escaping into the galaxy. Anwes helped stop the epidemic from spreading, which is harder than it sounds. Drox are not quite like fleas, flies or other parasites. Where those creatures will bite you, the Drox buries itself underneath your skin. Instead of drinking blood, the Drox drains life from its victims. It's not entirely clear if the Death Seed plague is a disease. There are phrases like vectors for the epidemic and caused by insects. More likely, there is no disease, only infestation. The Death Seed is nothing more than the Drox swarm arriving. They can reproduce fast enough to take a starship within hours. To completely depopulate a city, that will take mere days. Drox are killed by sunlight, making Tatooine the safest place in the galaxy. Unfortunately, that also makes spaceships their perfect habitat. The lower levels of Coruscant would also be easy to infest. We can conclude that the Death Seed spread throughout the galaxy, starting 700 years ago. Anwes and Oedipus must have created policies to successfully combat the space locusts. Laws against salvage of derelict ships, stricter quarantine protocols. The galaxy will never fully eradicate the Drox menace. That's a lot of law for one tiny background vehicle. There is one more remarkable thing about Valorum's shuttle. Its contents. Not Valorum himself, no, I'm talking about the Senate Guard. There are eight soldiers aboard, all dressed in dark blue robes. Their helmets expose a large part of the face, and they have elaborate crests. It's clear these guards aren't expected to see serious combat. They're mostly ceremonial. Their rifles look very pretty, which you start to suspect is their only purpose. Similarly, they have a strap to sling the rifle over their shoulders. That's a very practical thing. It's as helpful for blasters as any other rifles. It also implies the blasters are rarely, if ever, used. While they might have good technical specs, they will be set to stun by default. These blue guards are clearly intended as a reference to an older character. In episode 6, the Emperor has a set of guards in his throne room. You may call these Royal Guard, the Imperial Royal Guard, or the Imperial Guard. If you were to call them the Astra Militarum, they would stab you with their force pikes. Speaking of which, the force pike is essentially a vibroblade spear. It doesn't actually have anything to do with the force. Unlike most bladed weapons, though, this one comes with a stun setting. This shows an interesting difference between the Imperial Guard and the Senate Guard. The Red Guards have, at most, a blaster pistol under their robes, whereas the Blue Guards have a blaster rifle potentially hundreds of meters of range. It makes sense that range would be more of a concern in the Senate. There are some long sight lines from one of the pods to the far side. A ranged weapon allows all the guards in the room to participate. A very different situation from Palpatine's throne room. His Royal Guards are only expected to defend the area between Turbolift and Throne. Menacing figures cloaked in red are an early warning sign, a foreshadowing. By episode 2, the Red Guards had already been established. Right down to their use of the Force Pike, Palpatine's guards have always been iconic, and these are a good variant. Senate Guard have arguably the more practical weapon, no matter what Kenobi says. In order to continue the recruitment process, Qui-Gon must report his findings. After a long and exasperating mission, the Master Jedi has arrived back home. Next, he must report in to the Jedi Council. Obviously, they live in the highest room of the tallest tower. They are spellcasters after all. You've got to build towers to keep your wizards in. What if I told you the Jedi Council are in a different location? If you're trying to bomb the top of the tower, you would inevitably miss. You see, the Jedi Temple is a rather large building. Right at the top of the ziggurat are five spires. These are laid out in a cross, like five pips on a die. One in each corner of the square, plus a larger tower in the middle. The four around the edge all look the same, where the center tower has additional wings. It looks like a large observation platform, right below the tip of the tallest tower. If you're anything like me, you will have assumed the Jedi leaders picked the center tower. There can be no argument. The Council Chambers are at the top of a tower. One of the four small towers around the edge. Definitely not the central tower. This has always been right there in the movie. It was clearly intended. All four peripheral towers have the correct windows at the top. The central one does not. For the tower closest to the camera, we can see the floor inside the Council Chamber. Books of the time also support this fact. All four towers have similar rooms at the top, all for a Jedi Council. One tower for the High Council, which is the only one we ever see. The others are the Councils of Reconciliation, Reassignment, and First Knowledge. By far the funniest of these is the Reassignment Council, whose job it is to fire Jedi. Whenever an apprentice can't find anyone willing to train him, he visits the Council. Luckily, Anakin will not need to encounter the Reassignment Council. Now that you know about the real layout of the Jedi Temple, there is one nagging question. What is the central tower for? According to Inside the Worlds, the tower is full of levitating statues. Qui-Gon is not fooled by this unintuitive architecture. He is a mighty enough Jedi to have owned a place on the High Council. Of course he knows the room. He's been summoned there often enough. Qui-Gon describes being attacked by a powerful dark side practitioner using a red-bladed lightsaber. Based on the history of the galaxy, I would say Sith is a fair assumption. The Council does not agree. His complaint of nearly being cut in half? Completely dismissed. All the Council has to offer are platitudes. They respond as if Qui-Gon is prone to exaggerating. Sith Lords have caused at least one war every few thousand years. Unless you think Qui-Gon's report is completely unreliable, it seems like a big deal. The sort of thing you might send another two knights to investigate. Deciding he will get no traction on this issue, Jyn brings up his other discovery. Normally, the Council wouldn't be involved with recruitment. Skywalker is a special case. Nothing about his apprenticeship was normal. Notice the way Qui-Gon phrases his report. He found a virgence in the Force instead of a future Jedi. This is an odd word clearly related to focus. To diverge, to converge. In context, the meaning is basically subspace anomaly. Something out of place. Qui-Gon says that the Force behaves strangely around little Annie. That makes the boy an object of interest. One the Council would like to examine. Now that we know a little about the Jedi, we can see how Anakin interacts with them. What tests do the Jedi want to see? What's all this about a prophecy? A chosen one? Before we catch up with young Skywalker, we need to discuss something. A very significant plot point within the entire prequel trilogy. It's time to tackle prophecies and Anakin's father. The most illuminating conversations are between Qui-Gon and the Council. At this point, Qui-Gon has relayed just the facts. There exists a boy with exceptional Force potential, yet no father. The mother claims there hadn't been a father, that she can't explain what happened. Speculating that the Force did it seems reasonable enough. The Council doesn't like the sound of that. Mace can see where this is going. Apparently, being conceived by midichlorians is a reference to Jedi lore. They have a prophecy that a chosen one will bring balance. Details are extremely sparse. Most books only repeat movie quotes. The Phantom Menace says, and the book cannot elaborate. We're interested in two books for their unique approaches. Both are from after the prequels, 2007 and 2010. The one from 2010 is named The Jedi Path. Its format is a school textbook, where Ahsoka has scribbled her commentary in the margins. If we check the table of contents, there is an extremely promising sign. The chosen one is on pages 13 to 17. What luck! Quickly, let's turn to that page and start learning. Unfortunately, this book has lied to us. It never had any information to reveal. There are zero pages on the matter. I shouldn't need to explain why that's bad. The book claims to offer information to the curious mind. The people writing know they should have addressed the prophecy. It appears in the contents because it would have to be there. Either the writers were unable or unwilling to elaborate. So it isn't in the book. Only a few years earlier, in 2007, another essential guide came out. This book was about the Force, the Jedi and the Sith. Checking its contents, there is a chosen one on the list. This time, it's all the way near the back. Pages 205 to 222. Though the information is lacking, it's far better than nothing. We get something vaguely like the wording of the prophet, whoever that might be. A Jedi will come to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. As cryptic versions of the future go, this isn't the worst I've seen. Clearly, this isn't the actual wording that the Jedi are familiar with. It doesn't mention anything about someone with no father. So how would Mace Windu have known? It is possible he was conceived by the midichlorians. You refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force. I don't think Qui-Gon does this a lot, dragging kids up to the top of the tower. We have to conclude the conceived by midichlorians part is in the prophecy. The book indicates Yoda came up with that idea, and still indirectly. A vessel of pure Force, the chosen one will be. More powerful than any Jedi in history. This gives us far more to work with. Something beyond bring balance to the Force. With Yoda's elaboration, we can finally see where Mace Windu is coming from. Qui-Gon has a boy with more Force potential than any Jedi who has ever lived. That doesn't happen every day. It's once a millennium at best. Canonically, Qui-Gon believes in the prophecy. He is utterly convinced that Anakin is the chosen one. I don't presume to. But you do! Revealed your opinion is! The council isn't so convinced. They've heard this before. Yoda has probably seen 20 chosen ones in just the past century. Qui-Gon Jinn remains quietly confident, insisting on a test. Anakin's potential is undeniable. He is sure testing will reveal that. Trained as a Jedi, you request for him? Finding him was the will of the Force. I have no doubt of that. More than anything, Jinn is surprised the council can't see what he can. Bring him before us, then. As far as we can see, the Jedi council are wrong in canon. Anakin is the chosen one. He does bring balance to the Force. The exact meaning of balance is debatable. One interpretation is that Mace Windu is so bad, the Jedi Purge counts as balance. Master Windu, how pleasant of you to join us. We're fucking switching! That in this era, Jedi suck and the Force was trying to get rid of them. Officially, bringing balance meant ending the Empire. After all those years, Anakin destroyed the Sith and made things right. Officially, Ani's father is Darth Plagueis via midichlorians. I should stress that he never came within 12 parsecs of Shmi Skywalker. Why do I keep saying official? Because I don't necessarily agree with George Lucas. In 1999, all we knew was that Anakin had no father. Lucas implies the chosen one was created to serve the will of the Force. Magic. This is just something that happened to happen and wasn't very likely to happen again. It's important to note that in 2005, more information was revealed. Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? Episode 3 established the name of the Emperor's old master. Possibly the most surprising detail of the movie was one little line. He could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life. By using this phrasing, there can be no doubt he means Anakin. According to Qui-Gon, little Ani was created by the midichlorians. The audience was meant to understand this, though Skywalker was not. After all, the Sith legend is very old. In Lucas' canon, Anakin's father is Palpatine's old master. Darth Plagueis influenced the Force in such a way that Skywalker was created. These are the answers given to us by the Maker. These are not the only possible answers. I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose willful misinterpretation. Personally, I have never believed in the virgin birth. It seems rather silly and doesn't add anything to the movie. Before long, I started to realize how well the movie was written. Think of the Naboo Corps, for example. The movie itself is fine. You can reinterpret the movie instead of editing it. For anyone who doesn't like this new lore, Lucas made it optional. All the tools to replace it are already provided within the movie. This is no minor feat. It shows great subtlety. Episode 1 is the movie George Lucas wanted, but it can be what I want too. First of all, let's check Qui-Gon's report. It is possible he was conceived by the midichlorians. This is presented as a guess, a suggestion for how there could be no father. Better still is the artful phrasing of Shmi Skywalker. It's clear Shmi is far sharper than she usually gets credit for. Take a close look at this scene. There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him. I can't explain what happened. I contend that Shmi is lying to Qui-Gon about the father. When she says there was no father, they both know this is a lie. So what I told you was true from a certain point of view. A certain point of view? That's important because I'm not criticising Shmi in the slightest. She is lying with the intention to explain rather than deceive. There was no father in that the father is not relevant to Qui-Gon. Obviously there was a father at some point, but he's not in the house. This isn't a recent development. Anakin never knew his father. Shmi has implied all of this and that the father is nobody special. There is no Jedi heritage in the Skywalker line, nothing to explain his midi-chlorians. I never lied to you. Your parents were no one. Qui-Gon has been around the galaxy a few times. He can read between the lines. When Shmi can't explain what happened, that is another lie. What she means is that she'd prefer not to explain what happened. Life on Tatooine is hard, even more so if you're a slave. I didn't actually come here to free slaves. The tragedy of the missing father is an old wound. There are enough painful memories that Shmi dodges the topic. Goodbye my darling wife. And thank you. Qui-Gon can see exactly what is happening, so he doesn't push the issue. Given that fathers are quite important, biologically, all of this follows. In that case, Shmi cannot mean what she's saying literally. Can you help him? I don't know. This interaction becomes a knight questioning a slave, then tactfully dropping the matter. Effectively, Shmi has promised that she is hiding the right details. Qui-Gon can tell she believes that to be true, that no good would come from prying. There is no secret, force-sensitive dynasty that she's protecting. Most likely, Anakin's father was an unremarkable, decent bloke. I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe. Perhaps he got into a scuffle with some Tusken raiders. Maybe he displeased a Hutt, or met a Krayt dragon. Perhaps he shared a meal with Nanzati, a delicious soup. Another interpretation would be that the slavery and missing father were related. Any attempt to escape... And they blow you up. Boom! I tend to think most fathers are opposed to slavery by default. You don't remember me? We spoke on the phone two days ago. I told you where we'd find you. In particular, they don't like the idea of having their own kids enslaved. Assuming the Skywalkers started out free, the father might have lost a fight against the slavers. Anakin doesn't know all that much about his own history. How long have you been here? Since I was very little. Three, I think. It's not clear if here means Watto's shop, or Tatooine in general. Either the Skywalkers were brought here from off-world, or they've always been on Tatooine. A father can exist in either backstory so long as Shmi keeps those memories private. All of this assumes Anakin's father had been a good man. We could also say that he wasn't the nicest guy around. I don't care if you win. Perhaps all three Skywalkers had been together, but the father found a way to escape. Instead of sticking together, he abandoned Shmi to the mercy of the Hutts. Perhaps he betrayed them, or was sold to a different planet. You could go into lurid detail about the perils of being Shmi's Skywalker. Is she free too? I tried to free your mother, Annie, but Watto wouldn't have it. That would have to be on your own time. I'm not writing the fanfiction for you. You'd have to talk to ED1TA about such things. We do know that Watto isn't the father, and that's all I'll say on the matter. It is certain that George Lucas would disagree with me. Anakin's father was intentionally gotten out of the universe. It isn't clear to me why Lucas was so keen on adding a virgin birth to the setting. Is he trying to make the Chosen One prophecy seem more believable? Adding an allusion to mythology from Earth so the audience sees little Annie as being all mystical? It is done. Whatever the intention, it can't be an accident that the dialogue is so ambiguous. In the canon interpretation, Qui-Gon believes in the Chosen One more strongly than any Jedi. In my head, Jyn is far more cunning and manipulative. He doesn't entirely believe in this Chosen One business, but the other Jedi do. He does believe Anakin is unusually powerful, that he must become a Jedi. Yoda thinks he can see through Qui-Gon, a zealot following prophecy. I don't presume to. But you do! Revealed your opinion is! Finally, Qui-Gon is allowing the council to see what he wants them to. All he really cares about is the training, and he'll use any rhetoric to get there. He is the Chosen One. You must see it. When this doesn't play out quite as hoped, he knows it nearly worked. All it would take to secure Annie's training is one more push. Qui-Gon continues scheming to his last breath. Promise me you will train the boy. He is the Chosen One. With his dying wish, he creates a favorable scenario. The Jedi have just lost a knight, so they'll need a replacement. He even reiterates the Chosen One thing to add more weight to it. The Jedi Council will have no choice but to train the boy. It's clear that Qui-Gon doesn't have quite the same perspective as the council. Perhaps Anakin is only the Chosen One because Qui-Gon chose him. Master Jinn is more interested in bringing balance than prophecies. These are not the intended conclusions. It's not true. The prequel trilogy was not built around this interpretation. Episode 3 makes a reference to Anakin's lack of father. He could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life. In this new context, Anakin has still been raised to believe he had no father. Palpatine knows this, even if he doubts the story. Originally, I don't think Anakin realized Palpatine had just claimed to be his father. Skywalker was too busy thinking about immortality. Creating life wasn't relevant to him. Under my interpretation, Ani did notice what was going on. He understood and believed Palpatine's claim that Sith had created life, namely himself. Of course, in this version, Palpatine is lying. Anakin was a normal kid with a normal father, and he has no idea. The Jedi certainly weren't going to suggest his mother lied. Nor would Palpatine, since this way he can claim credit for influencing the Force. All of this helps to tie Vader and Emperor closer together. Do you have a plan B? For now, though, Anakin is on his way to become a Jedi. He had been staying with the Naboo Party in Palpatine's apartment. Besides the Jedi, Anakin doesn't really know anyone. He has met Jar Jar, Padme, and Ric Ollier. We can be confident the pilot stayed near the ship to supervise its repairs. That means little Ani can talk to either Padme or Jar Jar. Can't say I blame him. I wouldn't volunteer to chat with J.J. either. By this point, Amidala has already changed to her other disguise. Once again, Padme is put into a difficult situation because of her decoys. This is something of a running theme. She keeps getting impaired by being the wrong Padme. We can assume that Anakin takes another air taxi to reach the Jedi Temple. By the time he arrives, Jyn and Kenobi suspect the Council will say no. Anakin will become a Jedi. I promise you. Do not defy the Council Master not again. I shall do what I must, Obi-Wan. Moments like these are what make Qui-Gon such a great Jedi. He has his own ideas about the Force, often at odds with other Jedi. Despite that, we never sense for a moment that Qui-Gon is corrupted. In fact, where he disagrees with the Jedi Council, he's usually right. My personal favourite Jedi is Obi-Wan, the first we ever met. Even so, Qui-Gon Jyn is the exemplar I'd use to sum up the Jedi. The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Whatever he thinks of the prophecy, he wants Skywalker to be trained. The Council seems to begin their testing by using a screen. Mace Windu holds it up facing himself. It's back to the child. A cup. A ship. A speeder. This is a test for ESP, clairvoyance. Little Annie can correctly guess the object shown on the testing display. Square. Good guess, but wrong. Is it a star? It is a star. Very good, that's great. This tells us something about the interaction between technology and the Force. There seems to be no difficulty reading from an electronic hand. Since that doesn't seem to be remarkable, we have confirmation that the Force isn't anti-technology. It just works. The other most notable detail is that Anakin gets these answers correct. A ship. A cup. A ship. A speeder. Hmm. Mace changes the picture and then the kid answers. That's only interesting because the movie already made a point of Anakin seeing the future. He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It's a Jedi trait. We might have expected Annie to name what will be on screen next. That definitely doesn't happen in the movie, possibly for clarity. It looks better for him to guess right than to name what isn't on screen yet. At this point, it appears the testing was unnecessary. Everyone in the room knows Anakin has great Force potential. The testing switches to an interview. How feel you? Cold, sir. Once again, little Annie has mentioned the cold away from home. It's very cold. This was not the answer Yoda had been looking for. Afraid, are you? The Jedi have the kid surrounded and ask if he's scared. Anakin answers no, which is fair enough. No, sir. If he'd really been afraid, he could have just run away. Whatever fear he feels is outweighed by his courage. Lady Bundy helpfully explains what's going on. Your thoughts dwell on your mother. I miss her. During the time of the prequels, Jedi are raised in the temple. Most of them will have no memory of their real family. This seems to be a primary goal of the Jedi Order. What has that got to do with anything? The objection seems to be that Anakin would prefer his mother be alive. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. This is actually quite a sensible concept. The dark side is a real phenomenon that leads to corruption. Jedi were created to prevent people from falling to the darkness. Yoda's progression tells us how they tackled the matter. At this time, Jedi try to prevent their knights from having the wrong thoughts. The recruitment process is designed to minimize fear and anger. By only taking very young children, they prevent any earlier memories. You can only miss your family if you were abducted too late. I sense much fear in you. Yoda is not wrong on this point. As history plays out, Anakin's fear will be the main cause of his fall to the dark side. However, it's worth pointing out the differences here. Fear was not treated like this in the original trilogy. I'm not afraid. You will be. Luke being unafraid is treated as a bad thing, a sign of foolishness. Anakin being afraid means he'll turn evil. That strikes me as inconsistent. At best, we can say Yoda changed his mind after long meditation. The Jedi Council decides to pass up this opportunity. The most powerful force-sensitive being anywhere in the known galaxy. Their main objection is that he's too old, which is a classic line. Yoda tried this one on Luke, saying he was too old for training. Luke had been about 20, which is not particularly old. We used to speculate that Yoda would prefer kids of 10 or 15 years old. After the prequels were released, too old to be trained suddenly meant 9 years old. As far as we can tell, Jedi like them well below 5. One of the Council members, Eeth Koth, had been 4 years old. This was considered late, which lines up with prequel age rules. Age 4 to 5 is about when lasting memories start to form. Setting aside the question of the chosen one, I'm still with Qui-Gon. Anakin has the potential to become the greatest Jedi in the galaxy. Obviously, you can't be a Jedi without training. Not even if Mickey Mouse says training is optional. That was amazing. I bypassed the training. Let's think about this for a minute. What does Mace Windu expect to happen? That Lanny is refused entry to the Jedi Order. His next move would have been to go back and free Shmi Skywalker. All he needs is a ship and enough currency to buy one specific slave. Perhaps he would have raised money by continuing his pod racing career. What happens afterwards? The Jedi have said Anakin will never be trained as a knight. That would leave him with zero incentive to follow their rules. They would have created the best possible Sith apprentice. An individual with tremendous raw power, a harsh life, and no Jedi influences. In fact, little Annie would likely have been disillusioned, resenting the Jedi. The only way you could make a worse decision is to refer Annie directly to the Sith. As we know, something may go wrong during Anakin's training. The council thinks refusing training will mitigate the danger. Unlike the council, Qui-Gon can see the true danger. Setting Anakin loose on the galaxy with a reason to resent the Jedi. Master Qui-Gon would like to avoid that scenario. If the Jedi will not train him as normal, Jyn will volunteer. At this point, we learn something interesting In the year 32 BBY, no Jedi is permitted to have multiple apprentices. Mr. Windu is telling the truth here. That would be against the rules. Yoda is lying, and he ought to know that he's lying. Any student of Jedi history would be able to spot this. Grover says it's impossible to train multiple Jedi at once. Luke will establish a Jedi academy where he trains more than one Jedi. Obviously, that proves it to be possible, but Yoda wouldn't know that yet. Still, he should know about two Jedi who trained multiple students. Arca-Jeth and Vodo-Seosk-Bass lived 4,000 years ago. Each one trained three apprentices at the same time. Granted, one from each set fell to the dark side. That makes it inadvisable to train groups, not impossible. The Phantom Menace starts with Obi-Wan still in training. The trilogy is about Anakin's origin as a pupil of Kenobi. Its first movie needed to establish that Obi-Wan is nearly ready to take on an apprentice of his own. Obi-Wan is ready. I am ready to face the trials. There is little more he can learn from me. Telling us Kenobi is ready helps to keep the trilogy moving. It also serves as a reference to the original movies. Yoda pulls rank, declaring that he will decide who is ready. He's done this before in Episode 5, talking to Luke. For 800 years have I trained Jedi. My own council will I keep on who is to be trained. Our own council we will keep on who is ready. While this isn't my favourite line, it's a decent reference. Adding callbacks like this helps the continuity. After hundreds of years, your vocabulary might congeal too. Young Skywalker's fate will be decided later. With the training question settled, the council sends their knights back out. Mace Windu has a plan for what to do next. Which will put pressure on the Federation and could widen the confrontation. And draw out the Queen's attacker. Basically, he says that the Sith are about to make their next move. He expects Qui-Gon to either capture or identify Darth Maul. Go with the Queen to Naboo and discover the identity of this dark warrior. Remember that Qui-Gon is the only living Jedi to have seen a Sith Lord. Yoda is 850 to 950 years old at this point. Sith have been extinct for a thousand years, as far as the Jedi know. Windu and Yoda are blundering in the dark. They haven't truly taken the threat seriously. And it will come back to haunt them. And you, young Skywalker. We will watch your career with great interest. Imagine if Saesee Tien had been sent to Naboo at this point. Qui-Gon might have lived and Vader might never have been created. And bring peace to the Empire. I can't watch anymore. Regardless of what we might think about the matter, the council has spoken. They will have Maul outnumbered 2 to 1. That should be enough. May the force be with you. The Naboo party is preparing to return home. The Queen orders her ship be retrieved from the inferred intricate garage system. Captain. Your Highness. Ready my ship. Finally, the group is back together. Some of them travelled by air taxi. There's one on the landing pad. The majority were transferred by Eddicus-class shuttles. Multiple of them. One is pulling away from the platform, having unloaded a dozen passengers. Our Jedi friends were already aboard the Naboo ship. They walked down its ramp. While you were distracted with talk of midichlorians, another Eddicus appeared. Stay close to me, and you'll be safe. This one only carried the Queen and her handmaidens. We can assume there was a lengthy costume change to perform. After a long quarter of an hour on Coruscant, it's time to leave. We've seen enough of the politics planet for one movie. We shall go on home! Come on, R2. Jar Jar will have to be patient. Galactic travel takes quite some time. The Phantom Menace takes place across multiple worlds. We can divide the movie up into Naboo, Tatooine, Coruscant, and Naboo. This final part, the return to Naboo, is mostly a large-scale battle. It also represents a major shift in character goals. For the first 90 minutes of the movie, it's been about politicians. I suggest you come to Coruscant with us. I'm taking these people to Coruscant. Where are you taking them? To Coruscant. There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant. We're on our way to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic, on a very important mission. Have you finished that croissant? Many things will change when you reach the capital, Annie. The Queen thought the Republic Senate would help free her planet. When she arrives, she sees what Darth Sidious has wrought. A corrupt, paralysed Republic. No help to the Skywalkers or CEO Bibble. I must be frank, Your Majesty. There is little chance the Senate will act on the invasion. Queen Amidala will find she can't win this fight. Senator Palpatine is doing all he can, yet making no progress. The Democrats are in charge now. What options have we? It's clear that Palpatine is a small fish in a large pond. Amidala is completely out of her depth. She isn't ready to deal with the Coruscant establishment. Our only other choice would be to submit a plea to the courts. The courts take even longer to decide things than the Senate. The court system isn't too relevant here. All we need to know is that it's a bad option. As we know, Palpatine is playing both sides. He arranged the situation to allow him to be promoted. His public face as Senator can openly seek power. At least for now. Darth Sidious wants to prolong the situation so Palpatine can exploit it. The good Senator, on the other hand, wants to be efficient. He's concerned with how to collect sympathy votes, wringing every last advantage from it. I think we're going to have to accept Federation control for the time being. That is something I cannot do. The Senate will remain bogged down in procedure. Padme isn't willing to wait that long. Pay attention to the phrasing here. I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee. I've come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty now. Notice how she uses the word committee. This is part of a fairly memorable quote from the original movies. If I were still out there, I don't think it's wise to... No time to discuss this in committee! I am not a committee! There is no doubt in my mind. This is clearly a reference. The same word is used by mother and daughter, with exactly the same meaning. Too many people talking about an urgent matter. That's a relatively subtle reference, which I appreciate. Addressing the Senate does not go well for the Queen. There will be no Republic cavalry to liberate the people of Naboo. She returns to Palpatine's apartment to contemplate her next move. Yous are thinking, yous are people gonna die? I don't know. With the child over in the Jedi Temple, Jar Jar had been left to his own devices. As far as he knows, Jar Jar has never talked to the Queen. She doesn't look very busy at the moment, so he strikes up a conversation. Gungans get pasty too, eh? I hope not. In the Senate building, I'm sure the Queen hadn't thought about the Gungans. All she wanted was to get rid of the Trade Federation, which would help all of Naboo. Jar Jar has just reminded her that there's more than one species on their homeworld. Now she feels even worse about her failure as a leader. Padme is at her darkest moment. She can't see any way out. This next line changes the entire course of the movie. Gungans no dying without a fight. We's a warriors. We's a got a grand army. Now this is subverting expectations. Previously, Gungans seemed like comedy characters. They're not to be taken seriously. They don't really interact with the plot. Mr. Binks allowed two Jedi to hitchhike through the water, and that's it. The most useful he's been since was helping with the Podracer. Jar Jar is terrified of combat. He's the last person you'd expect to have an army. Yet in hindsight, it makes perfect sense. We know what kind of monsters lurk in the deep places of the world. Their cities are bubbles, in which we've seen objects pass right through. There would have to be a Gungan military of some kind. Jar Jar Binks is our last, best hope for peace. A minute ago, the Queen had no idea what to do. Now she sees exactly one way forward. One way to help. We can't say if Jar Jar planned this or not. Remember that until now, Jar Jar had only spent time with Padme. This is the first time he's interacted with the Queen, and he approached her. There's definitely room to suggest Jar Jar can understand politics. He decided to approach the Queen at this moment to say this one line. He definitely had some idea of what that might mean. The Queen isn't content to sit around any longer. This is your arena. I feel I must return to mine. I've decided to go back to Naboo. Palpatine would have been happy to continue delaying for months or years. The Queen returning is a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. Darth Sidious would be pleased, though Palpatine protests. But your majesty, be realistic, they'll force you to sign the treaty. The implication of force seems to be imprisonment. Amidala is to be captured, then expected to sign a treaty. She's saying she won't trade that signature for a gilded cage. I will sign no treaty, Senator. My fate will be no different than that of our people. When she's offered her old bedroom back, S.H.I.E.L.D. refused to betray her citizens. Betrayal! When boarding her ship, she meets the pair of Jedi. Qui-Gon reaffirms his oath to protect her. It is our pleasure to continue to serve and protect you. The Federation means to destroy me. I assure you I will not allow that to happen. His words are pointed. He is reminding her of the rules. He says it again a few hours later. They have left hyperspace, arriving somewhere in the Naboo system. We have no army. And I can only protect you. I can't fight a war for you. Notice what's going on here. We could describe this as a woman with purple hair keeping a plan to herself. If you're a Star Wars fan, that probably doesn't sound familiar. But it does remind me of something from a Disney movie. Vice Admiral Holdo of the Cruiser Ninka. Thank you, Commander. Notice how one of these makes perfect sense in-universe. The other is based on keeping secrets from the audience. I just want to know what's going on. Of course you do. I understand. I thought this minor purple parallel was interesting. In episode one, the audience knows what the Queen is thinking. Nobody even remembers this moment in TPM. It's completely unremarkable. As soon as we land, the Federation will arrest you and force you to sign the treaty. I will take back what's ours. This isn't empty bravado. It isn't a shocking plot twist. Padme has taken the first and only option available. It makes no sense to discuss your secret plans on Coruscant. The politicians know a thing or two about eavesdropping. Note that as soon as the competent people start asking questions, the true plan is explained. Queen Amidala says the most surprising thing imaginable. Jar Jar Binks, I need your help. None of the characters expected to hear that sentence. If you've been paying attention, you saw this coming from a light year away. One might suggest that Qui-Gon sensed something. Miss Gungan may be of help. What is to become of Jar Jar Binks here? Much like a character from the original movies, we underestimate Jar Jar. He often seems a bit useless, but he's never relevant to the story. After all, who would expect Jar Jar or Threepio to be important? They just exist to do funny things. Soon afterwards, the royal ship approaches Naboo. Obi-Wan and Ric find the Trade Federation and the blockade has been dissolved. Only one ship has been left in orbit. I have one battleship on my scope. It's a droid control ship. As we can see, a fleet isn't necessary. This is a significant deviation from the Luke Hulk war freighter. There is a new antenna farm at the back near the engines. Around the perimeter, a series of dishes have also been added. We'll cover the ship in more detail later. For now, those towers at the back broadcast control signals. The crew on the edge are to pick up responses from the droid army. The Naboo ship has already been detected and tracked. Everyone knew the queen would arrive at about this time. Darth Sidious has planned around this fact. I'm sending my apprentice, Darth Maul, to join you. Yes, my lord. The only unknown is where Padme will land her ship. The natural assumption is near the capital city, Theed. Apparently, Mute Gunray has been living in the palace. She'd try to rescue an army from the prisoner camps. Ric Olié sets the ship down in the forest near a swamp lake. This is Gungan territory. There is no hope of evading detection. A ship in orbit can observe the general direction of flight. Even if they lose track at some point, the search area is quite narrow. Ground forces will already be en route to capture Queen Amidala. The royal starship will be abandoned. It isn't useful for this plan. Unarmed and very conspicuous. We're the seekers. We're important. We gotta have everything chrome. Everyone starts to disembark. Do you think the Queen's idea will work? The Gungans will not be easily swayed. And we cannot use our power to help her. You might think that's an odd thing to say. Qui-Gon has used the Jedi mind trick more often than anyone else. Why would he object to using his powers now? He has already used his force powers to help people. Not always with great success, but surely it's worth trying. There are two good reasons to exercise restraint. One of these is to preserve the reputation of the Jedi. Credits will do fine. No, they won't. When people notice how readily they resort to mind control, it's a bad look. It's okay that you're here. It's good. You're relieved that we're here. Thank goodness you're here. Welcome, guys. There is one more reason to be careful. Qui-Gon has already tried to influence Boss Nass. And speed is on our way. We are going to speed you away. That encounter could have ended very badly. On some level, the trick did work. Nass repeated the suggestion. We could use a transporter. We shall give you some unabongo. Unlike every other case, Boss Nass is partially resistant. He agrees to the idea Qui-Gon suggested, but in his own way. Thank you for your help. We leave in peace. There's a second user up. Nass definitely tries to kill the Jedi in this scene. Either while the trick worked or because the mind trick backfired. A wise knight will use no force technique during the negotiations. Jar Jar had been sent to propose an alliance to the Gungans. Nobody there? The Queen had hoped this would be as simple as visiting Ota Gunga. This was already signalled to the audience, so we aren't surprised to hear the city is empty. My troops are in position to begin searching the swamps for these rumoured underwater villages. They will not stay hidden for long. The battle droids had started this search as the Queen left Tatooine. By the time she left Coruscant, the Gungan cities had been overrun. We have taken over the last pockets of primitive lifeforms. We are in complete control of the planet now. Clearly, the Federation believes the primitives have been dealt with. After rounding up the humans on the surface, they sent droids down to clear out the villages. The Gungan city is deserted. Some kind of fight, Mr. Thanks. Do you think they have been taken to the camps? Droids going for a swim is an uncommon sight, but these clearly were capable. The Gungans refused to abandon their cities without a fight, so many of them would have died. By the sound of it, the city still exists and has air inside. There's no way the Trade Federation would overlook that. You'd flood the city if you thought it could pose any threat. That means the Gungans fled, and Newt Gunray knows it. He considers his job to be done so long as all the villages are empty. Battle droids must patrol the Gungan cities about once a day, enough to respond if the Frogmen try going home. You know where they are, Jojo? When in trouble, Gungans go to sacred place. This is Jojo's moment to shine. Right now is the most useful he has ever been. The Trade Federation can't find the Gungans, and nor could the Queen. Due to his exile, Jojo has become the most influential Gungan of all. Clearly, Nas isn't pleased to see Mr. Binks. He is far more interested in the humans. Nas blames the Naboo for the droid invasion. He does have a point. A tricky situation to be sure. The Queen's entire plan depends on the Gungan army. Without their soldiers, there can be no hope of victory. At this point, the disguises have an influence on the plot. This mostly exists so Anakin could meet Padme instead of the Queen. Now there is another purpose. Revealing the identity is a gesture of trust. It's not the best idea I've ever seen, but it seems functional. I'm sorry for my deception, but it was necessary to protect myself. It raises the question of who was surprised. When did each person find out about the decoys? It's quite clearly established that Anakin and Jar Jar had no idea. Captain Panaka knew. It was his idea to set up the entire decoy system. Ric Olié and the ship crew were not in on the secret. Our two Jedi had never been officially informed about the disguise. I think Obi-Wan found out at the same time as Jar Jar. Right now. Qui-Gon Jinn had known for days. That's implied by the movie itself. Look at that grin. It's because he saw Kenobi hadn't figured it out yet. Personally, I think he suspected it since the Thied hangar. Believe it or not, there is support for this in the novelization. Qui-Gon immediately notices that something is off. When the ship has passed the blockade, that one handmaiden isn't quite acting right. She certainly hasn't left to clean that droid. By the time he reaches town, I'm sure Qui-Gon has seen through her disguise. The book also says R2-D2 was the first to comprehend the reveal. It also ties in with NASA's perception of the Naboo. Despite the decoy, Amidala is acting more honestly than normal. She also loses the ornate headdress and robes. Padme looks fairly plain for a human, whereas Boss Nass is clearly in charge. Granted, his shape is partially down to being a different subspecies. Nass likes to be flattered. He is rather sensitive about the primitive state of his people. Boss Nass is also correct to blame the Naboo for the droid army. Without their political meddling in the Senate, the Federation wouldn't be here. The Gungans don't yet have a representative in Naboo's Senate pod. Boss Nass mostly dislikes the idea of being seen as the lesser civilization. Their technology is limited, but their fighting spirit is strong. Remember several hours ago when I suggested a language barrier? That would show the difference between their two societies. Boss Nass is speaking a second language and he is almost fluent. The Naboo solution to this problem would be to buy a protocol droid. Padme, for possibly the first time in her life, treats the Gungans as worthy allies. This was a shrewd decision, the only one that would have worked. The ruler of the Naboo has decided to kneel, humbling her nation. The three Force Sensitives follow suit, but late. This leaves Jar Jar standing beside the Queen while all the humans are on their knees. Binx has done his part. He has no obligation to copy them. He isn't part of their group. When Jar Jar finally does fall in line, it shows his support for the Queen. Boss Nass likes this turn of events. He laughs at the unexpected sight, accepting the proposed alliance. Hahahaha! This is everything the Gungans need. Closer ties will benefit both species. For a start, it might be possible to get rid of the trade federation. Despite the size of the Gungan Grand Army, Nass couldn't win alone. The inexhaustible droid army would emerge victorious. It will take a multi-headed battle to stand any chance. Nass has no Starfighter pilots, and Amidala has no army. There is one more question I'd like to raise. What is the Queen of Naboo's name? The answer is Padme Amidala, which is fair enough. Her surname is not the one she was born with. Padme Naberi was her original name. She became Amidala after being elected as royalty. These two facts will be common knowledge on Naboo, and easily discovered by anyone prying. As part of Panaka's decoy system, Padme has many handmaidens. Sabe, Rabe, Yane, Sache, Erete, and Padme. The names of the handmaidens wouldn't be too public, I'm sure. Still, you'd expect someone to notice Padme is the servant of Padme. Even if you don't suspect a thing, it would be an amusing anecdote. It seems like the trade federation had no competent spies. Centuries later, Naboo land speeders returned from a scouting mission. We first hear about this from a sentry sitting on a giant statue. This introduces us to a new bit of Gungan technology, the Farsean, the equivalent of binoculars, achieved through primitive construction techniques. We would normally use a set of glass lenses with optional electronics. Gungans only seem to have either of these technologies from trade. Their binoculars use specific oils for refraction. The eyepiece may use naturally occurring crystal prisms too. I can't see any reason this wouldn't be possible. Farsean are an inventive device with a chest stand to support their unreasonable weight. They may be my single favourite bit of Gungan technology. Now that the Naboo forces are assembled, there is a questionable decision. Jar Jar is promoted to a high ranking position in the army. This isn't quite as bad as you may think, though it is unwise. Promoting the clumsy fellow has nothing to do with his merit as a commander. General Binx tries to do his duty with limited success. The real motivation is that he's the best Gungan ambassador there is. Boss Nass can clearly see his connections to royalty and off-world leaders. Promoting Binx to general is a calculated move. He isn't expected to be a great leader, rather a symbol of unity. Jar Jar represents the alliance as well as redemption from his exile. There is one other motive I'm reluctant to suggest. Perhaps Nass wanted Jar Jar to go missing during the battle. Whatever the reasoning behind this decision, I question their bravery. The Grand Army will take significant casualties during its land battle. It's time to meet the Gungan Grand Army. They have considerable numbers, making this the largest scale battle in Star Wars. The first movie didn't feature a land war at all. Episode 5 has far fewer rebels in the trenches than there are Gungans. There are more battle droids than there were snowtroopers aboard AT-ATs. Movies from the original trilogy showed dozens of soldiers. Now we see hundreds. By far the closest match is to Episode 6, The Battle of Endor. It seems undeniable that Ewoks and Gungans are the same archetype. In both cases, our heroes encounter the native species of the world in question. Though the situation is tense, it gets resolved peacefully. The invading armies are prepared to fight the high-tech, space-faring human military. All hope is lost. The good guys couldn't possibly win. Near the end, the local population gets involved in the fight. All of a sudden, the bad guys are outnumbered by primitives. Despite having only Stone Age technology, the natives can be quite inventive. They have spears, slings, and catapults. Their villages are hidden, cozy, really quite nice to look at. It doesn't end there. Both Gungans and Ewoks use horn instruments to communicate over long distances. They can even create rudimentary vehicles the Ewok Glider and Bongo Submarine. Where the Ewoks use log traps to destroy vehicles, Gungans use plasma globes. Both weapons are naturally occurring resources harvested from plants. The natives play the same role in battle, distraction, and cannon fodder. While the bad guys are busy fending off spears, our heroes sneak through to end the war. Unlike the Ewoks, the Gungan Grand Army is rather visible. All part of the plan. The army is assembled on the day of the negotiations. They have all night to prepare. The battle takes place the following morning. This is the entire point. The Gungans pose a moderate threat, tying up the Federation army. There is clearly a limited force stationed on this planet. Most of the invasion fleet has left, taking their droids with them. Many vehicles are still aboard the droid control ship, perhaps being repaired. Newt Gunray sends his entire garrison to face the Gungan army. Anything less would have been a mistake, given the size of the local droid army. In the late morning, before the fog has burnt off, the Frogmen march to war. They don't march particularly far, preferring to stay near the swamp. There are some hills behind them, and a swamp jungle to one side. Since the Gungans are holding position, the two armies will not meet until noon. We can tell the battle takes place at noon because of the shadows. The sun is almost directly overhead. Shortly after arriving, Federation tanks open fire on the Gungans. This opening volley is blocked by a Gungan shield generator. These are quite unlike the shields of Hoth and Endor, being only theatre scale. It takes a grand array to cover the army, a dozen beasts of burden. They form a visible shield bubble, unlike in previous movies. The simplest way to explain the new effects would be using the atmosphere. Shielding for the second Death Star was completely invisible. The same goes for shields on other types of spaceship. They are generally invisible. Atmospheric containment fields, on the other hand, tend to glow. That would imply the shield around Hoth was projected in space, well above the atmosphere. After about 10 minutes of laser cannon fire, the tanks give up. This was a long shot anyway, hoping for an effortless victory. Gungan shields have held strong, so the Trade Federation uses infantry. Their large troop transport vehicles are similar to Imperial AT-AT walkers. Each vehicle contains 112 battle droids in a storage rack. They are deployed in unit sizes of 56, meaning two groups per transport. This looks very cool, and signals the start of combat. Apparently, it takes 20 minutes for the droids to unfold and march forward. The time is now 1230, as battle droids walk through the bubble. Gungans start throwing their plasma orbs with moderate success. They are clearly losing the fight, despite having fought valiantly. Before long, a destroyer droid takes out one of the shield projectors. This had been arranged as the moment to cut their losses. This signals for a full retreat. The army scatters towards the relative safety of Swamp and Hill. At this point, the Trade Federation vehicles sweep in to end the conflict. Many Gungans are captured before they can escape. Battle droids begin to round up survivors to be hauled back to the camps. The Battle of Naboo is over. There will be no more fighting on the Great Plains. There is no match for the Trade Federation. Even General Jar Jar is captured, despite his best attempts at escape. This is the point where we need to bring in a parallel story. The Space Battle. Naboo pilots have managed to disable the droid control ship. The entire invasion army stops moving, like a marionette whose strings have been cut. Through no action of their own, the Gungans have been saved. This is not exactly to plan. In fact, it's one of the better possible outcomes. Now that we know the structure of the battle, let's examine the tools of war. In a nutshell, Gungans are an army from the Bronze Age. Shields are their greatest technology, at the top of a short list. Below that, you have advanced equipment, such as binoculars, clothes, and rope. Their opposition are literally killer robots from outer space. Whatever you might think of their accents, Gungans do not lack courage. Following the running theme of symbiosis, the Gungans use several domesticated animals. The more prestigious officers, like General Jar Jar, are set up as cavalry. Their main weapons are an electropole and a sester. That is to say, an electric spear and an acoustic spear. As there are no horses in Star Wars, they must be riding some other kind of creature. Filling the role of horse are creatures called Cardu. They have a duckbill that looks very much like a Gungan face, perhaps a distant relative. Cardu are most like emus crossed with hadrosaurs. Reptavian is the term. They are fast, but not the most sturdy creature in the swamp. To pull heavy loads, falamposets are preferred. These are, perhaps, most equivalent to oxen or hippos. By far the largest land animal is the Famba, more like an elephant than anything else. Instead of pulling an ox cart, Fambas are used to carry shields and artillery. The overwhelming majority of the army walks on foot. They have no kind of sword, club or spear. If a battle droid gets close, the Gungans fight with bare hands. Punching Durasteel is often painful and ineffective. Gungans prefer ranged combat, at least in this situation. They do not appear to have invented the bow and arrow. Instead, they use traditional ancient weapons. The most common of these is the atlatl, a short stick with grenade cup. These are one of Earth's older technologies, so it makes sense for them to appear in this army. A very similar situation applies to the other ancient weapon, the sling. Not a sling shot, the Y-shaped stick with rubber string. The sling is a length of rope or similar substance. A projectile is loaded, the sling is spun around and a stone is thrown. Done correctly, the projectile goes roughly where you wanted it to. The sling is also left in your hand, ready to be loaded again. But Jar Jar doesn't quite understand how to operate a sling. We can't be too rude about it, that isn't a skill I've practiced either. For anything larger, there is one piece of Gungan artillery. The army brings several catapults, as well as wagons of ammunition. It would not be correct to say the Gungans fight using sticks and stones. That's true of Ewoks with their stone-tipped spears. Gungans use a far more effective type of ammunition, plasma grenades. These are only grenades in the same way as a Molotov cocktail. There is something unpleasant in a container, one that will break if thrown. One could argue that they aren't true grenades, since they lack a timed fuse. Reference books call them plasma spheres and energy balls. We actually know what the official term is, boomers. There seems to be some debate over boomer with an A, and boomer with an ER. It's a little hard to tell what Captain Tarple said that day. Let's pick the safe option and just say balls. Gungan balls can be rather devastating, especially against droids. The effect we see on target is a flash, a splash, and a crash. When the energy ball makes contact, it releases a payload of energetic plasma. This manifests in an electrical arc all across the target droid's body. There is also a blue residue on the destroyed droid. It also seems to melt a hole through solid metal armor, despite being room temperature in the hand. These are perfect for use against a droid army. I'd avoid being hit with a boomer, even if you are flesh and blood. Plasma and electricity don't discriminate. Boomers come in a wide variety of sizes, though all use the same design. Hand-held balls are quite small, easily transported, though I am still curious to see how all those atlatl militia gungs were supplied. They can't have carried more than a few balls each. No wonder Jar Jar had run out of spheres by the end of the battle. Opposing the Gungan army are a set of vehicles. The largest of them is the backbone of the Federation army. The multi-troop transport is a heavily armored repulsor craft. Its sole purpose is delivering battle droids to the front line, even under fire. While you would be forgiven for thinking these were enormous droids, there is a pilot. Right at the very top, above the eye hinge, are a pair of sensor apertures. This design makes it possible to capture an MTT from your enemy. It could even be used against the previous owner, since there is no droid brain. Like a looted tank, it's ours now. The droid deployment rack will probably have to go, if you plan to use these with organic soldiers. Federation transports are armed, technically. We don't see them fire, as far as I know, since they have another job. An MTT has power generators and repulsor lifts in the rear section. These are not as thickly armored as the front, though still too much for laser cannons to penetrate. At the front, as a pair of arms or tusks, the MTT has a pair of twin blaster cannons in ball mounts. These are more of a tool and deterrent than a useful weapon. The front rank is made of AAT repulsor tanks. These are essentially an armored landspeeder with multiple heavy weapons. For any of Naboo's population, the AAT tank is the stuff of nightmares. A battle droid can be destroyed with a single blaster bolt. Why, you could sunder a battle droid by speaking loudly. Tanks are virtually immune to hand weapons, short of a grenade or lightsaber. The overall layout of the tank is similar to an Earth design. Different suspension, different guns, same ideas. The shape of the hull includes considerable armor, a four-man crew, and a turret on top. As on Earth tanks, the main gun is mounted on the turret to give it a superior firing arc. When you look at it head-on, there are very few flat surfaces. The Baktoid designers are using sloped armor to encourage ricochets. An AAT has five directed energy weapons on it, each with varying fields of fire. A single laser cannon on the turret, with full 360 degree turret traverse. Each side of the hull has a protruding frob or trunnion. At the end is a much smaller set of laser guns. These would fill a different role from the primary laser cannon. Their range of motion is ambiguous. It could be almost anything. Five degrees of firing arc, or more like 90 degrees. Would they have one or two axes of freedom? Can they spin to face up, down, backwards? The final energy weapon is the fixed mount blaster cannons. Every other weapon is implied to have some gimbal to allow aiming. These do only one thing. They fire straight ahead. They're bolted directly to the armor plates. There's no wiggle room to aim in. The fixed mount blasters will be fairly rapid fire, and fairly powerful. Not excessively so in either aspect. The AAT is what we might call an infantry tank, as opposed to a cavalry tank. There are a set of three handles on each side of the AAT hull. Up to six battle droids can ride into battle on the outside. The really interesting part is that those droids aren't in the way. Hull-mounted blasters could not possibly hit the passengers. Each outrigger extends far enough to reach past the standing room. Ones in a fixed mount have their barrel tip well in front of the droids. The main cannon would be above their heads, as well as its barrel extending past any metal shoulders. The tank is able to operate at full potential, even while carrying troops. People don't appreciate that design nearly as much as it deserves. Another nifty detail relates to depression. Earth tanks use a gun that sticks through the turret. Part is inside, next to the loader and gunner. That gun breech has to move around in order to aim correctly. When you try to aim downward, the breech hits the inside of the turret roof. Not so for a laser cannon. It can be mounted fully outside the turret. The AAT's gun depression is not good, especially to the front. It could be a lot worse, and you can just traverse to either side. The other weapon type is the shell thrower. There are six holes along the leading edge of the tank's foot. They have a distinct blackening to the armour near them. Each of these is a launch tube for a physical projectile. The ammunition used is very much like Earth tank shells. Instead of gunpowder, the AAT uses a system much more like a bowcaster. As well as launching the shell, it attaches a plasma envelope. The main purpose appears to be for increased penetration, which makes sense to me. What makes the shells particularly great is the variety. Because there's a physical projectile, it can carry all sorts of properties. Okay, granted, most of those are different trade-offs between and explosives. In theory, you could have specialised shells for incendiary, gas, smoke, maybe something more exotic. A proton torpedo might just about fit. In the cross-sections book, we see horizontal magazines feeding three launcher pairs. Each one has a similar barrel length because of how the interior is laid out. There are relatively few bunker-buster HE shells for the central launchers. That's probably a good choice. They're the least likely to be used carelessly. The other two are armour-piercing shells and the standard type. These AP shells seem like they might be shaped-charge, high-explosive anti-tank, or something similar. I could see these getting a lot of use later, but not on Naboo. There aren't any enemy tanks for them to fight. Finally, the most numerous are called high-energy shells. These can fill an anti-personnel role, but they'll do fine against nearly any target. That's the problem. These shells are too effective. We only see them used once in the movie. Hold on to your oversized helmet! We're switching tracks. Star Wars has two types of shields. It always has. They're a fundamental part of the universe. In the very first movie, proton torpedoes go through ray shields. We know that laser cannons would have been blocked by the ray shields. The term energy shield has been used to mean ray shields, but it's less clear. Energy shields can also be an umbrella term, including ray and particle shields. It is protected by an energy shield, which is generated from the nearby forest moon of Endor. These are the first things we ever learnt about shields in Star Wars. From there, logic and cannon dictate there is an equal and opposite type of shielding. Something that would allow a laser bolt through, but deflect a physical object. We call these particle shields, and they're more widespread than ray shields. The problem is that with these shells, the tanks can bypass ray shields. There is no reason to continue a bombardment with laser cannons if it clearly isn't working. After the first volley was absorbed, the next step would be to fire a silvo of shells. Everything we know about shields says these should get through. Even if the plasma envelope gets stopped, the shell keeps going. If there's any drawback to using the plasma, there would also be an offsetting. There aren't many ways to explain the events on screen. We could assume there were shells available, but held in reserve. The first movie, Episode 4, suggests a limitation. Each of the Rebel starfighters is given a pair of proton torpedoes. An X-wing and Y-wing can hold 6 and 8 respectively. Cost is the limiting factor. The Rebellion can only afford that many. This is plausible, given they're both physical projectiles. Shells would be a minor expense, ready to be optimized. Why fire a shell if they cost hundreds of credits each? The Trade Federation might be that miserly. Instead of assuming the silliest possible answer, we could assume the tank commander made a good decision. Firing shells would have done nothing to reach Trade Federation objectives. Perhaps they want to avoid casualties? No, the droids use laser cannons and blaster rifles. The best answer is that Gungans operate both ray and particle shields. We've seen both in use. Ota Gunga is made of particle shields. Gungans also have ray shields in various sizes. Any Gungan civil wars would tend to use tangible weapons. The Naboo people can afford to buy projectile weapons, so it would be a strange blind spot to have. There is a reason to prefer laser cannons against Gungan shields. Our older lore specifies that ray shields draw far more electrical power than particle shields. Assuming the Gungans have a limited power supply, a laser bombardment is the best choice. It should drain the shield reserves faster than the shell throwers would have. Notice how the only laser cannons being used are the AAT main guns. Likely due to its longer optimal range. The other four blasters on a tank are far smaller and suitable for anti-personnel use. Troop transports are also armed with two twin blaster cannons. A weapon this large would normally cluster as laser instead of blaster. That would leave the tank's main gun as the optimal weapon. Another question comes to mind. What if you drive a tank into a shield bubble? We know that battle droids can walk right through a shield as if it were a door. Specifically, like it was a force field door in a Gungan city. If there is any resistance to walking through, it seems to be minimal. Given that there is a particle shield to block physical objects, why doesn't it work? Surely a tank and a droid could pass through just as easily. I have seen two viable explanations. The first is that everything depends on velocity. That's about all there is to say on the matter. Speedy thing gets blocked. Throw a tennis ball at a Gungan shield and it'll bounce off. Do the same with a badminton shuttlecock and it'll pass through easily. This is an interesting idea and it does appear in some books. One benefit is that air can still pass through the shield. A breeze will go through, yet a gust might be blocked. As far as we can see, this is what they intended when the movie was made. This makes for a simple way to determine if a given object can pass through a particle shield. Anything moving fast is stomped, but you can probably find a way to lob a grenade through. Any object that hits the shield at the apex of its arc will have relatively low speed. A velocity-based answer fails to explain why the tanks waited. All it would take is telling the driver to slow down. It also leads to a series of obvious workarounds. Suppose you are building a better proton torpedo. You notice that particle shields deflect all your missiles. ... So you add one extra module to the warhead. Retrorockets. As soon as the torpedo detects a shield, it fires the braking motors. Now you have a missile that cannot possibly be stopped by shields. If that were the case, everyone would have such an upgrade. While the idea sounds nice, it doesn't fit the Star Wars universe. There are too many consequences for it to line up with existing lore. To use this idea, you'd need to build your entire sci-fi setting around this kind of shield. In such a universe, many people would carry a personal shield. People would become skilled at fighting shielded opponents. One logical consequence would be a different fighting style. You would be taught that a slow knife passes the shield. Combat would consist of pulling your punches, so they are slow enough to go through a shield. That is not the world we see in Star Wars. The setting I have described is called Dune, quite a famous novel. It features exactly these shield interaction mechanics. Because the universe was built around this technology, it has an effect all through the book. To a group of primitives, your finest warrior would look mad. Cruel, even, for slowing each knife strike at the last moment. The other consequence of this shield is how it interacts with laser weapons. Simply put, any time a laser hits a shield, an atomic bomb goes off. This is a fundamental part of the plot. It prevents anyone from ever firing at a shielded target. Star Wars does not use any of these rules. I don't see any reason to borrow shield mechanics from Dune. If you are going to, why not copy the entire system? Slow knife strikes, nuclear explosion if laser ever meets shield. The reason is that existing canon disproves these ideas. Lasers hit shields all the time. Sir, we just lost the main rear deflector shield. One more direct hit on the back quarter and we're done for. Instead, I prefer to use a different source of law. The cross sections for episode 2 include a useful paragraph. In explaining the clone transport walker, we get rules for a shield bypass. If we follow this law, the relevant factor is what kind of object is trying to pass through the shield. The AT-TE walker is able to pass by shields, much as its descendant will. Episode 5 begins with a shield, and AT-AT walkers ignore it. All troops will debark for ground assault. Prepare to target the main generator. They don't seem to be hindered in the slightest. We could say Hoth had only ray shields, or it didn't reach the ground. I prefer to think something about walkers allows them to bypass shields. This is supported by the episode 3 book, regarding the wheeled juggernaut. The ground contact is what seems to matter. This connection offers grounding to ward off energy discharges caused by shields. This may be a minor hazard, or the reason the AAT tanks held back. Snowspeeders didn't encounter any shield discharges on Hoth. Another aspect is traction. By touching the ground, a walker can slowly push forward. A repulsor craft may have limited thrust, unable to overcome the shield. Worse still, its exhausts are disrupted by particle shields. For a walker, it can use its feet to anchor and press against the shield forces. Whatever resistance the shield offers, the walker can slip through. A millimetre at a time perhaps, but this is a unique ability. All repulsor craft are considered unable to pass through shields. This allows the juggernaut to benefit from the same advantages as a walker. For exactly the same reasons, a battle droid can push itself through the shield. They have a grounding connection and traction. Speed of motion has nothing to do with it. Missiles are only blocked because they aren't in contact with the terrain. These details mattered to the story. The battle looks like it uses antiquated tactics for an earth war. Rebels on Hoth use trench warfare, a bit like World War I. On Endor, the situation looks more like a Vietnam War reference. These are modern wars. On Naboo, we see a Roman Legion, an orderly line of battle, using slings and archers instead of guns. That can only work because of Gungan shields. The same applies when resolving the conflict. Despite its fearsome nature, the droid army has a profound weak point. Its crew and cargo depend on a droid control ship, which could be damaged. That might make a good topic for a video, come to think of it. We can divide the battle plan into three parts. Land, space, and palace. The movie interleaves the scenes to present a timeline. In-universe, they are all woven together during the planning stage. The Gungans can only succeed by knocking out the ship in orbit. Naboo pilots can't take off until the droid army is committed. Both plans are necessary, they depend on each other. The movie really wants to drive home the idea of symbiosis. Even the Star War is built around that concept. War is always risky. Everyone in the Naboo alliance is prepared for battle. Blowing up an enemy battleship isn't a plan, it's a goal. Let's assume your pilots can reach orbit safely. What formations and tactics will they use? Are they aiming for any weak points in particular? Remember that the Rebel Alliance always had a plan before battle. They knew their enemy, including specific vulnerabilities to target. Naboo pilots have none of these luxuries. There are no data tapes with complete Luka Hulk blueprints. At this point, they don't have a single target. No shield generator, no thermal exhaust port, no reactor power regulator. Notice how the Naboo pilots don't know if their weapons will be effective. In contrast, the Rebels are told which of their weapons will work. Based on the lack of planning, I'd be worried. The battle isn't hopeless, rather it's hope-based. Their entire plan is shoot the ship until it dies. On the morning of the battle, a small group sneaks into the city, Theed. We'll cover the infiltration of Theed Palace later. At this point, we're only interested in the fighter pilots, a group of highly experienced individuals with decades of training. You'll have to forgive the professor, he's just daydreaming. There is a blonde 9-year-old here, but he's no fighter pilot. He's only here because there was no safer place. Remember, battle droids found the Queen's ship and Gungan villages. We can't send him with the Gungan army, or leave him in the swamp. The team has made its way to the Royal Hangar. Just before attracting attention, Qui-Gon has some instructions. Once we get inside, you find a safe place to hide and stay there. Naturally, the Jedi have work to do. Anakin needs to hide while the warriors end this war. The Queen and knights will break into the palace to capture the Federation leader. Sabers ignite and our humans run for the hangar doors. Most of the battle droids are distracted, so resistance is light. Only a few droids are stationed inside the hangar itself. As the doors open, our Jedi deflect all incoming blaster bolts. Everyone else scrambles for cover, including Anakin. There are several groups within the Naboo forces. First, the ones with the long orange coats are pilots. Yellow with a helmet means a mechanic. The hangar ground crew. The others are all types of Naboo infantry. When they have yellow with hats and armor, those are security guards. Blue with hats are the security officers, a higher rank. Captain Panaka uses this uniform. The final of the relevant types is the palace guard. These wear a similar orange to the pilots, without the coat. The most distinctive feature is a highly reflective helmet. Everyone is here to ensure the pilots get away safely. The starfighters appear ready to fly within seconds. It makes sense for them to be fully armed, fully fueled, and fully charged. What I find more surprising is the state of the astromech socket. Each starfighter comes with an R2 unit, ready and waiting. Mostly yellow, though with some variety. We know there are other astromechs at this point in the timeline. The queen's ship has an R5 aboard, meaning they had a full range available. Going with R2s is absolutely the correct decision. The R3 and R4 are no better. The R5 is barely acceptable, and the R1 wouldn't fit. Notice that even the starfighters on the top level have droids. It's likely they used some combination of cranes, lifts, and hover thrusters. Otherwise, the droids would have been left there for days. The starfighters are also There's no reason you couldn't do that. Droids can go into standby mode. That's not an assumption, by the way. I have evidence of that. We've seen R2-D2 wake up, perform a regular scan, then go back to sleep. That's clearly shown early in episode 2. R2 is fully dark. All his status indicators are turned off. Another example is C-3PO in Old Ben's hut. Skywalker and Kenobi were clearly having a personal conversation. 3PO is a protocol droid. Tact and etiquette are his primary function. Rather than overhear anything sensitive, 3PO asks permission to shut down. Luke doesn't appreciate how polite this is, but Leia would have. Back to R2 and Anakin, though. Little Annie is having trouble finding a good hiding spot. He ducks behind a yellow box, but that isn't safe. All the best cover has been claimed by the Naboo military, as it should be. While it might look like a crate, this is actually a power droid, like the famous EG-6 Gonk droid, a self-propelled fusion generator. Finally, someone comes up with an idea to keep Anakin safe. Not the kid, of course. It was R2-D2's suggestion. An astromech droid is built around one function more than any other. The casing is constructed to fill a standard Starfighter droid socket. Naturally, the first thing R2 thinks of is finding an open socket. The plan is ideal for both R2 and Anakin. Astromech sockets are buried inside the Starfighter's hull armor. Cockpits are also built with a few safety features, so that's better than nothing. R2-D2 whistles for the kid, who follows close behind. The short ones will be safe for the rest of this skirmish. By this point, the hangar has nearly been cleared. Many Naboo pilots have reached their in-one Starfighters, all manned ships auto-launching. The Queen's party has now been reduced in number. Every pilot they had is now in flight. We can only see one battle droid left. The second stage of the plan has been set in motion. At this point, the Gungan army is already under fire. By the time Naboo ships reach orbit, there will be droids inside the Gungan shield. Not only does Bravo Squadron need to win, it needs to be a fast victory, while there are still Gungans left alive. Back on the surface, the Queen is ready to leave the hangar. We shall deal with her plan to capture the Viceroy another day. Right now, she is moving on and taking the Jedi with her. Anakin has found a good hiding place. He's as safe as he ever will be. On some level, Qui-Gon has to notice the implication. Anakin will have lost count of how many times he dreamt of Starfighter cockpits. We already know he's a racing pilot. He can definitely fly an N1. Why would he ever leave the cockpit? Meanwhile, the Queen's party approaches a blast door. This particular door needs to be heavily reinforced to suit its role. Arguably heavier than Jabba's door in the Rancor pit. This one needs to hold back a far more ravenous beast. Lord Maul. Being a Sith apprentice, he instantly outclasses everyone else in the room. On a good day, the entire Naboo military might defeat him. Today, the military is a 20-man infiltration team. Darth Maul could fight all of them at once and still have spare time to duel young Kenobi. Only two beings are strong enough to even be relevant in that fight. There has been a change of plans. Because of the dark side, our heroes cannot take the quick and easy path. Queen Amidala immediately leads her team in the opposite direction. This entire plan is based on knowing the territory. Of course, the Naboo can find their way around the palace district. However, Maul is part of an anti-Jedi response team. The other half is the droid reinforcements. R2-D2 is the first to hear a very distinctive ringing sound. A trio of droidekas transform and roll in. Not necessarily in that order. They have trouble defeating a droideka with shield activated. The Queen's group takes cover and starts to return fire. There seems little chance of defeating destroyers with a few blaster pistols. Even firing 20 bolts in unison would likely fail. There are no weapons heavy enough to overload destroyer shields. Well, except for the ones built into vehicles. Both Anakin and R2 realize they can help. In theory. We would assume R2 has little control over the ship, especially the weapons. Little Annie has never flown a military starfighter before. Even if he had, this ship is unique to Naboo. Nobody else in the galaxy has one, so its cockpit may be non-standard. Anakin is capable of reading, but not the labels on the N1. On Naboo, they speak basic, but have their own alphabet. Some kind of oval markings. Anakin sees controls with labels he couldn't possibly have known how to read. We are meant to think he presses the wrong controls. First, he presses the single largest button in the cockpit. This is the main power for the starfighter. If Anakin hadn't pressed this one, the other controls would do nothing. The next is a large lever, which turns out to control the canopy. That isn't directly helpful, but it would be far safer to have it closed. The trouble here is that I'm not sure how you'd conclude either one is the trigger. Neither one looks conveniently placed to use while flying. They also seem far too large and heavy to be a trigger. If we take Anakin at his word, oops, he didn't mean to power up the ship. Oops, wrong one. Perhaps he's running on force intuition instead of mechanical experience. As soon as the main power is on, the starfighter floats into the air. It starts to move forward and turn toward the hangar door. Either by timing or manual aim, little Annie destroys the droidekas. He has a pair of vehicle-mounted laser cannons, far more powerful than the blaster pistol. We can see green bolts absorbed by the shield. A laser cannon hits a moment later, overwhelming the shield in one blast. One of the shields fails immediately, the same frame the laser connects. The other two keep the shield up for one frame before exploding. All three destroyer droids have been eliminated. The day has been saved, and the Queen is free to continue on with her plan. Alas, the situation has become much more complex. Anakin finds that his starfighter is on an autopilot. I don't appreciate the implications of this tiny detail. I should know, I was one of them. The primary function is to make sure Skywalker is blameless. Getting into the N1 cockpit is perfectly fine. There is no shortage of ships. Trained pilots are the limiting factor. Activating the starfighter to save the Queen's group? Again, very admirable, nothing to complain about. There was no other way to accomplish the goal. This was the perfect decision. At this point, the script calls for little Annie to fly up and join the space battle. That's a problem for his character. Anakin was ordered to stay in his cockpit. If he then flies all the way into orbit, that's disobeying an order. The autopilot solves this problem. When the spaceship is turned on, it starts flying itself into battle. This way, Anakin can participate in the battle without anyone being culpable. No orders were given, no choice was made, this was unintended. While the autopilot carries little Annie into space, Anakin can still examine his ship. One notable feature of Naboo ships is their shape. The Royal Starship and N1 starfighters have quite unusual lines. Extremely sleek, almost organic in shape. They tend to have slender wings with enormous engines at the far ends. It's a clearly different design from the boxy shapes we're used to. Starfighters in the original movies had flat sides and sharp corners. But with Star Wars technology in general, boxy and functional. For a vast number of vehicles, all you need to draw them is a protractor and a ruler. Even in the case of more rounded ships, there are boxes underneath. The Gallow Free Yard's transport is a perfect example of that old style. There is an ovoid hull on the outside, but the front exposes an enormous hold of cargo containers. Only two examples spring to mind that match Naboo's preferred shapes. These are from Mon Calamari. As with the Naboo design, these are intentionally different from normal ships. Mon Cal's are used to making hydrodynamic vehicles. The other craft isn't a ship at all. Luke's Landspeeder. Its overall shape is very similar to the N1 starfighter. The fuselage is rather curved, and in both cases it's to look stylish. More importantly, look at the engines. Each one has a cylindrical shape at the end of a short pylon. That's exactly the description of Naboo J-type designs. It's not that these vessels don't fit in Star Wars, more that they are meant to be different. There has always been variety in the shape of machines. Just look at R2-D2 and C-3PO for example. One humanoid and one walking appliance. The Naboo N1 fighter is commonly thought of as a small ship. Length is actually somewhere between an X-wing and A-wing. The real difference is in the weight. A lot of narrow parts on an N1. Nearly half the ship's length comes from a pointy tail. The other unusual feature is how enormous those Nubian engines are. With a lightweight ship and oversized engines, the N1 should have exceptional performance. The most similar ships from the original movies are the A-wing and TIE fighter. In both cases, they are high-speed ships with relatively light arms and armor. One could argue, the N1 is a better ship than the decades newer A-wing. A significant difference is that an A-wing has no astromech socket. These droids are quite handy to have aboard, so being without one is a loss. Arguably, the N1 is also too small to contain an astromech socket. In the original movies, all droid sockets are top-loading. The Rebel Hangar comes with a set of cranes to hoist an R2 above the ship. This doesn't work with the design of the N1 fuselage. You could add hinged panels or just load the droid from below the fighter. Even that doesn't completely solve the issue. An R2 unit has shoulders right below the neck. That's a fairly good place to keep your shoulders. Definitely in my top ten. Because of the unusual shape of the N1's hull, those leg shoulders should stick out. There simply isn't room for an R2's legs to still be attached. We could speculate that the legs come off, stored below the droid's body. Officially, the answer is that the head extends up by an entire body length. The droid's legs stay down in the wider part of the ship's hull. There isn't room there either. That area isn't tall enough. This requires yet more lore to explain. The cross-sections book says that the legs of an R2 can telescope into themselves. So far, we've added two unexpected details to fix a design flaw. In Episode 2, this explanation becomes even worse. We see a close-up on R2's legs and there is no telescopic mechanism. In fact, the space inside an astromech leg can be used for hover thrusters. I've never heard someone explain how these details are supposed to coexist. These mistakes could have been foreseen, and maybe they were. Either nobody noticed, or it was considered unimportant. Personally, I don't find the sizes all that bothersome. What really bugs me is that the design mistakes didn't need to exist. Concept art for the N1 accounts for the droid socket. We can clearly see the ship is wider, leaving room for a droid. The final version of the ship is much narrower, a last-minute change. Original designs had carefully left room for a proper droid socket. This structure covers the astromech socket, so it has to pivot out of the way. It held the missile launcher, which was moved down into the fighter's hull. Speaking of which, it's about time we got into the weapon systems. Naboo N1 starfighters are lightly armed. Their primary weapon system is a pair of fixed-mount laser cannons. For a small fighter, that's about the best we could possibly expect. Standard TIE fighters use twin laser cannons. The newest rebel fighter, the A-Wing, also has two laser cannons. So do newer ships like the I-7 Howlrunner and A-9 Vigilance. However, you may have thought of something else. Obsolete fighters, the Kuat Cloak Shape and Z-95 Headhunter. These are more likely to turn up in a pirate's hangar than in a reputable military. Worse still, those outdated starfighters might have been upgraded. There's potential to modify or replace most systems, including weapons. That's one of the advantages of boxy design. It can be more modular. A Z-95 might turn up with a set of X-Wing laser cannons installed. Just imagine trying to make modifications to an N1. That hull is as small as it can be. There's no room for deviation. Did the design leave room to swap for a 13mm one? In a way, the A-Wing suffers from the same issue of tight space. However, I'm certain the A-Wing is far easier to repair. After all, it was built upon extensive experience with Y-Wings. After a few years of operation, Alliance technicians stopped putting the exterior panels back on. The Y-Wing is a far more heavily armed craft. It matches the heavy laser cannons, then adds a twin ion cannon turret. As everyone knows, the Z-65 X-Wing has 4 laser cannons. X-Wings were replaced with E-Wings, which have 3 laser cannons. Later variants of the TIE tend to have 4 laser cannons, copying the X-Wing. The TIE Defender has 4 laser cannons and 2 ion cannons. Old Republic V-Wings have 2 twin laser cannons. The Jedi use an aether sprite with 2 dual laser cannons. It's all a matter of perspective. 2 barrels is not a lot of laser cannons for a starfighter. If you're drinking fortified wine, 2 barrels is quite a lot. How you arm your starfighter gives an insight into your mindset. In the case of Naboo Design, they were going for high performance, optimizing for speed above all other factors. Those are the same design goals as the TIE Fighter and A-Wing, a small, light vessel with half its weight in the engine systems. They were built for high thrust-to-weight ratio instead of the strongest cannons. To make up for this deficiency, the TIE Fighter had a launch tube. Early blueprints showed this above the cockpit in a large pod. By the time any ships were produced, the pod was unnecessary. Despite scaling down the design from early sketches, Thede Palace found room in the Ford hull. It now had a single proton torpedo launch tube. That's rather uncommon. Most ships have either 0 or 2 torpedo tubes. The N1 also has an unusually large magazine. 10 torpedoes. An X-Wing carries 6 while the N1 can hold 8. That means they only need a few seconds to empty their bomb bays. A Naboo Starfighter would take several times longer. The N1 features a set of three long tails. Like the Queen's ship, two extend from the center of the engines. The final, rat tail, is behind the main hull of the ship. These are mostly decorative, an important feature of Naboo design. On the engines, they are said to contain heat sinks. That seems like the worst possible location, putting your cooling in the engine exhaust. Still, given sufficiently advanced technology, I'll allow it. On the main tail, there are a set of electrical conductors. These connect to the hangar's systems, allowing for multiple transfer options. Secure data transmission is a beneficial side effect. Mostly, the tail is a docking and charging interface. So long as the N1 is docked, its tail coils allow it to stay fully charged. A useful feature, but power supply is only one resource. If you're docking the cockpit with emergency rations, that's still a manual operation. Reloading the torpedo magazine cannot be done through the tail either. Some coolant tanks may need to be topped up. And then there's fuel. Sci-fi often ignores the question of fuel mechanics. It mostly depends on the available engine and power systems. One answer is to separate fuel from reaction mass. When your drive systems are mostly electric, fuel goes into the reactor. That's how it works on large ships. From the Falcon to a Star Destroyer, their reactors convert fuel to power. We assume either nuclear fusion reactors or something exotic like hypermatter. Fuel is some kind of energy-dense substance to carry around. Antimatter would be the most efficiently compressed way to store your fuel. With all the containment hazards, antimatter's usually more trouble than it's worth. The other possible meaning of fuel is more rocket-based than electric. Fuel is the substance that goes out the engine exhaust. In a conventional rocket, they use internal combustion engines. We mix fuel and air, ignite them, and exhaust comes out the nozzle. Electric spaceship drives are quite different, more like a steam engine. Fuel is burned elsewhere, making them external combustion engines. Apart from electricity, the engines also consume reaction mass. We're burning too much fuel too fast, and at this rate we could run out of reaction mass and wind up on the drift. Yeah, but, nail me. We're going to Io. I'll reference to a certain Newton chap with his equal and opposite reaction. Unlike normal fuel, reaction mass can be completely inert. This doesn't work like petrol. It doesn't ever need to burn. Which brings us to Naboo design philosophy and their engines. Someone decided that Naboo would be very eco-friendly. You would never find a plastic shopping bag drifting through their swamp. This extends to their clean-burning spaceship engines. As with the Naboo Royal Starship, most components are from Nubia. The N1 Starfighter uses modified Nubian 221 radial sublight engines. We covered radial engines when discussing the J-type classification. In short, radial engines are inherently more efficient and high-velocity. Naboo then modified these to reduce harmful emissions. I have two objections to this. You'll be malfunctioning within a day, you nearsighted scrap pile! First of all, I'm not convinced there is any burning inside the engine. Second, the emissions should not be harmful either. The reaction mass used in sublight engines can take many different forms. We see mention of the Falcon using volatile liquid metal fuel. That makes perfect sense to me. A nice, heavy magnetic substance. Han is going for high performance above all else. If you're concerned about exhaust emissions, just use a different reaction mass. A good object of your exhaust is pure argon. All I can infer here is that N1 engines run HOT in multiple ways. They are high power systems that cause a lot of waste heat. In a less literal sense, HOT refers to exhaust velocity. Naboo tweaked the Nubian engines to use more electricity, less reaction mass. That really does reduce the amount of engine exhaust. Overall thrust stays the same. Fewer particles ejected at higher speed. The Naboo concern about pollution seems completely baseless. Starfighters are often considered too small to carry a full-sized reactor. Instead, they carry fuel cells or power cells. This is where the Royal Hangar's charging sockets become relevant again. Supposing the entire system runs on batteries, a charger makes sense. That is my conclusion for the N1. There is no fuel aboard, only reaction mass. Other starfighters, like the X-Wing, have fuel cells installed. This approach burns the contents of fuel cells in order to keep the power cells charged. I think that gives us a decent understanding of the N1. Quite a nice little ship, artfully designed and capable. For the needs of the Naboo military, they are ideal. Naboo has no empire to patrol, no long-standing rivalries. Their goals are completely different from the Rebel Alliance or Empire. The N1 is a short-range fighter, Short is something of a relative term. The N1 has a hyperdrive, so it can roam freely across several sectors of the galaxy. That's all you need for a planetary defense force. Unlike an X-Wing, the hyperdrive range limit is 1,000 light-years. Crossing the galaxy in an N1 is completely impractical. Travelling any distance with an N1 would require a supply ship or carrier. The closest we can get is in episode 2, a new senatorial barge. You can tell it's a royal craft as that's what the shiny hull means. This is said to be chromium, which is illegal for the peasantry to have. Chrome exists in the real world, which isn't typical of Star Wars materials. Durasteel, Transperasteel, Cortosis and Chromium. The N1s are only half-silver, since they're part of the Royal Navy. As this barge was too small to include a hangar, it has docking ports along its flying wing. That's very clever. It's cheaper to build and accomplishes the same thing. Carrying starfighters on the exterior wasn't a new idea, of course. The Karak Cruiser was built with a rack to hold five TIE Fighters. According to the lore, Naboo hadn't thought of the idea until now. Their previous solution was to form a convoy with an independent tanker. Now, I've heard people say that the Disneylorian show featured an N1. It's interesting to see them touch prequel-era material. Last time I saw that show, Disneylorian had quite a tiny ship. It didn't look like there was room to mount an N1 socket, let alone a hangar. Still, it could almost work. Since Mandalorian armor is airtight, he can easily transfer between ships. Park his long-range ship in orbit, then just open the airlock and move to the cockpit. With a rocket pack, crossing the gap should be trivial. It does strain credulity a little, but I'll allow it. Starfinder is one of the only people who could afford to maintain a personal starfighter, let alone one so unique and difficult as the N1. I don't know how Disney handled the range constraint or the difficulty of upkeep. Maybe we'll do an autopsy on it in a few years. Still, we aren't here to talk about vermin. The big rat. Let's get back to Star Wars. Now that we know the Naboo N1 fighter, we need an opponent. What? What did you say? As luck would have it, the Trade Federation has just the thing. In the modern era, we call them Vulture Droids. Much like naming Battle Droids B-1, this was a new development. Originally, we just called them Droid Starfighters. It's unclear if Vulture was a new bit of in-universe slang. General Grievous' ship is directly ahead. The one crawling with Vulture Droids. The name is appropriate. They're menacing omens of death for them to be. Officially, Vultures are 3.5 to 3.6 meters long. That's clearly not true in the movie. Vultures are roughly 5 times the height of a B-1 Battle Droid. A B-1 is 1.9 meters tall, so should be at least half as tall as the Vulture. A Starfighter must be at least 10 meters long. As it happens, that's exactly the size of a small Starfighter. One of the defining features of the prequel era is what's missing. No Star Destroyers, no TIE Fighters, no Empire at all. Trade Federation Starfighters are a completely different design. There is a vague resemblance to various TIEs, especially if you have your eyes closed. The curved wings are a little like a TIE Advanced X-1, when in attack posture, Starfighters have a gap like a TIE Interceptor. I'll admit these are tenuous, but they aren't accidental. We have official confirmation in descriptions of concept art. Early drawings are based on the TIE line. All the later variants still have the TIE series at its heart. In much the same way, there is a TIE cockpit and wing on the Actus Interceptor. We're reminded that TIE Fighters will exist far in the future. What makes the Droid Starfighter so different is the pilot. A Trade Federation vehicle can use living pilots if needed. Most of the time, a pair of battle droids sit in the cockpit. They even have special paintwork for droid pilots. Blue shoulders. Pilot droids are mostly used to drive MTT and AAT ground vehicles. The C-9979 landing ship also has a cockpit for droid pilots. Not so for the Vulture droid. They have some form of integrated droid brain aboard, though not a proper one. Like all the other Federation droids, they rely on a central control ship. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Droid Fighter are the different modes. In much the same motion as an X-Wing, their wings open into attack position. Technically speaking, this makes them Decepticons. Unlike the X-Wing and N1, Vultures have no landing gear. When they return to roost, droids lock into racks on the ceiling. That's much like the way TIE Fighters are stored. It makes even more sense for droids, which can run from the carrier's main power. In other situations, Vultures transform into a walking mode. They are enormous. They walk on knives. Without this feature, these would be only Starfighters. Walk mode is equivalent to the pilot getting out. As a Naboo pilot, there is one system that concerns you most. What weaponry does the Droid Starfighter have? A very similar set to the N1, but superior in every way. It has four laser cannons instead of two. For torpedoes, it has two launch tubes instead of one. The only question is the quality of each weapon. Some labels say blaster cannon instead of laser cannon. That could mean a far smaller and weaker type than the N1 laser weapons. Laser and blaster refer to the same technology, just at different power levels. The other detail is the torpedo launch tubes. Instead of the classic proton torpedo from Episode 4, Vultures use something different. It's called an energy torpedo, which isn't a term I would have used. The cross sections don't show any ammo storage near the torpedo tubes. We have to conclude these fire energy bolts instead of a metal cylinder. I tend to think of a plasma bomb launcher, a semi-stable containment envelope. These can hold together long enough to reach a target, splashing on the hull. Or perhaps a softer target, an anti-personnel role. In walk mode, the torpedo launches are ready for use against infantry. Aiming the blasters would occupy an entire leg, and there are only so many of those. Energy torpedoes are a great idea. They have virtually unlimited ammunition, given enough power. An exceptional way to increase the threat of a starfighter. There's a slight hitch if you believe in plasma blasters, because these aren't the same weapon. Surely they can't both be plasma throwers? The other drawback applies in-universe as well, shield interaction. Normally, torpedoes and missiles are physical. They can bypass ray shields, as in episode 4. Energy torpedoes fail at their original role, a secondary damage type. Short of their walking claws, Vulture droids have no physical weapons. An interesting weakness that is never explored in the movies. With that background in mind, we can analyze the space battle. By the time we rejoin him, Anakin has left the atmosphere. The droid control ship is straight ahead. Look! There they are! That's where the autopilot's taking us! He catches sight of Bravo Squadron, already attacking the Federation ship. Bravo leader is our friend Ric Olié, greatest pilot in the fighter wing. It's unclear exactly how long they've been fighting so far. The first we see is a diving attack. At least five fighters swooping down from above. There are only about a dozen in ones, so this is half their strike force. This flight path was well chosen. It does offer a little protection. Most of the quad laser batteries are on the outer edge. Their firing arcs have a massive blind spot, above and below the ring. Against a diving attack, only a few turrets are relevant. Three quad lasers on each side of the dorsal antenna farm. We can assume there's a similar set on the ventral side. The Naboo tactics seem good so far. Getting in close will make it easier to dodge, and exclude most incoming fire. At this point, Ric Olié confirms the deflector shields are working. The deflector shield is too strong! We knew this might be a problem, as Qui-Gon had warned us earlier. However, there's great risk. The weapons on your fighters may not penetrate the shields. The Naboo fighters are slowly being picked off. Their attacks seem to cause little damage. We even see the use of their proton torpedoes. They behave much as expected, apparently bypassing the ray shields to touch the hull. This lines up with the original movie's use of torpedoes. They can go through ray shields, but they aren't magic. Hitting a large ship with proton warheads will have little effect. If you hit a weak spot, the damage is superficial. It would be a little easier if our heroes could use their laser cannons. What if the N1 fighters fly closer, going inside the ray shields? AT-ATs and B1s did this when faced with a too strong shield. You may remember a line from the original movie, Episode 4. Red Squadron can fly right through the Death Star's defense field. Why don't the Naboo pilots try the same thing? They say magnetic instead of deflector, but that's consistent. The Death Star uses magnetic fields for atmospheric containment in its docking bays. Clearly that's still a significant force field, something more than a small moon's Van Allen belts. If we look up the shape of deflectors, that distant field is not standard for a ship. In this day and age of computing speed and things like that, our intuitions have been altered. More recent sci-fi has used what you might call a bubble shield. Bolts of energy hitting an invisible wall in front of the ship. This reveals part of a smooth bubble around the target ship. Personally, I most associate the style with Star Trek Next Gen. Those visuals were created by Lucasfilm before the time of the prequels. For their next large project, bubble shields turned up in Star Wars movies. Droidekas and Gungans have quite elaborate shields, but only in atmosphere. Spaceship shields mostly remain invisible, as they always used to. If you imagine bubble shields, there is quite a lot of empty space. Ships in Star Wars use a completely different shape. Ray shields exist as thin layers above the ship's hull. They range from millimeters to centimeters thick. Deflectors are ship shape in the most literal sense. Star Wars fans knew this for years before the prequels were made. As it happens, the movie got this detail right. That's just how the universe works. I don't make the rules. Anytime you see a spaceship with bubble shields, it's probably not Star Wars. Back to the movie. Anakin has flown into battle, following an automated attack pattern. For a trained Naboo pilot, this wouldn't be an issue. He would be able to read the labels and disable the autopilot. The only text Ani can read is on a screen, using standard Aurebesh letters. This display is little to no help. It just repeats what R2 said. Like his son, Skywalker can converse with an R2 unit. As men of culture, both Skywalkers have subtitles turned on. R2 has just suggested not being in the thick of battle. With Anakin flying around the droid control ship, it's too late to turn back. He wouldn't be any safer if he turned around and flew away. All that would accomplish is letting the vultures take a free shot at him. The kid attempts to use his established skills to survive the dogfight. He flies close to the ship's hull, weaving between towers and satellite dishes. Computers might be better at three-dimensional thinking than some kid. But if there's one thing vultures are not programmed to handle, it's an outer rim podrace. Treating the battle as an obstacle course across the hull has some benefits. With a huge ship on one side, that acts as cover from droid starfighters. That's the context. He's trying to transfer his skill and experience to space. For a podracer, spinning is quite exotic. In a starfighter, well, that's more debatable. It sounds like the sort of tip you overhear in a cantina, not real wisdom. If Anakin had been a pilot instead of listening to them, he might have known better. Still, it works well enough. Good news is that little Annie hasn't been hit yet. The bad news is that three droids are on his tail. Strong in the force is he, but not that strong. These droid blasters are currently set for sequential mode, one barrel before its twin. Only one bolt connects, leaving a scorch mark on the hull. It doesn't seem to cause any serious damage, but Annie goes into another spin. This is about the only evasive tactic he knows. One drawback to spinning is that it can disorient you. Skywalker flies straight into the enemy hangar, perhaps by accident. When running from a swarm of bees, the hive is a bad place to hide. The interior is full of landing ships and partition walls. Luckily, all these bulkhead doors had been left open. It seems unlikely Anakin would have survived otherwise. While the environment is hostile, little Annie is used to it. He managed to deftly weave between the obstacles, just like on a pod racing circuit. By the time he brings his N1 to a standstill, the cockpit is full of red lights. That'll be a familiar scenario from Annie's pod racing experience. The only question is why. Was it from being hit by a single blaster bolt? The hull damage appears superficial. It's possible that bolt contained terajoules or kilotons of energy. Converted to heat, that could easily strain the N1's delicate power systems. Equally likely, Anakin had been pushing the engines too hard. He has no idea what the limits of an N1 are. Even when he can't read the labels, Annie flips switches with purpose. These two control panel shots are very similar. You might even say they rhyme. When the machine has a chance to recover, it comes back to life. This shot is significant because it allows us to see ship shields for the first time. The technology and budget now allow for such a thing. As mentioned earlier, this is the correct shape for Star Wars shields. It also tells us something about the atmosphere. The droid control ship still has life support running inside the hangars. Trade Federation battle droids had intended to capture the pilot. Anakin could have opened the cockpit and tried to run away. For a second time, he reaches for the laser cannons. He's attempting to keep the battle droids from reaching the ship. Of course, he still hasn't been trained on the N1's control layout. I suspect torpedoes are on the index finger trigger. Blasters under the thumb. Anakin has flown right to the back of the Luker Hulk. In its original form as a freighter, this would be the deepest part of the cargo hold. The main engines would be 100 meters away through a few walls. An array of reactors is even closer, straight down a corridor. Little Annie accidentally fires two torpedoes into the central reactor, which falls into itself. That's very similar to the end of episode 6, flying starfighters into the superstructure. They have a familiar hourglass shape, which lines up with the second Death Star. According to the cross sections, Anakin has destroyed the main reactor. The book says these are pilot reactors. If you were performing a cold start of your ship, these would be your first step. The movie seems to immediately contradict the lore. Naboidean crew announce a problem with the main reactor, not pilot reactors. If you remember, the Death Stars were hit in specific places. Main reactors were damaged by a chain reaction, not the initial torpedo. The book shows large spherical main reactors, three in a row at the back. Just forward of that, the center sphere has its own dedicated reactor. Like with the Death Stars, a precise torpedo hit cascades into total destruction. Speaking of torpedo precision, I have a misconception to share. Ever since first watching the movie, I thought the N1 used energy torpedoes. I thought that was quite clearly implied by the movie itself. We don't see a conical warhead like in the first movie, just glowing orbs. The most convincing evidence was the torpedo tube itself. When we see it fire, there are a series of lines running along its length. They look a bit like rifling on a cannon, except the grooves don't twist. In the split second they're on screen, I saw a set of dark slats, thin sheets of metal that completely blocked the torpedo tube. Since the dark lines were still present on the second shot, a torpedo couldn't go through them. The explanation must be that a torpedo flows around the bore obstruction. Did anyone else see the same thing? Perhaps it's more likely if you watched episode 1 on VHS tapes. Young Skywalker has spotted the potential danger. He disengages the repulsor lift handbrake and hits the throttle. The entire ship is doomed anyway. Luckily, none of the bocket doors had been closed in the meantime. For those who remember the marketing for episode 1, the next shot will be familiar. This two second clip was everywhere in 1999. It will have been in trailers, on the back of DVD cases, completely inescapable. In the actual movie, I barely saw it on first viewing. We cut to the outside, catching up with Bravo squadron. This is the line I'm most frustrated by in the entire movie. None of the Naboo pilots have done any significant damage. Qui-Gon warned them about this, so why didn't they have a plan? At the very least, they should have a weakness they intend to exploit. If the shield is too strong, they should use torpedoes to hit the shield generators. Without a 9-year-old kid, these pilots would have accomplished nothing. You are trying to tell me that a 9-year-old boy climbed into the cockpit of the world's most advanced aircraft and flew it away? Yes. That sounds completely implausible to me. No matter how force-sensitive you are, having a plan should matter. Ric Olié, the greatest fighter pilot of Naboo, would have some idea. He should have been able to succeed without Anakin's help. The kid wasn't even supposed to be there, and he wins by accident. I have considered this terrible for many years. Irksome enough that I'd go so far as to call it Disney-tier. It can be improved with some context, but only a little. This is one of the situations I think the movie needs to be edited for. Anakin has experience with pod racing. He can apply those skills when flying through tight spaces, such as inside a cluttered hangar. We can say no Naboo pilot could have flown inside the superstructure. We could pretend that Anakin had fired the torpedoes intentionally. He noticed the pilot reactors, knew what they meant, and chose to use protons. That's about as much as we can do with the official movie canon. Very much not my cup of tea. It's story time again. I would fix this by having Skywalker and Ollier communicate. Anakin is wearing a Naboo helmet he found in the cockpit. This clearly has earpieces, and lore confirms it has a comlink built in. It would be natural for the pilots to interact, like in the original movies. There was constant radio chatter between Rebel ships and their home base. When Ric Olié sees an N1 out of formation, he would act as a leader should. Bravo squadron would hail Anakin, and most likely fly over to collect the rogue N1. We see a small amount of this in the movie, as they fly back home. Ric and Annie have already developed a rapport. The first thing Ric would say is to explain the controls and how to dodge. After that, he could even command the child to leave battle. I suspect that's the true reason, just like with the autopilot. Not wanting anybody to be responsible for Anakin's presence in battle. That isn't important to me in the slightest. I have different priorities. It would be better if Ric and Annie both contributed something. Perhaps the kid accidentally flies into the ship and he reports back. Using his technical knowledge, he tells Bravo squadron what to do. Anakin notices a set of pilot reactors, sees how they're configured. This is a jury-rigged freighter, not a proper battleship. He asks Bravo leader to synchronize an attack on the Luka Hulk's main engines. At the same moment, Annie will hit the pilot reactors with proton torpedoes. This is what causes the starboard main reactor to run away, destroying the ship. Bravo leader should not listen, but Ric Olié goes along with it. Until talking to Skywalker, the N1s had been bombing the antenna farm. Naboo had never planned to destroy the ship, only disrupt the control signals. Teamwork with an unlikely ally yields a better result than planned. Personally, I find this solution far more compelling. It makes the challenge seem more serious, the victory more skillful. Skywalker's lucky shot should reduce the casualties to Bravo squadron. They would have won anyway, but only after a long and bloody struggle. Either way, it ends in a victory. The Gungan army has been saved. The droids are no more. Naboo has regained control over its own star system. There is a scene I've intentionally avoided covering. The planning stage wasn't relevant to those earlier parts. Everyone can understand blowing up a giant spaceship, or two armies fighting. The Queen's plan isn't as intuitive, so it takes more explaining. We return to the morning of the battle, at the edge of the plains. A Gungan scout spots a set of incoming landspeeders. Skywalker runs into the forest where several people are gathered, around a blue landspeeder, the giant model. This already has some implications. How, exactly, did a Naboo landspeeder get out here? I'm not going to call this a plot hole, but it demands explanation. There was no room to carry it aboard the Queen's royal yacht. It seems unlikely for the Gungans to own a Naboo maidspeeder, though not impossible. Perhaps there are traders who prefer landspeeders to falumpasette wagons. We could say C.O. Bibble had a secret garage built in the middle of a swamp, just in case. More likely, these landspeeders had been claimed from the cities during the night. This scene shows us three more landspeeders arrive. At some point, Captain Panaka had entered Theed to scout and recruit. Based on the evidence from the movie, there have been multiple trips back from Theed. Someone obtained at least one landspeeder, the blue one from the meeting. We also know Panaka went into Theed and returned with several vehicles. It's unlikely Panaka walked all the way into town. Did he ride a cartoon to the outskirts of the capital city? I suspect the landspeeder theft took place in the middle of the night, after the negotiations. The most likely story is an echo of a previous one. Remember that there's a droid army searching the swamp. We've already seen a solution to this exact problem. You sneak underneath the army. Many cities have rivers running beneath them. I'm certain the Gungans have access to at least one Bongo submarine. The version shown in the cross sections is fitted for cargo. A Grand Army Transport Bongo is rated for half a dozen Gungan warriors. Give it a Gungan driver and a payload of Naboo's stealthiest. As established right at the start, a Bongo can surface inside the city. After the Naboo forces climb ashore, it dives back into the ocean. Panaka and a few men stay up for night, scouting the camps and enemy forces. Now, underground streams do exist, but they've never been considered a threat. At least one of them is a driver, who captures a landspeeder and brings it back to the swamp. A few of these are ready for use the next day. It would be sensible to have sent several drivers out, so you have enough seats for everyone. All the humans need to enter Thede, the pilots and the infiltrators. This entire plan relies on being able to transport a few dozen people into Thede hangar. The Royal Starship would have been an option, but that's already in enemy hands. We already located the starship in the swamp. It won't be long, my lord. Having enough landspeeders would be critical. The type of vehicle is very standard. Landspeeders all look the same, just like vans and station wagons do. Unless they have extra features, a speeder is basically a car with no wheels. Luke Skywalker drives an X-34 from Sorosuub, which is pretty decent. Something to tinker with and race his friends in. Naboo also buys Sorosuub landspeeders, and they are unremarkable. For a new design appearing in Star Wars, to be unremarkable is a great compliment. Perfection is for your new invention to be invisible. There are two designs of Naboo landspeeder. Flash and Giant. Flash speeders have two seats, where Giant speeders have four. The clearest indication is the engine pods, mounted at the rear as usual. Engines on a Flash speeder are quite compact, but mounted far from the body. Each pod contains three small turbines, side by side. Contrast with the Giant speeder, which uses the largest diameter engines it can. A single large turbine on each side, as tall as the landspeeder's body. The other notable difference only applies to the military model. What kind of blasters they carry. One mounted on the spoiler of the Flash, three on the Giant. Let's take a closer look at the Flash. Its design is very similar to Saurasub landspeeders from the first movie. The seating matches, only really room for two humans. Extra droids can be tied down with bungee cords if required. The windscreen is another similarity. A smooth, curved bit of transparent DuraPlex. We only see a front windscreen, but the lore says these landspeeders can be closed. A matching rear section would slide up into place, when it works. There have been some mentions that Luke never repaired the handle to wind the window closed. To appreciate the Flash speeder, we need to compare multiple different Saurasub designs. Luke's X-34 has three cylindrical thrust turbines. We've seen a variant with five of the same engine pods, likely customised. This was parked at Toshi Station, owned by a lad named Fixer. It seems more likely to be a modified X-34 than a different model. Another thing we know about Luke's speeder is that it's an older model. Luke has noticed a change in the prices of the second-hand landspeeder market. Saurasub has released an XP-38, making the X-34 less desirable. Both speeders look very similar, except in the design of the engine pods. Luke clearly has a single large spinnamor thing per engine cowling. That can't possibly be the case here. Turbines need to be rotationally symmetrical. You can't build a rectangular turbine, so there are several in each pod. It looks like you could fit either two or three cylinders inside each one of these engine pods. That perfectly matches the rectangular drive pods on a Flash speeder, a triple turbine. All of this is classic Star Wars landspeeder design. According to the Sullustan manufacturer, the latest model is much faster. The X-34 can reach about 250 kmph. What a piece of junk! At least before Luke got his hands on it. For the XP-38, its major selling point was a top speed above 300 kmph. Since the most visible change is to the engines, that's probably what made the new design faster. One might be tempted to assume a triple turbine thruster pod is superior. To disprove that, let's see where the XP-38 engines come from. The XP-38 actually recycles engine pods from the old Saurasub V-35 model. This was the first landspeeder we ever see in Star Wars, though we didn't get a good look at it. That's it through the doorway there, the pointy thing. There's a much better angle later on, though that one has the lights turned off. What are you doing hiding back there? It wasn't my fault, sir. Please don't deactivate me. Threepio is hiding in the garage, next to the Lars family landspeeder. Despite the darkness, it's clear this vehicle uses three rectangular engine pods. Later on, in the special edition, we see this vehicle in broad daylight. The Saurasub V-35 Courier is quite an old model of landspeeder. A very sensible design, reliable and spacious. However, it is completely unsuitable for hooning around like a maniac. Its cruising speed is only 100 km an hour, making this the most boring hovercar in the galaxy. Once you're aware of the V-35, the design process was obvious. An XV-38 is just an X-34 with engines from a V-35. That's a safe way to build new designs for Star Wars. The implications are interesting, though. Because of the implication. This rectangular design started out on the slow vehicle, then was put on a fast one. We can't explain that just by saying it uses a lighter repulsor lift generator. The latest model of speeder must have more powerful engines than its ancestors, despite being the same size. Luckily, we have enough lore to make sense of the situation. Engine noise for an XP-38 is described as excessive, particularly by modern standards. It's quite likely that V-35 engines have been refined over the years. For an XP-38, they just overrun the engines and ignore the screaming of the turbines. To reach a given airflow quietly, we prefer larger fans spinning slowly. That'll be the same principle behind the X-34 engines. One turbine per pod instead of three. Performance is similar, but a single turbine can run at much lower RPM. I should also stress that these are more like fans than jet engines. That is to say, there's an electric motor driving the fan blades. Basically the same scenario as a pod racer, except without using an afterburner. There is no fuel being burnt inside the land speeder turbines. They aren't combustion engines. This shouldn't be a surprise. It's specifically mentioned on all three original land speeders. The body of each vehicle holds a large repulsor lift generator. Thrust turbines are consistently said to draw power from the repulsor lift system. There's no way this was an accident. It's too specific an idea. Land speeder propulsion systems use a central generator to power the drive impellers. If we look at the cross-sections from a Disney book, they didn't know about the law. This drawing shows a standard jet engine with fuel lines running to a combustion chamber. A jet would be the natural assumption if you had never looked up the law. Compared to the existing land speeders, the Flash is a brilliant model. It uses similar engine pods to the XP38 but without being a direct copy. There are only two pods, and the Flash has a considerable advantage to its wingspan. That should allow better leverage for turning, making the Flash quite agile. The other new model, the Giant Speeder, takes quite a different approach. A V35 has nine turbines, a Flash has six, an X34 has three, and the Giant has two very large ones. You might even say they're... gigantic. The Giant is about one metre longer than the Flash. While it may have larger engines, the construction is also much heavier. Giants have a more sturdy chassis, as well as decent hull armour. In terms of top speed, we see similar performance for both Naboo designs. Flash speeders have much smaller engines relative to their body size. They are described as the high-speed ones, so this must be a suitable amount of engine. For the Giant Speeder, there are no wings to mount thrust pods at the end of. They are still mounted at the rear, but they don't protrude past the speeder's body. These ones also have an interesting exhaust nozzle, something similar to a cone. Of all the differences between land speeders, weapons are the most obvious. These speeders have their own civilian variants. Only the security forces are armed. For the Flash model, there is a single, repeating blaster on a swivel mount. It's located right at the back of the vehicle, on a spoiler between the two engine pods. This one is set up to fire in any direction, including forward. The height of the mount ought to let it fire over the heads of anyone aboard. Flash blasters would not be considered a laser cannon. They're too small. A weapon of this type would be excellent for pedestrians and light vehicles. Against a tank, less so. Giant speeders use a completely different layout. Instead of a single blaster, the military version carries three laser cannons. These are all in the front of the Giant, two on the sides and one on top. Each side mount appears to have quite a large range of motion. They are labelled as Light Repeater Laser Blaster. That implies a less powerful bolt with a high rate of fire, a fine trade-off to make. Much the same as the Flash's Pursuit and Defence blaster, except with a different balance. The remaining weapon of the Giant is a turret with significant horizontal swivel. This one is clearly a large and powerful laser cannon, though it can't rotate to fire backwards. A Giant laser cannon is one of the heaviest and most powerful weapons Naboo has access to. At the Swamp Meet, this blue Giant has no weapons at all. Almost everyone's in camps. Captain Pinaka has returned with news and allies. The Naboo resistance is glossed over, since it only existed for a few days. Pinaka brought some of their leaders, implying a lot more left behind. These officers will come in handy for coordinating a distraction later on. We can expect additional forces to be hiding throughout the city. Clearly, open warfare would be a mistake. While explaining the plan, this movie introduces something obvious. R2-D2 has always had a hologram projector. In Episode 6, we see a holomap being used during Admiral Ackbar's briefing. It makes perfect sense to use an astromech to project your plan like this. These tools exist in the galaxy, so we'd expect our characters to use them. Retaking your own palace is quite a common scenario, no matter which planet you're on. Invaders don't know how to guard the secret passages, at least not after moving in yesterday. Storming the palace will require a double diversion. Most of the droid army will be out of town to visit the Gungans. Pinaka then needs to distract the remaining battle droids. The Queen will move through the palace to put Viceroy Gunray in checkmate. The chess analogy seems fitting, since everyone is playing with figureheads. For most of this movie, the biggest danger was Amidala being captured. Only now, at the end, are the Trade Federation at risk. Newt Gunray expected the Queen to give up immediately. Within a few days, she would sign away the entire planet. Darth Sidious thought the same thing as well. As evil or spineless beings, they see their own cowardice in everyone. To be captured is to lose everything. Those are the stakes. The wise can see another possibility. Nobody being captured. We can be certain there's a shuttle near the palace. A quick way for the bad guy to escape if he starts losing. The Trade Federation has access to a lot of large ships. Millions of battle droids, when only a few thousand are still on Naboo. If the slimy Nemoidean were to escape, all he'd have to do is send a message. Meet up with a Federation starship and redeploy the fleet. If the Queen's capture failed, Naboo would be reinvaded within a few days. While the infiltration plan is linked to the other parts, it is distinct. Done right, the Queen may be able to save her planet alone. If you hold Newt Gunray at blaster point, he can command the control ship to leave the system. That would save the Gungans, even if the space battle had failed. When arriving at the palace, we see the benefits of Her Majesty's secret service. To set off the diversion, the Queen needs to send a signal. Ideally, that signal would alert Panaka, but not the battle droids. You know, given that the whole mission is for our heroes to sneak in, we know there are many comlinks around. Those would definitely have enough range for it. What's that? The trouble is, walkie-talkies are not very sneaky devices. They broadcast an omnidirectional signal that anyone in range can pick up. In military use, comlinks use encryption and frequency switching. These scramble the signal to prevent people from listening to the conversation. That doesn't disguise the fact you've just broadcast a comm signal. It may even have given away your position, if the droids can figure out triangulation. You could try disguising the signal as some kind of background noise. By far the best option would be to send a directional signal at your target. In harder sci-fi, that's a standard technique. Messages are sent through a tightbeam laser, aimed into the destination antenna. This solution is hard to intercept if you aren't already in the path of the beam. We've used the same principle on ocean-going ships, using a lantern with shutters on it. You can shine a light at another ship, allowing for morse code signals. During the day, you could accomplish much the same thing by wiggling a mirror. For our purposes, the range is about a hundred meters. Slightly too long for hand signals, except semaphore. Padme and Panaka use a set of flashing lights to signal for the distraction. They are a fascinating bit of technology, yet I can't recall them ever being used again. Based on the movie alone, one could expect a signal using colored light. Red means one thing, blue means something else. However, the visual dictionary mentions it supports data transmission. These light-based signalers are one of the most overlooked machines anywhere in Star Wars. I don't expect to see them everywhere, but surely we can find some use for such a thing. The opening diversion involves starting a small battle. Panaka brings in a giant speeder and a dozen security forces. There are several tanks in front of the hangar's main entrance. The giant carefully lines up a shot with its main laser cannon. It seems to impact on the front armor, just to one side on a sloped panel. With this caliber of laser cannon, a single hit blows through the hull and destroys the tank. We would assume a tank usually has better weapons than a car. At face value, AAT armor cannot block a bolt from its own main cannon. Alternatively, out on the rear section there is an exposed power converter. Hitting one of those might cause a lot of damage, without compromising the armor. As one might expect, blowing up a tank in view of the palace is distracting. Trade Federation forces notice Captain Panaka and open fire. With no photoreceptors watching the hangar, the Queen starts running. Now that the team has gone loud, the entire plan has a ticking timer. Within a few hours the Gungan army will be defeated. There are only minutes left before the palace is fully alerted. Outside, the remaining droid tanks are just starting to move. Captain Panaka had already planned to retreat, drawing the battle droids away before scattering. A flash speeder fires a parting volley from its blaster before scooting around the corner. The element of surprise has been exhausted. Newt Gunray now knows most of the plan, the Gungan army and the palace. If he had left now, he could have brought an entire fleet back. Though they do appear concerned, the Namoidian leaders don't expect to lose. As we know, two critical parts of the plan take place in Theed. Launching N1 fighters is by far the more urgent. Getting into the hangar promptly will save Gungan lives. As soon as the pilots are away, Naboo forces will abandon the hangar and travel to Theed palace. Though she sticks close to the Jedi, the Queen leads from the front. That isn't entirely surprising since the handmaidens are trained as bodyguards. They all have blaster pistols and enough training to be useful. We can assume the police are better shots and are doing most of the fighting. Storming the royal hangar has gone quite smoothly. The droids inside have mostly been swept away. Starfighters are already taking off and heading for orbit. At this point, Captain Panaka turns up again. He had been assigned to create a diversion, so it's a little surprising to see him now. Their speeders would have retreated into the city while infantry fell back toward the hangar. Now that the infiltration team is inside, it makes sense to regroup. At this point, we should note the city layout. We are currently in the royal hangar, which is a short walk away from the palace. Remember at the start of the movie, the queen was being moved away from the palace. After minutes of walking, the Jedi intercept the group and make for the hangar. With or without secret passages, we can expect a moderate walk. It does look like there is some contradictory evidence, but that goes away on its own. We see the Trade Federation looking out a window at destroyed tanks. That would have meant they're in the same location as the hangar. However, look at the scan lines. This window is a hologram. When they say, too close, that means a fight anywhere in the city. With this new understanding, Amidala's infiltrators have a brisk jog ahead of them. The next best thing to secret passages would be to travel around inside buildings. Padme and Panaka hid in the opposite direction from the open end of the hangar. Well now, this might be an issue. Darth Maul wasn't part of the plan. It was a known risk factor. Maul adds a fourth perspective to the Battle of Naboo. He'll also demand a dedicated episode of the circus, so we'll ignore him today. With all force users out of the way, the Queen takes a less optimal route. They wheel about and head for one of the other doors. This side has a similarly impassable barrier. Some wheel droids. Each destroyer is worth several ordinary battle droids. Minutes ago, this same infiltration team cleared a hangar of B1 droids. That earlier fight wasn't particularly challenging. Quite a different story in the case of droidekas. This is the sort of situation where grenades would have been handy. Fragmentation, concussion, EMP, smoke, any flavor you like. Just don't try gas grenades on a droid army. A missile tube would also have worked, or anything else designed for anti-vehicle use. As we all know, Anakin saves the day from the E-N-1 cockpit. I'm sure Padme realized who was aboard, along with, hmm, half the soldiers. ... ... ... With the way clear once more, our heroes leave the hangar. We can see a door leading into a very shiny corridor. This must be the route for escorting visitors to and from their ships. It doesn't see heavy machinery or grease stains. That would make it the perfect route, a marble hall leading into the palace itself. From looking at the map, the hangar cannot have a door into the palace. There's a river between the two buildings. Again, that lines up with the start of the movie. We know the palace should be some distance from the royal hangar. This can't be a secret underground passage, because of all the windows. These certainly aren't holograms, they're just glass leading outside. The only way I can see this working would be to say this isn't the palace. It may be a sky bridge that leads to the palace, but that's it. More likely, this corridor runs the length of the hangar building. The queen is travelling inside, then plans to cross the road and river. This seems to be a mistake, forgetting the distance from palace to hangar. I'm still inclined to take this map of Theed as accurate. It lines up with what we see in the movie, and doesn't necessarily contradict it. We'll explain that closer to the end. Right now, the queen is on a long straight path. Tactically speaking, this is a bad situation. Your entire forces are funneled through a narrow pass. Being deep in enemy held territory, there are several battle droids ahead. The marble hall does offer great cover, in the form of great columns. That helps the droids as much as the humans. Above all, it slows down the firefight. With each passing moment, more droids converge on Padme's team. This next point is evidence of the movie thinking they are in the palace. Our buddy Panaka decides he doesn't like the look of a window. This represents a change of plans, something that hadn't been discussed. To avoid droid reinforcements, the team will climb out the window. Travelling on the outside of a building would be quite unexpected. The infiltration team maintains covering fire and crosses the room. Assuming this marble hall is part of the palace, going outside makes sense. The throne room will likely be on one of the upper levels. If this is just the long side of the hangar building, ascending a level makes less sense. Everyone takes up position on the windowsill. This is where we see another set of overlooked devices. Panaka names them ascension guns, a term that I've never heard mentioned elsewhere. They're quite a nifty idea and they have some basis in existing lore. Against an AT-AT, Luke climbs up using a similar kind of device. Naboo uses much smaller versions, which does line up with their style. Ascension guns are a specific model which handmaidens do not carry. We can only conclude they borrow guns from various guards. This ascent sequence is an extremely cool moment. It doesn't imitate a scene from the original movies, this is new. The concept makes perfect sense and we know Star Wars tech can handle the strain. Using the winch feature, the entire group skips the stairs. Arriving at the new window puts Padme a short walk from the throne. She carefully takes aim and blasts the window out of its frame. The group carefully steps down and prepares its next move. More Naboo guards are coming, having stayed down below to protect the broken window from following droids. This may even be when the handmaidens get separated. At this point, we need to examine the weapons used by the Naboo infiltration team. There are roughly four different models and only three of them matter. Let's start with the one that we don't find interesting. Certain types of soldiers are given cheap weapons. The rank and file security guards are issued blasters from Corellian Arms. These are CR2 blaster rifles with a vertical front grip. Cheap, sturdy, and with an electric stun setting. Even if nobody would be excited to get one, it works fine. Naboo officers get something quite different. This model of blaster pistol is the security S5. Rather large and bulky, this is clearly a heavy blaster pistol. Its grip is elaborate and the trigger looks unusual, so it must be a target pistol. In fact, half the attachments on this S5 are related to accuracy. On top, there is a scope for looking through while aiming. There seems to be another scope on the right used for range finding. It's possible that isn't a scope at all. Rather, it's a large laser module. Just like those land speeders from earlier, the security S5 was created by Sorosub. Quite a prevalent company based on the planet Sullust. They don't always make the best equipment. It's only about half the time. The S5 seems like quite a good choice if you're in the market for a heavy blaster pistol. This would definitely be my preferred blaster if I happened to be captain of a Gatroc 720 freighter. Bulky enough to settle a few situations without being fired. That has to be an intentional selling point, appealing to guards and police. Another valuable feature of the S5 is a set of attachment points. The pistol is covered in lumpy objects, all of which can be replaced. Add a bayonet, a different pair of scopes, or a small flamethrower. If you are sufficiently motivated, you could bolt a droid brain to the side. Naboo ordered a set of S5s in quite a tactical configuration. Underneath the barrel, a small dart launcher provides a less lethal option. Best of all is on the left side, opposite the rangefinder scope. A grappling hook and winch plus a liquid cable launcher. Surely we can all agree that grappling hooks are an extremely cool device. They're at least moderately useful in the real world. When dealing with fiction, they turn into an incredible tool. Our duty is to create fiction that is more awesome than reality. Grappling hooks can be more readily available, more capable, and more convenient. We can also nudge fate into providing more excuses to use your grappling hooks. This was the case in episode 4, with a collapsible hook in a utility belt pouch. There's just one drawback to the standard grappling hook, the trailing line. For one thing, a useful length of rope takes up more space than a falling hook. Another issue is making sure the line is free to play out rapidly. These challenges can be solved by a classic bit of science fiction. Liquid cable fits in so well, you might forget it was added during the prequel era. Star Wars has used liquid cables for decades, and I have always loved that detail. There's no rope to get tangled, it's all just fluid in a bottle. I don't know if these are recyclable, if you can retract and liquefy the line after use. I could see reasoning for either way. Perhaps both types are on the market. In some cases, you might use a rotary emitter to spin a multi- strand cable. The substance immediately hardens into a solid rope upon leaving the container. Oxygen is probably not related to the process, so the liquid cable can be used in space. For the grappling hook itself, the S5 has something unorthodox. Instead of folding tines, it uses a dart with expanding barbs. The winch is also rather important for saving time. Otherwise, you would have to walk up the wall like Batman. I have a curious feeling this is all some kind of literary plot. With the S5 out of the way, it's time to look at another Sorosuub product. The Queen and her handmaidens don't use the bulky S5 blasters. In much the same way that Leia carried a DDC Defender, Padme has her own model. The Sorosuub ELG-3A Blaster Pistol. Based on the chrome and its overall shape, these were meant to be Naboo pistols. That would be unfortunate for galactic citizens, since nobody would have this model. Naboo isn't significant enough for there to be any real exports. By assigning this blaster to Sorosuub, they become available across the entire galaxy. Much like the S5, a handmaidens blaster will rarely be used. For the police model, it's built around being visible in the holster. Diplomats have the opposite concern. Sneaking this unobtrusive blaster into a pocket. Holsters are designed for easy access, but pockets are not. Drawing from a pocket, you'd like a smooth design with no protruding controls. Nothing to get snagged on the fabric of your robes. Being a compact and lightweight pistol, it does need to make sacrifices. Range is about the only factor that was prioritized. Ammo capacity will be fairly low. Power will be lackluster. Blaster gas, such as Tibanna, is stored in a detachable end cap. The more frequent half of reloading is when you replace the battery. These slot into the grip and have wooden parts like a Luger magazine. When you really need to blaster, the ELG-3A is a blaster. It's considerably better than nothing. Next in line is the Q2 holdout blaster. This is a very similar design to the ELG-3A, using the same chrome exterior. The only real distinguishing feature is the snub barrel. Finding the exact history is a little difficult. The new Essential Guide says the Q2 was based on the ELG line. The prequel era RPG tells us exactly the opposite. Wizards of the Coast mentioned the Q2 and Q2. The original version was a Mersenne Munitions Q2, very popular. Sorusube asked permission to produce their own copy, the Q-2. From there, Sorusube came up with the ELG series as a heavier variant. To make matters more confusing, some say Sorusube wasn't even involved. There are mentions of a company called Theed Arms, apparently responsible for these blasters. If we go by this law, the ELG and Q2 are only ever Naboo pistols. Worse still, the pretty chrome blasters were never exported from the planet. Any characters with an ELG would have to be Naboo royalty. If you believe Theed Arms created the security S5, that's a little better. At least those S5s would be available on the galactic market, though in limited supply. In much the same vein, some say the CR-2 was also produced locally. Despite the company being Corellian Arms, their only factory is on Naboo. Personally, I think Corellian Arms should be on Corellia. Naboo should be particularly lacking in the military and industrial domains. Our security volunteers will be no match against the battle-hardened Federation army. Now that we know a thing or two about blasters, it's time to get rid of them all. Using the ascension guns was a neat trick. However, even that wasn't enough to evade the droid army. Several destroyer droids roll up, followed by standard B1 battle droids. This also highlights quite an uncommon feature of battle droids in The Phantom Menace. They are extraordinarily friendly. Four killer robots from outer space, that is. Droidekas don't even look vaguely human, and they don't speak. Whereas every standard B1 droid has a vocabulator, or a vocoder. Vocabulator and vocoder seem to be the same device. There is no pattern where one is more advanced than the other. No matter how cheap you buy them, vocabulators don't grow on trees. Surely the Trade Federation would optimize away the ability to speak. The secret is that battle droids aren't just built for battle. More time was spent occupying Naboo than invading it. Battle droids need to have some value outside of battle, like organic soldiers do. Trying to herd people into camps is easier when you can say, hands up. Queen Amidala takes advantage of the friendly battle droids by surrendering. She isn't concerned that droidekas might open fire. The infiltration team has given up, captured and disarmed by droids. Since the Queen is present, the entire group is marched to the throne room. This moment is where we can resolve any geography problems. If they were captured on the top floor of the hangar building, they walked a long way off camera. On the other hand, they could have been in the palace already. That would make the walk much shorter, hundreds of meters instead of thousands. In hindsight, we have narrowed down the route and timing much better. When the Queen's party leaves the hangar, pay attention to the window. The top of this window is square. First, they leave the hangar through a door on the wall. We saw droidekas roll in from the side, so there is a door there. This first marble corridor is on the tank side of the hangar. That's the only logical place for it. Look for the shape of windows on the hangar. They are square-topped and there's room for larger side windows. ... ... When we next rejoin the Queen, she's already in the palace. Everyone is running through a door, but not the hangar door. This one has an arched window back the way they came. Looking at the new corridor, the far window is also rounded. Our best proof comes from ascension guns. On the large exterior shot, all the windows have the same arch. By this point, Amidala has crossed the city. From the map of Theed, we can further route taken off-camera. There may have been any number of hidden passages or sky bridges. This is yet more evidence of a quality movie. We thought it had been a mistake until we looked closer. The Phantom Menace continues to withstand a surprising amount of scrutiny. ... ... ... Getting captured turns out to be a great idea. You get a free droid escort. Viceroy Newt Gunray thinks he has done well. Capturing the Queen had been plan A since the movie started. ... ... Finally, he can get the long-expected treaty. ... ... If the Queen signs her planet over to the Trade Federation, the matter is settled. At this moment, Naboo seems to have lost. ... ... ... Sabe, the decoy queen, suddenly shouts from the doorway. She has her own group of soldiers, more than are with Padme right now. After firing two shots, the newcomers run away. Naturally, the Nemoidian leaders aren't good at telling humans apart. It makes perfect sense for them to make assumptions based on clothing. Just look at how Newt is dressed compared to Rune Harko. One has fairly drab colors, the other uses a lot of red. Padme uses exactly the same principle to blend in, wearing normal clothes and less face paint. ... ... Two droids have already been taken out, and the Viceroy sends most of the remaining ones in pursuit. This decision should be fine. There are enough droids to guard the unarmed prisoners. Reinforcements will be on the way already. There's only one problem. This land was recently captured. ... ... Just as there are secret passages, Naboo has hidden compartments. Padme collects two of the Q2 holdout blasters from inside the throne. These could have gone undetected for months, or forever if the Viceroy left. ... ... With two blasters and the element of surprise, the tables are turned. Battle droids weren't given orders, so they don't react fast enough. As soon as the first few droids are down, Naboo soldiers scavenge their blaster rifles. ... ... With this, the Naboo war is over. In order to save his own hide, Mute Gunray would have shut down the droid army. ... ... ... There would be no need to win the space battle, or the land one. While some of the decisions made are questionable, I think this is a good end to the political side. Finally, the palace is back under Naboo control. With that, we have covered the entire battle of Naboo, the Gungan army, Bravo squadron, and the palace infiltration. These are all three parts of the plan. As I'm sure you've noticed, that leaves only an uninvited lord of the Sith. I'll just need a moment to look up why Maul has such a long lightsaber hilt. ... ... Last time we saw Darth Maul, it was after leaving him behind on Tatooine. ... ... This represents a moderate setback to the Sith agenda. Originally, their plan had been to recapture the Queen immediately. Maul located them too late, then failed to finish his first duel. That first engagement caused no damage or injury whatsoever. One probe droid was lost before the fighting began, and they're disposable. ... ... ... That leaves Maul with his speeder bike and Sith infiltrator ship. He returns to Coruscant at the same time as the Queen. His cover has already been blown. It's wise to go into hiding for a moment. The Jedi actually predict the next move, that Maul will resurface on Naboo. ... ... ... ... As far as we can tell, the Sith leaves Coruscant later than the Queen. Both ships arrive the same day, though it seems the Queen gets there first. ... ... That implies the ships have relatively similar hyperdrive speeds, as we expected them to. Earlier, we proposed that the Scimitar has a class 1.5 hyperdrive, significantly faster than the class 3 it lists in original reference books. That makes it a little swifter than the Naboo royal starship at class 1.8. ... ... By the time the Queen's ship was located, the Apprentice was already in the throne room. He needs a fast ship. Maul keeps responding to the movements of other characters. ... ... ... Next morning, the baddies have detected the Gungan Grand Army. Given the lack of humans involved, everyone sees through the ruse. ... ... ... This is not the true extent of the plan. Jedi would make no difference on the battlefield. Even a dozen knights couldn't win such a war. ... ... ... ... A Dark Lord of the Sith would be equally wasted on the Great Plains. He's waiting for the inevitable next move. Right now, everyone knows the Jedi and Queen are still planning something. Waiting in the palace was the correct decision. The Queen tips her hand at noon, just as the battle begins. ... ... ... Darth Maul hears that a group of humans have attacked Theed Hangar, very close by. This is clearly the real threat. Both Sith will have foreseen something along these lines. In fact, even the Nemoidians may have seen this coming. Maul springs into action, immediately setting off toward the hangar. It takes the Queen a few minutes to clear the hangar, so there is time for him to have walked. Perhaps more likely, he kept his speeder bike stashed nearby and rode that. The next few moments are some of the most memorable in the entire movie. It's clear a good fraction of the effect comes from the soundtrack. Other signals include the way characters react and the environment. Notice the size and thickness of the door. ... ... It's not obvious what would normally pass through this door. It seems clear it was sized for Darth Maul's presence, rather than his height. On the Death Star, blast doors are slightly too short for a Wookie. ... The Naboo doors are twice as tall as any of the humans who built them. As for the character reactions, a 20-man infiltration team stops in its tracks. ... ... It's likely these soldiers have spent days discussing the Queen's attacker. They will be eager to leave and find more appropriate targets. Meanwhile, the Force users remove their travelling cloaks. ... ... This marks the first time we see Maul's horns clearly, though they weren't a secret. His horns are visible as soon as he lands on Tatooine. ... Next, it's time for the most influential five seconds of the movie. ... ... It would be no exaggeration to say this has reshaped the Star Wars universe. Darth Maul holds his long-handled lightsaber horizontal. He activates the saber blade, and then he does it again. This isn't the first double-bladed lightsaber in the history of Star Wars. For one thing, Exar Kun was famous for having a blue-bladed one. Darth Maul didn't invent the double-bladed lightsaber, he made it popular. From this point on, the saber staff has been a staple of Star Wars. A game will likely give you three options. One lightsaber, two sabers, or a double-bladed saber. If you were to ask someone to describe their ideal lightsaber, I'd expect there's an even spread between all three. ... The Jedi also draw their sabers, ending in different stances again. Obi-Wan has the blade directly in front of him, held high and vertical. This is a heroic pose, and I'm quite sure young Kenobi has perfectly executed a move from his training. Qui-Gon has chosen something asymmetrical. His blade is askew, extended somewhat in front of him. The elbows are bent, the sword is carried closer to the chest. A deliberate stance, showing Master Jinn as experienced and independent. This fight is his mission. He will have considered an opening move. Darth Maul begins whirling the double saber. He's going to do this a lot, so we'll discuss it when we have a wider angle. Kenobi has a plan of his own, the same flip Maul had used. Our dichotomy opens the combat, you might say. This is where the fun begins. Let them pass between us. This is a very sensible thing to have done. Jedi outnumber Sith 2 to 1, a massive advantage. The ideal way to exploit that is multiple simultaneous strikes from different angles. In this case, Maul parries with the back blade while facing forward. Very cool, just don't try it unless you're Force-sensitive. Obi-Wan wouldn't have hit Maul with that swing, but he wasn't trying to. By controlling one end of the saber, Kenobi can dictate where the other end goes. When we see what Qui-Gon has been doing, he's already in the middle of an attack. A horizontal swing to follow up on the opportunity. Maul ducks underneath this one, which is great. Trying to parry or block usually ends up as more risky than to dodge or evade. Qui-Gon manages to turn his missed swing into a downward swipe. Young Kenobi tries the same thing, but doesn't even connect with the saber blade. Maul has brought his saber around to the far side of each opponent. That's actually a great idea. Very clever use of the tools available. In the earlier stance, he had threatened the right side of both Jedi. After a quick spin, he's already on their lefts. Qui-Gon responds immediately, swinging his saber around to the far side. Our Jedi apprentice then takes the opportunity to go into a spin. This really is a safe opening to do it. Maul is distracted. If you were looking to criticize this fight scene, spinning may be your best bet. Surely it can't be to gain momentum. Lightsabers are practically weightless. Let's take the complaints about spinning as implied from this point on. Qui-Gon has his sword raised again, touching both of Maul's blades in a split second. By this point, Kenobi has come out of the spin into a horizontal swing. This also seems to be a distraction, setting his master up for a new attack. Qui-Gon comes in with a low attack to Maul's legs. A moment like this could have ended the duel, if it hadn't been blocked. In a move we haven't seen yet, Maul has his saber held vertically. He blocks a swing from each Jedi using the lower blade, moving the staff without rotating it. We're then cut to a much wider angle. Darth Maul has been swinging both ends of his saber staff to attack Qui-Gon in turn. Before he can continue the combo, Obi-Wan interrupts the pattern. That allows Qui-Gon a chance to attack again, which forces Maul's saber back to vertical. Both Jedi take turns to hit opposite ends of Maul's saber, locking it in place. They have him on the defensive, repeatedly blocking. This makes sense for our Jedi friends, even if the execution is somewhat flawed. They are approaching from different angles, trying to overwhelm a single opponent by weight of numbers. That's when Maul changes the game. While he blocks the next attack from Kenobi, he kicks Qui-Gon. This actually qualifies as the most effective move of the entire fight, because it lands without having been blocked. Master Jin completely loses his footing, falling to the ground on his back. Obi-Wan attempts to follow this up with another attack, but misses because Maul is in motion. The Sith Apprentice just had an uncomfortably close call. The kick was intended to create space. Darth Maul spins and flips his way across the hangar floor. This isn't the fastest way to cover ground, but it looks better than bravely running away. It also serves to keep Maul in combat, drawing the enemy toward him. He doesn't intend to disengage from the fight, only to change the terrain. The Jedi are getting far too comfortable on such level footing. As Maul approaches the wall, he telekinetically grabs a bit of debris. I had once thought it was a pointless gesture, but this works on multiple levels. First of all, the obvious reference is to Maul's eventual replacement. Starting in episode 5, we see Darth Vader throwing objects at Luke. That's an interesting ability to have, and I'm sure the similarity was intended. The implication here is evidence for something I've believed for many years. The Force is not like a magic hand. It has limited dexterity and precision. It's easier to lift a stone than an equal weight of gravel. The reason I think this is from the carbonite freezing control panel. I have the impression that these are not the original controls. A lever was rigged up as part of Vader's trap. On any normal day, the control panel would have looked different. This large lever only exists so that Vader has an easier time grabbing it. He probably could press a tiny button, but it would take more time or effort. That would explain Maul's actions here. He grabs something to throw at the door controls. If there were no constraints, surely he could have pressed the door open button. The only advantage of destroying the door control is so the Jedi can't interact with it. With the Jedi Master still regaining his footing, Maul is fairly safe. There's only a Padawan learner approaching right now. Kenobi had been twirling his saber in one hand, an unnecessary flourish. Darth Maul responds with a more impressive two-handed twirl. We should keep in mind that this isn't an attack. It's more of an intimidation move. Maul doesn't believe he can finish Obi-Wan in this moment. The Sith helicopter twirl helps to keep the apprentices spaced out. It also emphasizes a key advantage. Jedi don't plan to fight against this weapon. Young Kenobi can't fall back on his training as he could with a standard opponent. One key advantage is that Maul can be unpredictable. It's not clear which blade he'll use next, or when. Obi-Wan swings down into the windmill, connecting with one of the blades. We see another moment that could have ended the duel. The Jedi does a spin. This time, there was no good opportunity. The timing was very tight. If Maul had reacted a little faster, that mistake could have been fatal. Maul is forced to block, though he retains the spinning motion. By this point, Qui-Gon is back on his feet and has caught up to the apprentices. When rejoining the fight, Master Jin has his timing offset. He attacks while Obi-Wan winds up for a swing of his own. There is no chance of winning the fight in this second. Everyone accepts that. Both sides are trying to prolong the encounter for a later victory. The two Jedi attack from up high, trying to tie up Maul's saber. With the Sith blade forced into a high guard, Qui-Gon is free to attack the legs. This would have been a great bit of teamwork against any other weapon. A double-bladed lightsaber is perfectly suited to defeat such tactics. Immediately afterwards, we get another set of uncommon moves. Both Jedi go into a spin here, though with different timing. Obi-Wan goes first, and gets a boot to the head. Darth Maul is using kicks again. That's relatively strange for a lightsaber duel. It makes Maul seem practical, aggressive, perhaps even unsporting. Use your aggressive feelings, boy. As before, the mighty boot is the most effective attack so far. Kenobi is knocked off his feet, taking him out of the fight for several seconds. Qui-Gon has his back turned while this happens. The spin of Jyn will finish just as the opportunity is gone. Before Qui-Gon can strike, Darth Maul is halfway through a leap Darth Maul is halfway through a leap. His motive is exactly the same as before, trying to get a terrain advantage. Create an opening to move, then run a short distance. Last time Maul used a kick, he reached the door and opened it. Besides that, nothing has changed. The ground is still flat. There are walls slightly closer, but this hasn't affected combat so far. The Sith Apprentice lands on the far side of the door. The Sith Apprentice lands on the far side of the door. The Sith Apprentice lands on the far side of the door. The Sith Apprentice lands on the far side of the door. The Sith Apprentice lands on the far side of the door. Qui-Gon follows him in, keeping the pressure on until Kenobi recovers. These next few strikes seem more intense than the swordplay so far. Qui-Gon starts with a combo. A weak low attack, then a heavy attack up high. A valiant effort and it nearly worked. Obi-Wan is back on his feet, keeping his distance while the other two are spinning. Darth Maul gets the upper hand here, knocking Qui-Gon against the wall. Kenobi jumps in, starting with a high swing followed by two low ones. This time, his spin has a practical purpose. It allows him to attack the legs from two sides. Not the best move in the fight, but it's a fairly good idea. Not the best move in the fight, but it's a fairly good idea. Not the best move in the fight, but it's a fairly good idea. Qui-Gon recovers quickly, only having missed two turns. His next attack lines up with Kenobi's third one. Despite the change in scenery, Maul is still on a perfectly flat surface. He disengages from the block and begins to create another opening. First, bringing both ends of the saber to bear against Qui-Gon. Second, he blocks a flanking horizontal swipe from Kenobi. This one comes from behind Maul, but he redirects the blade above his head. Finally, the Sith Lord backs away to a bottomless pit. There are no safety rails, and he even wobbles while standing on the edge. The Jedi have our Sithy friend backed into a corner. That would be excellent progress if Maul hadn't set up the entire scenario. Right now, the fight is a standoff. Everyone is standing slightly out of lightsaber range. Qui-Gon Jinn adopts one of his most iconic poses. Lightsaber held mostly vertical, up at shoulder height beside his face. Possibly not the best stance for deflecting blaster bolts, but better in this context. Young Obi-Wan will be the one to reinitiate combat. Kenobi is clearly preparing to attack, but he doesn't actually swing his lightsaber. It was all just a feint, setting Qui-Gon up for a better chance. Darth Maul doesn't react to this, only moving to block the real attack from Qui-Gon. At last, Maul can put his plan into action. Through the power of the Force, he jumps about four meters to a nearby catwalk. The Jedi are left on the inspection platform from earlier. This jump is mostly a test, to show the audience what kind of feats a Jedi can perform. Kenobi and Jinn make the same jump with little effort. We can be confident that Maul has trained for this. He is a weapon, forged for the purpose of killing Jedi Knights. He must have experience fighting on narrow platforms like this. Jedi are not prepared to take this sort of thing in stride. It's highly likely that Maul practiced these jumps while dodging live blaster bolts. On their first move after landing, Maul is able to block both Jedi at the same time. This is where the movie cuts to another perspective. When we return to the fight, there have been yet more acrobatics. We had left the duel on the ground floor, roughly the same height as the street outside. Now everyone is on the next level up, about ten meters higher. Maul will have jumped up there first, allowing his enemies to flank him. Traditionally, this is thought of as a bad decision. In this case, it doesn't seem nearly as unwise. We have established that Darth Maul can block without being hit even once. At the same time, he can land kicks that knock his opponent to the floor. Being outflanked isn't even a handicap, thanks to a double-bladed lightsaber. Even though Maul is spinning, it's clear his attention is on Qui-Gon. The Master is a more serious threat than the Apprentice. Maul uses another high-low combo, which Qui-Gon deflects easily enough. Kenobi is lurking in the background, hoping for a sneaky backstab. This does not go well for him. Both attempts are blocked. Obi-Wan gets kicked in the face for the second time this afternoon. If you were curious why Darth Maul wanted to fight in here, this is it. Using exactly the same kick, Maul buys himself minutes instead of seconds. Obi-Wan rolls back by only a few meters, the same as in the hangar. Unfortunately, the platform is less than two meters wide. Our Jedi Apprentice falls down below ground level, at least two floors. He sails off the edge after being kicked, hits one platform, and then another. I had always thought Obi-Wan fell one level. This shot is rather unclear. In a few seconds, we'll find out the real answer to this altitude issue. Unlike with the earlier uses of this kick, Darth Maul failed to create an opening. Qui-Gon was not occupied at the time. Taking a leaf from Maul's book, the Jedi Master doesn't bother using a lightsaber. Jyn uses a shoulder bash to knock Maul off balance, followed by a punch to the head. Apparently that's quite an effective tactic, because the Sith Lord goes over the edge too. Maul seems to have more control of his fall than Kenobi did. Still, landing flat on your back is quite uncomfortable. A mere mortal would be out of action for quite a few seconds. Qui-Gon isn't going to wait that long. He jumps down, the only one to have done so of his own volition. This landing looks effortless. He managed to keep his footing. Better still, Qui-Gon deactivated his saber before jumping. No green blade is visible while he's in flight, where Maul had both blades still on. By the time of the landing, the lightsaber is pointed down towards Maul. Another moment that could have easily ended the duel. As usual, Darth Maul reacts too quickly to be wounded. In this case, he makes two actions in the same round of combat. As well as blocking the green saber, Maul uses his signature move. That's right, he kicks Qui-Gon in the head again. This time, it barely causes Jin to stumble. It buys Maul just enough time to stand up and start running. Qui-Gon is fighting alone again, so he presses the attack. A pair of low strikes to opposite sides of the legs. This also causes a third flash of saber contact, though it's hard to say who caused it. Qui-Gon then ducks a swing to come up on the inside, behind Maul's blade. That's one of the more interesting moves so far. The Sith apprentice is backing away now, pushed deeper into the building. Is this another of his plans, like opening the door in the first place? Darth Maul spends a lot of time defending. Qui-Gon goes for a low attack, a high block, and then another swing down low. This would be a much better combo against a single-bladed lightsaber. Even without Obi-Wan involved, the sides seem equally matched. Speaking of the lad, where is young Kenobi? Obi-Wan had fallen and only caught hold by the tips of his fingers. The camera has been pointed elsewhere for quite some time. We don't know exactly how many seconds had passed since everyone went down the level. It's possible he hung there for a while before pulling himself back up. Kenobi's lightsaber had landed on the catwalk, right next to him. That's to be expected. It fell along the same flight path as its master. Aided by the force, Obi-Wan climbs back to his feet. It doesn't take an expert tracker to follow the sound of a lightsaber duel. On the level above, Qui-Gon blocks a thrust from Maul. All good and well, until he attacks the same blade from the opposite side. I don't see any reason to do this particular move. We're several minutes into a large fight scene, and this is the first objection I have. Perhaps not as flawless as the Tatooine duel. Unlike then, I can't say that every character always makes the best decision. That earlier duel had been about the context, the innocent bystanders. This time, the fight takes place well away from any kids or monarchs. Both sides are evenly matched, unable to cause any lasting damage. Qui-Gon keeps Maul on the back foot. The Jedi Master continues another fluid string of attacks. One swing from each side up high, then a third aimed downward. During this particular shot, we see a doorway in the background. It's quite large and starts to glow a fiery red. These are widely regarded as bad omens, a kind of foreshadowing. In fact, a very similar visual appears in a movie of the same era. The Fellowship of the Ring lingers on its red door. We are shown an entire goblin army fleeing from its glow. All of that is intended to make the Balrog more impressive. Before the monster appears in person, we are told its name and power level. Star Wars puts its equivalent door in the background. There is no dread because of the door. Our focus is on the saber duel. Any similarity here is probably a coincidence. The movies were released only two years apart. Obi-Wan looks up at the catwalk above him. This is how we can answer the question of altitude. Darth Maul and Qui-Gon are on a long, straight bridge. We've seen one of those leading away from the main door, meaning it's on ground level. When the duel moved into the building, we saw that bridge in the background. Obi-Wan has definitely fallen below ground level. We see Kenobi make a force-assisted jump. More impressive than previous ones. From a standing start, he leaps an entire level into the air. Very impressive, considering these levels look about 10 meters apart. Force jump was established halfway through the movie, as we left Tatooine. Qui-Gon boarded a ship while it was in flight. There are clearly limits to this power. He couldn't jump into orbit. You won't find a Jedi leaping tall buildings in a single bound. Throughout the fight, we've also seen a moderate amount of acrobatics. Jumping will be relevant to the end of the duel, so it's important we see it often. Once again, the Jedi choose to jump with lightsaber deactivated. As soon as Obi-Wan lands, he turns on the saber and starts running. Qui-Gon uses a familiar pattern of attack, which seems effective. He causes no damage, but Maul is too busy blocking to strike back. One swing up high, then 1H to the bottom left and right. Darth Maul manages to parry this, sweeping the green saber to one side. Jyn is barely even slowed down, returning for an overhead chop. Maul blocks with a horizontal saber, raised at head height. More interestingly, we can clearly see Maul turn to look behind him. Rather than spinning, I think he was looking at the scenery. At this point, I think Maul is worried. Fighting inside the power station was his idea. These doors, I don't believe anyone truly planned for. ... ... ... ... Qui-Gon may have been planning to push the Sith Lord back, against the forcefield. By the time Jyn starts the next high attack, Maul is moving to block. This interrupts the combo. Qui-Gon never gets to follow up with the leg strikes. Behind Maul, the red forcefields have deactivated. With only one path open to him, Maul retreats through the gap. Qui-Gon is hot on his heels, trying to end the duel before Maul can recover. It seems to be working. A couple of horizontal slashes at waist height have Maul off balance. A few seconds more, and the fight may have ended. Darth Maul blocks a spinning low attack with one blade, then attacks high using the other. Another example of an advantage to the double bladed lightsaber. On the other hand, this is still blocked as easily as ever. Qui-Gon goes for another wide swing to the ankles, which Maul is forced to jump over. The next move will be the last, and Jin makes it a good one. It begins as a horizontal swing, aimed around Maul's right shoulder. This was a feint, because he suddenly switches to attacking on Maul's left. A very good try, something we could have seen more often. Darth Maul diverts the greensaber around him, using his second blade. Everyone's favorite Sith apprentice continues to run away, bravely. Here's where it gets complicated. Maul hasn't even finished twirling his saber before the doors go red. At the end of the bridge, there is a corridor lined with pillars. They have a 45 degree range of motion, either facing the opposite pillar, or turned away. Whenever they change state, it always happens in sequence. By the time the next pair starts turning, the previous force field is already online. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jin deactivates his lightsaber. Mechanically, this should have no impact on the saber duel. Power consumption isn't an issue for multiple reasons. First of all, they're designed to be used exactly like this. A lightsaber should use a reasonably potent power cell. Batteries are a solved problem at this point in galactic history. Sabers have looked the same for the last 4,000 years or so. You will almost never see a Jedi with a flat battery in his sword. No matter how recklessly you use your lightsaber, it should run continuously for years. The second reason is about when a lightsaber uses power. Even though they often act like it, sabers do not give off heat. You might be able to melt ice and metal with it, but it won't keep your hands warm. There's probably some loss from the light, even if the glow was an atmospheric interaction. Lack of waste heat means lightsabers can idle very efficiently. They are described as a stable loop of energy, only depleting power when they touch an object. All of this means there should be no benefit to turning off a lightsaber. Qui-Gon wasn't worried about conserving his battery life. There's no consequence to this choice at all. It doesn't help in any significant way, and it has no cost either. That makes it all the more revealing when each character chooses to deactivate. Qui-Gon had done so immediately, sensing the fight was paused. Darth Maul tests the barrier, despite knowing it would fail. As soon as he confirms this barrier is impenetrable, Maul turns off both his saber blades. Obi-Wan is the last to follow suit. He clearly wants to intervene, but knows he'll be delayed by the door sequence. At this point, we need to address the red force field barrier. What is a laser door? Why is it red? And why is it so frequently linked with quasars? In the movies up to this point, lightsabers have sliced through anything. I can only remember two objects slowing down the blade. Vader's suit and blast doors. These red doors have an advantage in that they don't really exist. There's no solid wall to cut through, just a curtain of energy circulating. The only vulnerabilities would be the wall emitters, which nobody attacks. Not even Darth Maul thinks it would be a good idea to hack such a machine open. This is a perfect example of how to defeat a lightsaber. Instead of trying to come up with a material that can resist the blade, use energy. That way, you have two energy fields interacting, constantly recirculating. When Maul's saber touches the barrier, it causes only a brief ripple. That's a good clue that the force field might be related to lightsabers. Given that saber technology is intentionally vague, that isn't much to go on. These can't be lightsaber doors, otherwise Naboo could mass-produce sabers. The novelization mostly talks about lasers, but there is an odd one out. This line describes the barrier as a stream of electrons. If that's correct, these doors aren't lasers at all. Lasers are made of photons. A beam of electrons is called beta radiation. Using a particle beam to create a beta ray door seems, uh, excessive. A laser door seems unlikely as well, so what about a turbolaser door? Blasters lead us in circles, because their nature has changed over time. Two of the classic options are just laser and particle beam again. The remaining answer is plasma. That one has potential. We already know Naboo has plasma on it. The Gungans rely on low-cap plants to refine this naturally occurring plasma. Human society also mines plasma from the depths of Naboo. That's what this entire location is. A plasma power station. All the glowing tubes are full of unrefined plasma. According to the book Inside the Worlds, these are called acceleration shafts. Plasma from the underground mines passes through every tube in turn. All of this is conveniently placed next to Theed Palace. The power station is mostly used to power the royal hangar and palace. There are no planetary defense cannons, no shield to use up the surplus power. Naboo uses some fraction of this to power their city, and the surplus is exported off-world. If this entire environment seems familiar, that's because we've seen something very much like it. Cloud City has a similar purpose. Mining to banner gas from the planet Bespin. We can also draw a lot of similarities to Death Star. This book notes that Senator Palpatine had been very interested in the idea of deep pits. After the plasma runs through these shafts, the real processing begins. Machinery we never see activates the plasma, as well as purifying it. It would seem activating makes the plasma stable. It's possible the red doors use that same plasma. We also need to explain why the laser doors move in that pattern. According to the novelization, these are a security feature. As Maul and Qui-Gon go through the corridor, anti-intrusion lasers come on. That seems completely implausible. After only a few seconds, the lasers deactivate and let people walk through. Inside the Worlds says they are a safety feature related to power surges. That idea does a far better job of explaining how the doors move. The timing is intermittent, because these surges are unpredictable. All just part of running a plasma power generator. And one fully automated atomic station. Whatever triggers them, we can't see any change in the air or plasma flow. That implies there's no wind. The lasers aren't to keep out any air pressure. Perhaps the doors are on a hair trigger, and it's usually a false alarm. I'm going to find whoever did this. To explain the pattern, all I can think of is power consumption. If you stagger the activation, there's a consistent number of pillars turning at any given time. One force field is becoming stable, just as the next is starting to glow. It creates a more gradual change in power usage. As for the nature of these red barriers, I've found the perfect reference. There are many devices in the galaxy that can be used as weapons. A classic example would be the stick, and all its countless variations. Knobbly stick, pointed stick, metal stick, metal point on a stick, or a pointed metal stick. Flanged metal stick, stick launcher, explosive stick. When you're in a nest of Gundarks, that fancy hydrospanner is just a metal stick. What you really need is an Evasive-13 IFD system. None of the Jedi could possibly own an Evasive-13, but there were other models on the market. Individual field disruptors are small machines worn on your clothing. After activating your IFD, it creates a disruption bubble around you. An unintended side effect is that it'll deliver an energy blast to anyone who touches you. Depending how high you've set the IFD intensity, it could be fatal. We're not looking to misuse these devices, though. We want them for their intended purpose, bypassing security fields. Individual field disruptors allow the wearer to walk through energy screens and fences. This device existed in the pre-prequel expanded universe in 1997. The energy fences are described as exactly what Episode 1 shows. Energy fences are walls of visible, deadly energy. Other terms include energy screens or power screens. They're a common security device, both military or civilian. As far as I know, the original trilogy never shows one of these fences. That's another example where the prequel movies match the existing lore. During the prequel era, the Star Wars website divided the databank into multiple tabs. There was one for the movies and one for the expanded universe. The third tab covered details from behind the scenes. These aren't different continuities like on Wikipedia. The EU simply provides more information. It goes deeper into the same universe. I've heard of people getting upset when they find out how much we know about Star Wars. Keeping the EU lore in its own tab might help to predict these people from such details. Potentially, a field disruptor might also affect deflector shields. I've heard it said that the energy fences are ray shields. That's a strange conclusion to draw, but I can see the logic behind it. Ray shields are mentioned in the original movie. The most obvious reply is to point out that ray shields are invisible. Otherwise, we'd have seen a shield around the Death Star's thermal exhaust port. That could be explained as an effect of the atmosphere, like the Drunken and Droidica shields. Another problem is that ray shields block energy weapons. Physical objects like a torpedo or battle droid can pass through ray shields. This leads me to episode 3 where ray shields are used to trap a pair of Jedi. I regard this as a mistake, but there is some basis for it. Ray shields are said to have a similar effect to the IFD. Touching an active ray shield would zap you with enough energy that it may be fatal. That explains why Maul only hits it with a lightsaber, not his hand. However, energy fences have the same feature. A blast upon touching it. The difference is that energy fences are built for this purpose. Ray shields are made to deflect blaster bolts. A power screen is made to slap you with something like a heavy repeating blaster bolt. Ray shields are not designed to stand up to melee combat. Energy fences are security devices, so they'll be tamper-proof. Now that we know, let's see how an individual field disruptor works. When you activate your IFD, it creates a bubble around you. All you need to worry about are two things. Intensity setting and battery capacity. Different strengths of energy fence require you to crank up the power. Civilian fences are much weaker than military or industrial ones. Assuming you have a high quality IFD, you can walk through most power screens. If the energy fence has a higher rating, it overwhelms the IFD. You take the full force of the fence's blast. Power consumption is also a factor. The evasive 13 runs for either an hour or four minutes. You might be able to circumvent this limitation by carrying a backpack generator. Individual field disruptors have shown us what these energy screens are. However, I don't think the Jedi should have carried IFDs. Darth Maul probably has one aboard ship, but he rarely uses it. Naboo's red doors look like they'd be extremely powerful. No matter what model of IFD you bring, I doubt it would have helped. Now that we have context for the red barriers, let's get back to the Duelists. Qui-Gon has already shut down his lightsaber, and now he kneels. Just like on Tatooine, fighting a Sith Lord was exhausting. Jedi Master Jyn has a great deal of wisdom and experience on his side. That is a great advantage, to be sure, but the night is getting old. Both apprentices bring youth to the fight with all that entails. Qui-Gon had been trying to win the fight quickly. He's a lot more tired than the other two, and that will only get worse. Obi-Wan is the last to power down his lightsaber. Since he had nothing better to do while sprinting, he will have noticed the door pattern. His fence will stay active for a second or two longer than Maul's one. Kenobi is ready to move at a moment's notice, and he will definitely get several moments. Darth Maul is visibly impatient, pacing back and forth in his cage. This is exactly the scenario Qui-Gon wanted to avoid. After a moment to recover, all the momentum of the fight has been lost. Maul has already recovered. He's not on the back foot, and has time to think. Qui-Gon was pushing himself to achieve such good results without help. Trying to recover some of his strength, he goes into a state of Jedi meditation. That can only be beneficial, especially since Maul isn't doing the same thing. On the other hand, it signals that Qui-Gon needs this rest. Darth Maul can clearly see the implication of weakness. Next, we see another ability. This one has been in constant use throughout the fight, and the movie in general. Obi-Wan ignites his lightsaber again, a second or two before the cue that would have prompted him to. This shows the same power that was explained on Tatooine, Jedi reflexes. All three Force users are able to sense when the doors will move again. That's why Qui-Gon considers it safe to meditate with his sword shut down. Both the Ved and Greensabers were ready long before the blades were crossed. The duel continues much as it had before. Qui-Gon opens with one high attack and one to each leg. Maul is pushed backwards along the corridor, spinning his saber. This cycle happens twice over the course of the door opening sequence. Maul and Qui-Gon make their way into a cul-de-sac room with a bottomless pit in the middle. This time, Qui-Gon makes two high attacks followed by a low one. At this moment, everything seems to be going fine. Our Jedi Knight is winning the fight on his own, and Kenobi is on the way. We should never underestimate Qui-Gon's skill as a Jedi. If Darth Maul was planning something, it involved surviving the fight. Qui-Gon immediately forced Maul to retreat, using only his skill with the sword. The Sith Lord may have chosen which direction to run, but he couldn't hold his ground. Everyone in this duel fought as well as could be expected. Alas, Obi-Wan will not be fighting just yet. There is another power surge, causing the energy fences to snap closed. Kenobi will have sensed this, possibly as soon as he started running. Even with that much warning, he barely manages to stop before hitting the barrier. Clearly, young Ben was pushing his luck. This is the pivotal moment of the fateful duel. Maul is no longer retreating. He gains ground again. He attacks low with one blade, high with the other, and keeps pushing forward. Qui-Gon blocks these as easily as ever, though his sword is swept aside at one point. This is a worst-case scenario. If Maul gets the upper hand, he could easily win. Qui-Gon blocks an odd move, more of a side-on thrust than a swing. To his credit, the Jedi actually succeeds at halting Maul's advance. Jyn swings down at Maul's leg, forcing the Sith back a step. That situation only lasts for a moment. Maul spins his sabre staff to disengage, then continues advancing. He attacks with each blade in turn, alternating between high and low strikes. Qui-Gon makes another clever attempt to turn the fight around. He takes a hand off his lightsaber while moving the blade to his right, but it's back on at the next camera angle. Qui-Gon then whirls the blade above his head, going to his left before coming down on the right again. That sort of wind-up makes more sense if your sword has weight to it. I can only conclude that this is a feint, in this direction. It very nearly worked. Maul blocks in a strange way, sabre held behind his body. However, an awkward parry is still a parry. Once again, Maul spins his double-bladed sabre to disengage and reset the fight. Qui-Gon is forced to back off, once again. He has retreated 180 degrees around the room, despite starting with a 90-degree advantage. The Sith Apprentice attacks high with his right blade, high with the left. Then as part of the same movement, low with the right and low with the left. So far, nobody has managed to land a significant blow. The novelization does mention Maul binding his wounds while Qui-Gon meditates. Minor burns and slashes, none of which we see in the movie. I do prefer there to have been some kind of injury. As depicted in the movie, boots are a better weapon than lightsabers. This pattern holds true at the end of Qui-Gon's duel. A blunt object is what really makes the difference. Qui-Gon makes his final move, an overhead vertical chop. The Sith Lord blocks this with his blade held horizontal. He then slams the hilt of his lightsaber into Qui-Gon's face. The duel is already over. While the Jedi Master is off-balance, Darth Maul impales him with a red blade. Notice how small an opportunity it took for a single saber attack to land. This could have happened to anyone at any stage of the duel. If Qui-Gon hadn't been as skilled, he would have died on Tatooine. Maul was well-trained in the Jedi arts, allowing him to challenge two at once. Obi-Wan was indeed ready to become a knight, since he wasn't an easy target. Eliminating one of your opponents would be the optimal move. Throughout the fight, Darth Maul never had time to stab Kenobi. Having Qui-Gon isolated and exhausted was a critical part of this victory. Using an unusual lightsaber design will also have helped. Finally, we should consider the dark side of the Force. Even if the dark side is no stronger, quick and easy are relevant. Sith training will likely give you power much earlier on. There will be a higher emphasis on combat, both with a saber and other equipment. Sith are not renowned for their compassion, so they have brutal methods of teaching. Darth Maul is a more impressive warrior than a comparable Jedi would have been. As soon as he stabs Qui-Gon, the greatest threat is eliminated. Maul moves on, waiting for the energy fence to cycle again. There's only one Padawan left to mop up. Maul stalks over to Gloat, which is potentially unwise. The only possible disadvantage to killing a Jedi would be the morale question. On one hand, yes, that would make Kenobi sad. The other likely outcome is that you'll make the surviving Jedi angry. That's helpful if you want to corrupt him, turning him to the dark side. Darth Maul has no intention of recruiting Obi-Wan, so this is a little risky. I think it's fair to say that the Jedi apprentice will have been channeling the dark side. He didn't mean to. He isn't aware of it until later. Kenobi is trying to follow his Jedi training, but he wants to win above all. As before, we find the lightsabers have been turned off. As long as the fight is interrupted by energy barriers, this seems to be normal. Once again, Force users can sense the doors a couple of seconds before they start to move. Obi-Wan is the first to activate his saber, though Maul isn't far behind. Driven by fury and a hunger for vengeance, Kenobi charges forward. Darth Maul is pushed back around the room about 45 degrees. Kenobi opens with the same flurry his master used most often. One attack up high, then a low one on each side. This works as well as ever, but then Kenobi's luck runs out. Maul stops retreating to counterattack. He tries to alternate using each end of the double-bladed saber. Obi-Wan had seen that pattern a minute ago, so he doesn't let it play out. The first swing is blocked as normal, but Kenobi ducks under the second. The lightsaber passes over his head, putting him inside with Maul's back turned. There isn't time to exploit this. Maul is still halfway through his pattern. Obi-Wan blocks the return swing by holding a blade behind his back. I'm not sure that's a practical move in reality, but for a Jedi, it's reasonable. The main benefit is when he brings the sword back in front. That catches the final part of Maul's pattern, which should put the Sith off-balance. Obi-Wan comes in with a high attack on his right, then one low on the left. Before he can turn it into a classic three-hit combo, Maul retaliates. Obi-Wan is forced to block top-left, top-right, and bottom-left. Instead of waiting for the fourth strike, our Jedi hero dodges again. Just as before, this gets him in behind Maul's back. Despite being in position for a backstab, there is no time. Obi-Wan blocks to the top-left, bottom-right, and bottom-left. This approach isn't working. Both men back off out of melee range. Darth Maul spins his saber staff, then closes in while spinning himself. Now Obi-Wan takes a slightly different approach to dodging. He blocks to the top-right, bottom-left, then jumps over a low attack. Maul takes one final swing before he starts losing ground again. The next few moments are hard to classify into offense and defense. There aren't any clear attacks or parries. These all look like crippling strikes, only stopped by an opposite attack. What we can say is that the Sith Lord was pushed backwards. A fully trained Jedi apprentice was able to match Maul's skill in combat. As the camera goes into a close-up, Kenobi is definitely blocking. First, with the blue blade, point down behind his head. We've seen this pattern before. It continues with a block to the front. Obi-Wan knocks away Maul's saber and deflects as the other end comes in. After an overhead parry, the blue blade is lowered. When it comes back up, the double-bladed lightsaber is cleft in twain. For a moment, we can see both halves with their blades active. It's likely the cut was uneven, so the components on one end will have been damaged. This is only possible because of the way Darth Maul's lightsaber was constructed. He used the simplest possible approach to a double-bladed saber. Get two sets of parts and install them inside a double-length hilt. Not very elegant, but it does give you a longer grip section. The earlier model of double-bladed lightsaber belonged to Exar Kun. The length is only slightly longer than normal for a more sophisticated design. Instead of doubling all the components, Exar Kun just has two blade emitters. Inside is a single power cell along with one set of crystals. In the unlikely event that your lightsaber hilt is damaged, Maul has the better design. It really is just two lightsabers attached end-to-end. Both halves are independent of each other. One can continue working if the other breaks. Obi-Wan continues by using his most effective weapon, the power of foot. A swift kick to the sternum knocks Darth Maul flat on his back. Without a double-bladed lightsaber, this becomes quite an ordinary duel. Kenobi flips over Maul to land behind him, batting away a feeble defensive swing. An unnecessary flourish prevents the Jedi from getting another hit. Maul jumps to his feet just as Obi-Wan lands and he runs while the saber is in mid-twirl. Kenobi makes a futile slash at Maul's heels. At this point, the Lord of the Sith has retreated 90 degrees, twice in a row. He covers his escape with a very practical flourish of the wrist. After sweeping his sword through the rear arc, it swings back the other way. Obi-Wan catches up as they return to the doorway. He opens with a diagonal attack against Maul's left side. Because of the change to his weapon, Maul fights with a different moveset. His block turns into a series of strikes, two high and one low on the same side. These are mostly to distract from the real attack, a boot to the head. To his credit, Obi-Wan doesn't so much as stumble. He turns this into a backflip, dodging a horizontal follow-up strike. Darth Maul is clearly trying to replicate his previous stab. After landing, Kenobi barely manages to deflect it in time. Maul takes this as his cue to whirl away, backing off by a few meters. As he comes back in, still spinning, his first attack is from out of range. Obi-Wan blocks it anyway, a low diagonal swing from his left. The Jedi holds his ground, blocking a high horizontal slash from the same side. When Kenobi tries a pair of ankle strikes, Darth Maul dodges around him. Now the Sith has his back to the energy fence, right where Qui-Gon wanted him. Unfortunately, that means behind Obi-Wan is a large hole in the ground. Poor Obi-Wan has no idea what he's being set up for. He tries going for Maul's head, but the Sith ducks underneath. Quite a taunty dodge, I might add. Since the blue blade hit nothing but air, Kenobi tries a vertical chop. The duelists lock blades for a moment. It makes for a nice contrast. Two apprentices of light and dark. A moment later, Obi-Wan is pushed backwards. I tend to think this might have been a sneaky kick, because it didn't look like a shove. As he stumbles back to an arm's length, Maul uses a force push ability. The remaining Jedi tumbles back over the edge, into the melting pit. His lightsaber flies out of his hand along the way, turning off automatically. For the second time this fight, Obi-Wan is left dangling by his fingertips. As before, this shaft might as well be bottomless. If you fall down here, there can be no recovery. It is a final death. Darth Maul approaches the edge of the pit, noting the fallen lightsaber. This may not be Obi-Wan's first ever lightsaber, but it's the one he carried on Naboo. The design is familiar, if you know what you're looking for. Lightsaber hilts have always been a key part of Star Wars. At first, Luke starts out with an inherited saber hilt. The Graflex design, looking suspiciously like a camera part, belonged to Anakin. Both Luke and Vader used a similar design, and for the same reason. Because that's what Anakin used when he was a Jedi. In Episode 5, Luke loses that saber, and also his hand. From that point on, Luke had to build a lightsaber of his own. I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. However, the new saber wasn't a perfect copy of his father's. Luke took inspiration from his own mentor, Ben Kenobi. It is a well-known fact that Luke's green saber is a copy of Obi-Wan's. A Jedi's weapon. Much like your father's. That detail was carried over into the prequel era, and its various saber hilts. Kenobi's saber in Episode 1 is an extrapolation. Instead of being dull, all the metal surfaces are polished. The blade emitter keeps a small flare, but lacks the narrow sections near the tip. The ribbed grip looks as much like rubber or plastic as metal. In the original trilogy, hilts had a rectangular box for an activation lever. Prequel versions tend to use a red button as the activation switch. Finally, the lumps around the base have been extended. There are six spaced around the hilt, which should stop the saber from rolling. Unless there's a Sith warrior kicking it. Darth Maul obviously knows something about the Jedi, how important a saber is. Destroying Obi-Wan's hilt is more about being cruel than practical. Obviously, Maul considers his victory to be complete. He will also assume the Trade Federation is winning the battle outside. The novelization says that Obi-Wan had given in to the Dark Side, that a Sith Lord started throwing objects, and the Jedi responded in kind. While I don't think Kenobi was trying to, he will have tapped into the Dark Side. None of that helped. Darth Maul is just too good at Dark Side lightsaber combat. You can't expect to beat a Sith at his own game. Obi-Wan hadn't been calm or at peace, so he wasn't in touch with the Light Side. Now he's hanging from a warning light, counting down his last seconds. This is where Kenobi stops thinking like a Sith apprentice and becomes a Jedi. His own lightsaber was just destroyed. Maul's lightsaber was cut in half, and he's still holding the better part. That leaves just one weapon in the room. Future General Kenobi has a plan. He stops looking like a cornered rodent, and Darth Maul notices. All the threats in the room have been eliminated, or so he thought. The only lightsaber belonged to Qui-Gon, and what a fantastic sword it is. Of all the hilt designs in the galaxy, Jinn has to be my favorite. This isn't an ostentatious, gaudy hilt with electrum trim. The shape is just a cylinder, with a few nice details. Where other sabers are covered in knobs and switches, Qui-Gon has one button. There's a protrusion opposite, said to be the charging port. This was likely used as a belt clip for props during filming. If you look carefully at the silver part, that diagonal is reminiscent of Anakin's saber. The overall shape is also similar to Obi-Wan's hilt from the original movies. Finally, the grip. Instead of being superficial grooves, those cuts on Qui-Gon's hilt go all the way through. That leaves air where part of the battery would normally go. Lore explains this by saying there are a dozen power microcells. That's the sort of detail only the rightful owner would appreciate. Obi-Wan, being a fully trained apprentice, can put a plan together. Ever since episode 5, we've known it was possible to pull a lightsaber to your hand. Another ability was the Force Jump, established in Cloud City. Young Kenobi knows about all these powers. He fully understands them. When he looks over toward Qui-Gon's sword, he isn't seeing with his eyes. The end of this fight uses abilities we know about, ones that were foreshadowed. When Obi-Wan jumps 5 meters straight up, we aren't surprised. The borrowed lightsaber flies straight into his hand. Obi-Wan jumps all the way over Maul, catching him by surprise. If the Sith apprentice had expected the fight to continue, he definitely would have blocked. Due to his overconfidence, that is the last mistake Darth Maul ever made. His story ends here with an expression of mild confusion. He was a great villain and will be missed. It's almost a shame how short his life was, a waste of a cool design. It might have been fun to see some continued adventures of Darth Maul. Still, there is no room for argument. The movie was very clear about this. Maul was sliced in half. He comes apart on the way down, into the torso and legs. The parts that used to be Maul spend a while plummeting down the shaft at terminal velocity. As for what's waiting at the bottom, it's hard to say. Some sources describe this as the core shaft of the power station. It's clearly a reference to the reactor shaft where Palpatine died, but that's not all. The most common term for this shaft is melting pit. Darth Maul's remains are in for a warm welcome. That name was extremely confusing for me. You can't just say melting pit and expect a Star Wars fan to overlook that. That term is specifically a reference to Darth Vader. For as long as I have known Vader's name, I also knew his origin. Everyone knows that Darth Vader was created after a fight around a melting pit. When I looked up that knowledge, I have also seen the term molten pit. This was my first thought upon seeing Maul's melting pit. You can't do that. That is the origin for Vader. You can't just use it on Maul first. You have to realize this was before Episode 3 was made. There was no mustafar. We always expected the fight to take place in a Terminator 2 steel mill. When you know what to look for, that sounds a lot like the Naboo plasma generator. Still, Vader's pit must be shallow enough for him to survive. It isn't credible that a Sith cyborg could be salvaged from this place. Obi-Wan is victorious and he waits long enough to be sure. As soon as we know Maul has gone for good, Kenobi steps back. He turns off the borrowed lightsaber, setting it down gently beside its master. Qui-Gon is still conscious. He could hear the entire fight. In a lot of ways, this moment is similar to Obi-Wan's own death. Here, Kenobi plays the role of Luke. Unable to help, his mentor killed behind a barrier. After the fight is over, the scene is closer to Yoda's final moments. Qui-Gon Jinn's final words were carefully chosen. He knows how the Naboo situation will play out. As for the Sith, Kenobi is the most experienced Jedi in the galaxy. There is only one issue Qui-Gon wants to influence. One kid with potential who might otherwise be forgotten. The audience knows how important Anakin Skywalker will be. At this point, none of the characters can see it. Qui-Gon believed he was an important opportunity for the Jedi. Obi-Wan doesn't see the same thing, but trusts Qui-Gon's judgement. Yoda will go along with the idea, if only to avoid Kenobi leaving the temple. If Jinn had survived long enough to train Anakin, galactic history might look very different. By the time Darth Maul dies, the war is over. Every facet of the battle had already been resolved. We leave Qui-Gon's final words using a classic wipe transition. This represents a time skip of several hours. Prisoners need to be freed from camps. Battle droids will have to be collected into piles. There may even be a few Nemoidian accountants hiding somewhere. Bravo squadron will need to land, and so will Anakin. The kid expects Qui-Gon to disapprove of his reckless piloting. Someone will have to explain the duel to little Annie. Once the planet is secure, everyone will want to report in to Coruscant. Kenobi will be particularly insistent, needing to inform the Jedi Council. Padme and Panaka are more interested in updating Palpatine. Now that the blockade is gone, the palace can communicate again. This will be via the holonet, for instant communication across the galaxy. Sending messages through the subspace network would be far too slow, not to mention unreliable. Palpatine and the Jedi respond with uncharacteristic speed. We see a red ship land in front of Theed Palace. Judging by the lighting, this appears to be early afternoon. Given that the battle started at noon, that leaves only a few hours for the battle and the travel time. I think this scene is meant to take place during the same day as the battle. I don't believe that's possible. Travelling through hyperspace isn't that fast. We see the Falcon cross half a galaxy in a few hours, and it's the fastest ship of all. Darth Maul makes a similar trip and seems to take half a day. Assuming hyperspace travel takes more than five minutes, it should be almost sunset. I don't know what George Lucas thinks about travel time. The RPG books say crossing the galaxy takes days or weeks. Along a good route and with the best possible hyperdrive, it can be less than a day. Far from a major hyperspace lane, or with a normal ship, that turns into weeks. If you have a slow ship, that could take several months. Personally, I find this scale far more compelling. Travel time also solves the question of inconsistent daylight. It just isn't the same day as the Battle of Naboo. The Red transport ship is different from any ship we've seen so far. Like the Eddicus, this ship managed to stay under the radar for quite some time. A book from 2012 names it Star Shuttle Perpetuous. There's an obvious similarity to the Radiant 7 from the start of the movie. Not just in the color, but the type and placement of the engines. Corellian Engineering Corporation made the Republic Cruiser, so those Dyn 577s must be their engines. The Tantive 4 was also a Corellian product. It seems certain that CEC produced all three models of diplomatic vessel. Both ships appear to be roughly the same length, though one is far more bulky. We can expect the Radiant 7 to be far faster and more agile. The Star Shuttle has one engine higher up due to its different weight distribution. Its engines are clustered around a central core of some kind. Whatever's in the bottom center can't be another sublight engine. We can see enough to know it sticks out past the back of the engine cluster. It almost looks like a jet nozzle, but that makes no sense at all. We'll just say that's the end of the fuselage. I would suggest that the hyperdrive takes up a significant fraction of that space. It's probably next to the ship's main reactor. The Star Shuttle Perpetuos has some very important passengers. It's safe to assume that's the role this ship was built for. To avoid being intercepted, the ship has two features, speed and armor. Sublight engines from the Radiant 7 will push this to an above average speed. Its real strength lies in the hyperdrive. Class 1. By giving it a hyperdrive as fast as a military model, it's an elite ship. These customers are the sort who might pay for such a thing. Shelling out for a Class 1 hyperdrive will halve your travel time compared to a Class 2. The other notable feature is the shape of its forward hull. Where the Republic Cruiser is a rod with wings, the Star Shuttle isn't. The exterior shape looks more like a beetle or slater than anything. Without any indication what might be underneath, I think we have to take that as the hull. That means one of two things with very different implications. The most likely option is that there's more space inside. Star Shuttle Perpetuos has about three times the internal volume of a Blockade Runner or Republic Cruiser. Perhaps there's a swimming pool inside or a holodeck. Or even better, somewhere to play that sport from Battlestar Galactica. Originally it was called Triad until BSG got a reboot. The reimagined form was named Coley and the unlikely event that you have room left over, you could install more machinery. Maybe it would be a good idea to install a bigger shield generator than normal. A better reactor, more escape pods. Taking this path gives a tremendous amount of flexibility. The other option is for there to be much less internal space. What if the passenger compartment has absurdly thick armor? Instead of millimeters you express its armor in meters. Star Wars does actually support hull armor of many types. That armor's too strong for blasters! Ordinary Durasteel is a perfectly adequate material to use as armor. There will be an endless variety of alloys, synthetic materials and ceramics. If you can afford them, there are exotic ores and organic materials. The Perpetuos was selected to transport the highest ranking man in the galaxy. It seems likely there was an emphasis on both shielding and armor. Whatever its armor thickness, this ship will have sleeping room for a lot of bodyguards. Despite its moderate size, this ship may include a brig for Gunray and Harko. The Star Shuttle Perpetuos is a great ship. Any connection to the blockade runner is all but extinct. It mirrors the Consular Cruiser from the start of the movie. As soon as you see it, we can tell this ship represents a bigger fish. More Jedi aboard, plus a galactic politician. Once you start thinking about it, the Star Shuttle fills a useful role. A corvette-sized transport built for the rich and famous. It's most similar to a Lambda Shuttle in terms of its capabilities. Atmospheric flight is a standard feature for a shuttle. Unlike the Eticus, the Perpetuos is made for high-speed galactic travel. I could even be convinced it has a hyperdrive as fast as 0.9. As a diplomatic ship, this won't carry any weapons. That would be a job for a fighter escort if there was still danger around. Palpatine's shuttle is unremarkable. Invisible. It fits into a classic lineage from the first movie, but it remains unobtrusive. I have no complaints. The Naboo people have gathered in force to meet the Red Shuttle. Part of this is to honour the newly elected leader of the galaxy. Another purpose for the shuttle is to be a luxury prison transport. Queen Amidala has a pair of Nemoidians in her dungeon, you see. Runharko and Newt Gunray have been hauled out of their cells. Padme has devised the most fiendish punishment one could imagine. She wants to lock them in a room with thousands of politicians. Panaka has a line that references the very start of the movie. He's convinced that the Senate will punish the Trade Federation. That lines up with Princess Leia, who invoked the Senate to ward off Vader. It also echoes his own line from before the invasion. The Senate would revoke their trade franchise and they'd be finished. Now, we have to remember that the Senate will decide their fate. Last we heard, the Senate's position was how do we know Naboo was invaded? We may find a distinct lack of response from the politicians. In fact, the Trade Federation may still exist decades from now. Naboo guards escort the prisoners onto the Perpetuous. Senate guards are on their way down, flanking the Chancellor. Behind the Republic follow the Jedi, about half of the Council. Yoda and even Peele are in the lead, followed by Plo Koon and Ki-Adi-Mundi. It gets a little harder to see as we look at the rear ranks. We can see Depa Billaba and Ceci Tien, plus one other. A little later, we spot Eeth Koth and Adi Gallia. Now, I'm not the best at this sort of thing, but something seems a little off here. This man is not Mace Windu. We could speculate about production motives, how much certain actors cost. Like spotting a stunt double, we're expected to ignore this. Alternatively, perhaps he was just someone's apprentice. The first place Palpatine stops is to greet Obi-Wan. There's no indication that Kenobi ever met Senator Palpatine. The Naboo incident will be the first time they learnt of each other's existence. In his public persona as Chancellor Palpatine, he must be grateful to the Jedi. Darth Sidious, on the other hand, is furious. Maul's training had been thorough. Losing an apprentice hadn't been part of the plan. Kenobi was now on the Emperor's radar. His retaliation will be slow, but nonetheless effective. Still, things could be worse. Palpatine has become ruler of the galaxy. It's far easier to keep power than it is to gain it. The dark side is doing as well as it ever has before. Best of all, nobody suspects a thing. With Maul's death, there is another concern. Darth Sidious needs to recruit a Sith apprentice. Maul had been in experiment with Jedi methods. Palpatine had found a Zabrak child from the planet Iridonia. From that kid, he forged a dark reflection of the Jedi. Lord Maul has been a Sith apprentice as long as he can remember. Decades of effort, all destroyed with a single saber blade. Next time, Palpatine would not make that mistake. Instead of raising another infant, he will recruit an adult. Sith need to be Force-sensitive, so he has a very limited pool of candidates. Most of them will be current Jedi or ex-Jedi. Turning one will be a difficult task. It would take a master manipulator. The Jedi recognize only twenty who have resigned from the Order. There's a loophole to that statement. Only twenty knights. Almost every Force-sensitive child in the Republic goes to the Jedi. Not all of them complete their training. You're wasting your time. Some have no talent. Others are excommunicated. Anyone leaving the Jedi would be a potential Sith. Future plans will depend on what Sidious can find to serve as his apprentice. By the grace of your training, I will not be seduced. We shall see. What luck! There's a Force-sensitive child right here. We will watch your career with great interest. At this moment, I don't believe Darth Sidious is planning to create Vader. Anakin is clearly a valuable resource. Sidious sees him as a pawn, as opposed to the second Sith. Skywalker can be trained as a Jedi, then poached later on. Chancellor Palpatine is more interested in Anakin than Sidious is. There's not even anything to hide. Everyone knows the boy has potential. Thinking of the Force is the normal way to explain Anakin's skill. The Supreme Chancellor can recognize an opportunity. Skywalker will be a good political connection to the Jedi Temple. Palpatine is extremely patient. Congratulations on your election, Chancellor. To that end, he steps forward to meet the Queen. The crisis on Naboo served its purpose, in that Palpatine was elected. Ending here is quite an acceptable outcome, perhaps even preferable. The reign of Palpatine started with a triumphant note. Naboo and its people look capable, decisive, and yet still peaceful. Nobody would suspect this backwater was the homeworld of a dark lord. Queen Amidala is happy to have a sympathetic leader in the Senate. Your boldness has saved our people, Your Majesty. It's you who should be congratulated. The two leaders exchange formal congratulations. This is expected of such lofty figures, even if they will complain in private later. Back on Coruscant, Palpatine advised Padme against returning. Go back. But, Your Majesty, be it realistic that they'll force you to sign the treaty. He has the excuse of looking out for her safety, so now he must appear happy. The important thing is that the Queen survived. Palpatine is to wield the real power in the universe. He plans for Amidala to be an insignificant puppet. Queen Amidala is young and naive. You will find controlling her will not be difficult. The movie wipe transitions to an exterior view of Theed. Time has passed again. Now the sun is setting. According to the novelization, this scene takes place three days after the battle. The Jedi Council has finished their examination. They will, surely, have interviewed a few people from the palace infiltration team. This is the clue we need to unravel the mystery of the Sith. Since the Jedi are most interested in the Sith, that'll be their focus. We can expect Yoda to shut down the Theed power station. The Jedi will take the Jefferies' tubes down to the bottom of the melting pit. If there was anything left of Darth Maul, they will have taken the corpse for an autopsy. Remember, this is the first Sith sighting in the past thousand years. Last time Sith were active, Yoda was a century away from being born. Or hatched. We really don't know much about Yoda's biology. If nothing else, there might be evidence of Maul's training. Broken bones from the harsh life of a Sith apprentice. Even the type of ink used in his tattoos might be revealing. Unfortunately, Darth Maul fell into a melting pit. Only one outcome makes sense. Maul's corpse was melted down. That's the entire purpose of a melting pit, and a Zabrak is quite easy to liquefy. You think they'll melt us down? Maul's remains will have been vaporized, just like Kenobi's saber hilt. After discovering the lack of evidence, the Jedi Council would have a meeting. Qui-Gon's mission is now complete, and the Sith have returned to the galaxy. There's a lot to discuss, including two Jedi apprentices. One to be knighted, and one to become a squire. The contentious option will be the boy, and if he is to be trained. For Obi-Wan, the situation is much more straightforward. You've been a good apprentice, Obi-Wan. And you're a much wiser man than I am. I foresee you will become a great Jedi knight. He is headstrong, and he has much to learn of the living force, but he is capable. There is little more he can learn from me. Before returning to Naboo, he was already confirmed to be fully trained. Qui-Gon has passed on all the knowledge and experience he can. By the standards of the time, Kenobi is ready to take his final assessment. Obi-Wan is ready. I am ready to face the trials. If the Naboo negotiations had been boring, Obi-Wan would still be ready. Within a few months, Qui-Gon would have trained his final Padawan. Master Jinn didn't even want to train Kenobi all those years ago. He only chose Skywalker because of how well Obi-Wan's apprenticeship went. As it turned out, the Naboo mission changed a lot of plans. Anakin needed training, which meant Obi-Wan could no longer be an apprentice. No matter who trained the boy, Kenobi needed a full knighthood. That's how we met him in the first movie, a Jedi knight qualified to train pupils. Learn about the force, Luke. In fact, right now, he is perhaps the most qualified knight in the entire Jedi Order. Obi-Wan Kenobi is the only living Jedi to have ever seen a Sith Lord. Not only that, he fought and killed a Sith while technically being an apprentice. In the Council Tower, Obi-Wan mentions the trials. This is clearly some kind of test, a practical demonstration of his skills. After having faced a Sith Lord, nobody expects Kenobi to go through those trials. Even though there hasn't been one for a thousand years, Sith are part of Jedi training. This goes back to the original trilogy, the first time we ever saw a Jedi being trained. Luke's knighthood depends on his encounters with Darth Vader. You must confront Vader. Then, only then, a Jedi will you be. Episode 6 establishes that confronting a Sith can end your training. This brings me to another line from the same scene. If you look at the dialogue carefully, Yoda is saying, I told you so. That you rushed to face him. That incomplete was your training. Everyone warned Luke that he needed to finish the Jedi training. Instead, he left Dagobah, lost a hand, and also dropped a priceless heirloom. Kept it locked away. Yoda says it's unfortunate that he left without training. That with incomplete training, Luke wasn't ready to fight Vader. However, I've always interpreted that scene differently. I understood this as Yoda revealing how significant a saber duel is. To my ear, he says, that complete was your training. That you rushed to face him. That incomplete was your training. Putting that through the descrambler, we find a different point. That, facing Vader, was the completion of your training. Instead of hearing a list of unfortunate things, I heard a single point being made. That confronting a Sith Lord is the final exam of Jedi training. Only a fully trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as an ally, will conquer Vader. Where Obi-Wan truly was ready for the trials, Luke tried to take the final exam early. Training! Of course, the reason it works as a test, is that Sith are quite tough opponents. Only a Jedi Knight could emerge victorious from such a trial. This seems to be a long-standing tradition of the Jedi Order. Nobody even seems to question the logic. A Padawan who defeats a Sith Lord in combat is automatically knighted. This policy makes a certain amount of sense, but it does rely on the quality of Sith. He was trained in the Jedi arts. My only conclusion can be that it was a Sith Lord. If the Dark Side trains a bunch of incompetent Sith, they aren't a real trial. That means the Jedi who face them would also be underqualified. Thousands of years ago, this would have been fine. Sith of that era would have been extremely competitive. Obsessed with power, their internal conflicts would discourage weakness. Kill him. Kill him now. For reasons we'll get to later, that's not so true anymore. There is still a minimum guaranteed level of competence. All Sith have a grudge against the Jedi. They're only true rivals. These are the only two factions likely to engage in lightsaber duels. Every Sith apprentice will be trained up to a level where he can win against Jedi. Get help, you're no match for him. He's a Sith Lord. Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our speciality. As we see from their policy, Jedi also train their apprentices to defeat Sith. The Jedi Council didn't expect the Sith to exist, but Sir Kenobi was still trained well enough. Speaking of which, Yoda has a distinction to make. But agree with your taking this boy as your Padawan learner? I do not. He cannot deny Kenobi's skill as Jedi. Yoda is concerned about how good a teacher Obi-Wan might be. Ideally, one would wait for a while between being knighted and taking an apprentice. Get some experience as a fully-fledged Jedi first, perhaps for a few years. Anakin is not a convenient choice as your first Padawan. For a start, he's too old. Luke demonstrates that this isn't a concern. You can be trained despite that. Jedi like to get in early because it makes things easier. It's much safer to raise a child in the Jedi Temple than to recruit a nine-year-old. Older recruits just increase the chances of something going wrong. The same goes for Anakin's talent with the Force. It's risky for someone to be the most powerful Jedi in history. The Chosen One, the boy may be. Nevertheless, grave danger I fear in his training. Yoda is correct that training Skywalker will be difficult. One could argue that this moment is what created Darth Vader. By refusing to train Anakin, the Jedi Council set the stage for their own destruction. I will train Anakin. Without the approval of the Council, if I must. The way to avert this would have been to train the boy. If the Jedi picked their most capable teacher, Qui-Gon may have been content with that. Obi-Wan would probably have allowed another knight to train Anakin. Because the Council rejected Skywalker, they lost control of him. Qui-Gon became determined to train the Chosen One himself. Anakin will become a Jedi. I promise you. I shall do what I must Obi-Wan. Kenobi will accept nothing less than his master's dying wish. No other Jedi can be trusted to see this training through. Yoda has maintained a consistent stance on this matter. The rest of the Council used to agree with him, but have since changed their minds. Anakin's actions during the Battle of Naboo were extremely lucky. You can do it. I call it luck. In my experience, there's no such thing as luck. There's also the fact that the Jedi have lost a knight. If you can start training a replacement that week, you might as well. Agree with you the Council does. Your apprentice, Skywalker, will be. The audience knows how significant this moment is for the galaxy. At the end of Episode 1, the pawns are in place. Anakin is exactly where he needs to be for the story to move forward. We've seen Kenobi and Skywalker before they were knights. Now, the trilogy can continue by showing Anakin's training. What will happen to me now? The Council have granted me permission to train you. You will be a Jedi. The Jedi High Council didn't come here for Anakin. Each Jedi Master has a personal history with Qui-Gon Jinn. There is a small temple at the Edge of Thede in the Fall District. The building is well ventilated and glows warmly from the inside. Naboo is a delightful planet. Qui-Gon would have liked it here. Master Jinn was well respected within the Jedi Order. Of the Council, Plo Koon stands closest to Kenobi and Skywalker. Saesee Tien steps forward, looking over Nasa's shoulder. Most of the Jedi hang back around the side of the temple. Yoda and Mace Windu are at the far back wall. Adi Gallia is standing next to Windu and is a noted friend of Qui-Gon. Even Peel is leaning against a low wall, much like Anakin is. Depa Bilaba has chosen to stand in front of the wall, as close as Obi-Wan is. Eeth Koth is right behind her. As for the rest of the guests, most are from Naboo. Bossnass, Jar Jar Binks, and Queen Amidala. Captain Panaka, Ric Olié, CO Bibble. The back row appear to be all handmaidens, and R2-D2 is the last familiar face. Qui-Gon has been recovered from the Plasma Power Station. This funeral is centered on a pyre, a familiar sight to Star Wars fans. More than a reference, this choice has implications. As we all know, Luke built a similar pyre in Episode 6. Originally, this had room for interpretation. Was he burning Anakin or Vader? With this scene, Lucas has confirmed that Luke was right. By doing this, we learn the respectful way to dispose of a Jedi. The only question is a comparison to the original trilogy. When Obi-Wan and Yoda die, their bodies fade away into the Force. We might expect this to happen every time a Jedi is defeated. I don't think that's implied though. Kenobi says, I'm more powerful than you can possibly imagine. This is an advanced technique, something Darth Vader never learned. It's very likely that Yoda and Obi-Wan developed the technique after the Jedi Purge. Though we may have lost one knight, the Jedi Order is alive and well. Last time Anakin heard anything, he was forbidden from being a Jedi. Qui-Gon gave him an order to stay safe, which he did not honor. The moment Anakin gets back down from orbit, he finds Master Jyn is already dead. As far as little Annie knows, the only Jedi who liked him is gone forever. Obi-Wan will do his best to try and save him. Obi-Wan is the only Jedi who likes him. Obi-Wan is the only Jedi Obi-Wan will do his best to train the boy, because he's the only one who can be trusted. The novelization goes more into Anakin's thought process at this moment. Most of this is obvious. He is alone on an unfamiliar world. The closest thing to a father Annie ever knew has been slain. All that remain are strangers, even Kenobi. The kid liked Padme and Ric Olié, but the Jedi training will prevent him from seeing either one during his childhood. I'm on my way to the Jedi Temple to start my training. I may never see her again, so I came to say goodbye. Mace Windu and Yoda discussed the Naboo incident. As Qui-Gon had speculated, they believed Darth Maul was a Sith. There's no doubt the mysterious warrior was a Sith. This is a surprise because Ki-Edi Mundi thought the Sith were extinct. One thousand years ago, a great battle wiped out the Brotherhood of Darkness. There has been no Sith activity in the last millennium. That's what someone on the Jedi Council thought just a few days ago. We are better informed in this galaxy, of course. We have access to reference books. For example, the 1999 Visual Dictionary describes the age of the Sith Order. According to this book, Sith branched off from the Jedi two thousand years ago. After that, they vanished from the galaxy and haven't been seen in the past millennium. All of this is technically still correct and accurate lore. The only bit we object to is when the Sith began. Even at the time of writing, this was not correct. Remember, the Republic had been around for twenty-five thousand years. Lore from the time already disproves the Visual Dictionary. In books from 1998, we have mentions of Korriban, the home planet of the Sith. Going back to 1994, we can still find a mention of Exar Kun. He is definitely an early Dark Lord of the Sith. Exar Kun visited Korriban after the Sith were long dead. The old Sith Empire was already known to be five thousand years ago. Kun lived four thousand years before Skywalker. Going back before they were called Sith, there had been Dark Jedi. An early Dark Side cult existed before the Jedi. There have been Dark Siders for twenty-five thousand years on and off. All of this was known at the time. There's no reason for the mistake. It even sounds implausible. Sith existed for only a couple of thousand years. Before the prequel era, the title of Sith Lord belonged to Vader alone. We knew about ancient Sith, but not Darth Sidious. Episode 1 decided that Emperor Palpatine was a Sith as well. Making a change like that is significant. If it didn't ring true, the fans would revolt. Because it made sense for Palpatine to be a Dark Lord, everyone went along with this. You can find a lot of complaints about the prequels, but nobody mentions this change. People don't even think about it as a retcon. Of course the Emperor is a Sith. Darth Vader is a Sith Lord, and Palpatine trained him. When the Visual Dictionary was updated in 2012, that line was removed. By examining the lore, we can prove that a book is wrong. Even so, there is an element of truth to this paragraph. There was a significant change to the Sith in this time period. Two thousand years ago, the Sith operated out in the open. A Jedi named Fanius defected, becoming Darth Ruin. About 50 Jedi followed him, and he united several factions within the Sith. Over this millennium, the Sith were victorious. The Republic fell apart in the year 1100 BBY. This Age of Darkness lasted for 99 years, until 1001 BBY. Jedi exist to solve that particular problem. Officially, all Sith were destroyed at the Battle of Ruusan. The sole survivor was a champion named Darth Bane. He decided that the failure of the Sith armies was caused by greater numbers. Too many weaklings unworthy of the force. Darth Bane was the one who created the Rule of Two. Acting in the open had failed, so Bane insisted on stealth. Instead of an army, there would be only a master and an apprentice. The idea is that these two have sole access to the dark side. Training takes so long that Sith can only manage one apprentice. This is all good and well, but there is one obvious question. How could Yoda have known about the Rule of Two? The Sith are trying to operate in secret and as far as we know, they have succeeded. Even the Jedi Council believe their ancient enemy is extinct. It is true that the Jedi have some Sith relics to study, but these are ancient artifacts from before Darth Bane existed. We could say that Bane got the idea from Sith history, so Yoda inferred it. There is an official answer, believe it or not. Yoda is thinking of an incident from the year 188 BBY. A Sith fortress had been discovered in the Cularan system. The building had belonged to Darth Revan from the line of Darth Bane. After ignoring it for 50 years, a pair of Jedi looked into the matter. The apprentice was named Cib Gene and he was not prepared. Dark side whispers corrupted him within minutes. Cib Gene betrayed his master and looted the fortress. This is where he gained the more recent Sith knowledge. Cib was responsible for the Dark Jedi conflict. Yoda will have been paying attention to this, so he heard of Gene's final words. The fallen apprentice mentioned there always being two Sith. After Naboo, the Jedi can no longer deny the existence of Sith. I do not believe the Sith could have returned without us knowing. There is no doubt the mysterious warrior was a Sith. That leaves Cib Gene as the most up-to-date report. Yoda and Windu have correctly applied all the knowledge they have access to. Their behavior makes sense and so does that of the Sith. The rule of two is a good idea in either galaxy. Multiple Sith apprentices would only lead to infighting. They may gang up to defeat their master then start squabbling. For the audience on Earth, it's even better. If there were too many Dark Lords, that would make the title meaningless. The pull to the light. The Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again. The power of the darkness. One Sith per generation in the galaxy. That's as low as the population can go. I'm not full of Sith. Sith have been made as rare as it is possible for them to be. It's also interesting to point out that even now, there are two tiers of understanding. It's possible to watch this movie while seeing Palpatine and Sidious as two characters. Someone who has only watched the original trilogy may recognize the Emperor. He's the evil man in the black robe. Nobody actually calls him Emperor Palpatine in episode 6. By avoiding the supplemental material, someone could potentially miss that connection. I don't know if that's a common experience, but the movies were intentionally vague about it. You could potentially have missed this for the entire trilogy up to episode 3. The other perspective is what I see as normal, having known the name Palpatine already. I believe it will have been printed on several toy boxes. Palpatine's name appears 20 times in the novelization of episode 6. As soon as Amidala said Senator Palpatine, these fans understood. It's hard to say how many people knew this in 1999. Along the prequel trilogy, some will have figured it out on their own. Others will have heard fans talking about Emperor Palpatine. The Emperor does not share your optimistic appraisal of the situation. The Phantom Menace ends in much the same way as A New Hope. Skywalker climbs into a starfighter cockpit for the first time. ... An extremely large space station was destroyed by a lucky shot. The verdant planet of the good guys has been saved. Now it's time for the princess to hand out commendations while triumphant music plays. ... Unlike the rebellion, the Naboo are perfectly safe. There is no galactic empire, no need to evacuate. As far as Amidala is concerned, they can live happily ever after. The heroes of the day are not fighter pilots, not the Jedi Knights, not the Naboo resistance. This ceremony is about the future, not the recent battle. ... ... Naboo security forces are lined up in front of the palace. For the second time this week, an inhuman army marches into Theed. This time, the Gungans are here to celebrate their efforts. We see at least two rows of Gungan trumpet players. When you look at it, the Gungan trumpet is a very odd instrument. The airflow only passes through the straight tube at the top. Everything else is just a long handle. That isn't the case for the horn used before battle. ... It does have an elaborate handle in the shape of a longbow. In that case, the horn is a curved conical brass instrument. After the concept art phase, the handle and the horn aren't combined. For the version used in the parade, the long handle may be hollow. There don't appear to be any valves or holes in Gungan wind instruments. Assuming a hollow handle, that could change the sound considerably. I don't know of any brass instrument with a resonance chamber like that. If the handle is just a handle, the instrument is mostly ornamental. A very small bugle with ergonomic handles for a long necked species. The only similar instrument is a Gungan whistle. When Captain Tarples calls for a retreat, he's holding a whistle. This was a surprise to me. I always assumed Tarples used his fingers. We are shown far more drummers than trumpet players. Drummers appear to be wearing heavier armour, perhaps with more metal than leather. Another interesting detail is that Gungan drums are played one-handed. The left hand is waving around without touching the drum. Each drummer carries a multi-headed drumstick called a palm blossom. The Gungan ceremonial group has a similar composition to the Grand Army. There's one famber at the back, underneath the arch. Most of the Gungans are on foot, except for their leaders. Officers Tarples and Binks are at the head of the parade, on kardu. Boss Nass has a falumpaset to ride, and he is the rider. There is no other Gungan holding the reins, nobody walking alongside. People often see Nass as a joke, less of a leader than Amidala and Pilberteen. That isn't supported by the movie, nothing indicated Nass to be incompetent. Before Jar Jar crashed it, Nass may have driven his own hay blibber. It's also likely that Nass knows how to hold a spear and throw a boomer. I fully believe that Boss Nass could beat the other Naboo leaders in a fight. Panaka would be the only challenge, and he's not very important. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... There's no indication she's a pilot during this movie. By the start of Episode 2, Padme is qualified to fly an N-1. She's not cut out to be a combat pilot, but that's fine. What really matters is that she can operate a one-man fighter. At the top of the steps, a group of humans is waiting. All of Naboo's leaders are gathered at the landing. Handmaidens and nobles are in the middle behind the Queen. Security officers line the walls, much like the guards in Yellow. We see the orange coats of Bravo Squadron to one side. The only people out of place are the heroes of Naboo. Obi-Wan, of course, along with Anakin and R2. It seems a strange decision to include a droid. None of the other pilots brought an astromech. I wonder if Anakin insisted that R2's contributions be recognized. Obi-Wan isn't the only Jedi around. The High Council were already here, so they might as well attend. Peace on Naboo is the sort of thing Jedi Knights should value. There is a consistent set of Jedi on the planet, but they're not always visible. This group includes Mace Windu, Depa Billaba, and Ceci Tien, Plo Koon, Even Peele, and Yoda. There have been only two missing. Eeth Koth is not present. Ki-Adi Mundi is here for the parade, but wasn't shown at the funeral. We could infer they were both out of frame. Still, the movie allows for them to be elsewhere. The front row of the parade was a set of six standard bearers. Each one carried a sister with colored pennant. As they reach the palace steps, they stand aside to let Nass through. The flags might represent Gungan tribes or something more abstract, perhaps the six principles of Gungan society. They're also holding the sister far lower than normal. You can see the leather-wrapped grip sections in two places along the haft. Now that Boss Nass is here, it's time to address the glowy thing. Seo Bibble steps forward to pass a palantir to the Queen. The novelization calls it the Globe of Peace. Fitting, since the ball appears to be a plasma globe. We have plasma globes on Earth, and they do look very cool. The flat version even turned up as a bit of Borg technology. That's true of the orb in-universe as well. Definitely a plasma globe. The glow even matches the color from Naboo's plasma generator. Our other confirmed use of plasma technology is the Boomer. Gungan Ammunition uses exactly the same design as this Globe of Peace. What sets the Naboo version apart is the outer shell. Instead of an opaque blue, this orb is perfectly transparent. That may be what allows for its glowing tendrils. We don't know how old this artifact is, which would make quite a difference. Was it made yesterday to celebrate this occasion? It could be centuries old, a treasure from Naboo's vaults. Maybe it was crafted by early colonists at the first plasma mine. There's no telling how many times it changed hands through history. One thing we can be very confident about, this would never have happened before. Handing this treasure to the Gungans will work out well for all concerned. We know the Gungans won't object to the globe, because it's like a boomer. Presenting NASS with a protocol droid would have been... unwise. The Globe of Peace honors the Gungan military. It will do wonders down in Ota-Gunga. NASS will display the orb, a trophy freely given by the surface dwellers. Its glow will always be linked to the great leader, Boss NASS, and his trusted second-in-command, General Binx. The ceremony is now complete. Padme's part is done, it's all a photo opportunity now. Queen Amidala will stay on Naboo, as will Panaka and Ric Olié. Chancellor Palpatine will return to Coruscant. Obi-Wan and the Jedi will leave aboard the same star shuttle. Today, that includes Jedi Apprentice Anakin Skywalker. His hair has been cut into the style that signifies a Padawan, short all over and with only an apprentice plait. That single patch of hair will grow over the course of your training, a natural indicator of your experience. It also indicates seniority of a knight. You only regain your hair once your training is complete. A newly promoted apprentice will still have short hair, as we see with Obi-Wan. I'm fairly sure the hairdo doesn't apply to Trandoshans or Wookiees. Can female Jedi opt out for fashion reasons? I don't have any lore to share on that matter. The idea is an invention of the prequel era, it wasn't part of Luke's training. Ben Kenobi's ghost never told Luke to get a haircut. Naboo's peace ceremony brings us to the end of the movie. This was an exciting new chapter of Star Wars. Episode 1 was the first step into a larger world. The dawn of the prequel era instantly doubled the size of the universe. Expanded universe stories had been set during or after the OT. That history reached out to decades after the Battle of Yavin. As the prequels were unveiled, that timeline extended into the past. It was an age of new movies and more besides. Chief among them are the computer games. Several times I've talked about future knowledge affecting our perception of the past. People forget that in 1999, there were no vulture droids. For anything you don't personally remember, we need to look up documents from that era. On this channel, we tend to use various reference books. Tabletop RPGs also have a lot of useful lore in them. In this section, we will examine a game from the turn of the millennium. Its name is Battle for Naboo. Because YouTube limits us to only 12 hours per video, we don't have time for the entire battle. If you're interested in the unabridged version, look for our video on Battle for Naboo. Computer games are known for having certain lore inaccuracies. Some aspects have to be completely disregarded as non-canon. How many times did Darth Riven break into someone's house? On the whole, most Star Wars games are intended to be plausible. The aim is to create a background character from the movies. Someone else who lived in the same galaxy as Skywalker. In this case, we need to pilot Gavin Sykes. This is a vehicle combat game, there's no button to get out and walk. If you look carefully, pilots are made of crossed cardboard cutouts. We most commonly associate that technique with trees. As with many games, there is an opening crawl. The wording starts off similar to The Phantom Menace. This version has no mention of the Jedi, and not much on the Republic. This game is entirely about the Naboo invasion and its resistance. Where the movie skips over, this game's campaign tells that story. The first mission is highly linear. The entire map is within the city, so you're constantly hemmed in by walls. For an opening level, this is a sensible choice. Several enemies are shown, but they're split up between corridors. The streets are just wide enough to turn around, but it should be difficult to get lost. This level is also a perfect test of your control mapping. I haven't found a viable way to make it work using the mouse. Using a controller seems by far the easiest solution. Starting this level in a flash speeder also makes sense. It's one of the simplest and most common vehicles on Naboo. During the invasion, police and guards could easily be driving a flash. It serves as a baseline so that later ones can be a noticeable upgrade. The mission starts with Captain Pinaka ordering a peaceful evacuation. Gavin follows a twisty route out of the city, meeting up with others along the way. Battle droids are trivial opponents where destroyers are a moderate threat. Tanks are the largest threat and very limited in number. One of the main game features is the use of multiple vehicles. Each level starts with a vehicle selection menu, even if there are no alternatives. That's controlled by the game's unlockable system. Experienced players can replay a level to see which vehicle is best. Depending on the mission, you may be able to change vehicle in the middle of a level. Sometimes this happens as part of the story. The first moments of gameplay happen in a flash speeder. It makes sense as a starting vehicle. Its only real focus is speed. Thied Security would use these as flying police cars. The pursuit blaster would be an ordinary sight, not alarming to the citizens. As we mentioned earlier, flash speeders are substantially modified. Their original form, the Sorusub Seraph, was a civilian speeder. Naboo added a single pursuit-slash-defense blaster. Was that all Pinaka had installed? The game suggests otherwise. There are multiple differences. Most visually apparent are an extra set of vents underneath the spoiler. They aren't present on the original model from the movie. That isn't a big deal, they do make the design look more interesting. Despite the visible exhaust, it seems they aren't meant to be jet thrust nozzles. More likely to be cooling vents for the Repulsorlift power generators. The original design had a notable lack of ventilation surfaces. This game's depiction is inaccurate, and for once, that's an improvement. The other notable deviation relates to weaponry. In the movie, only a single blaster cannon is shown. Every reference book mentions that flash speeders have only a blaster. For the sake of gameplay, Battle for Naboo adds an entirely new weapon system. A missile launcher with a small magazine. Every vehicle has one blaster weapon with infinite ammunition. The game needed a torpedo button, which has to work on all vehicles. Flash speeders were given a missile launcher because it's the least bad option. Where is the launch tube though? The game model has a small lump on the front underside where the N1's launcher is. That seems more likely than a blaster with an added missile launcher. The game isn't the first to add missiles that hadn't been there. It happened during the attack on the second Death Star. Wedge flies an X-Wing, so he fires a pair of proton torpedoes. Lando is right behind him in the Falcon, which has no torpedoes. As far as I can tell, this is when concussion missiles were invented. The Falcon fires two from launch tubes between the mandibles. Concussion missiles have also appeared on the A-Wing and Z-95. Though they are effective, we think of concussion missiles as inferior. Proton torpedoes are more devastating against armored targets. After the Flash, the campaign gives you a new speeder. These are called the Heavy STAP, and their design lineage is obvious. They're derived from the single trooper aerial platform. Both types of vehicle are effectively just variations on the speeder bike. The STAP is just laid out differently, to the point it's completely lacking a seat. Comfort isn't an issue for battle droids, so the vehicle was designed without regard for it. More than anything, it reminds me of the old plasma beam drill platform. A Heavy STAP is quite different. It retains the vertical part, but adds a heavy rear section. Part of this included a chair. Luxury. The model doesn't have the drive turbine exhaust next to your legs, either. The added machinery will include repulsor lifts, to support its new weight. Engines will also have been upgraded, though not by much. The Heavy STAP will have a worse power-to-weight ratio and lower top speed. With its extended length, this version can have longer cannon barrels. Like the Flash speeder, the game gives the H-STAP a missile launcher. The game treats all vehicles as if they have shields, including the Heavy STAP. While not impossible, we normally only see shields on various types of spaceship. Though they appear as a playable vehicle for Naboo, that's only by capturing. At the end of the first mission, our heroes steal a couple of parked ones. I'm not sure the Heavy STAP needed to exist, but I like the design. It's the only option for a vehicle smaller than an AAT tank. There is some basis for this in concept art. An early version of the STAP was sized more like the Snow Speeders. That one even seems to have a missile launcher front and center. Other concepts were more like a speeder bike, with no enclosed cockpit. Our next mission takes place shortly after leaving the city. Still riding the Heavy STAP, Gavin and Cale respond to a droid presence. We can assume Theed was the first major city to fall. On the plains outside the capital, the outlying farms are under attack. There are many battle droids riding the ordinary STAP. More enemy types will appear later on, after the player gets some practice at aiming. This level exists as a shooting gallery. An STAP has a very narrow target profile. Hitting a single trooper is the hardest shot you'll ever need to make. By completing the level, the player has figured out how to aim. The controls take some getting used to, but I wouldn't say they feel bad. Unlike the linear city, this is wide open terrain. The player gets used to the minimap, chasing red dots. There's also an orange sector as your objective marker. After protecting a few houses from STAP troopers, stronger enemies start to appear. Two droid starfighters fly overhead, though they're not aggressive yet. The player is nudged to aim upward while using a landspeeder. That will be important in a few specific moments. The AAT was introduced in the first mission. They're no surprise. Most opponents are only dangerous from the front. Tanks are sluggish. They're often the best place to fire your concussion missiles. Halfway through the level, we see something set up at the end of mission 1. There is a hangar with the strong suggestion that you enter it. When you see one of these, it represents a chance to swap vehicle. Since the heavy STAP is one of the worst available, it would be smart to accept. This marks the first use of the police cruiser, our training air vehicle. Landspeeders hover just above the ground, from dozens of meters to less than one. This is particularly significant because it marks an entirely new type of gameplay. Mission 3 takes us into another new environment. We're looking for a small village in Amaricia that takes Gavin beyond the farmland into a swamp region. These aren't a forest or jungle, all the trees are spaced out. They look rather like willow trees or the local equivalent. We don't know if Naboo's colonists brought space gorse with them. The entire location is covered in a mild storm. I really like this level, it has a great atmosphere. You can almost smell the air, just the right amount of rotting wood. The Naboo Bayou introduces us to several new vehicles. Two of these are boats. Actual displacement and buoyancy boats. They make perfect sense even in Star Wars, we'd expect them to exist by now. The closest thing off the top of my head is the Amphibion. Even that isn't a real boat, it's an ordinary hovercraft. They use an air cushion instead of anti-gravity repulsors. A conventional boat is most practical for long-term residents. Swamps are designed differently for various earth conditions. What of the sea isn't ordinary water? Luckily, both boats in this game are designed for Naboo. Trade Federation gunboats are a very minor part of this level. Far more interesting are the local village traders. The swamp dwellers use stonewheeler houseboats. There's nothing wrong with that decision, it looks very cool. With sufficient power, the efficiency of your paddle steamer isn't a big deal. The size seems to be about 50 meters long. They aren't optimized for cargo, but could stow a lot of small crates. The other new vehicle is a bomber variant of the droid Starfighter. Where the standard model has four knife-like wings, the bomber has two large pods. Each one is several times the size of the lump where the droid brain lives. Bombers are armed with blasters as well as some kind of energy bomb launcher. Nothing here sounds unexpected. Just as the Empire has TIE bombers, the Federation could do with some more specialists. After taking out a pair of gunboats, the remaining mission is all dogfighting. For the civilians, the bombers are by far the greatest threat. As Gavin is flying a police cruiser, fighters are more of a danger. When we aren't at risk, we would prefer to focus on the bombers. Droid Starfighters will fly in to attack the escaping boats. The boatmen clearly have comms equipment because their leader gets in contact. He provides the next mission objective, to rescue an isolated villager. The resistance needs skills and able bodies, so that's perfect. A cutscene showed the location, a house on an island in the swamp. You will notice a police cruiser parked right outside at the top of the hill. Protecting this place seems like a very sensible idea. Gavin shoots down a few squadrons of droids, which is a simple matter. Once the traders are safe, everything goes better than planned. The villagers do have useful information, a lead regarding a smuggler in the mountains. That blue aircraft is also relevant, you gain a new recruit. A reasonably convincing human runs out of his house and climbs into the cockpit. Having gained some information, the Naboo forces have a plan. The smuggler has just been located, so our heroes move in. Just as the RSF reach the ship, a formation of droid fighters intercept them. Gavin doesn't do well, he's immediately shot down. Rather than try to keep flying a ship in flames, he makes for the nearest hangar. This is where you change vehicle into a flash speeder, assuming you selected that in the menu. As you complete more levels, alternatives will become available. The first half of this mission is mostly helping civilians, if that's what you decide. There are a lot of opportunities in this game to defend the innocent. And the emphasis on replay value, you will do that. Some of the time. Other times you play, it may be speed you focus on, perhaps destruction or accuracy. The game features a medal system, rewarding players for doing well in every aspect at the same time. Officially, your mission does include protecting citizens. That isn't always the correct decision. At the first homestead, a series of STAP troopers are already attacking. Lieutenant Sykes is ordered to protect the house. As you finish fighting, a civilian landspeeder will pass by. By defeating the droids, the driver will offer you access to a special upgrade. There are a few of these in the game, and this one increases your missile damage. Obviously after being rewarded for protecting people, the mission shows the opposite. Gavin reports the same situation again, but is ordered not to intervene. There is no reward for rescuing these citizens, it's just a waste of time. You must push forward to reach your mission objective. That turns out to be just around the corner, past the cutscene trigger. We see a potato-shaped cargo vessel, the rumoured smuggler. The ship is under heavy bombardment from an AAT. Our hero reports in to his commanding officer and is told to announce himself first. By hailing the ship before intervening, their bargaining position is more favourable. The smuggler ship explains how bad the situation is. But volleys from a tank cannon are a serious threat to starships of that size. Gavin makes sure to claim credit for the help he's about to offer. This is a perfect opportunity to use the missile launcher on the game's flash. One or two missiles per AAT is the optimal usage. That still won't destroy most tanks, but your blaster cannon can finish the remaining health. Never using missiles is wasteful, since they aren't replenished during battle. This sets up the gameplay loop for the rest of the mission. The smuggler will fly low, staying inside valleys to keep out of sight. Gavin will follow along the high ground in his landspeeder. Many STAP troopers will pass through, but they are mostly insignificant. There are two real obstacles to this mission. The main one is the tanks, which take up position to hammer the smuggler's ship. If it takes too much damage, the ship will be destroyed and the level ends. More dangerous to Gavin, there are cliff edges everywhere. Anytime a land vehicle falls a certain height, it's instantly destroyed. It gets irksome when you would have landed safely on valid terrain. This combines with the driving controls, an unreliable brake in particular. Once you get the hang of driving, the mission is very simple to complete. The smuggler Gavin located is grateful for the way you saved his life. He introduces himself as Borvo the Hutt. This is one of the more exciting missions of the campaign. At this point you've only flown the police cruiser, and you have two speeders to drive. The Flash and the Heavy STAP. These are not particularly good vessels, so the upgrades are significant. The mission starts aboard a Flash speeder, running along a valley between mountains. The Hutt has agreed to help the Naboo resistance if you defend his ship. When you've turned the first corner, a security hangar is waiting. This could be ignored if you wanted to keep driving a landspeeder. It's an entirely viable way to play the mission, though only a few are like that. If you go into the hangar, you can play through using an aircraft instead. Either way, the other type of vehicle will appear to provide air or ground support. As he travels through the mountains, eventually Gavin discovers a hidden outpost. This seems to be the location Borvo calls home, with many of his minions. However, the Trade Federation got here first. The area is full of AATs, plus the occasional droid starfighter. After destroying the nearby tanks, we're presented with an unfamiliar type of starfighter. They are Hutt fighters, manned by Borvo's men. Federation reinforcements are on the way, so Gavin keeps moving. In the next valley over, the Feds have taken control of a factory. This turns out to be a Naboo facility, nothing to do with the Hutt outpost. Clearing out the place is simple, so long as you don't shoot any of your own buildings. Securing the N1 assembly site is a major victory. Without needing to raid the Royal Hangar, the Resistance gains access to N1s. After liberating a wing of N1 starfighters, a new mission type becomes available. Mission 6 is the first one to take place in orbit. The Naboo Resistance has identified a weakness in the Federation control signal. While they can't expect to fight a Luger Hulk, other infrastructure is available. A control node in space above Naboo, designed to relay the signal across the globe. The satellite has a visible bubble shield, which is very surprising. When we see shields like that, we normally call it an atmospheric interaction. In order to bypass a shield like this, Gavin scans for a shield projector. These are much smaller satellites, deployed near the main control node. Each of these is a vulnerability, though even one projector can create a useful shield. The game makes this arena a little confusing. It's hard to tell what shape the space is. The projectors are hidden beyond visual range. You have to follow a 2D arrow to navigate a 3D space, making this even harder. With all three projectors disabled, the shield on the main relay is down. The mission is mostly complete now, the only complication being a few missiles. Six turrets on the control node itself, a moderate threat. Far less of an issue than the droid starfighters guarding the projectors earlier. The next mission has a clear reference to dialogue from the movie. When the Queen is being escorted out of her own palace, she is sent for processing. The battle droids send her to Camp 4, but we never see any camps in the movie. Games are particularly good at letting you explore places we've only heard about. The search for Camp 4 starts in a region with extremely tall hills. Cole confirms the location of the very important prison. The first place to search is down a side passage. One of your wingmen spots a Federation base inside, so he sets his throttle to Leroy Jenkins. The rest of us are obliged to follow and attack this installation. There's nothing significant here, just a lot of droid starfighters and a landing ship. While Gavin fights off the turrets, a C-9979 landing barge takes off. While the resistance may be able to destroy a lander, it wouldn't really hinder the feds. There are other priorities, such as droid starfighters attacking the farmhouses. Once the planes are secure, the N1 pilots try flying into another valley. This one has a river with a couple of gunboats which are generally inconsequential. There's no point destroying them unless you're into that defending the citizens stuff. After all, there's more to a game than its mechanics. The most revealing decisions are the ones the game doesn't recognize. A strategy game may not care about casualties, but the player can choose to. It's also the basis of challenges, like the various Iron Man modes. Speedrunning may prioritize time, but it could also track number of jumps. At the end of this valley, Gavin comes across a lake. Possibly a sea. Either way, there are gunboats on the water. These can be mostly ignored once again. The real objective is to capture a hangar on the shore. This means all droid starfighters are gone and the turrets are blown off. Lieutenant Sykes takes a heavy stab from the hangar, which allows him to slip past the energy fence outside Camp 4. Why this disguise might possibly work is confusing. Single trooper aerial platforms are completely open. There isn't so much as a windscreen. It's obvious there's a human riding the speeder instead of a droid. Sure enough, your disguise fails as soon as you pass the gate. More H-steps swarm in to attack, which should be easy to handle. To progress, you must ride up a ramp to the upper level. If you weren't looking for it, it can be hard to even spot the route. There's a tank heading down the ramp as Gavin rides up, easily evaded. Once you reach the higher level, there is another tank plus multiple turrets. This part of the mission shows the process of breaking a prison camp. First, reduce the defenses to a level you can survive. Next, look for a weakpoint or shield generator. Once the power screen has been disabled, you can carefully drive inside the walls. You'll find a prison block with a particular purple door. Blasting that a few times will blow a hole through it, freeing the prisoners. The main part of camp 4 is at a higher altitude, up the next hill. As soon as you go through the gates, there's a hangar directly ahead. This is the first time you gain access to the giant speeder, which Gavin will use as a preferred landspeeder on all surface missions. The process of breaking open a prison remains the same. There is no apparent shield generator, but if you look carefully, there are crates stacked up by a wall. Perhaps there were spare tank shells in them, because they're quite volatile. With only a few blaster bolts, they demolish the outer wall. Gavin gains access to the cells on one side, which happens to be the same bailey as the fence power generator. Knocking that out takes down the opposite fence, letting you free another set of captives. To actually escape from this place, you need to climb up another hill. There are a pair of generators on top, but the landspeeder controls make it hard to survive. If you fail to break in time, your speeder will sail over the edge. Regardless of your remaining health, that instantly destroys your vehicle. All your prisoners climb into some conveniently placed civilian speeders. With the energy fence deactivated, everyone proceeds forward to the next area. This is the final part of Camp 4. It's a far tougher nut to crack, though there's no convenient stack of crates. You're expected to wait for an N1 pilot to fly in, blasting a large fuel tank from the sky. This knocks a hole into the wall, so Gavin can make for the nearest ramp. The final energy fence is powered by generators at the top of the next hill. From this point, it's a simple run down the hill and away from Camp 4. It's best not to wait for droid reinforcements. In most landspeeder levels, you have up to three options. The flash speeder is the baseline, the point of comparison. Heavy snap is even less appealing. What you really want is the purple kind. I've never been sure how to pronounce this name. That doesn't matter, as long as I'm reading books or typing. I chose giant earlier, entirely for the sake of a pun with giant. Battle for Naboo has a voice description of the vehicle. voice actor says, and I believe it's consistent with other material. This sort of evidence is very weak, the game could just be wrong. I've heard Tantive 4 turn up in official media as Tantive 4. However you pronounce it, the giant is usually your best landspeeder. Unlike every other vehicle in the game, the giant has unlimited ammo for its secondary weapon. The main button controls the blasters at the sides, firing green bolts. Instead of concussion missiles or proton torpedoes, alt fire is just a red laser. That's often convenient, most vehicles run dry within seconds. The damage output is more consistent, aiming even follows the same path. The game also allows you to charge a shot from the laser cannon. Treating it as rapid fire, it takes six red bolts to kill an AAT. If you hold down the trigger for a few seconds, one charged bolt will destroy a tank. Missions are a nice upgrade from the flash speeder, in almost all cases. Mission 13 is where the movie starts to come back in. The previous dozen levels took place over the course of a few days, while the Queen was gone. Now Panaka has returned, and it's time to retake the planet. The last mission took place at night, the breaking of Camp 4. Mission 13 starts at sunrise the next morning. Captain Panaka gets attacked as soon as he broadcasts a message. A swarm of STAP troopers descend upon a village, supported by droid starfighters. Panaka survives thanks to the Nooboo resistance. They park their speeders and get everyone up to speed on the plan. Gavin is assigned to guard the city's rear entrance. As it happens, that was exactly the right call. A Trade Federation convoy is moving through precisely the route we're meant to guard. To make matters worse, a stone column collapses behind the last AAT. There's no way to pursue, we'll have to take the long way. This works out fairly well, as the RSF are under attack elsewhere. A woman called Palmer is cornered at the end of the gorge. There are two droid bombers and two tanks, attacking an isolated hangar. Those are generally a good sign. This mission introduces a Nooboo bomber, the slowest aircraft in the game. Even with the additional firepower of a bomber, there's no way of blasting through MTT hulls. The convoy would arrive before it could be whittled down, and that's assuming the bomber survived. Panaka directs you to take out an airbase, which is fairly easy. You can spare a bomb or two. After that, the convoy would pass through Widow's Valley. The objective is to slow down the droid army, so it's time to put those pillars to use. Blocking them into the path should delay the convoy's movement. Panaka has a demolition team, carrying thermal detonators. They arrive from the far end of the valley, setting up on a bridge. This is a great idea, it's the perfect way to thwart a convoy of indestructible foes. Those MTTs and AATs are land speeders, not air speeders. Their hover ceiling won't be more than a few meters, so they could never cross a gap like this. If you've delayed the droid army by enough, you can set off the detonators with a bomb. The bridge collapses and the day is saved. Four additional MTTs might have been enough to turn the tide Later in the game, we unlock another variant of the N1. A Naboo bomber considerably larger than the original fighter. It has three times the wingspan and over twice as many engines. Nobody will be surprised to hear that this bomber uses Nubian hardware. By ordering the critical components from a catalogue, Naboo gets freedom. They can build any kind of space frame they like, so long as they leave room for the parts. Room doesn't seem to be a problem for this prototype bomber. Instead of a canopy that slides open, this has fixed cockpit windows. There also seems to be a door in the side of the ship hull. That implies a considerably larger plane, not single occupant. It looks like there's room for two seats side by side, not to mention the cabin. I'd estimate a crew from one to five men. Bombers require one thing above all. The bombs. In this case, we find devastating energy bombs. Those aren't a traditional Naboo weapon, in fact quite the opposite. The last place we saw such a thing was on droid starfighters. Instead of proton torpedoes, vultures have energy torps. We expect these to use similar technology to a blaster, just with unusual trade-offs. For the bomber variant of the droids, we assume a very similar weapon. Like with blaster cannons, ammunition is generally not a concern. By the time you use all the blaster gas, you'll be out of fuel as well. The Naboo bomber is not treated as having bottomless bomb bays. That would normally imply we have physical projectiles carried aboard. Most levels are based around having a limited set of torpedoes and missiles. Uniquely, the bomber slowly regenerates its ammunition. If your bomb bay is ever full, you're wasting potential damage. Besides the energy bombs, the Naboo bomber has a set of laser cannons. These are some of the most powerful in the game, with a slower rate of fire. Looking at the shape of the hull, very little is identical to the N1. At the back of the main body, you have a small thruster. The next set of engines outward are the largest on the ship. These don't quite match any of the designs used by existing Naboo ships. As production changes to a different vehicle, they just select different engines from the parts catalogue. Out at the wingtips are engines 4 and 5. These are relatively tiny, perhaps they are reused from the N1. The bomber probably started as a twin-engine design. Mission 14 is entirely based on a few seconds of movie footage. We know that Panaka and the Resistance created a diversion. We open with Gavin driving a giant speeder into the city. It plays like the very first level, Escape from Thede. Navigation is more of a challenge than the droids for most of the level. As you wind your way through the streets, you spot two Federation gunboats patrolling the river. They pose much less of a threat than a tank or droideka. On the other hand, blowing them up would be distracting. Once Gavin passes the river, Palmer reports in. Apparently her forces have been backed into a corner, again. The security forces converge on her location, with at least one other giant speeder getting in ahead. Together, they are able to destroy a pair of tanks and several droidekas. Assuming you manage to save anyone, Palmer joins you in a flash speeder. We see yet another speeder design, this one a large personnel carrier. It contains a set of Naboo commandos, who are dressed like security officers. There is a short escort mission, but the plaza is quite safe. The most dangerous enemies are destroyer droids, no starfighters or tanks. It's only a matter of defending the commandos as they demolish the gate. Once through the shattered gate, we cross back into movie territory. As you know, Panaka waves through a giant speeder to move through the arch. You get to play that speeder, taking that first shot. If we assume that this game is canon, one of these guys is named Gavin. Panaka motions you to slow right down and stop. You are expected to take the shot exactly as ordered. Right on time. In fact, dead on time. When you've cleaned out the tanks, the game shows a different angle of the hangar launch from the movie. The first thing I'd like to say is that this mission briefing tells us the plan. It highlights specific weak points on the droid control ship. Inside the final mission, it begins with a surprisingly perfect cutscene. Exactly like in the movie, the N1 squadron leaves the planet. We see a close-up of the control ship launching its flock of vultures. The next part is done in gameplay. Enemy fighters straight ahead. The droids appear in just the right formation. It's flawless. For this part of the mission, the droid control ship is part of the starfield. A bit of background decoration, just like the planet below. Once a sufficient number of vultures have been slain, Bravo squadron flies closer. A little too close. One fighter passes too close to the open ends of the cargo bay. It brings back memories of the Death Star, but it also rings true. If you remember the cross-sections book, there are tractor beams installed there. One tractor emitter is destroyed in a cutscene. The next three, you're expected to take out on your own. Shortly after knocking out the tractors, a pilot reports in. He just saw an N1 fly into the main hangar of the Luka Hulk. This choice is very neat. It ties the game to the movie. The open hangars used to have defences, but Bravo squadron got rid of the tractor beams. Anakin could only fly inside because the ship had been damaged. Bravo leader suggests nobody else get any fancy ideas. Our next objective is on the dorsal surface, so it makes sense to knock out the quad lasers. Episode 1 established shields as being a problem. Luckily episode 6 had already given us a solution. You can just shoot at the shield generator through the shields. For how this might work, I like the system from FTL called FTL. Shields have multiple layers, and each bolt may only take down one layer. Shields slowly regenerate, so it's possible to be immune to weak opponents. It's also possible to fire a whole volley, and only do a single point of damage. When the objective changed to shield generator, I was filled with doubt. I know exactly where to find that component, but did the game. As a matter of fact, it does know. The target turned out to be exactly where I expected. Behind the centre sphere, on the dorsal side of the connecting arm. On my first attempt at this mission, I carefully distributed my shots. There are actually two layers here, forward of the antenna farm. There is a small lip or shelf running around the edge. Half my torpedoes went above the belt, and half below. This game isn't exactly right about the location of the shield. The placement is correct, but the hitbox is slightly off. Its shield generator is the lower of the two layers. The top one is actually the shield projector. It makes perfect sense that the projector would be closer to the surface. Since both parts are essential, either one should be a valid target. Come to think of it, that perfectly sums up the game. Battle for Naboo isn't perfect, but it is surprisingly good. Accurate enough that a fan should have few to no complaints. A worthy addition to the universe, so long as you don't mind flash missile tubes. Eventually, after exhausting every torpedo in his N1, Gavin Sykes does it. A final pair of blaster bolts hit the shield projector, obliterating the machinery. The droid control ship is not crippled, but it is exposed. Bravo Squadron prepares another attack run, perhaps aiming for the engines or the bridge. All of this coincides with Anakin hitting the pilot reactors from within. The Luka Hulk starts exploding from the inside, and little Annie flies out. You will note the absence of a particular line. Ric doesn't say, we didn't hit it, because we certainly did. The battle for Naboo is over. Although many people deserve credit, we can say one man did more than most. The Gordon Freeman of the Royal Security Forces. His name is Lieutenant Gavin Sykes, and he is you. Through your skill as a pilot, you won the war a dozen times. With a little help from your friends. Naboo erupts into celebration, which involves copious fireworks. As in the movie, many N1s fly over Theed. In the game, that includes a Naboo bomber and multiple police cruisers. I approve of this. All the individual aircraft are solid designs. Battle for Naboo is an example of a proper Star Wars game. The campaign tells an entertaining story of fighter pilots and freedom. None of the movie's main characters are involved, except for Panaka. It's a side story, several things can happen at the same time. Games offer another perspective, a window into the same galaxy. There are no significant changes or lore contradictions. New vehicles have been added, but they're of good quality. Mechanically, the game is not terribly difficult. Instead of adding more tanks, the player is expected to change his goals. Challenge yourself by using a sub-optimal ship. Look into the medal system, which encourages more skilful aim. There we have it. We have reached the very end of Episode 1. This conclusion will be brief because we're not stopping. Attack of the Clones will be next. We suspect it may be about twice this size. After Episode 2, we shall cover Episodes 3, 4, 5 and 6. We'll be here as long as the channel is sustainable. The complete saga, all six Star Wars movies. Okay, that's not entirely fair. Mustn't forget about Ewoks' battle for Endor. The Phantom Menace has reshaped the galaxy. As the first entry in a new trilogy, it has the most influence. It's responsible for all future depictions of the Old Republic. This was so successful, many fans prefer the prequel era. For those who loved the original movies, this met our expectations. Apart from a few details, the Old Republic was unsurprising. Obi-Wan spoke of a more civilized age, before the Dark Times. The Phantom Menace showed us the world old Ben remembers. It sets the stage for the remaining two episodes. All the important characters have been established. The prequel's obligation has been satisfied. We see all three Jedi that were known to exist. Anakin's piloting skills were just as old Ben described. We have seen their first meeting, just as we saw the last. The other critical event was Obi-Wan deciding to train Anakin. That covers everything that needed to happen early on. From the original movies, we are certain the Clone Wars come next. Leia told us that would happen, and Kenobi confirmed it. However that turns out, episode one leaves plenty of wiggle room. Very few constraints are placed on the rest of the trilogy. They don't need as much world building, TPM already handled that. As for time, there is a long gap to allow for changes. New designs of Starship, new apprentices to be trained. During the Clone Wars, we will look back on this time of relative peace. With that, we have completed our Phantom Menace project. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. People have put real thought into their comments. Our Discord community has been equally well-behaved and thoughtful. Thank you for watching to the end. If this was your first video, welcome aboard. To those who've been with us for longer, we appreciate it. And if you're watching this from the future for the eighth time, welcome back. There are two ways to support us. Become a patron at patreon.com slash thebredcircus, or subscribe, like and comment. Only the former option guarantees that your name lives on in history, the other is embarrassing YouTube-based stuff. Anki is so far down the garden path that he's conversing with the animals. Brandon Smith is clearly using a pseudonym. DasLOLTractor has a Lamborghini tractor he wants us to know about. FriendlySperg is the 19th naked cowboy at Ram Ranch. Ian Muggli should get in touch with us on Patreon so we can figure out a good insult. Imperator Vex, the based-with-two-s's librarian. 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What, you think you're some kind of Jedi waving your hands around like that? I'm a Toydarian. Mind tricks ain't gonna work on me. Only money! No money, no parts, no deal.