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Most egregiously, IMO, was the Holdo Maneuver (jumping the rebel cruiser into the pursuing First Order ship). If that's a thing, why didn't they use that on the

Most egregiously, IMO, was the Holdo Maneuver (jumping the rebel cruiser into the pursuing First Order ship). If that's a thing, why didn't they use that on the Death Star, the Executor, etc. Why weren't people building massive objects with no guns or shields, just a hyperdrive? It just wrecks the internal consistency for an admittedly awe-inspiring moment in theaters.

Lord-Jobo 3y ago
They specifically had a line about the pursuers rushing to catch up and dumping all power into that effort. Diverting from shielding and anything that would protect them. After all they had a much larger more powerful force, hubrus lead them to believe that they were safe enough to do so. As for the "why not just build a hyperdrive shell that you can use to javelin a planet into dust" this is a problem that is ignored in MUCH more serious science fiction than star wars. Because it's a pain I nthe ass to explain away.
- regularfry 3y ago
  They could have bought themselves some points by saying "...and that's how the Death Star works, you need a massive space station as a power source if you want to do it more than once." But no, lasers.
- btach 3y ago
  Gravity well. You would exit hyperspace before hitting the planet. Same concept as how the Interdictor class Star Destroyers prevent hyperspace/pull ships out of hyperspace.
- LorenPechtel 3y ago
  We never see Star Wars ships moving at relativistic speeds. Jumping to lightspeed takes you into hyper, it doesn't let you engage in a ramming attack. Besides, we don't know that shields won't stop a ramming attack. The only time it was done it appears the shields weren't being used.
  - cgriswald 3y ago
    We see a few collisions major in the original trilogy. I don't think it necessarily clears anything up. I haven't watched in some years so the details are a little hazy and might be wrong: In ESB: - An asteroid collides with a Star Destroyer. Communications with the Star Destroyer are lost, but nothing past the hit is shown on screen. (Presumably shields are active since they're putting these ships in the asteroid field.) [Just to speculate, the asteroid itself might have been pulverized and its materials interfering with communications, or some other shield/asteroid interaction causing loss of communications.] In ROTJ: - The Executor loses its shields and the A-wing crashes into the bridge. (No shields.) - The Executor subsequently loses control and crashes into the Death Star. (No shields.) And in Rogue One: - The corvette pushes the two Star Destroyers together and they take major damage. (Unknown shield status.)
regularfry 3y ago
Interaction between hyperspace and non-hyperspace is (unintentionally) telegraphed in episode IV when Han says "Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that’d end your trip real quick, wouldn’t it?” That being said Star Wars script-writing has been totally winging it on surprisingly big plot points from the start. It's frankly astonishing that it's even as consistent as it is.
klyrs 3y ago
This is my complaint about approximately every sci-fi that has both "shield" and "warp" technology. Just warp a large mass into the bridge, or a bomb if you're feeling nasty. Add instantaneous "subspace" communication a la Star Trek, and you can call in the equivalent of an air strike from the nearest hub. Warp core goes boom.
- twic 3y ago
  "Any interesting space drive is a weapon of mass destruction. It only matters how long you want to wait for maximum damage." -- Jon Souza https://projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/prelimnotes.php#johnslaw https://projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/prelimnotes.php#jo...
gamblor956 3y ago
Even within the SW universe there were limitations on the practicality of this strategy: (1) a large enough mass relative to the target so as to cause enough damage, (2) enough armor or shielding for the sacrificial mass to get within hyperspace jump range of the target, (3) a very limited window of space in which to actually hit the target while making the jump to hyperspace, and (4) a crew willing to sacrifice itself in such a manner (because droids and others couldn't simply be ordered to do something like this within the cannon of the SW universe). But more to the point: we don't know if the Holdo Maneuver became more common in the SW universe because the only subsequent film decided to try and ignore everything that happened in the previous movie in favor of having space horses galloping on the exterior of a starship.

Lord-Jobo 3y ago

They specifically had a line about the pursuers rushing to catch up and dumping all power into that effort. Diverting from shielding and anything that would protect them. After all they had a much larger more powerful force, hubrus lead them to believe that they were safe enough to do so. As for the "why not just build a hyperdrive shell that you can use to javelin a planet into dust" this is a problem that is ignored in MUCH more serious science fiction than star wars. Because it's a pain I nthe ass to explain away.

regularfry 3y ago
They could have bought themselves some points by saying "...and that's how the Death Star works, you need a massive space station as a power source if you want to do it more than once." But no, lasers.
btach 3y ago
Gravity well. You would exit hyperspace before hitting the planet. Same concept as how the Interdictor class Star Destroyers prevent hyperspace/pull ships out of hyperspace.
LorenPechtel 3y ago
We never see Star Wars ships moving at relativistic speeds. Jumping to lightspeed takes you into hyper, it doesn't let you engage in a ramming attack. Besides, we don't know that shields won't stop a ramming attack. The only time it was done it appears the shields weren't being used.
- cgriswald 3y ago
  We see a few collisions major in the original trilogy. I don't think it necessarily clears anything up. I haven't watched in some years so the details are a little hazy and might be wrong: In ESB: - An asteroid collides with a Star Destroyer. Communications with the Star Destroyer are lost, but nothing past the hit is shown on screen. (Presumably shields are active since they're putting these ships in the asteroid field.) [Just to speculate, the asteroid itself might have been pulverized and its materials interfering with communications, or some other shield/asteroid interaction causing loss of communications.] In ROTJ: - The Executor loses its shields and the A-wing crashes into the bridge. (No shields.) - The Executor subsequently loses control and crashes into the Death Star. (No shields.) And in Rogue One: - The corvette pushes the two Star Destroyers together and they take major damage. (Unknown shield status.)

regularfry 3y ago

Interaction between hyperspace and non-hyperspace is (unintentionally) telegraphed in episode IV when Han says "Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that’d end your trip real quick, wouldn’t it?” That being said Star Wars script-writing has been totally winging it on surprisingly big plot points from the start. It's frankly astonishing that it's even as consistent as it is.

klyrs 3y ago

This is my complaint about approximately every sci-fi that has both "shield" and "warp" technology. Just warp a large mass into the bridge, or a bomb if you're feeling nasty. Add instantaneous "subspace" communication a la Star Trek, and you can call in the equivalent of an air strike from the nearest hub. Warp core goes boom.

twic 3y ago
"Any interesting space drive is a weapon of mass destruction. It only matters how long you want to wait for maximum damage." -- Jon Souza https://projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/prelimnotes.php#johnslaw https://projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/prelimnotes.php#jo...

gamblor956 3y ago

Even within the SW universe there were limitations on the practicality of this strategy: (1) a large enough mass relative to the target so as to cause enough damage, (2) enough armor or shielding for the sacrificial mass to get within hyperspace jump range of the target, (3) a very limited window of space in which to actually hit the target while making the jump to hyperspace, and (4) a crew willing to sacrifice itself in such a manner (because droids and others couldn't simply be ordered to do something like this within the cannon of the SW universe). But more to the point: we don't know if the Holdo Maneuver became more common in the SW universe because the only subsequent film decided to try and ignore everything that happened in the previous movie in favor of having space horses galloping on the exterior of a starship.