From: redrum@carson.u.washington.edu (Joe Stremick)
Subject: Re: dumb Empire question
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 06:04:20 GMT

In article <Bvu4Cy.6pz@well.sf.ca.us> rchao@well.sf.ca.us (Robert Chao) writes:
>
>I really ought to know this, but how did Boba Fett know what Han would
>be on Bespin? Was it just from following him after they flew off the
>star destroyer? (Keep in mind that Lando says that the Empire arrived
>shortly before the Falcon did.)

	Well, Mr. Fett is a pretty good bounty hunter, so they say,
so I would guess that he had researched Han's background.  Han was
pretty infamous: not only did the Empire want him, but there was also
all that nasty Jabba the Hutt business.  So Boba, being very good
at his trade, and realizing that capturing Han could make him rich,
checked out Han's prior connections.  After the Falcon had snuck
away, and Boba had followed it, he probably realized where they were
heading and let Vader know.  Vader and Fett then rushed on ahead
(the Falcon was still sans hyperdrive at this point) and got to 
Bespin ahead of Han and Co.

>Here's a tough one: if Vader knew Luke was on Hoth, why did he get his
>men to go down and smash up the base, at the risk of killing Luke?

	Vader probably figures, Hey, Luke blew up the Death Star,
he must be a clever kid (Vader chuckles inwardly- Takes after the 
old man, he thinks to himself.), so I don't need to worry about 
him getting killed by my forces.  And if he does get killed, well,
he's not worth converting to the Dark Side anyway.

>How did Luke get off Hoth so easily?

	I've thought about this a lot.  You might as well ask:  If
Vader was so intent on getting Luke, why did he follow the Millenium
Falcon?  Well, here's a thought:  Vader senses Luke through the Force.
However, at this point he does not know that Leia is Luke's sister.
When she leaves on the Falcon, he mistakes her Force 'impression' for
Luke's.  Since he figures that there's only one Skywalker heir running
around, once he thinks that person is on the Falcon, he doesn't even 
bother to worry about who might be on Hoth, *where Luke still is.*
Luke, then, has an easy escape.  This theory does have some holes in
it, however, most notably:  Vader isn't on the Star Destroyer that is
in primary pursuit of the Falcon.  But Vader is so single-minded and
egotistical that it doesn't even enter his mind that his initial
decision to follow the Falcon might be wrong.  Who knows, really?

>
>If you watch Empire in slow motion, do you see Luke's hand falling down?

	If you mean after he has landed on the weather vane on the
underside of Bespin, well, you see *something*.  I always thought it
was a piece of the weather vane that Luke's impact had broken off, 
but it has crossed my mind that it could be his hand (still clutching
lightsaber: eeeewwwww).  This is apparent even at normal speed.  
Perhaps watching in slow motion could reveal exactly what the object
is.

>
>Why does Lando say "what about those fighters" before any fighters have
>shown up?

	I think that some fighters _have_ already shown up.  Either
that, or he has spotted them on the scopes, preparing to intercept
the Falcon.  There's an interesting point:  Maybe they would have
been caught if they hadn't suddenly changed course, confusing the
TIEs with the spontaneous action.  Imperial forces don't understand
compassion, maybe . . . ?

>
>ESB is the film I've seen the most times; at least 40-50 times....
>-- 
>Robert Chao
>Oakland, California

	Yes, I like it quite a bit myself.

|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-Joe Stremick,               |"But I was going in to Toshe Station to |
|       a.k.a. Redrum         |pick up some power converters!"         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|