Did the Ewok attack before or after the death of the Emperor? It's been a long time since I watched RotJ. I heard some suggestion that the death of the Emperor caused confusion in his commanders that he was using the force to manipulate them, ie; Battle Meditation.

The bigest problem I have with the battle was the amount of Ewok casulities (1). If they shown alot more ewok casulities and the Rebel Commandos had more screen time fighting we wouldn't have a problem with the battle.

Is the Ewok movies canon as they are also by GL?

I like Treek from SWTOR, she gives a good reason why people should be affraid of a warrior/hunter Ewok.

They attacked before...

And I don't think the Ewok movies count as canon, just like the holiday special doesn't count as canon. Even though Lucas was heavily involved in them, there's no indication whatsoever that he ever considered them anything more than tv-movie spinoffs. And I doubt Disney counts them at all.

I'm not sure why the Empire didn't clear-cut the forest (via turbolasers) away from the shield generator for a few km in every direction before construction. It's not like the Empire could really hide the generator, and its not like there weren't going to be other defenses in system to deal with curious eyes.

Luke stated it well: "Your overconfidence is your weakness."

Alternatively, maybe it was the same reasons that made the gunners aboard the Devastator hold their fire after scanning the droids' escape pod. No life forms = no reason to shoot. Similarly, "everything is proceeding as I have foreseen" = no reason to clear-cut.

It was certainly not for any plot-related reasons.

I'm not sure why the Empire didn't clear-cut the forest (via turbolasers) away from the shield generator for a few km in every direction before construction. It's not like the Empire could really hide the generator, and its not like there weren't going to be other defenses in system to deal with curious eyes.

Luke stated it well: "Your overconfidence is your weakness."

Alternatively, maybe it was the same reasons that made the gunners aboard the Devastator hold their fire after scanning the droids' escape pod. No life forms = no reason to shoot. Similarly, "everything is proceeding as I have foreseen" = no reason to clear-cut.

It was certainly not for any plot-related reasons.

I think it was because A: they (rightly, IMHO) didn't consider the Ewoks even the slightest of threats and, B: They didn't think anyone could even get to the surface of the moon, let alone to the back entrance of the power generator, without being detected and detained/killed.

So yeah, overconfidence, I guess.

But rightly so IMHO (at least when it comes to the Ewoks).

Also, as you mention, this was kinda the plan of the emperor all along... to lure in the Rebels and capture them with an overwhelmingly large force.

(Furthermore, I think clearcutting the area around a secret base on a forest planet kinda defeats the secret bit.)

In fact they clear cut quite a bit, what with the AT-AT's walking around and the giant landing platform being there....

Because the moon-sized station in orbit is easier to overlook than 20 square km of clear-cut forest?

Because the moon-sized station in orbit is easier to overlook than 20 square km of clear-cut forest?

Of course not.

Just saying it's hardly standard procedure.

AND, keeping the back door hidden would still be a priority. The big shield generator is still very visible.

Keeping the back door protected is a priority, not keeping it hidden. There are far better ways to protect it than to have natural cover growing right up to the doorstep.

Keeping the back door protected is a priority, not keeping it hidden. There are far better ways to protect it than to have natural cover growing right up to the doorstep.

In your opinion.

Keeping the back door protected is a priority, not keeping it hidden. There are far better ways to protect it than to have natural cover growing right up to the doorstep.

In your opinion.

It's actually my opinion...I have been using the Force to slowly embed my thought processes on HappyDaze's mind. Soon I shall have a completely devoted servant to do my bidding from afar.

YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER.

So. Any thoughts on what happened to the AT-AT that was roaming around?

So. Any thoughts on what happened to the AT-AT that was roaming around?

I think it was either blown up by Galen Marek or some Lego dudes. I prefer the latter, but a case could be made to retcon the two instances into harmony.

(That's a joke, son!)

So. Any thoughts on what happened to the AT-AT that was roaming around?

It's roaming around Endor looking for Luke's allies.

Or got blown up when the generator blew.

Keeping the back door protected is a priority, not keeping it hidden. There are far better ways to protect it than to have natural cover growing right up to the doorstep.

In your opinion.

It's actually my opinion...I have been using the Force to slowly embed my thought processes on HappyDaze's mind. Soon I shall have a completely devoted servant to do my bidding from afar.

YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER.

*I will kill Luke Skywalker...*

Dark Horse published a story in which a survivor talks about the horrors of the battle for Endor and how terrifying and bloodthirsty were the ewoks

Yeap that was an awesome dark horse comic.

Also this...

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/yub-jub-means-devour-the-weak-an-authoritative-study-of-ewoks-from-the-field-notes-of-davo-atten-boru-and-pladdo-cardigun-exo-naturalists

C3QP also relayed that the Ewok celebratory phraseology has been grossly misrepresented in Alliance literature: The famous victory chant yub nub/yub nub eee chop yub nub translates not as “freedom/we have freedom” but rather as “eat them/we shall eat them”; elu mali ooloo/emi watu gravo is not “honor the fallen/toast their memory” but “defile their remains/pass water upon their graves”; and the oft-heard salutation yub jub actually translates to “devour the weak.”

...

Now the Ewoks have acquired access to starships, blasters, and other advanced Alliance technology—as well as a penchant for consuming other sentient species—we believe they will easily subjugate the other moons of Endor, and will expand their nascent power base into nearby habitable systems.

Furthermore, we believe a new boru warru or “blood-anointed warlord” may well appear in the next few galactic cycles, leading a divu slatu across the galaxy and literally devouring all who oppose them. As C3QP eloquently voiced in his final stilted communication, “There is a storm coming: a storm of fur and fury.”

*shiver*

Anyway, I think RotJ would have been a much better (and less "let's sell toys") film if Marquand had been allowed to make more of the decisions about the direction of the film.

From an interview with Gary Kurtz

It was never George's intention to direct Empire?

KURTZ: No, no. After Star Wars, he didn't really want to direct the others. I think he was unhappy that I ? I'm the one that recommended Kershner, and had worked with him before. I think he was a good choice for Empire, I think he worked really well, but he wasn't the kind of director... George, I think, had in the back of his mind that the director was a sort of stand-in ? that he could phone him up every night and tell him what to do and kind of direct vicariously over the telephone. That never happened. Kershner's not that kind of director, and even when George showed up a couple of times on the set, he found that it wasn't easy to maneuver Kershner into doing what he would have done.

So, on Jedi, he was determined to find a director who was easy to control, basically, and he did. And that was the result, basically ? the film was sort of one that George might have directed if he had directed it himself... but maybe not, because it goes through so many interim bits, that if he had directed it probably would have been quite different.

Would you say, in trying to transition out of Star Wars, that your departure was acrimonious?

KURTZ: No, no... I think it was... I think we both were frustrated and decided we just didn't want to work together anymore for the time being. Also, I had for a long time wanted to work again with Jim Henson, and he wanted me to do The Dark Crystal with him, and it was an entirely different kind of challenge. One of the problems at that particular moment was it looked to me like Jedi was going to be disappointing ? with the change in the story, with all of the story material that I had really resonated with being tossed out, and that whole Ewoks thing , and the new Death Star and the same kind of climax of Star Wars. It was, from a creative challenge point of view, kind of a rehash. So the idea of doing something like Dark Crystal, a whole film made up of mechanical creatures with very little in the way of optical effects, trying to make that come to life was an entirely different kind of challenge. That was much more appealing to me.

So it was a mutual ...

KURTZ: It was pretty much a mutual thing, yeah.

(Important bit highlighted by me)

I've also seen interviews where Lucas wanted Spielberg to direct but Lucas was having (another) fight with the Director's Guild so he couldn't hire Spielberg.

I think it's entirely plausible that Stormtrooper armor might be optimized to protect against blasters and not more primitive weaponry. After all it's the same with modern body armor, it protects more against ballistic weaponry than against other types.

Also it is just 2 added soak...

I think it's entirely plausible that Stormtrooper armor might be optimized to protect against blasters and not more primitive weaponry. After all it's the same with modern body armor, it protects more against ballistic weaponry than against other types.

Yeah, I remember that being the case in the old Visual Dictionary...the armor was mostly designed to protect the wearer from glancing blaster bolts.

I think it's entirely plausible that Stormtrooper armor might be optimized to protect against blasters and not more primitive weaponry. After all it's the same with modern body armor, it protects more against ballistic weaponry than against other types.

Except our armor actually works.

ST armor isn't good for anything other than providing a "faceless goon" aspect to the Empire.

Our armor works again bullets to the torso. It still does almost nothing to help against large kinetic transfers (falling, motor vehicle collisions, etc.) and it's only of limited use against blasts (helps against fragments, but not against the pressure wave).

I have a feeling most people forget that Endor, and by extention the Ewoks, were known before the Empire set up shop there. In the old EU there were many Ewoks captured to make Slaves and sold as Exotic creatures. Some of which became free to do as they wanted, for example there was an Ewok Bounty Hunter in one of the Novels.

People forget the movie was only a small view of the full battle or that the ones we see are only a small portion. Sorta like how people hate on the entire Gungan race because the first one they see is Jar Jar.

Though I will agree on the fact that there is a bit too much tech disparity. I think it would have been more reasonable if the Fuzzballs had Slugthrowers, even of the muzzleloading variety, at the very least. Especially given the fact that storm trooper armour was made of Plastoid with Commanders and SpecOps having Cortosis Weave or similar materials as added protection. The Royal Guard and Vader were promenent examples of the Cortosis Weave alongside the Hunter Corp.

Our armor works again bullets to the torso. It still does almost nothing to help against large kinetic transfers (falling, motor vehicle collisions, etc.) and it's only of limited use against blasts (helps against fragments, but not against the pressure wave).

As evidenced by:

Luckily, the Ewoks weren't using IED's with a massive blast radious.

They were using flint-tipped spears and arrows with flint-tips as well.

Oh, some were using flint-axes (or more like clubs), too, but those were hitting the helmet of a stormtrooper (and not with much force either).

I've been struck on the head with a baseball bat (hard) with a helmet on. (older military helmet, but still)
It kinda hurts, it kinda jarrs you, but you wouldn't go down from it.