Summary
- The
Star Wars
prequels raised questions and introduced plot holes that contradicted the original trilogy. - Technological differences and the influence of midi-chlorians changed
Star Wars
lore. - Characters’ behavior and storylines were inconsistent, leaving plot holes unaddressed.
George Lucas expanded the Star Wars saga when he returned to write and direct the Star Wars prequel trilogy, but also created several plot holes. Audiences had adored the original Star Wars trilogy for 22 years and waited 16 years for a new movie when Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace premiered in 1999. This left plenty of time to pick up on all the hints about Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker’s history, and to imagine what their story would eventually look like on the big screen.
When the prequels finally arrived, not everything was as long-time fans imagined, and each film raised more questions. New characters appeared who had never been hinted at, characters who shouldn’t have known each other interacted, established aspects of the universe were contradicted, and some things just made no sense. Certain questions were answered as the prequels progressed, and a few were addressed in other media, but many of George Lucas’ Star Wars plot holes were never fully resolved.
Related Star Wars Movies In Order: How To Watch Release Order, Chronologically & With The TV Shows
What’s the best way to watch Star Wars? Here’s everything you need to know to watch in release or timeline order, and how to include the TV shows.
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15 How Did The Galaxy’s Technology Get Worse?
Prequel technology is bigger and flashier
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One of the most noticeable differences between Lucas’ Star Wars trilogies is the technology, which is much more polished and advanced in the prequels. Not all the technology is radically different in the prequels, but it definitely received an upgrade in key areas, even though the films are set decades before the originals. While the real-world reason is that the prequels were made 20 years later, there are some possible in-universe explanations. The Empire may have prioritized efficiency and mass production over quality, while the Rebellion took what they could get, even if it was outdated.
Star Wars Rebels
season 3 begins with the Rebellion stealing old, decommissioned Y-Wings from an Imperial scrapyard.
14 Yoda Wasn’t The Jedi Master Who Instructed Obi-Wan
Qui-Gon Jinn was Obi-Wan’s master
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Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back that Yoda was the Jedi Master who instructed him, but Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace seemed to contradict this. Qui-Gon Jinn was Obi-Wan’s master throughout the film, and while Obi-Wan mentioned a lesson he learned from Yoda, there was no other implied history. However, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones revealed that all Jedi younglings receive their basic instruction from Yoda. Even so, some of Obi-Wan’s lines in The Empire Strikes Back suggest more history between them as master and apprentice.
13 Why Did Obi-Wan Not Remember R2-D2 & C-3PO?
They went through a lot together
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Obi-Wan Kenobi did not seem to remember R2-D2 or C-3PO in A New Hope despite everything they went through in the prequels. R2-D2 saved Ob-Wan’s life several times, Obi-Wan knew him by name in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and C-3PO was present when Obi-Wan left Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar. These seem like events Obi-Wan wouldn’t forget, but there’s no clear indication that he recognizes either droid. Of course, this could be another thing Obi-Wan kept from Luke, and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series showed that Obi-Wan didn’t always think much of droids.
12 Why Didn’t Qui-Gon Hire A Smuggler On Tatooine?
It was the same situation as A New Hope
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A Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace plot hole that becomes clear when comparing the two trilogies is how much time the Jedi wasted on Tatooine. When Obi-Wan Kenobi needed to get off Tatooine in A New Hope, he hired a smuggler at the Mos Eisley Cantina. However, when Qui-Gon Jinn is in the same situation, he can’t think of anything until Anakin Skywalker says he’ll race in the Boonta Eve Classic. It feels like Obi-Wan took 32 years to think of hiring a smuggler just so there was an excuse for the Podrace to happen.
11 The Force Has A Biological Component
Yoda stressed the mystical aspect of the Force
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While the Force is created by living things, Yoda stressed that it was mystical, not physical. He told Luke Skywalker that the mind was more important than the body and that beings are luminous, “…not this crude matter.” In Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, however, Qui-Gon Jinn explained the concept of midi-chlorians, microscopic organisms in living cells that allow Jedi to hear the will of the Force. Using science to measure someone’s potential and making the Force about biology contradicts Yoda’s explanation. Still, Lucas believed that midi-chlorians did not detract from the mystical side of the Force.
10 A Thousand Generations Vs. A Thousand Years
Palpatine’s history lesson created a problem
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Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker that the Jedi were the guardians of peace in the Old Republic for “…over a thousand generations.” A generation is approximately 25 years, so most fans and authors took this literally by making the Jedi and the Republic 25,000 years old. However, Chancellor Palpatine states in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones that the Republic “…has stood for a thousand years…” contradicting A New Hope. The Star Wars Expanded Universe retconned this by having the Galactic Republic reform after the Sith were defeated, leading to 1,000 years of peace.
When a character mentions the “Old Republic” before
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
, they mean the Republic from approximately 25,000 BBY to 1,000 BBY. When a character mentions the “Old Republic” after
Revenge of the Sith
, they describe the entire collective history of the Republic.
9 Stormtroopers Were Meant To Be Clones Of Jango Fett
Even though they’re clearly not
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Stormtroopers appeared to be conscripted soldiers in the original Star Wars trilogy, but the prequels suggested otherwise. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones introduced the Republic’s clone army, all made from the DNA of bounty hunter Jango Fett. In the DVD commentary, Lucas said Jango hitting his head while entering his ship was a reference to the stormtrooper who hit his head in A New Hope, suggesting it was a trait inherited from Jango. Of course, having the stormtroopers be clones of Jango Fett makes no sense for a few reasons.
For one, the stormtroopers sound and act nothing like Jango, which seemed to matter somewhat to Lucas. After Boba Fett was revealed as a clone of his father, Jango actor Temuera Morrison redubbed his line for the 2004 DVD release of The Empire Strikes Back. If all the stormtroopers were clones of Jango, then their voices should have been changed too. Thankfully, Star Wars canon dropped this idea by showing that the clones were gradually phased out of service in favor of conscripted soldiers loyal to the Empire.
8 Obi-Wan Didn’t Try To Save Anakin After He Turned
It was Padmé who thought as Luke did
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When Luke Skywalker begged his father to come with him in Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader was reminded of how “Obi-Wan once thought as you do.” However, after Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Padmé Amidala saw the good in Anakin and begged him to come with her. Obi-Wan only spoke to Anakin briefly before they fought, and he mostly argued during the fight rather than trying to redeem him. Having Obi-Wan plead with Anakin at least once could have gone a long way in resolving this issue.
7 How Did Leia Remember Her Mother?
Newborn infants don’t normally have good memory
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After learning Princess Leia Organa was his twin sister, Luke Skywalker asked her about the mother he never knew. Despite having died when she was young, Leia had images and feelings of her mother, but this became confusing after Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Padmé Amidala died immediately after giving birth to Luke and Leia, so there’s no reason Leia should have had any memories. However, some Star Wars comics have shown Leia’s ability to sense the history behind certain places and objects through the Force, including a mural of her mother when she visited Naboo.
6 Only Certain Jedi Can Become Force Ghosts
Raises questions about everybody who becomes one
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Most Star Wars authors assumed any Jedi could become a Force Ghost when they died, but George Lucas had other ideas. Yoda told Obi-Wan Kenobi that Qui-Gon Jinn had discovered the path to immortality and that he would show him how to communicate with his old master. However, it was never explained how Anakin Skywalker learned to become a Force Ghost when he died. Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader by Ryder Windham tackled this by having Obi-Wan show Anakin the technique before he passed into the Netherworld of the Force.
Of course, it has also not been explained how subsequent
Star Wars
characters learned to become Force Ghosts.
5 Why Did It Take So Long To Finish The Death Star?
It was well underway in Revenge of the Sith
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Return of the Jedi showed that the Empire could construct an operational Death Star in four years, but it took them almost 20 years to build the first. Darth Vader’s final scene in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith shows him and Emperor Palpatine looking out the window at a Death Star whose construction is well underway. George Lucas attempted to explain this by noting how the Empire had to deal with bureaucracy and secrecy while building the first one. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story also revealed that it took decades to perfect the Death Star’s weapon.
4 Why Would The Jedi Hide Luke On Tatooine?
And not change his last name either
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Having the Jedi hide Luke Skywalker on Tatooine was technically a plot hole before the prequels, assuming Obi-Wan Kenobi was telling the truth about Anakin Skywalker’s past. However, the prequels confirmed that Anakin was indeed from Tatooine and that he buried his mother at the Lars homestead when she died. The Marvel Star Wars comics suggested that Obi-Wan hid Luke in the one place Anakin would never return. Even so, it would be one of the first places Darth Vader would look if he found out he had a son, made worse by Luke still having his last name.
3 How Were The Jedi Forgotten So Quickly?
The gap between trilogies is less than 20 years
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Even though only 19 years passed between the prequels and the originals, much of the galaxy seemed to have forgotten about the Jedi. Luke Skywalker had never even heard of the Force, Han Solo believed the Jedi used tricks, Grand Moff Tarkin assumed every Jedi had to be dead, and none of the patrons in the Mos Eisley Cantina seemed to realize the significance of Obi-Wan Kenobi wielding a lightsaber. Members of Lucasfilm’s Story Group have explained this by noting how there were only 10,000 Jedi among trillions of beings, so most people never would have seen a Jedi anyway.
2 Why Did Obi-Wan Tell Luke So Many Unnecessary Lies?
Much of his story doesn’t match what happened
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Obi-Wan Kenobi hiding the truth about Luke Skywalker’s father is more understandable after the prequels, but some of his comments are confusing or don’t add up. He implies that Luke’s father had more history with Owen Lars than he did, tells Luke that his father wanted him to have his lightsaber when he was old enough, and claims that Owen was afraid Luke would follow Obi-Wan on a crusade like his father did. Worst of all, Obi-Wan never told Luke that Leia was his sister, even though Darth Vader was hunting her anyway, and she could have been trained sooner.
1 Why Did R2-D2 Not Share More Information?
It could have come in handy
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Luke waited years to learn the truth about his father, sister, and mother, but he could have learned everything sooner from R2-D2. The prequels revealed that R2-D2 was present for the most pivotal moments in Anakin Skywalker’s life, and unlike C-3PO, his memory was never erased. It was never clarified if R2-D2 was sworn to secrecy or if he also decided not to tell Luke. George Lucas dismissed this by claiming R2-D2 was “the family dog,” and some Star Wars reference books imply that it was difficult for R2-D2 to process so much data from never having a memory wipe.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
Created by George Lucas First Film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Cast Mark Hamill , James Earl Jones , David Prowse , Carrie Fisher , Harrison Ford , Daisy Ridley , Adam Driver , Ian McDiarmid , Ewan McGregor , Rosario Dawson , Lars Mikkelsen , Rupert Friend , Moses Ingram , Frank Oz , Pedro Pascal TV Show(s) The Mandalorian , Andor , Obi-Wan Kenobi , The Book of Boba Fett , Ahsoka , The Acolyte , Star Wars: Skeleton Crew , Lando , Star Wars: The Clone Wars , Star Wars Rebels , Star Wars: The Bad Batch , Star Wars: Resistance , Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures , Star Wars: Visions Character(s) Luke Skywalker , Han Solo , Rey Skywalker , Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious , Obi-Wan Kenobi , Ahsoka Tano , Grand Admiral Thrawn , Grand Inquisitor , Reva (The Third Sister) , The Fifth Brother , The Seventh Sister , The Eighth Brother , Yoda , Din Djarin , Grogu , Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader , Leia Organa , Ben Solo/Kylo Ren Video Game(s) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic , Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords , Star Wars Battlefront (2015) , Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2005) , Star Wars: The Force Unleashed , Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II , Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order , Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Expand