Star Wars: 9 Things That Make No Sense In The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is widely regarded as one of the best movies in the entire series, if not the history of sci-fi. Releasing in 1980, three years after A New Hope electrified Hollywood, heroes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa were back to face off against Darth Vader and the evil Empire.

Like it’s predecessor, it was a huge box office hit, raking in $209,398,025 domestically – and a massive $400,083,259 worldwide. That said, it still has its flaws, even if the majority are small. In fact, there’s a lot about the Star Wars classic that makes no sense.

9 Why Choose Hoth?

The movie begins with the Rebel Alliance seen on the planet of Hoth. It’s a desolate place, sure, but it’s also extremely dangerous. The cold is stifling, enough so they have to shut the doors at night to avoid all freezing to death. And it’s also got creatures like Wampas on the loose, roaming free looking for food to eat.

It’s understandable that the Rebels needed a place to plot in the shadows but, even so, Hoth is pretty extreme. They could have picked a thousand other remote places in the galaxy but, instead, picked their own equivalent of Antarctica.

8 The Luke and Leia Kiss

At the time, the kiss shared between Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa wasn’t a huge deal. They seemed legitimately interested in one another and, though Han Solo was in the picture, there were fans who would have loved to see them couple up. That is until they saw Return of the Jedi three years later.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and, all these years later, the decision to have two siblings kiss on screen is just plain weird. George Lucas was the creator, yet allowed this to happen. Obviously, there’s an argument that he hadn’t gotten everything planned out at the time but it’s the subject of much mockery.

7 Han Prodding Leia For A Loving Admission

As mentioned, Han was also in the frame when it comes to earning Leia’s affections. But his timing wasn’t any good, with the loveable rogue prodding her for an admission of love at a time when the Rebel base comes under attack from Imperial Stormtroopers and Darth Vader.

Han didn’t have to force the matter at a time where their lives hung in the balance? His dawdling could have cost them dearly, especially as the Empire just about missed out on capturing them. No wonder Leia played hard to get. She had bigger things on her mind!

6 Yoda Being Insane

Again, hindsight is key for this one. When Luke is told to travel to Dagobah, he encounters Yoda on the planet. At first, he believes the little green creature to be out of his mind, especially given his erratic behavior (beating R2-D2 with his stick, laughing at Luke for understandable questions). But then he learns Yoda isn’t crazy and is, in fact, the Jedi he’s been looking for the whole time.

Even when Yoda trains Luke, he’s still just as weird. He wasn’t like this during the events of the prequel trilogy and, though many years in isolation would drive anybody up the wall, it still doesn’t explain his severely-worsened mental state. Luke is the best chance of beating the Empire so he should have gotten down to business right away.

5 …And Yoda Telling Luke To Shun His Friends

The Jedi are described as the ‘warriors’ and ‘peacekeepers’ of the galaxy during the prequel trilogy. This is certainly true, with Jedi Masters and Knights doing all they can to help those in need. Yoda himself does this in Attack of the Clones when he travels to Geonosis to help Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padmé Amidala. He also does this in Revenge of the Sith, aiding the Wookiees in their hour of need.

So that means that, when Yoda tells Luke to essentially let his friends die by staying on Dagobah rather than helping them on Bespin, he’s going against the Jedi way. His concerns are understandable, with Luke nowhere near strong enough to fight Darth Vader. But, that said, it still makes no sense.

4 Chewbacca’s Poor Fixing Of C-3PO

Chewbacca is a savvy Wookiee. He’s capable of repairing the Millennium Falcon, with the early scenes of The Empire Strikes Back showing him working on the ship alongside Han Solo. And he’s also able to do many other brilliant things, from fighting Stormtroopers to flying the Falcon out of tight spots.

That, therefore, makes it baffling how poor he is at repairing C-3PO when the droid is attacked on Bespin. A Wookiee of his talents would surely have no problems when it comes to fixing a mere protocol droid. It seems this scene was only inserted for comedic purposes.

3 Chewbacca Strangling Lando

When Chewbacca is released from Imperial captivity by Lando, his anger is understandable. After all, the ruler of Cloud City had stabbed himself, Han, and Leia in the back when they’d placed their faith in him. But that’s not the reason why his assault on Billy Dee Williams’ character makes the list.

Instead, it does so because time, at this point, is of the essence. They’ve still got a way to save Han but, instead, Chewbacca focuses on attempting to strangle Lando to death. His actions actually cost them because, if they’d moved quicker, they’d have probably reached their friend in time. Instead, they have to wait another year before coming to his rescue.

2 Darth Vader Dueling To Kill

When Darth Vader fights Luke on Cloud City, he later insists that he wants his son to join him at his side. Luke is rocked by the revelation about his parentage and chooses to fall from a great height, rather than give himself up. But Vader’s fighting style throughout the scene doesn’t make any sense given his grand goal.

Vader goes for Luke’s head at one point and takes many wild lunges at his son. That doesn’t seem like somebody wanting to keep his rival alive. It’s no surprise Skywalker turned him down.

1 Obi-Wan’s Lie

On the subject of the revelation that Vader is Luke’s father, a scene that stunned fans in movie theatres across the globe at the time, we may as well mention Obi-Wan Kenobi. The wise Jedi told Luke in A New Hope that his father had been a great friend of his but had tragically died during The Clone Wars.

It would definitely have been better to tell Luke the truth straight away. His whole ‘from a certain point of view’ thing in Return of the Jedi is wrong as well. Again, Jedi are meant to be like angels. Kenobi, in lying to Luke, is actually manipulating him. It’s more something a Sith would do.