Small galaxy, big planet

[Sarevok]

Tatooine appears in 5 out of 6 SW movies and is mentioned in god knows how many times in various SW books and games. It's extremely annoying when you consider how the planet was originaly intended to be.

When Tatooine first appeared in Episode 4 it was THE ass end of the galaxy. It was the SW equivalent of a remote village in afganistan. Luke repeatedly made it clear it was a worthless place and he wanted to leave for elsewhere asap. Then in ROTJ Tatooine returns to importance this time as Jaba the Hutts base of operations. It was weird to see such a worthless planet playing a big role in a famous smugglers operations but I guess one could make up excuses for it so one small mistake like that on GL's part is forgivable. What really pissed me off is how come Tatooine is Anakin's homeplanet. I understand George Lucas was trying to bridge the 2 triologies. But why does it have to it in such a mentaly retarded way ? Why is Obiwan hiding himself and Vader's son out of all places on Darth Vader's homeplanet ? And that too right next door to his family ?

Tatooine should have been treated like Hoth. Hoth was never mentioned outside ESB. Similarly Tatooine should have remained a forgotten, worthless planet instead of appearing in 5 out of 6 SW movies and much of the SW EU.

[LeftWingExtremist]

Well the main reason why it's used so much is because it is conviniently placed near the Correllian run so it is usefull for pirates and smugglers to base their operations. The fact it's shitty is actually a bonus for said pirates because it's a good base of opperations where people can't be bothered checking out. Jabba being a crime lord probably likes it at Tatooine because he can run things there with little interference.

[CaptHawkeye]

I agree, the overuse of the planet is absurd considering it's the Star Wars equivalent of a third world country. It's even more insulting to the intelligent members of the audience when Obi Won insists on hiding himself, and baby Luke, on the same planet Anakin was born on... I mean, what the hell?

[Lord Revan]

I agree, the overuse of the planet is absurd considering it's the Star Wars equivalent of a third world country. It's even more insulting to the intelligent members of the audience when Obi Won insists on hiding himself, and baby Luke, on the same planet Anakin was born on... I mean, what the hell?

2 things first Anakin's birth planet is unknow as far as I know, he just lived there (from the age of 2 to until 9 or 10), second being also the place where Shmi Skywalker (Anakin's mother) died it's probably the only place in the Galaxy where Darth Vader wouldn't set foot on intentionally

[Master_Baerne]

Why is Obiwan hiding himself and Vader's son out of all places on Darth Vader's homeplanet ? And that too right next door to his family ?

for exactly the reasons why it shouldn't be his home planet: Who in their right minds would go there looking for, say, a Jedi Master and the son of Lord Vader?

[Sunstreaker]

I agree, the overuse of the planet is absurd considering it's the Star Wars equivalent of a third world country. It's even more insulting to the intelligent members of the audience when Obi Won insists on hiding himself, and baby Luke, on the same planet Anakin was born on... I mean, what the hell?

2 things first Anakin's birth planet is unknow as far as I know, he just lived there (from the age of 2 to until 9 or 10), second being also the place where Shmi Skywalker (Anakin's mother) died it's probably the only place in the Galaxy where Darth Vader wouldn't set foot on intentionally

That's crap. I go and visit the graves of deceased loved ones. The fact that Tatooine was at all involved with Vader's past is a reason to stay away. Hell, the sand people are lucky he didn't make them extinct.

[Lord Pounder]

I agree, the overuse of the planet is absurd considering it's the Star Wars equivalent of a third world country. It's even more insulting to the intelligent members of the audience when Obi Won insists on hiding himself, and baby Luke, on the same planet Anakin was born on... I mean, what the hell?

2 things first Anakin's birth planet is unknow as far as I know, he just lived there (from the age of 2 to until 9 or 10), second being also the place where Shmi Skywalker (Anakin's mother) died it's probably the only place in the Galaxy where Darth Vader wouldn't set foot on intentionally

That's crap. I go and visit the graves of deceased loved ones. The fact that Tatooine was at all involved with Vader's past is a reason to stay away. Hell, the sand people are lucky he didn't make them extinct.

But you, i assume, are not a deranged psychopath. IIRC it specifically states in Dark Lord that Vader wouldn't want to step foot on Tatooine due to bad memories.

[Master_Baerne]

That's crap. I go and visit the graves of deceased loved ones. The fact that Tatooine was at all involved with Vader's past is a reason to stay away. Hell, the sand people are lucky he didn't make them extinct.

Yes, but you are a normal, reasonably well adjusted person. Darth Vader, on the other hand, was born a slave, watched his mother die in his arms, joined the Jedi Order, which became his adoptive family of sorts. Obi-Wan was his first father figure. When he killed all the Jedi and was burned alive in mortal combat with that faqther figure...See my point? Who would want to reopen all the old wounds Tatooine holds for Vader?

[JediToren]

When Yoda, Kenobi, and Organa decided to hide Luke with his family on Tatooine, they all believed that Vader was dead. Neither Vader nor the Emperor knew that Luke and Leia existed anyway, so they weren't even going to be looking for them.

After Vader returned, Kenobi might have regretted it, but it was too late by that time. But it wasn't that much of an emergency anyway, since Vader and/or the Emperor would have to decide to kill or otherwise visit the Lars to learn of Luke's existence.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Actually, it's pretty implicit that Qui-Gon was the father figure to Anakin and Obi-Wan more of an elder half-brother, and Obi-Wan even said as such, as evidenced by Anakins visions just before his knighting ceremony.

[Knife]

Actually, it's pretty implicit that Qui-Gon was the father figure to Anakin and Obi-Wan more of an elder half-brother, and Obi-Wan even said as such, as evidenced by Anakins visions just before his knighting ceremony.

Actually, by Anakin's own words in AotC's, Obi was the closest thing to a father he had.

[VT-16]

IIRC it specifically states in Dark Lord that Vader wouldn't want to step foot on Tatooine due to bad memories.

In the same book, Obi-Wan spills his drink in a dusty bar when he hears Darth Vader's name on the news, realizing he's still alive. Then he has a pep-talk with Qui-Gon's ghost and is reassured Tatooine is still safe enough to keep Luke there, IIRC.

[LaserRifleofDoom]

That's crap. I go and visit the graves of deceased loved ones. The fact that Tatooine was at all involved with Vader's past is a reason to stay away. Hell, the sand people are lucky he didn't make them extinct.

Vader didn't land on Tatooine in ANH for possibly one of the most important counter intelligence operations ever. Also, the proposal was put forward in one thread (maybe the big one about RotS when it came out) that by putting Luke on Tatooine it would help protect him from being picked up by any mandatory genetic fingerprinting.

Though I do agree that I hate to see Tatooine everywhere. I hope I never read another book about Tatooine ever again. Whoever's 'in charge' of the EU should put a two year moratorium on books and video games to keep away from the planet.

[PainRack]

Tatooine appears in 5 out of 6 SW movies and is mentioned in god knows how many times in various SW books and games. It's extremely annoying when you consider how the planet was originaly intended to be.

When Tatooine first appeared in Episode 4 it was THE ass end of the galaxy. It was the SW equivalent of a remote village in afganistan. Luke repeatedly made it clear it was a worthless place and he wanted to leave for elsewhere asap. Then in ROTJ Tatooine returns to importance this time as Jaba the Hutts base of operations. It was weird to see such a worthless planet playing a big role in a famous smugglers operations but I guess one could make up excuses for it so one small mistake like that on GL's part is forgivable. What really pissed me off is how come Tatooine is Anakin's homeplanet. I understand George Lucas was trying to bridge the 2 triologies. But why does it have to it in such a mentaly retarded way ? Why is Obiwan hiding himself and Vader's son out of all places on Darth Vader's homeplanet ? And that too right next door to his family ?

Tatooine should have been treated like Hoth. Hoth was never mentioned outside ESB. Similarly Tatooine should have remained a forgotten, worthless planet instead of appearing in 5 out of 6 SW movies and much of the SW EU.

Let's not forget the prophecy of Sons of Suns....

Depending on whether that's still canonical or not, it probably explains why Tatooine was so important in the movies.

[VT-16]

It's not. It was in the early drafts but got cut out. There's no instance of it in the movies/novelizations etc.

[Cykeisme]

Everything stems from it being Anakin's birthplace.

The reason it appears in Episodes I and II are pretty obvious. Anakin and Shmi are from there.
At the conclusion of Episode III, as has been stated, Obi-Wan thinks Anakin is dead, and so brings Luke back to the closest thing he had to family.
Upon discovering that Vader is still alive, his doubts are calmed by Qui-Gon.

Now on to the OT.
We now know the reason Luke is on Tatooine is because the Lars are there, which is directly related to Shmi and Anakin. No leaps here. Now get this: the only reason Luke meets Han at all is because Han happens to be in a cantina on Tatooine.. the only reason Han is there is because of his dealings with a crime lord has his HQ set up on that backwater ass-end planet.


So the only coincidence we have now is that a Hutt has his base of operations set up on Tatooine, which just so happens to be where Luke is.
However, recall that at the start Shmi was a slave on Tatooine, and Tatooine is a Hutt world where slavery is commonplace.. a Hutt world where Jabba is the big shit. All of a sudden, Jabba's appearance at the podrace in Episode I doesn't seem like a trivially minor, ridiculous attempt to tie the PT with the OT, now does it?

Tatooine is vitally important, central to the saga, despite it being a backwater shithole. What you have to get out of your heads is that the two are not mutually exclusive.


As for the EU.. fuck the EU.

[Master_Baerne]

As for the EU.. fuck the EU.

"Commence primary ignition..."

[Ghost Rider]

As for the EU.. fuck the EU.

"Commence primary ignition..."

I've said before...I'll say it again.

Don't spam motherfucker.

[PainRack]

It's not. It was in the early drafts but got cut out. There's no instance of it in the movies/novelizations etc.

Except in the SE during the scene on Coruscant.

[Master_Baerne]

I fail to see why friendly conversation is such a bad thing.

[Jim Raynor]

IIRC it specifically states in Dark Lord that Vader wouldn't want to step foot on Tatooine due to bad memories.

In the same book, Obi-Wan spills his drink in a dusty bar when he hears Darth Vader's name on the news, realizing he's still alive. Then he has a pep-talk with Qui-Gon's ghost and is reassured Tatooine is still safe enough to keep Luke there, IIRC.

That's a pretty good explanation as to why Obi-wan didn't grab Luke and take off to some place else.

[darthbob88]

I fail to see why friendly conversation is such a bad thing.

There is nothing wrong with "friendly conversation", but posting a content-less one-liner like that is considered to be spam, with all the punishments appropriate thereto. Don't do that, lest you feel that you want to receive the Imperial Smackdown(C).

[SilverWingedSeraph]

The thing is, because Tatooine plays such an important role in the movies, fans love it. When they read books in the EU, or play the games, they like visiting places they know. It's sort of like... they know what to expect, I guess. On Tatooine, you have Jawas, Sandpeople, Sandcrawlers and the crimal element, and people find comfort in revisiting that. Heck, I remember the first time I played KOTOR, Tattooine was the first planet I went too. It's still one of my favourite planets to visit, 'cause it's like "Hey! I'm in Anchorhead! Look, theres a Hutt! And over there, a Jawa, talking insanely fast, as they do! Oh no! A tusken raider is shooting at me!" Heh. It's fun.

I understand the points made, and I agree with some of them, but hey. Tatooine is an important place in the Star Wars saga, and thus will hold a place in the hearts of many fans. Naturally, the EU will attempt to capitalise on this until everyone is sick to death of it.

[Invictus ChiKen]

I've always wondered...

With all the fame Luke has an I'm guessing his gotta have some serious creds.

Why not spend some to improve his homeworld?

Also why hasn't Tatooine capitalised on Tourism?

"Come and see the home of Jedi Master Luke "Wormie" Skywalker!

[Coyote]

When "Little Ani" left Tatooine, he promised to come back and free his mother and all the slaves.

He didn't.

So his mother was sold to someone else, and eventually she died. All because Anakin got all caught up with being a big shot Jedi. He blew her off, apparantly never even so much as sent a message or a card. Tatooine became a place of failure for him, probaly where he realized what a selfish git he'd been although he'd never admit it.

It became such a painful place that even when he did return, years alater, chasing Princess Leia, he sent troops down there to find the droids instead of himsef-- you know, the guy that grew up there, knew the territory, and could probaby "sense" his way around people if they were being evasive about the droids.

So, yeah-- a perfect "right under your nose" place to hide Luke, and for Obi-Wan to keep an eye on the boy.