These are so bad, they need breakdowns:

9. What is all this nonsense about the First Order only wanting to destroy the Republic because the Republic is supporting the Resistance? First of all, isn’t the Resistance part of the Republic, not a separate operation?

Um, no. That’s why they said those words the way they said those words. If you had preconceived notions, this should have corrected them.

And if it is separate, why has the First Order only just now discovered the not-very-well-hidden fact that the Republic is supporting the Resistance?

Um, no. They didn’t just now discover that fact. This is another preconceived idea of yours. As is the idea that the fact was “not-very-well-hidden.” I honestly don’t know where you’re getting these.

And if the Resistance is in fact a part of the Republic, why didn’t Starkiller Base destroy the Republic’s planets and moons much, much earlier? In other words, what is the status of the war between the Republic and the First Order at the beginning of The Force Awakens, such that this precise moment is when General Hux decides to simply press a button and destroy the Republic?

Um…[sigh]. Because this is when Starkiller Base was ready. You know, you prepare things first, then use them?

10. For that matter, why is it made to seem like the entire Republic is centered in just one star system?

I was inclined to forgive this one, since there was a scene cut from the final theatrical release explaining some of this. The thing is, it was cut because it wasn’t necessary. All you needed to know was the fleet and the senate were in one place. Because senates seldom meet via snapchat. And even our country’s fleets exist in, well, one country. If you destroyed it, you’d destroy the fleet. Granted that you wouldn’t destroy the fleet utterly. Most governments keep the bulk of their fleet in shipyards, because it seems improbable that someone will come along and wipe out the entire country, or in this case, star system housing them.

Let alone one whose planets and moons are all visible to one another with the naked eye? Isn’t the Republic intergalactic?

Go outside when it gets dark. Look up. You just looked as something millions of lightyears away with the naked eye. Every star a potential neighboring star system.

And why did the First Order choose to destroy all the planets and moons visible from Maz Kanata’s home-world, but then initiate a conventional invasion of the latter planet Why not just fire one more planet-killing beam and destroy Kanata’s planet too? Because not doing that leads to a significant military defeat for the First Order that was totally avoidable.

Seriously? Did you completely forget this guy–>  You don’t blow up the planet that has the information you’ve been scouring the galaxy to retrieve.

And another thing: if the Republic is in power, why is the Resistance the “Resistance”? What are they resisting? Isn’t the First Order the “Resistance,” as they’re resisting the hegemony of the Republic? It’s like someone on-set said “the Rebels need a new name,” without realizing that the political situation in the Galaxy had totally changed since the events of the previous films.

Right, because the Nazis referred to themselves as the Axis of  Evil. You know why ISIS doesn’t include the word “Evil” in any of their nicknames. Because they don’t think they’re the bad guy. Nobody ever does. We make fun of fiction that does that. Not the other way around.

The First Order are the remnants of the Empire, FYI. They haven’t been in power for decades. They just think they should be/are.

39. Why would the First Order spend untold quadrillions of [insert unit of money here] to build the Starkiller Base, when a similar concept and design plan had twice before been destroyed with minimal difficulty by the rebels? And doesn’t the recurrence of this tactical error for the third time in the (relatively) brief history of the Empire/First Order suggest that everyone in the First Order who was involved in the construction of Starkiller Base, at every level of management and authority, should be instantly shot in the head? (Of course, it’s too late for that by the end of the film, but still.) How positively brain-dead is Snoke to have learned literally nothing from history? And for those who say that clearly a solar-powered Death Star is way better than a non-solar-powered Death Star, well, clearly not!

Similar in concept, not design. Starkiller Base was a retrofitted planet. You could tell that by the trees and snow and atmosphere on the surface. Whatever mistakes an imperious intergalactic space empire might try to avoid, they’re still going to make bases. They’re also going to continue to make superweapons. You can question whether or not the entirely deliberate homage to the Death Star by Abrams, Kasdan and Arndt was a good idea. But within the context of the story, it’s just another big gun in a long line of big guns designed by military powers trying to one up the last. “So? It’s big.” “How do you blow it up? There’s always a way to do that.”  You know what? That’s actually true. Of anything. Maybe one day they’ll introduce the superweapon that can’t be destroyed. Probably be a short movie.

Liked it? Take a second to support Digital Jedi on Patreon!