Class316

Between ROTS and ANH is 20 years. During that time the death star finished.

Between ANH and ROTJ is 4 years. During that time ANOTHER death star is finished?

Wow, how did they manage to build one 5 X faster? I know the learning curve must have helped and possibly more men, but there’s still a HUGE difference between 4 years and 20 years!

Groucho

It could be that the second Death Star was already under construction before the first Death Star was blown up.

chrisih8u

The first one was built by Massachusetts contractors. They didnt make that mistake again.

devilshalo

Didn't you see Contact?

[Hadden]Wanna take a ride?[/Hadden]

Chew

I'd say that makes the most sense. I'm sure the Emperor wanted a couple Death Stars to spread throughout the empire. Makes you wonder if more were in various stages at the end of ROTJ?

Michael Corvin

[QUOTE=devilshalo]Didn't you see Contact?

Why build one when you can build two for twice the price?

Star Wars Guy

The 2nd one is a clone.

HN

Didn't the emperor oversee the second one himself? you know you all work 5x faster when the boss is around.

bboisvert

The actual answer -- who knows?

A fairly reasonable made-up answer -- what took so long for the first one may not be the actual construction, but the design and testing of the weaponry. Since that is now perfected (ala Alderaan), all they need to do is physically build the new unit. Maybe that's the easy part and 3-4 years later, in RotJ, they're almost done.

Rockmjd23

devilshalo

I would like to know how old is Tarkin supposed to be when he's standing on the bridge with Vader at the end of RotS?

bboisvert

Don't know... but he's 1.8 meters tall according to the web site.

Fok

Guess they really hauled ass on the second one, also it wasn't all complete in the movie.

redskull

Plus the second one is supposed to be BIGGER than the first.

Maybe it was hollow inside, like a chocolate easter bunny?

Cusm

The second was not nearly complete, that is why it did not look like a sphere. It was operational, but not complete. And it was of different design of the first, fix the problems of the 1st, ie a young punk farmer blowing it up with a torpedo.
The Emperor disbanded the senate in ANH, so I am sure there was senatorial restraints/obstacles in place to work around during the first DS, which were not present during the second - ever notice how fast it takes a private business to complete a project compared to a governmental project?

maxpower

I thought the same thing...about it taking a couple decades for one...but ..I remember from a long time ago in....the theory that multiple death stars were being built around key points in the galaxy.

milo bloom

According to the EU this is the case. It's been a while, but IIRC, for one project, only the superlaser is completed, and it's later completed just enough to make it mobile and dubbed the Darksaber.

And the bit from Contact really makes sense considering the way Palpatine does things. He might have had two going at once in case one mutineed or something ( I just thought of the Invader Zim ep with Zim and Dib fighting with Mars and the moon, and imagining Death Stars instead.)

Also, I don't believe it's ever said the second DS is bigger, just more powerful. Like it could be the same size, but just a more efficient superlaser and hyperdrive. Like a car available in six cylinders or eight, using the same frame and chassis.

Josh-da-man

There were probably two Death Stars the whole time.

Tarkin controlled the first one, and the Emporer wanted one of his own in case Tarkin got out of line.

resinrats

Maybe the one being built at the end of ROTS is not the one from ANH. They set it up but screwed up something. So when they go to turn it on, the whole thing blew up. It then took years going over the plans the stupid bug guys messed up before they realized what was the problem. Wire Z was supposed to go in plug C, not plug D. Stupid bug guys. Let's hope the Emprie wiped them all out.

caligulathegod

The second one is definitely bigger. The July 1983 issue of CINEFEX contains an interview with Richard Edlund of Industrial Light & Magic, regarding the effects of Return of the Jedi. In this interview, on pp.7-8 he says:

" The Deathstar, I think, will be a lot more interesting than the one in the first Star Wars — mainly because it is under construction ... Plus, it will be MUCH bigger. In Star Wars, it was really difficult to establish the scale. It was supposed to be miles in diameter, but with a full sphere it was hard to tell. The NEW one is SUPPOSED TO BE MORE like FIVE HUNDRED MILES in diameter, but since we're not dealing with a sphere all the time, we'll be able to establish landmarks and get a better sense of scale. "

Besides, in Star Wars, Luke and 2 X wings barely fit in the trench while in Jedi the trench is big enough for the huge shuttle bay the Emperor parks in. Plus, it took a photon torpedo to get to the center in Star Wars while in Jedi they flew the entire Millenium Falcon into it.

HN

Ah, i like this. another logical way of looking at it.
"No! No! This one goes here, THAT one goes there!"

HN

According to the sci-fi starship comparison chart, Death Star II was slightly bigger:

http://www.merzo.net/2000mpp.htm

Unicron would have them both for brunch.

mikehunt

another thing to consider. in re-analyzing the end of ROTS I think the Vader/Tarkin overlooking the death star scene is a while after everything else, even though it isn't the closing shot of the movie. The ships are all a different design from the rest of the movie, especially the tie fighter like things that fly by. they're more like OT ties than the jedi fighters anakin and obi-wan were flying

thephantom

yeah, I got the impression that it was supposed to appear to be some years later. Of course, then they cut back to Tatooine and Luke is still a baby. Gets me.

Class316

I guess it could have taken a couple of months to get to Tatooine. So maybe the Death Star scene was a month or two later.