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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

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Did you get choked up in Star Wars: A New Hope, when Luke raced back to the Lars homestead only to find the charred remains of his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru? Or did you see it as just a convenient plot device to finally get young Skywalker off Tatooine and on the way to his Hero’s Journey destiny? Either way, you probably didn’t think about it much beyond that brief but devastating cinematic moment.

But MoviePilot has. In fact, they’ve made the case that it wasn’t Stormtroopers who killed Owen and Beru, but rather everyone’s favorite bounty hunter, getting a little trigger-happy.

As Star Wars conspiracy theories go, this one is pretty solid. We all know it wasn’t the Tusken Raiders who burned Owen and Beru to a crisp even before Obi-Wan pointed out that “the blast points [are] too accurate for Sand People. Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise.”

Yet we also know that Ben Kenobi was throwing shade at the Stormtroopers—who before that scene wildly missed every shot, and after that scene would prove quite susceptible to Jedi mind tricks—with that explanation. But how do we get to Boba Fett? MoviePilot lays it out:

  • If we’re going by Obi-Wan’s analysis of Stormtrooper shooting style… Well, Boba Fett was the prototype for Stormtroopers.
  • Boba Fett was also right nearby, at Mos Eisley overseeing Jabba the Hutt’s little talk with Han Solo.
  • Darth Vader clearly wanted those droids found. Who’s to say Empire Strikes Back was the first time he hired bounty hunters?
  • Despite his tendency, as Anakin Skywalker, to slaughter people like animals, Vader is much choosier about who he kills. Especially hostages who could provide information, like his stepbrother Owen.
  • When Vader gives the instructions to the bounty hunters in Empire, he stops in front of Boba Fett and clearly says, “You are free to use any methods necessary, but I want them alive… No disintegrations.”

See! Vader won’t make the same mistake twice. And there’s your evidence for Boba Fett offing poor Owen and Beru. It’s no more insane than R2-D2 being a secret Rebel Alliance field agent, or the argument that most citizens of the Star Wars universe are probably illiterate. Really, it’s just refreshing to see Star Wars speculation that’s not about the new trilogy.

Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.

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