How long does it take to build a death star?
How long does it take to build a death star?
Episode 3 plays 17 years before Episode 4 and in the very ending we see how the death star is build. ROTJ takes three years after ANH place (Am I right?) and there have already build a new intact death star, which is obvously much bigger than the first one. Is there a skip of time of more or less 14 years within ROTS?
Better blue prints? More reasons to build it? More people working on it? More experienced people working on it? And maybe the last part of it is hardest to build along with the engine. Seeing as ROTJ doesn't have the entire thing finished and it doesn't seem to fly.
I have no idea, but that is pretty much all I could come up with
What if the shit just didn't work?
After 3 years of building it, they might have found it to have several mistakes in it. So they needed to redesign it and make massive repairs.
+ The separatists were the ones who planned the things basic structures? After episode 3, there werent too many separatist scrientists to help with problems that might occur while reading their plans.
After all technical problems were solved, the thing would take about 3 years to build.
I agree with Sesse. If say..you are building a chair for the first time you tend to figure out what works and what doesn't it's almost guranteed that the second will be quicker and easier...also, they built the first one in secret and most likely without senate approval (He had just announced the Empire..it's a little early to be introducing a new planet killing super ball). So they had to sneak in supplies, workers, etc..whearas the Second was constructed with most likely the majority of the Imperial war machine working to get it going.
Originally posted by Texansfan05
What if they were building both at around the same time.
since the gap is about 20 years start building the 2nd one after 8 years of building the 1st one it would also explain why the death star in ROTJ was incomplete.
I agree, as far as I know it's never mentioned when they started working on the second Death Star. Maybe they started building it a couple years after they started the first.
I don't see why, since the second one would have an exhaust port like the first one, it would be easy again. If that were the case, then the whole space battle wouldn't be needed. They probably started it around ESB and captured Wookiees as slave labor, since they're strong, they can get it done a bit quickly.
The exact mechanics, design, and amount of time it took develop and who came up with the idea of the death star are all very interesting, but not very important. The fact, that it would take the power of a small sun to power this thing points to the limitless possibilities in the star wars universe. But after all
"The power to destroy planets is insignificant when compared to the force."
Makes total sense now.
I doubt the blueprints thing would ever be a major problem. A contributing factor, yes, but a major one? No.
The major problem would be: The Senate.
When The Death Star is first made, The Senate is still intact. Only by Episode IV, when the Death STar is completed, can the Emperor keep the systems in line with fear, as Tarkin states. Until the Death Star is completed, The Emperor NEEDS The Senate to maintain control. First Death Star: Emperor + Senate call the shots and argue and bicker. Second Death Star = Emperor calls the shots DIRECTLY.
The two decades or so it takes for the first Death Star to be finished is totally believable. God knows how many protests and negativity was directed toward the project. It was probably put on hold many times due to the Civil War and the Senate alone. This is something I hope the TV show will touch upon.
Once the Death Star is completed, Emperor can do what he likes, nobody would dare oppose him. But until that moment, he has to put up with cutbacks, The Senate (which also aids the Alliance from within)
However, with the Second Death Star, The Empire is already a dictatorship. The Emperor can pour as much man power onto the project as he likes, as hard as he likes, has has total control by then, which is why the second one is fully operational in a fraction of the time.
Also note that The Emperor was sending Vader out to be the slave master, cracking the proverbial whip to get the second one done. He couldn't have pushed people around like that with the Senate intact. It all makes total sense. I used to think it was down to the blueprints and stuff, but it's really down to the resources The Emperor had at his disposal at the time of each project.
No wonder they wanted to blow so much sh*t up with it.
It takes two decades to complete, after The Senates constant interferrance, but when it's complete, The Emperor would be like "OK, take this you sons of b*tches!"
If it took me two decades to finally get my dream project up and running after putting up with so much crap, I'd go on a planet destroying spree just like Empire and occasionally stopping every now and then to play some pool but with planets.
Except I doubt anyone knew of the Death Star's existence until around Alderaan's destruction...if this thing was big news I doubt people in ANH, such as Solo, Kenobi, the rebels on Yavin, etc...would've reacted in the way they had.."Look at the size of that thing", "That's no moon, it's a space station", "Destroying a planet [sic] would take more firepower than i've ever seen"...etc..etc..I just don't think anyone knew what it was until the Emperor destroyed Alderaan and then kindly told the senate to clean out their desks.