USA Today, June 1, 2005
Q: In January, Liam Neeson teased his dead Jedi character from Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn, might
return as a ghost in Sith. But alas, no Liam. Why?
Q: Was actress Bai Ling also teasing us about having filmed a key Sith scene? Ling said two years ago that she was
sworn to secrecy about her role, but her face never appears on screen. She does, however, appear grasping a very long
lightsaber on the cover of this month’s Playboy magazine. Was this the reason she was cut?
Q: How does Lucas account for the ages of those young actors playing baby Luke Skywalker’s adoptive parents, Uncle Owen
Lars and Aunt Beru? Joel Edgerton (Owen) is 30 and Bonnie Piesse (Beru) is 21. Yet. 19 years later in the Star Wars story
line featured in 1977’s Episode IV: A New Hope, the characters were played by Phil Brown, then 60, and Shelagh Fraser, then
54.
Q: Can we assume that Anakin’s stepfather, who is seen in Episode II: Attack of the Clones but not in Sith, died
between the two films?
Q: The political wrangling and action in Sith, it seems, could take place in a couple of weeks. Yet nine months of
Padme’s pregnancy apparently pass. Do Coruscant’s temperature-regulating orbital mirrors cause the planet’s women to give
birth faster than humans?
Q: That half-droid/half alien baddie General Grievous has emphysema-like symptoms that indicate a five-pack-a-day
habit. Explain.
Q: No female Wookiees?
Q: Do any other Jedis besides Obi-Wan and Yoda survive the Emperor’s Jedi massacre?
A: Liam must have been kidding. No scenes with Neeson were filmed, Lucasfilm says. However, the character is mentioned
at the end of Sith, though the meaning is left vague enough to allow fans to fill in their own interpretations.
A: “I don’t even know if George Lucas reads Playboy,” says Ling, who was flown to Australia to play a character named
Senator Bana Breemu. Breemu, an alien, was featured in a scene with a large gathering of senators, including Bail Organa,
Padme Amidala, Mon Mothrma and others, including two played by Lucas’ daughter, Amanda and Katie. Lucasfilm says the
scene was cut for story reasons long before Ling posed for Playboy.
A: The planet of Tatooine is harsh place, Lucasfilm says. Two suns beat upon its surface, and its citizens age much more
rapidly than citizens of more moderate planets.
A: Yes, Cliegg Lars is dead, Lucasfilm confirms.
A: Anakin impregnated Padme well before the events that are covered in the film. By the time Revenge of the Sith opens,
the pregnancy is well along. Also, thanks to that increasingly nasty “Darth” Anakin, little Luke and Leia are born
prematurely.
A: His cough is the result of an injury caused by Mace Windu in the final chapter of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars
cartoon series.
A: Though Chewbacca’s warrior chums all appear to be male, the fur makes it difficult to tell at a glance. In fact, a
female Wookiee (Chewbacca’s wife, Malla) was featured in the 1978 Star Wars holiday TV special.
A: Yes, though they might not survive the next 19 years of Imperial rule that leads up to Episode IV. One Jedi casualty
not seen on screen: Yaddie, that adorable little female Yoda who sat on the Jedi Council in Episode I. She was killed off
in the spinoff book Jedi Quest #6: The Shadow Trap, which took place before the events of Episode II. So much for little
Yodas repopulating the galaxy.