Star Wars fans have made a discovery about The Empire Strikes Back 45 years after its introduction. The second film in the Star Wars movie series, and the fifth chronological chapter in the Skywalker Saga, is widely considered the best Star Wars movie to date, and among the greatest movies of its era. Naturally, it has been watched to death by Star Wars fans over the years, and discussed to death as well. Yet, some of the most hardcore Star Wars fans only recently noticed something different about it compared to the other core films.
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One of the top posts on the popular Star Wars Reddit page points out that the movie is the only core film in the series that has no significant character that dies. While this is not a mind-shattering discovery, it an observation that many Star Wars fans never noticed, as evident by both the popularity of the post and many comments on it.
Of course, defining significant is tricky because it is somewhat subjective. Generally speaking though, this is true. In A New Hope there is the death of both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Gran Moff Tarkin. In Return of the Jedi, there is the death of Yoda, Jabba the Hutt, Palpatine, and of course, Anakin Skywalker.
Then there is The Phantom Menace, where Qui-Gonn Jinn dies. Meanwhile, in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, there is Shmi Skywalker and Jango Fett, as well as Mace Windu, Count Dooku, and Padme Amidala.
Fast forward to The Force Awakens, we get the death of Han Solo. The Last Jedi, meanwhile, has Snoke, Luke Skywalker, and Captain Phasma. And finally, The Rise of Skywalker has Ben Solo, Leia Organa, General Hux, and then Palpatine again.
“That’s kind of funny given that it’s generally considered one of the darker installments in Star Wars,” reads one of the comments on the post. Meanwhile, other fans point out that at the time fans thought Han Solo died and had two wait two years before finding out he didn’t.
It’s a testament to the quality of Empire Strikes Back that it doesn’t have to kill off any major characters in order to have impactful moments and as one fan pointed out, still be darker than many of its counterparts.
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