Updated February 11, 2021 7.8K votes 1.3K voters 56.0K views
Voting Rules
Vote up the moments that seem a little less heroic the more you think about them.
At its core, the Star Wars saga is a series of films about unlikely heroes rising to the occasion to fight evil in whatever form it takes. The films are breathtaking and inspiring, and they’ve influenced more than one person to choose the way of the light instead of going to the dark side, but not everything that the characters do in the films is on the up and up. Characters like Han Solo and Cassian Andor have to work their way into being heroes, while Luke Skywalker finally breaks after a lifetime of good and commits one of the most unheroic Star Wars moments in the series.
This doesn’t mean that the Rebels are actually evil, or that the Imperial Army isn’t wrong (it is); it’s just that not every action carried out by the heroes in Star Wars is going to go down as a pristine example of how a person should act.
1
539 VOTES
Poe Dameron Undermining The Resistance By Fighting The First Order On His Own
Is Poe Dameron cool? Absolutely. But is he a hot head? 100 percent, and his need to personally beat the First Order ends up setting the Resistance back big time. With a First Order fleet flying directly toward the hideout, Poe decides to fight them on his own while the Resistance tries to evacuate.
Here's the rub: As one of their best pilots, they just can't leave him behind, so the entire Resistance ends up in a pointless battle where they're totally outgunned. They lose hundreds, maybe thousands, of pilots in the pursuit of taking down a single dreadnought. Thanks Poe.
539 votes
2
464 VOTES
The Galactic Senate Casting A Vote Of No Confidence
The Galactic Senate's vote of no confidence in The Phantom Menace has one of the longest-reaching effects of anything that happens in the Star Wars saga. When Amidala calls for a vote of no confidence against Chancellor Valorum, she helps create a power vacuum that leads to at least two major conflicts and millions of lives lost.
On top of that, the vote pushes out Valorum and leaves space for Palpatine to be elected as the new Supreme Chancellor. After he takes that seat, it doesn't take him long to transform the Senate into the Empire, turning a once democratic society into a fascist regime.
The two constants in the Star Wars saga are R2-D2 and C-3PO, the droids who experience a clone war, a pod race, the revenge of the Sith, and the return of a Jedi. They forge a deep and lasting friendship, but unfortunately, Threepio doesn't remember most of it. Following the climax of Revenge of the Sith, Bail Organa has C-3PO’s memory wiped, meaning that he doesn't remember his time with Anakin, Padmé, or Obi-Wan.
That's no good, but the thing that's really bad is that R2 doesn't tell Threepio about their life together during the prequels. On top of that, the little droid doesn't tell Luke that Anakin is his father and Leia is his sister when they first meet. It's not like R2 would have saved the Rebellion with all of his information, but it would have at least been a nice thing to do.
Anakin is dealing with a lot during Attack of the Clones: his burgeoning Jedi powers, his love for Padmé, and his mom being taken by Tusken Raiders. By the time he makes it to her, she’s moments away from perishing, and she actually passes in his arms. One might say this is a turning point for Anakin.
Rather than seek justice for his mother’s passing, Anakin whips out his lightsaber and slices them all up like they are warm loaves of bread. It’s clear that he’s hurting when this happens, but it’s still not a great look for the hero of the story.
After Padmé perishes during childbirth, Obi-Wan decides that the safest thing to do is to separate Luke and Leia, and never tell the children about each other. By separating them, Obi-Wan hopes to keep Anakin from finding out about them and either converting them to the dark side or doing away with them. This may have seemed like a bang-up idea at the time, but there are so many problems with this.
Leia goes to live with Senator Organa, who raises her to be one of the most high-profile political targets in the galaxy. This is the exact opposite of what everyone agrees upon in Revenge of the Sith. Even though she's not Leia Skywalker, she's still at risk of being kidnapped or tortured for information - which is exactly what happens to her.
Placing Luke with family members on Tatooine is an equally poor choice. Obi-Wan is supposed to hide the boy, and giving him to Anakin's next of kin is hardly putting him into the witness protection program. It's great that Luke grows up with a family, but Obi-Wan puts these people in danger the moment he hands Luke off.
Aside from placing them in less than ideal situations, Obi-Wan and Senator Organa's choice to not tell Luke and Leia about one another screws them up for the rest of their lives after they meet during her rescue. They build a romantic relationship for at least one film before Han swoops in and keeps the rating PG. If he weren't there, who knows what would have happened with these two?
