Death Star

Model of the Death Star used in the filming ofEpisode IV.

TheDeath Staris afictionalmoon-sizedspace stationandsuperweapon.It was invented for theStar Warsmovies.It was a hugesphericalspace stationwhich fired a ray ofenergywhich could destroy a planet.

Origin and design

The details of the Death Star changed between differentmodelsduringproductionofStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.These changes include the position of thesuperlaser.The idea of the Death Star as a large,sphericalspace stationwas the same in all the models.The sound of the Death Star counting down until it fires comes from theFlash Gordonmoviesfrom the 1930's.Making a Death Star that was only partly built (but was still powerful) was a problem forIndustrial Light & Magic's modelmakers forStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.Only the front side of the 137-centimetermodel was finished. Theimagewas flippedhorizontallyfor the finalmovie.The Death Star is a Super Weapon used by the Galactic Empire in Star Wars. Both Death Stars were created in the movies by using a full models, models of sections of the space station andmatte paintings.

Depiction

Movies

The first Death Star was shown in its finished form inStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.It wascommandedbyGrand Moff Tarkin(Peter Cushing). The Death Star was theGalactic Empire's "ultimate weapon". The movie begins withLeia Organa(Carrie Fisher) attempting to take the station's plans to theRebel Alliance,wanting to help them destroy the Death Star. Onboard her vessel, she was captured by an imperial ship and taken captive to the Death Star. There, Tarkin tries to make Leia reveal the location of the rebel base by threatening the use of the Death Star to destroy Leia's home world,Alderaan.She tells them a location but not the real one, but Tarkin has her planet destroyed anyway. Later,Luke Skywalker(Mark Hamill) and his small crew are also captured and taken to the station, escaping with Leia shortly after. In the movie's main battle scene, the force ghost ofObi-wan Kenobitells Luke to use theForceto help him direct proton torpedoes from hisx-winginto the Death Star' reactor core and not with his ship's targeting system. Luke obeys and successfully launches the torpedoes into the core. This ultimately resulted in the destruction of the battle station.

Return of the Jeditakes place four years later. At this time, the Empire is building a new Death Star. It is half-finished in the movie.Darth Sidious(Ian McDiarmid) andDarth Vader(David Prowse/James Earl Jones) send the Rebels falseinformationwith the intention of trapping the Rebels, saying that the station'sweaponssystems are not fully functional. They also want to get Skywalker on board so they can turn him to thedark side of the Force.In the movie'sclimax,Vader throws Sidious down one of the station's reactor core, apparently killing him. However, Sidious fires a large amount of sith lightning during this process and critically damages the electronics on Vader's suit that keeps him alive. Luke tries to get his father out of the battle station but he dies shortly after. Luke then takes Vader's body and leaves the Death Star just before it is destroyed byLando Calrissianon board theMillennium Falcon.

The first Death Star is also dealt with in theStar Warsprequeltrilogy. Its schematics are shown inStar Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.At the end ofStar Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,the Death Star is shown starting to be built.

Other websites

• Death StaronWookieepedia,aFandomwiki