10 Star Wars "Plot Holes" That Really Aren't Problems At All

Summary

• Several plot holes in Star Wars aren’t as massive an issue as they first seemed.
• Star Wars consistently explains major retcons in the franchise.
• Even more significant plot holes in the franchise have often been addressed.

Star Wars has had its fair share of backlash and controversy regarding plot holes, but these 10 highly criticized plot holes aren’t really that significant. Star Wars movies and TV shows are quite unique, not only because the franchise is well-known for its retcons but also because the various Star Wars projects move around in time so frequently. Indeed, the Star Wars timeline has been anything but conventional from the beginning, which is clear given that the franchise technically begins with Episode IV.

Star Wars has clearly managed to take advantage of this flexibility, as the franchise remains incredibly popular nearly 50 years after A New Hope premiered. Nevertheless, this tendency for Star Wars movies and shows to move backward and forward in time, including by revisiting the exact same eras from new perspectives, has at times caused issues with continuity. While some plot holes have been more influential than others, though, these 10 Star Wars plot holes really aren’t major problems despite the backlash that often came with them.

10 Ki-Adi-Mundi Appeared In The Acolyte

The Star Wars Show Faced Considerable Backlash Over This Choice

Star Wars’ most recent show, The Acolyte, sadly experienced backlash and controversy even before it debuted. However, one of the biggest issues to emerge from The Acolyte was, surprisingly, a very brief cameo. In the show, the prequel trilogy Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi appeared, and viewers were absolutely outraged, as that seemingly retconned Ki-Adi-Mundi’s age.

Notably, Ki-Adi-Mundi’s inclusion in The Acolyte did not break canon, as his canonical age had never been established. Although non-canonical content, including a CD-ROM and a trading card, both more than 10 years old, had referenced Ki-Adi-Mundi’s age, that had yet to be established in the canon. Clearly, this ‘plot hole’ regarding Ki-Adi-Mundi being alive during this era was neither a plot hole nor a retcon at all, making it clear that, despite the outcry, this wasn’t a true problem with Star Wars canon.

9 The Jedi Council Sent Anakin And Padmé To Naboo Alone Together

Anakin’s Feelings For Padmé Were Already Clear

One plot hole that had nothing to do with a retcon was the decision in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones that Anakin Skywalker should be sent off to Naboo alone with Padmé Amidala—sanctioned by the Jedi Council members themselves. The issue with this plot hole was the thin narrative explanation, as this choice made very little sense in multiple ways. For one, everyone was already well aware of Anakin’s feelings for Padmé, as he did absolutely nothing to hide them from anyone, and this clearly went against the Jedi Order’s rule forbidding attachments.

It’s unclear why, out of countless Jedi, Anakin (an emotional, unpredictable Padawan) was the best suited to keep Padmé safe.

For another, it’s unclear why, out of countless Jedi, Anakin (an emotional, unpredictable Padawan) was the best suited to keep Padmé safe when her life was being threatened. Ultimately, though, this doesn’t really matter. In truth, the Jedi Council made a number of odd choices throughout the prequel trilogy era, especially once the Clone Wars began. It doesn’t seem that far outside the realm of possibility that they really would have agreed to such a thing. Moreover, this loose explanation doesn’t have that much bearing on the story, and the couple needed to be alone to move their relationship forward.

8 Yoda And Obi-Wan Both See Padmé And Anakin Openly Embracing

Anakin And Padmé’s Public Display Of Affection Went Unaddressed

Yet another Anakin and Padmé related plot hole happened toward the end of Attack of the Clones. After the massive battle on Geonosis that kicked off the Clone Wars, Padmé ran into the room where Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Yoda were all standing after having faced off against Count Dooku. Without regard for Master Yoda and Obi-Wan’s presence, Padmé launched herself into Anakin’s arms, and the two embraced in what was very clearly not a platonic hug. Despite this obviousness, neither Yoda nor Obi-Wan seemed to ever mention it.

While this is a bit of an oversight in the movie, as that should have confirmed what was going on and what needed to be done about it, it’s clear the Jedi were more aware of this relationship than they let on. In fact, Obi-Wan knew about Anakin and Padmé, yet he never intervened. So, yes, this one scene may be a bit of a plot hole, but Anakin and Padmé also get married at the end of Attack of the Clones, and none of the Jedi ever picked up on that (or, at least, said anything about it) either.

7 No One Mentions Ahsoka In The Prequels

Ahsoka’s Introduction Made The Prequels A Bit More Confusing

Ahsoka Tano is perhaps one of the best examples of the issues that can arise from Star Wars moving around in time so frequently. Specifically, Ahsoka didn’t exist when the prequels were created, yet she was evidently essential during that era. In fact, Star Wars: The Clone Wars made it clear how important Ahsoka was to Anakin, so it was more than a little odd that there was no mention of her, especially in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

Of course, this happened because Ahsoka was a retcon; she was introduced as Anakin’s Padawan after the prequels had concluded. Nevertheless, Star Wars worked to explain away this plot hole, and in doing so, the franchise has made it a non-issue. While many believed, based on Order 66 and what was inevitably going to happen, that Ahsoka would die in The Clone Wars, Star Wars instead gave her a fascinating arc wherein she left the Order. Since then, Star Wars has increasingly incorporated Ahsoka, making it even less important that the prequels didn’t mention her.

6 Obi-Wan Ages Rapidly On Tatooine

Obi-Wan’s Transformation Between Revenge Of The Sith And A New Hope Is Jarring

One of the strangest differences between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy was Obi-Wan Kenobi’s appearance. Yes, the character was played by two different actors, but that wasn’t quite the issue. Rather, the prequels cast Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace when he was considerably younger than Sir Alec Guinness, even taking into account the time that passes between The Phantom Menace and A New Hope.

It seems as though Obi-Wan has aged about 40 years in half the time.

This becomes most jarring when comparing the end of Revenge of the Sith to the beginning of A New Hope, where it seems as though Obi-Wan has aged about 40 years in half the time. As was the case with Ahsoka, though, Star Wars found workarounds. Specifically, the Obi-Wan Kenobi show revealed that Obi-Wan had aged quite a bit in just 10 years, suggesting that living in the hot, rough sands of Tatooine had caused advanced aging. While this is still a bit of a stretch, in the end, it isn’t that big an issue.

5 Obi-Wan Has Minimal Reaction To Seeing R2-D2 In A New Hope

Obi-Wan Kenobi Denies Ever Owning A Droid

In addition to Obi-Wan’s age, his reaction to seeing R2-D2 again in A New Hope is extremely odd in light of the prequels. As many have pointed out, Obi-Wan never precisely says he doesn’t know R2-D2 or has never seen him before, leaving the amount of wiggle room Star Wars needed to significantly add to their history. Particularly given Obi-Wan’s character, it’s believable that his cheeky comment about not remembering owning a droid could really have been a way to skirt the truth rather than a massive plot hole.

However, that does little to explain why Obi-Wan doesn’t look surprised or even alarmed when he sees R2-D2. After all, the appearance of this little droid was surely going to blow his cover, so, presumably, Obi-Wan should have looked at least mildly concerned (or just flat-out shocked) that R2 was there. Again, though, this detail is really minimal. Perhaps this could be explained away by Obi-Wan having incredible Jedi composure, but either way, Star Wars trod carefully enough that this isn’t a major retcon.

This Awkward Revelation Likely Required A Conversation

The Return of the Jedi twist that Luke and Leia are actually siblings was a shock regardless, but it became considerably more disturbing in light of their overtly romantic kiss in The Empire StrikesBack. Impressively, though, Star Wars has done a masterful job avoiding ever addressing this issue. Although Han Solo makes a slightly horrified face when Leia tells him Luke is her brother in Return of the Jedi, which could be a subtle nod to the distressing revelation that the twins had kissed, no one ever explicitly draws attention to this predicament.

This is surely a plot hole, at least to the extent that, realistically, this had to be a discussion at some point. In fact, both Luke and Leia and Luke and Han must have needed to process this information given their earlier love triangle. Nevertheless, this too is simple enough to explain away. Presumably, these conversations happened off-screen, which is probably for the best; a revelation like that is better explored in private.

3 Princess Leia Remembers Her Mother

Another original trilogy plot hole came about in light of the end of Revenge of the Sith, when Padmé died in childbirth. In Return of the Jedi, Luke asked Leia whether she remembered her mother, and although Leia only recalled feelings, she claimed she did remember her mother and mentioned that she was beautiful but sad. Leia’s ability to recall this became fairly impossible when it was revealed in the prequels that Padmé had died almost immediately after Leia was born.

While Star Wars hasn’t worked to explain this away as the franchise has with several of these plot holes, it seems simple enough to understand. As the sequel trilogy finally confirmed, Leia, like her brother and her father, was strong with the Force. Presumably, Leia was able to sense her mother through the Force either immediately after being born or perhaps in utero. It could be argued that this is a stretch, but, in truth, little is known about how pregnancy affects the Force and vice versa. In the grand scheme, this does seem fairly easy to explain.

Little is known about how pregnancy affects the Force and vice versa.

2 Kylo Ren Ignores Vader’s Redemption

Kylo Promised To Finish What His Grandfather Started…But Anakin Wouldn’t Want That

The sequel trilogy received some of the most intense backlash in the entire franchise, and these are sadly still considered among Star Wars’ worst movies. For the most part, complaints came about due to the treatment of the original trilogy’s heroes, Luke Skywalker in particular, and more massive plot holes (that were legitimate problems), such as the shocking and minimally explained return of Palpatine. However, a more minor plot hole in the sequels had to do with fan-favorite villain Kylo Ren and his obsession with his grandfather.

Throughout the sequels, Star Wars: The Force Awakens in particular, Kylo clearly wants to be like his grandfather, Darth Vader. He even promises Vader’s helmet that he will finish what he started, which completely ignores Vader’s redemption. Surely, Luke and Leia included this in the story of Kylo’s grandfather, so it’s odd he ignored that his grandfather wouldn’t have wanted him to do so. In the end, Star Wars explained this by confirming it was Palpatine’s voice in Kylo’s head all along, but it still would have been nice for Anakin to redirect his grandson as a Force ghost.

1 Leia Flies Through Space

The Sequels Had Many Odd Moments, But This Was Perhaps The Strangest

One of the moments audiences took the biggest issue with in the sequels was Leia’s spontaneous ability to survive in and fly through space in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This was particularly shocking given that Leia hadn’t exhibited anywhere close to this level of power in the Force before, even if there had been slight hints throughout the original trilogy that she was Force-sensitive. Even had she been confirmed to be a Jedi, though, this would have been shocking—Anakin himself wouldn’t have been able to fly around in space.

While this is likely the most significant of the plot holes on this list, it still isn’t as canon-breaking or significant as many worried it was. It was arguably poorly executed, but the ramifications were minimal at most. In the end, Leia was confirmed to have the Force, which could partially explain this incredible power, and, more importantly, Star Wars has steered clear of repeating this stunt since, hopefully meaning this was a one-off.