20 Biggest Plot Holes in Star Wars History

2. The Empire Strikes Back Time Warp

This one gets talked about a lot, and for good reason. It is one of the stranger goofs in the entire series.

Luke’s fighter and the Millennium Falcon fly in opposite directions in the escape from Hoth. Luke goes to Dagobah while Han and company realize the Falcon is damaged and head to Cloud City almost immediately. Luke then joins his friends at Cloud City, prepared to fight Vader.

The time here is bizarre. The way everything in the film is assembled makes it seem like a relatively short amount of time passes. Somehow, Luke receives years worth of Jedi training in a couple of days.

Please don’t say that implied time passed off-camera. One, that’s a lame excuse that can just explain away poor narrative time in anything ever. Second, there are ways you can suggest the passage of significant time. Just add a line where Han says that it’ll take a few weeks to get there. Or maybe make the movie five minutes longer and show character development that implies the passage of time. Follow up on the scene where Han and Leia kiss or something.

The point is that even if the hole can be rationalized away, there should be a way to prove that an excuse is actually true, Instead, the way the movie is paced makes it seem like a ridiculously short time passes for Luke to receive anything close to sufficient training.

Next: 1. The Guy Who Sucks At His Job