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How about those crazy Death Stars?

At the arse end of Ep 3, we see the skeleton of one being built.
And in Ep 4, it's complete.
The timeline is like what, 18-20 years, right?
Now, moving on to the second Death Star, as seen in Ep 6.
The time between that and it's successor is like what? 3-4 years?
Granted, Death Star 2 is but half complete in Return of the Jedi. How would one explain the discrepancy between the times it would take to construct a Death Star?

i had thought it was the prototype, until i saw the movie again and realized they weren't building merely the superlaser and structural supports, they were building main panels as well. that means it couldn't have been the prototype.

as for the first idea, no, the second DS was built after yavin. it was in retaliation for the destruction of the first that it was larger and had a better laser.

my guess is that the empire simply had more money and resources. notice that in episode 3, you can't tell if it's a flash forward or not, and that may be a slight possibility. but either way, keep in mind that the empire was still faced with the task of gaining real, total control of everyone. that means they had less funds and manpower to bear on building a station the size of a small moon. of course it would take something like 20 years to build it. notice in ANH, tarkin says they have just dissolved the imperial senate. that denotes that the empire has gained total control of the galaxy and all of the resources it offers, without opposition from politicians. with this in mind, it's easier to believe that they could build a percentage of a newer, larger, more powerful station in about 3 years.

i think you idea sounds better Nospai

I agree. That makes sense. In his Q&A column in Star Wars Insider, Pablo Hidalgo (the true trivia master) mentions that until the emperor "dissolved the council permanently" in Ep IV, the Senate actually had quite a lot of influence in the Empire. Therefore, keeping the first Death Star secret from them would have taken a lot of resources and ingenuity, and probably slowed construction quite a bit. The Imps didn't have to worry about that for the second DS, because the Senate was already gone. All they had to guard against was Rebel spies.

i dout that 12 would be enougth the lazers on the star destroyer can target a ship very quickly and with the speed of the y-wings i think 12 is not enougth unless 6 of them were used to create a diverstion while the other 6 moved in to bomming range then they may have a chance.

id say it depends on the tatics used a head on attack would mean the Y-wings would be gone before they could scratch it but a more stelthy approach would give them a chance.

*coughvideogamemechanicsaren'trealisticcough*

*coughofcourseit'snotrealbutit'susuallyrealisticcough*
*coughinvideogamesyoucanbeinafighterplaneandbehit5timesandnotdiebutinreallifey
ou'rehitonceanddie,usually,that'srealisticcough*
*coughvideogamesaren'tmeanttoberealisticthey'remeanttobefuncauseiftheywererea
listicthey'dbealotharder,andhavelearningcurvestoosteepcough*
*cougheverhearofthebook'thescienceofstarwars'itexplainshowrealisticstarwarsis,ge
nerally,inthemovies,anyway,andit'sprettyrealisticcough*

mymymy, i have a pretty bad cold, it seems...