One of the best, and longest running, jokes in all of Star Wars is that the reactors on Imperial ships were incredibly dangerous, but it seems that the humorous problem has been around for much longer than the Empire and found its origin in the Jedi. The joke began with the original Star Wars, when Obi-Wan Kenobi crossed the bridge leading to the tractor beam generators on the Death Star. That bridge spanned an enormous drop with no guardrails, and if anyone had made a misstep, there would have been nothing blocking them from a certain death, which was a hilariously cruel way to cut costs.
While the Empire’s lack of safety measures became one of the best jokes of the entire franchise, and Star Wars has embraced the joke in canon. The Death Star was once the largest, and most expensive, station ever built, and adding guardrails to it would have only increased an already astronomically large bill. The Empire deemed that the lives of its soldiers and workers were worth less than the cost of metal and installation. The unsafe working conditions became one of the funniest moments in Star Wars, but another show just proved that it was a tradition that long preceded the Empire.
Guardrails Have NEVER Been Used In Star Wars
In the Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures season 2 finale, a scene set in the Starlight Beacon revealed that even the Jedi station did not implement guardrails. Young Jedi Adventures is set towards the end of the High Republic era, so the general lack of safety devices has been a staple of the galaxy for at least 200 years. What’s more interesting is that even the Jedi didn’t care enough about safety to implement guardrails, despite their status as protectors. If the Jedi couldn’t be bothered to prevent fatal falls, it’s hard to imagine guardrails have ever been used in Star Wars.
The Lack Of Guardrails Makes Reactors A Deathtrap
Reactor cofores have been extremely dangerous places to be throughout the entirety of Star Wars. Thousands of people, from unnamed workers to Emperor Palpatine himself, have been killed by them. While most of those deaths were the result of the reactor receiving extreme damage and exploding or the person being thrown into the reactor, they were still dangerous on their own. The lack of guardrails in Star Wars highlights how dangerous reactor cores were even when they weren’t damaged or under attack. The slightest misstep could have added anybody’s name to their list of victims.
Even though the Death Star was an extremely dangerous weapon, both to the Empire’s enemies and its members, it still provided a few good laughs. The idea of a worker teetering over the edge of an abyss just to perform routine maintenance makes the Empire seem hilariously incompetent at best, and cartoonishly evil at worst. Their absence may not be the signs of a sinister, mustache-twirling villain, though, as guard rails have been noticably absent from Star Wars for at least 200 years.
Star Wars
- Created by
- George Lucas
- TV Show(s)
- The Mandalorian , Andor , Obi-Wan Kenobi , The Book of Boba Fett , Ahsoka , The Acolyte , Star Wars: Skeleton Crew , Lando , Star Wars: The Clone Wars , Star Wars Rebels , Star Wars: The Bad Batch , Star Wars: Resistance , Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures , Star Wars: Visions
