Why didn't Han stop and remove the tracking-device?

[KirkSkyWalker]

This is the most basic qustion I think there is, rather than leading the Empire right to the Rebel base, in the stupid hope that they could find a way to blow up the Death Star.

(It should have been called "Episode IV: Sheer Dumb Luck;" first the Empire lets them escape in order to lead them to the base; then, they do it! But hey, who needs brains when you have the Force? Just look at SDN :-D )

[Enterprise E]

Probably because in order to stop, find, and remove the tracking device, it would have given the Imperials more than enough time to find the Millenium Falcon. Once they did so, Vadera and Tarkin would have realized that their plan failed and likely resorted to arriving and blowing up the Falcon, destroying R2D2 and everyone else onboard. Then, there would have been no one to discover the Death Star's weakness, or it would not have happened until a few more rebel sympathizing planets, such as Mon Calamari or possibly even Chandrila were destroyed. The device could have been located anywhere on the ship, inside or out, and it would have been dumb luck to find it and dispose of it in a timely fashion.

[The Dude]

Because he was over confident and didn't think they could be tracking them?

Really, it's right there in the movie. "Not this ship, sister."

[KirkSkyWalker]

Because he was over confident and didn't think they could be tracking them?

Really, it's right there in the movie. "Not this ship, sister."

Yeah, it's a little more complicated than that. Han was talking about their simply tracking him in hyperspace via using sensors; but Han knew that his ship was too fast to track in hyperspace that way. He didn't stop to think that there might be a tracking-device on his ship, since actually believed that he had escaped on his own from a maximum-security battle-station. (And why not-- he did it later from the Nazis equally without their permission :-D

However it's pretty stupid to think there coudn't be a tracking-device on his ship, if they were small and powerful enough to be launched and attached without notice-- as when Obi-wan was able to simply fling one onto the Slave I; the TIE-fighters could easily have launched one.

However Leah knew that they were being tracked, and shouldn't have told Han the location of the Rebel base until he went somewhere else and had R2 remove it.

[Mike DiCenso]

Well, you would think that an experianced spacer like Han would know about such things, especially when you consider in the EU that he had been an Imperial Navy officer who had seen a lot of what the Empire could do.

But this sort of thing is not anything new in the SW movies.

The Rebels never thought in TESB to build anti-tank/AT-AT traps (mines, pits, a series of trenches), even though they would have known of equipment like the AT-TE and AT-PTwalkers , or the massive wheeled Juggernauts that had existed since the Clone Wars more than 23 years prior. Certainly better than setting up defense in WW-I style trenches and sending speeders straight at the walkers.

The Rebel's plan to attack the second Death Star, as we've gone over before in another thread, only required that the shuttle fly in and blow up the big dish projector for the DS' shield. Surely the could come up with some missiles powerful enough to do that with?
-Mike

[KirkSkyWalker]

Well, you would think that an experianced spacer like Han would know about such things, especially when you consider in the EU that he had been an Imperial Navy officer who had seen a lot of what the Empire could do.

But this sort of thing is not anything new in the SW movies.

The Rebels never thought in TESB to build anti-tank/AT-AT traps (mines, pits, a series of trenches), even though they would have known of equipment like the AT-TE and AT-PTwalkers , or the massive wheeled Juggernauts that had existed since the Clone Wars more than 23 years prior. Certainly better than setting up defense in WW-I style trenches and sending speeders straight at the walkers.

The Rebel's plan to attack the second Death Star, as we've gone over before in another thread, only required that the shuttle fly in and blow up the big dish projector for the DS' shield. Surely the could come up with some missiles powerful enough to do that with?
-Mike

You're over-simplifying; it would take some pretty big anti-tank traps to keep the AT-AT's from simply walking around them, stepping over them etc. to cover the entire base.

Likewse the rebels couldn't simply blow up the DS2's shield-projector dish, they had to blow up the actual control-center; it seems that the dish could protect itself as well as the DS2. You're fogetting that the Emperor knew what they were up to.

[Praeothmin]

I have to agree that Han was very, very confident and also very, very careless when he escaped the DS.
It would have been a simple matter, having the fastest Hypership in the Galaxy, to make a run for it to another planet, then stop to make sure there wasn't any tracking device on the ship, before going to the Rebel base.
I mean, after all, if they don't go to the Rebel base, then they don't get followed, the base is still safe, and when the plans do come in, they have more time to analyze the DS and find the perfect attack against it, and they have much more time to realize their attack plan...

And also, Mike, as KirkSkywalker noted, the DS shield did protect itself, and the Rebels needed to go through it in order to destroy it.
But the most intelligent way of doing it would have been to load a bomb on the stolen Imperial Shuttle, land it near the dish or Generator, and then vamoose before blowing it up, destroying the DS II's shield, allowing the Rebels a quick attack, and then getting taken off the planet by a Rebel transport, like the MF...

[Mike DiCenso]

Neither of you were paying close attention to what I wrote, and it's probably my fault I wasn't more specific. The DS2 shield, as I mentioned about the other thread where this was covered, was already subverted by them having the older, but still valid code. Once the shuttle was inside the shield, attacking it would have been easy enough; just fly "casually" on as though going to land on the platform nearby, then suddenly at the last minute shift direction and either launch missiles or as you suggested blow up a really big bomb right next to teh thing before the Imperial troops can react. Chances are you'll lose the shuttle pilots not long after the generator dish is destroyed, but that's a small price to pay compared to the gains.

As for the anti-Walker and Juggernaut traps, if the Rebels could build a series of long trenches, they can build pits and trenches that the walkers have to go around, thus the Imperial forces must waste valuable time to do so. Plus the other trap, the minefield, is so stupid simple that anyone can do it, and with the supposed tech of the SW universe, you'd think they would, even if the Imperials detect it, they still have to waste valuable time looking for the mines, and disabling or going around them.
-Mike

[KirkSkyWalker]

None of this really answers my question, it's just fanficticitious hindsight.
Meanwhile the tracking-device is pretty obvious.

[Praeothmin]

None of this really answers my question, it's just fanficticitious hindsight.
Meanwhile the tracking-device is pretty obvious.

I though I did answer your question:

I have to agree that Han was very, very confident and also very, very careless when he escaped the DS.
It would have been a simple matter, having the fastest Hypership in the Galaxy, to make a run for it to another planet, then stop to make sure there wasn't any tracking device on the ship, before going to the Rebel base.

So he was careless, or perhaps he had been paid by the Empire to betray the Rebels, and reneged on the deal later because of a heavy conscience...

You're fogetting that the Emperor knew what they were up to.

Actually, the Emperor had a good idea of what they were up to and what they were planning because he had personnaly leaked the plans and laid a trap, but as the movie clearly showed, he didn't actually know much of what was going on.
He failed to account for the Teddy Bears, failed to acount for Vader's betrayal, failed to account for the Rebels destroying his SSD...
He had made a very meticulous plan, but as RotJ showed us, he didn't know what was happening at all...

[KirkSkyWalker]

None of this really answers my question, it's just fanficticitious hindsight.
Meanwhile the tracking-device is pretty obvious.

I though I did answer your question:

I have to agree that Han was very, very confident and also very, very careless when he escaped the DS.
It would have been a simple matter, having the fastest Hypership in the Galaxy, to make a run for it to another planet, then stop to make sure there wasn't any tracking device on the ship, before going to the Rebel base.

So he was careless, or perhaps he had been paid by the Empire to betray the Rebels, and reneged on the deal later because of a heavy conscience...

Then Leah was careless too, since she gave Han the rebel base coordinates before the tracking-device was removed.

You're fogetting that the Emperor knew what they were up to.

Actually, the Emperor had a good idea of what they were up to and what they were planning because he had personnaly leaked the plans and laid a trap, but as the movie clearly showed, he didn't actually know much of what was going on.
He failed to account for the Teddy Bears, failed to acount for Vader's betrayal, failed to account for the Rebels destroying his SSD...

He didn't know what the Scare-bears were up to, and this just prove he didn't have a clue about how inept his stormtroopers were. But Vader's betrayal was more due Luke's attempt to reform him. As for the Rebels, they didn't detroy the SSD, that was the Empire's own clumsiness after the DSII was destroyed.

He had made a very meticulous plan, but as RotJ showed us, he didn't know what was happening at all...

Obviously not, if he depended on Stormtroopers.

[Mike DiCenso]

He didn't know what the Scare-bears were up to, and this just prove he didn't have a clue about how inept his stormtroopers were. But Vader's betrayal was more due Luke's attempt to reform him. As for the Rebels, they didn't detroy the SSD, that was the Empire's own clumsiness after the DSII was destroyed.

You have that a bit backwards; the SSD Executor was destroyed by the Rebels before the DS2 when kaboom.

- First, Admiral Ackbar ordered a concentration of firepower on the SSD,

- Next two A-wings strafed and took out the bridge shield generator dome, allowing a third one to kamakaze the bridge,

- Third, this in turn lead to more internal explosions, the complete destruction of the bridge tower sending the ship spinning out of control, and crashing into the DS2, destroying the SSD.

Only after all of that do Lando and Wedge reach the battlestation's reactor core, and shoot it up causing it to explode.
-Mike

[KirkSkyWalker]

Ok, my bad-- look here at 06:15.

But if an SSD can be taken out that easily, it's silly to think they'd be anything but target-practice for even Wesley Crusher. At least ST shields have to be knocked down by something more powerful than the shield itself, before their generators can be hit directly-- which is also tough to do, since phasers can lock onto anything moving STL, or even FTL.

[Praeothmin]

Then Leah was careless too, since she gave Han the rebel base coordinates before the tracking-device was removed.

Agreed, she was just as careless, if not more, since she was the one who lead the Empire at the Rebels' doorstep...

[Who is like God arbour]

She was not careless.

She was guided by the force.

The force wanted the Death Star destroyed because it destroys life and the force is created by life.