The Real Reason the Rebels Decided to Fight at YAVIN 4

[@TetsuShima]

Yavin IV had a truly fascinating and unique history: It was the home of the Sith after the Great Hyperspace War, it became Exar Kun's Base, Revan and his followers settled on the moon to resurrect Vitiate, Anakin had there his legendary encounter with Ventress, the Rebels used it as one of their most important refuges, Luke installed there his first Jedi Academy and most importantly, it defined the calendar of the galaxy's entire history. Truly a moon to remember

[@briangregory8223]

Right, but in Lucas' mind it was just a cool two syllable word. He literally doesn't/didn't know a word of what you just wrote.

[@АлексейМомот-щ7о]

​@@briangregory8223 That's just not true, you don't know how much EU lore Lucas actually approved. The fact that he changes his mind all the time doesn't mean he wasn't involved in EU lore.

[@briangregory8223]

Link?@@АлексейМомот-щ7о

[@angelic_disappointment7889]

There was another calender for the Star Wars universe as well but I think it’s EU

[@AndrewDJones-me3lz]

Remember that is specifically in the *Legends* Expanded Universe.

[@Dreamfox-df6bg]

There is also a strategic reason to fight at Yavin. No matter the weakness, it would be difficult in the future to predict where the Death Star would be at a given time, so even a force as flexible as the Rebel Alliance would be hard-pressed to attack it. And that's not including possibilities that after being revealed to the public that the Death Star wouldn't get an escort flotilla or fleet which would make any attack a suicide mission as there would definitely be Interdictors in it. Or even worse, the Emperor could make the Death Star his headquarters in which case there would be a sizeable escort fleet, probably much larger than necessary. A single Star Destroyer could cower a problematic or rebellious planet back in line. The Death Star could have become a symbol for the immediate execution. The Empire could have made it clear that they would send a Star Destroyer as a warning, making it clear the next time a planet would step out of line the Death Star would come and destroy the planet. And while the destruction of Alderan would have caused problems, it also made it clear that the Empire didn't care how important your planet was. All the Rebels at Yavin knew for sure was that the Death Star was here, now and they knew it's weakness.

[@redneckgaijin]

Exactly. The Rebels knew where the Death Star would be, and if they ran there was no telling when they'd be able to predict the Death Star's destination again.

[@HamletTwin]

Was the Death Star II already under construction at this point? If so, and if the Empire did succeed in winning the Battle of Yavin, the Rebels soon would've had to contend with 2 Death Stars at the same time. In this scenario, I imagine Palpatine would've chosen the DS2 as his headquarters, and given Vader command of the DS1.

[@SalazarDaraster]

They could do both: fight at Yavin 4 while packing away. The base was doomed anyways so they would have to run away, a revealed secret base isn't secret anymore.

[@Dreamfox-df6bg]

@@SalazarDaraster An evacuation would have given even Tarkin enough reason to launch Tie-Fighters. The Death Star had enough Tie-Fighters to vastly outnumber the Rebels so that even with the X-Wing they wouldn't have stood a chance. So the evacuation had to wait after they destroyed the Death Star. And if they didn't destroy it, that would have probably been the end of the Rebellion anyway. Because Tarkin was right about the fear factor. It's easy to sacrifice your life for a cause you believe in, but it's something else to sacrifice your entire planet.

[@theliato3809]

@@SalazarDaraster they were Probabaly readying the evacuation the moment they knew the Death Star was coming in. Star Wars games showed imperial survivors launching assaults on the retreating rebel forces

[@philvanderlaan5942]

I have an image in my mine of Death Star II , Paliptine is telling Luke ‘I’m afraid this battle station will be fully operational when your rebel friends arrive , Then Alan Ruck ( Captain Harriman, Ferris Bueller’s friend ext . ) in imperial uniform says ‘ I’m sorry your highness the super laser won’t be installed until Tuesday.’

[@TetsuShima]

I loved exploring Yavin IV in Star Wars Galaxies, visiting all those fascinating sites that previously appeared in the movies and even Legends material. I literary felt I was making tourism

[@josiahjoedeman6544]

There was also one factor that you identified as being one of the few in which Mon Mothma would choose a fight: strategic gain. The Death Star was so massively expensive and resource-intensive, not mention the fact that it represented a concentrated, supposedly unstoppable threat (to which they just happened to have the plans). Even without the pilots' collective thirst for revenge, fighting is the obvious strategic move.

[@maltheopia]

Depending on how much material Yavin IV had, I really don't think an hour or even a day would have been enough time to evacuate major equipment. Unless everything was already on spacecraft, ready to fly out, this level of evacuation is seriously a huge if not impossible undertaking. They may have thought that it was better to risk gambling on taking out the Death Star then fleeing and having their rebellion collapse in a few months anyway because they lost all of their war assets in the evacuation.

[@watchwood]

It's pretty clear that they didn't have enough transports to even come close to moving everything or everyone, which is why they had to stand and fight. That's also a lesson they learned after this, as on Hoth they made a point of keeping enough transports on hand for an immediate and full evacuation.

[@maltheopia]

@@watchwoodAlso, as we can see from Hoth, the rebels still had a few days to evacuate--depending on how seriously you think they took Hans warning, but it looks like they were already immediately getting ready to jet. If they didn't, then they had like a day. Also, it's very hard to gauge the state of computer technology in the Star Wars verse, but I suspect it's less advanced than what we Earthpeople have. If the CIA headquarters was about to be destroyed by an asteroid or something, it's plausible that the IT staff could transfer all of the military data such as communication logs, procedures, mission data, etc. in the couple of hours they had before their base got destroyed. I don't think the engineers Star Wars can manage that as easily with their technology. Yet that kind of data is the most valuable asset to an insurgency like the Rebellion. They could eventually replace their spacecraft and industrial gear, it's much harder to replace something like secret treaties with the Mon Calamari government or which smugglers are your double agents and which smugglers you suspect are working for, say, Black Sun. And the Star Wars galaxy is huge AF, as in, trillions of people in a sector. In both cases, I could very well see the rebellion deciding that being outright destroyed isn't that much bigger of a setback than having to leave behind their data.

[@christianbryan6961]

0:00 My dude is on a hospital couch saying that it’s a special day. There’s only 1 thought I can have from this. A baby Alan

[@tba113]

Happy birthday/wedding/child announcement/catechism/graduation, Allen! Not sure what the special event you mentioned is, but I hope it's a good one!

[@tompearce5418]

After the Battle of Scarif the naval contingent attached to Echo Base was in no condition to assist with a full evacuation. The fact that they allowed an untrained, unqualified farmboy to fly an X-Wing into combat says it all.

[@tba113]

One minor issue: Ozzel was screwed regardless of how he'd handled the approach to Hoth, because the Rebels were already packing up to leave well before Death Squadron arrived. The probe droid's wreckage was still hot when General Rieekan ordered the base to prepare for evacuation. They already had the shield ready to be raised at a moment's notice, so the moment the first warship went active or the first dropship entered the atmosphere, Death Squadron's firepower would be mostly useless. ...Well, useless for bombing the base directly or providing fire support for the ground troops, anyway. If Vader hadn't been interested in taking prisoners, he could have simply ordered the fleet's turbolaser gunners to broil Echo Base to death by vaporizing the ice and snow surrounding the shielded area into steam. Horrifying as that image is, it's far from the worst the Empire has done in bringing Rebels to justice. As it was, the fleet did a pretty fair job of butchering the escaping Rebel transports, to the point of splashing or capturing more than half of them.

[@cra0422]

The Imperials had planned for a sneak attack by coming out hyperspace at some distance from Hoth and taking advantage of the meteor activity to hide their approach (Remember General Rieekan said that all the meteorite activity would make it hard to spot approaching ships). Death Squadron would then initiate limited long-range orbital bombardment to destroy the base, any spacecraft and defenses. Then the ground forces would move in to try and take prisoners. What good is having the shield ready to be raised in an instant if the power generators are taken out with the first shot?

[@tempystjaf2693]

Congratulations Allen, You guys will do great! May the Force Be with You, Always.

[@willbrandes3929]

Honestly I don’t watch this channel everyday but it’s definitely my favorite KZbin channel.

[@ToawstTheToast]

Here’s your algorithm boost I just don’t know what to comment. Uhh, have a good day I guess.

[@danielhaynas5723]

perfect! 😅👍

[@cra0422]

There was a line from the Legends novel "Dark Force Rising", (2nd of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy) that talked about Mon Mothma as having the gift of inspiration, the ability to get various groups to be able to work together towards a common goal.

[@christopherknorr2895]

Congratulations on the day! I've got a feeling that I know, because I've been there, and I know that feeling. Seriously, congratulations!

[@neofulcrum5013]

Rebellions arent won by being cautious all the time. Sometimes you have to make a gamble and this battle was the shot of a lifetime to show the galaxy the empire was vulnerable. Their grip was more brittle than they realized.

[@LonnieBrewer-dd4wi]

True, but the Rebels knew about the D1 weakness. The previous attack was ill-planned, poor intelligence and a costly loss.

[@neofulcrum5013]

@@LonnieBrewer-dd4wi and they learned from it. Trial and error.

[@LonnieBrewer-dd4wi]

​@@neofulcrum5013 Trial and error shouldn't have happened. The carrier that bought the attacking force in was blow up by the D1 and the loss of over 500 X-Wings way too high a price to pay.

[@SalazarDaraster]

@@LonnieBrewer-dd4wi The "previous attack" isn't canon so it shouldn't and didn't actually happen, good news.

[@LonnieBrewer-dd4wi]

@@SalazarDaraster I know, it was in the book when D1 was being tested.

[@ethenallen1388]

This was a do or die moment for the Alliance. Sure, they could have run, and the Death Star would have gone on to destroy any planet that Tarkin thought might be supporting them, gradually strangling them, and hiding when it wasn't killing planets. The Alliance had to strike fast, while they knew where the Death Star was, and before it occurred to one of Tarkin's subordinates to see it there was an exploitable weakness and find the exhaust shaft. One hardly need ten minutes to say all of that.

[@shinigamimiroku3723]

It kinda reminds me of some of the stories I've heard about the sinking of the HMS Hood during WW2. The Hood was the symbol of British sea power and a point of pride for the British people, so the news of her being sunk by (what was initially thought of as an equal but was actually surperior ship) the newly-launched KMS Bismarck could not be let go (especially given that, of the over 1,000 sailors on the ship, only 3 survived). What's even more ironic is that the reason the Bismarck was even stopped was because of the small Swordfish bi-planes being fielded by their then-current carriers, which were able to bypass the German AA placements and hit the Bismarck in the one spot where it could not be armored - the rudder.

[@thomasackerman5399]

The real reason the Rebels on Hoth were able to evacuate is because they discovered the Imperial probe droid and did the smart thing in expecting that the Empire had already been informed of their location and would soon send its forces to attack them. Not having anything like the firepower of the Death Star to worry about, their shields and other defenses would allow them time to complete their escape. Conversely, Princess Leia correctly deduced Tarkin and Vader's strategy in letting her and the others go from the Death Star in order to track them to the main Rebel base, and so as soon as the Falcon landed on Yavin, they could've ordered a mass evacuation or at least one that would allow all but the most absolutely necessary personnel to stay behind to attack the Death Star. However, there might not have been enough time. It may be hyperbole, but Vader does say "This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Kenobi, and it will soon see the end of the Rebellion." So, no more than 24 hours went by between the heroes' escape from the battlestation, the Falcon's flight to Yavin 4, and then the Death Star showing up about an hour or so out from the from the moon on the opposite side of Yavin. So, gathering up large numbers of personnel and material, getting ships underway, etc. would be quite a feat to pull off! So, the choice for staying and fighting decisively makes sense given what was truly at stake.

[@Ivardarkreaper]

I honestly think that without the destruction of Alderan, the subsequent destruction of the Death Star would have been significantly less significant. It would be a victory, but not a victory in terms of propaganda, which the uprising needed...Blowing up the planet, Tarkin drew a clear target, a symbol of power...The symbol of the Empire's Power, which was blown up by three and a half pilots in a pair of fighters. What was supposed to cause fear and suppress the galaxy became a symbol of why it was necessary to rebel and a symbol of the weakness of the Empire

[@ninjalectualx]

Did you really call Chewbacca a half pilot 💀💀💀

[@SushiVolcano]

I guess because he copilots?@@ninjalectualx

[@SalazarDaraster]

@@ninjalectualx Why did you immediatly thought about Chewbacca being the half pilot? 👀

[@theliato3809]

It would be five pilots Luke Han R2 Chewie And General Kenobi

[@occam7382]

It was five: Luke, Han, Chewie, Wedge, and Evaan.

[@kenbrown2808]

the biggest reason is they ONLY had an hour - and then the death star would obliterate everything left. and then go on to repeat the performance on any other target the empire chose. a delaying action was possible on Hoth. it was not possible on Yavin IV. there was too big a fleet to destroy on Hoth. there was only one battle station attacking Yavin. Yavin really had no choice but to fight.

[@MisterBloo42]

Happy Birthday Allen! 🎉

[@jarvy251]

The rebels at Hoth didn't JUST have Ozzel's mishap to warn them, they also encountered and destroyed the probe droid earlier, giving them significantly more time to prepare their people and equipment for evacuation. Aside from the tighter time window at Yavin, an unescorted death star with a known vulnerability is a much easier target for rebel strike craft than an entire imperial battle group and their fighter screens.

[@jimo680]

Well done. Thanks for taking the time to make this!

[@cwalker228]

All your videos are so well thought out, it makes you think about Srae Wars in a completely different way!!!

[@johannesbowers7467]

One significant difference is that the decision to evacuate Hoth was made after they confirmed the presence of imperial probe droids in the system, not when the death star jumped into the system that is how they had eleven hours.

[@Reoh0z]

> "The moon with the Rebel Base will be in range in 30 minutes." 0:28 Display is 30 seconds counting down.

[@logansmall5148]

If you go by the book, hours may seem like days.

[@-Keith-]

That always bugged me watching the movie. I have to explain it away to myself that what they're showing on that screen is the planned trajectory, sped up rather than in real time.

[@widgetwidgetstudios]

I really enjoyed this analysis! Great insights into Mon Mothma, who I am glad is starting to get more shine in recent years for her contributions to the Rebellion. 🙂

[@Straswa]

Another great video GenTech!

[@user-yv4mm6bx3c]

In addition to what you pointed out.I would have thought it was obvious. The Empire was unable resist crippling the Rebels "with one swift stroke!" With them sending the Death Star unescorted by the fleet, it was the best opportunity for the Rebels to destroy it once the weakness was found. If no weakness was found I'm sure they would have begun evacuations immediately. The fighters would also need sensors, extra eyes and communication that ground support supplies.

[@UltimateDurzan]

You do know that the Death Star can store star destroyers in some of its hangars right? It was definitely not completely left unescorted.

[@user-yv4mm6bx3c]

@@UltimateDurzan It was in the movie. If it was retconed later, then the Empire was really stupid for not deploying its forces to quickly blockade and destroy any forces leaving the moon.

[@DrXenolan]

I think the real question is why the Rebels didn't get the hell out of Dodge AFTER destroying the Death Star, and instead stuck around to have a medal ceremony while a few hundred Star Destroyers were likely heading their way.

[@mathewwilkins1613]

They probably had to wait for Rebel ships to arrive to evacuate, Imperial response to the Death Star probably wouldn't be that quick as they would have to amass a fleet, supply it for an invasion, and then send it without alerting Imperial citizens about what had happened. The Rebels probably enjoyed some breathing room post Yavin as the Empire scrambled to replace lost leadership, cover up the destruction of Alderaan, cover up the destruction of the Death Star, negating Rebel propaganda about Alderaan and the their victory over the Death Star, and stopping new Rebellions that were inspired by the victory. Plus, the Rebellion had just survived its lowest point. It's important to keep morale up and by turning the pilots that survived Yavin into heroes that raises the morale of the other members of the Rebellion.

[@theliato3809]

Yavin was filled with likely thousands to tens of thousands of alliance personal. There was maybe a few hundred people at the awards. So they could be readying to leave. The empire would have been shocked from the loss of the Death Star and destruction of Alderaan which gave the yavin rebels time to pack up.

[@williammagoffin9324]

If they're evacuating thousands of people it makes sense to muster them in a central point when sending them off on the transports. That way you know you have everyone and everyone is ready to go. I imagine Princess Leia did just did the medal ceremony before they started reading out assignments for the evacuation ships.

[@-Keith-]

The empire may have been a little hesitant to blindly throw star destroyers at Yavin 4 after the complete destruction of the death star. They probably had no idea exactly how the base was destroyed until some time after the battle, and they may have assumed that the rebels had some pretty robust planetary defense weaponry that would be able to take down destroyers as well.

[@theliato3809]

@@-Keith- imagine if they thought the rebels had their own super weapon

[@hunterkiller1440]

Rebels when planet destroying space station arrives: We fight. Rebels when flying triangle bois come: RUNAWAY!

[@andrewgilbertson5672]

Great video!

[@FrJacobSJ]

This was a fantastic video. Thank you!

[@jarrodbright5231]

So short answer: time and lift capacity. Same reason anyone who isn't suicidal makes a last stand.

[@uosdwiSrdewoH]

Since Leia knew she was being tracked back to Yavin she could have lead the Imperials astray and given enough time for Yavin to be evacuated. I think with the momentum coming out of Scarif and having the plans the idea was to lead the Death Star back to Yavin and attack. The Empire was feeling superior and over confident despite what happened at Scarif because their new weapon is ready to go. Unaware that a flaw had been placed into it. That could have changed though and I think that's also partly why they chose to attack so soon. Once they stole the plans there's every chance someone working within the Empire may have asked the question "How did they know and why did they choose these plans to steal?" Then someone grabs a copy from the cloud and does their own analysis and sees some flaws in the design that could destroy the thing with just one shot. They put in a form to maintenance and before long some guy is out there welding a plate over the exhaust port. Now the thing is seemingly indestructible. That's why they attacked when they did. The longer they left it the more chance someone would figure out the sabotage in the design and fix it.

[@hakonsgaming535]

I think another element is that they couldn't let the Empire have the Deathstar in it's arsenal, they correctly targeted it's weakness but that weakness wasn't really a permanent flaw, because the deathstar absolutely had a large enough fighter complement to defend itself it just didn't use it properly, it's highly unlikely that they wouldn't have recognized the error eventually and compensated. The rebels had a unknown but potentially very limited window to carry out their strike and if they failed they would get no more chances and the empire would be more or less unstoppable.

[@UltimateDurzan]

Bingo. the Death Star is a fucking monster and would be nearly impossible to beat if properly utilized to its full potential. IE it can carry what amounts to an entire fleet's worth of TIE fighters and star destroyers (IIRC it has hangars big enough to dock and carry some of the smaller star destroyers). If it had the chance to deploy those forces to bolster its already considerable defensive capabilities, the Rebels would've had an exponentially harder time assaulting it.

[@ChrisJohnson-qr6cx]

I hope you enjoy the special day. You make ours a little more with these excellent videos.

[@orokusaki1243]

Congratulations on the Special Day! Winter Solstice 2023 is a fine day to be a Special Day!

[@MercenaryPen]

One of the other factors that should have played a role in the Rebels fighting at Yavin 4 rather than somewhere else is the question of how many innocent lives would get caught in the crossfire if they had to engage the Death Star somewhere else- or if they remained in hiding long enough for Tarkin to decide to engage other targets while waiting for a lead on the location of the rebel base... after all, the Death Star was in the hands of a commander responsible for both the Ghorman massacre and the destruction of Alderaan (and probably a number of other horrifically bloody acts of suppression)

[@cplhotpockets]

I miss you guys

[@79geargrinder]

Merry Christmas!

[@lolroflroflcakes]

They had long enough for Luke to become familiar enough with the x-wings systems to survive combat and be useful, natural talent and the force could only take you so far. You can pull all the space magic you want out of your butt and dazzle the tie pilots with fancy maneuvers but that won’t matter if you can’t even turn on the targeting computer, don’t know how to arm and operate the weapons or cant communicate. My head canon: It took a day or two to get the data off R2 and figure out what they were looking at, a few more hours to come up with a plan and they were waiting on additional pilots and craft with which to go Death Star hunting when it showed up. So two, maybe three at a stretch, days. In this time Luke had volunteered to fly star fighters and help his buddies, he displayed stunning natural ability and that let him focus on learning the systems. However he was still told that they are not taking a kid who literally is four days off the moisture farm into combat in an unfamiliar fighter till he’s had some actual flight training. This held until the Empire shows up and now they have a fraction of the pilots they needed and so, since they don’t know he’s a space wizard/the main character, the noobie gets tossed into a cockpit with the hopes he will take some fire off someone who can make a difference.

[@nursestoyland]

I also think Luke piloted a T-6 Skyhopper, so he does have some flight experience

[@station7thedoor]

Graven Dreis... is that the twin brother of Garven Dreis? I love that Admiral Raddus said eff the council and is already rolling into action. Things may have turned out totally different if he had not unilaterally decided to commit his forces. Pivotal.

[@nerdwatch1017]

Man I wish there would be a series in animation that covers the main legacy characters comic stories doing 24 episodes a season each years covering maybe not everything in the comics but a good majority especially when the rebels help the Mon Calamari defy the empire and they launch a large fleet of the underwater skyscrapers then refitting them for capital ships. I feel this series could be a big success for them!! Bringing non comic readers to the series then maybe making them want to go checkout the comics that won’t get a series

[@thewestisthebest6608]

Love this channel

[@gooddog2001]

Some of the reasons they fought their was SUN TZU, have your men fight on death ground and their is nothing they can't do. They were cornered, they had to fight like hell to win and survive. Also they had enough fire power there to win. Andd Leia was lure them into a trap.

[@Llangion]

Congratulations!

[@DanaOtken]

Most importantly; this is one of the few places where they had some reason to think the Death Star wouldn't simply warp in and shoot them... based on the fact that the Death Star did not, in fact, simply warp in and shoot them through the moon. (Or at least start by blowing up the moon.) While it's quite possible that the Death Star would continue traveling around without a fleet escort (given that its existence was due to one of those disputes among branches of the military as to who was most important), there was no guaranteed chance in the future of ever being able to engage it without its wiping out another populated world during the fight.

[@fyreantz2555]

The data on the Death Star was slowly becoming useless as the Empire analyzed the information. It was even discovered that a weakness had been found by Imperial engineers during the Rebel attack. The Rebels had to act to capitalize on the reactor flaws else they would never have the chance again. Even if they lost, the Rebellion would live on, if not in a greatly dimished state...

[@ronstuff6330]

Rebels fought at Yavin because George Lucas needed a kick arse space battle at the end of the movie.

[@georgepapatheofilou6118]

Be blessed with many more special day lad . Happy Hollidays

[@LetsHavePun]

If they ran where would they go to? Who would still be willing to fight? There were signs some groups would be too afraid to fight, thankfully they were forced into action. If the rebels ran they would never be able to get the unity or manpower needed to stand up to the empire and the death star again.

[@RoboticDragon]

So the real reason, is the reason they showed in the movies that everybody was already aware of, wow, amazing.

[@matthewmitchell3457]

"Stand by." *BOOM!*

[@pyrolight7568]

Because they had the death star plans and knew they were likely followed to Yavin 4. That is kinda spelled out in the movie. Lets not overthink the obvious here.

[@Gterr1971]

Happy special day Allen!

[@tomaskops7119]

I can see one more thing. Hyperspace enter point. If Yavin system have only one "stable" a this si block by death star, there is no way how to evacuate Yavin 4, no Ion Canon like on Hoth to make way for transports

[@Ilovethedeepsea]

Happy anniversary to you and your boyfriend 🎈 im so happy for you brother 🫶🏻

[@luisemoralesfalcon4716]

Because that was where Luke was with the plans of the weakness.

[@darnokx9277]

Even given an optimistic guess of one hour of time: I think you vastly overestimate what you can get done in a single hour. Make the following experiment and see how much you can get away with: let a friend call you at a random time next week, then try to pack up as much as you can into your car and leave within an hour. Unless you cheat and prepare things, I promise you get very little done. Now multiply this by any amount of equipment you deem reasonable for the base at Yavin...

[@-Keith-]

Another thing to consider along with the limited time available is that the sheer mass of the death star prevents hyperspace travel within a certain distance of itself (similar to the gravity well of a planet or moon), and it's parked right in the middle of a hyperspace route. It's not like you can just punch in some coordinates and fly directly from point A to point B, hyperspace routes are more like a map of highways that travel between specific points and you can only travel along the available 'roads.' So this limits where the rebels could flee to and makes it easier for the empire to track them down if they were to try to escape.

[@RRaptor86]

If remember correctly, the Rebels had to flee Yavin IV after the Death Star’s destruction as they knew the Empire was going to retaliate. They had Renegade Squadron doing the most of the defensive operation as they were evacuating Yavin IV. This is the Legends material. I’m not sure if Renegade Squadron’s defensive battle is in “Disney Canon” too.

[@byronthomas4733]

Allen 👍🏽nothing to critique here.. well done...move along

[@AndrewDJones-me3lz]

Hadn't The Emperor already disbanded the Imperial Senate at this particular point?

[@wedgeantillies66]

With the battle of Yavin four, it was a case of do or die for the rebellion. They were backed into a corner with the Death Star bearing down on them and knowing it’s weakness, took the chance to destroy it and prove themselves a major threat to the empire to reignite the fires of hope and rebellion across the galaxy, when they pulled off incredible victory by skin of their teeth.

[@TheZamaron]

It’s simple, at Yavin the Rebels just had the Death Star to deal with. They already had the plans and knew of a potential weak spot, so the battle was simple, send their fighters at the Death Star, evade Ties and turbo laser fire, run down the trench and keep trying till they hit the target destroying the station. Hoth was an Imperial fleet, thus not a single target to hit, thanks to the planetary shield they had over the base they new the Empire would do a ground assault, the Empire already found their base so evacuation was needed anyway, even if they destroyed Vader’s fleet, more would keep coming till the Rebels lost. So evac was needed. We know they eventually evacuated from Yavin anyway.

[@lerneanlion]

To summarize it up: The Rebels had a lot to lose and already bargained everything they owned for this moment. So it is either fight and win or fight and die at Yavin 4 for them.

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Dam Really setting in stone how Utterly Pathetic Mothma is Good natured orator Can’t handle almost any of this Good work

[@David-l6c3w]

It should be noted that the Death Star was designated DS-1 before it's construction. The implication being that it was going to be just the first of many if proven successful. If the empire had ever gotten several DS built and operational, its grip on the galaxy would have been magnitudes greater.

[@SamGray]

Losing the forces on Yavin? Uh... no ships and two squadrons?

[@thesharpercoder]

I’m back! I’m not going anywhere! I’m Generation Tech! BTW, I watched this entire video because Allen asked me to.

[@devo1977s]

They were like a three-legged one eye dog backed into the corner

[@shawnure6707]

1:45 Dont worry about it Darius, cuz I'm a mile high and the scariest

[@balrighty3523]

0:16 ?? Echo Base was on Hoth, right?

[@zeddeka]

Not sure whether Echo Base was just the general name used for the Rebel base, wherever it was.

[@raysaurous]

I bet it's a special day because he asked out his crush and she said, "definitely"

[@williamturk2330]

As I understand it, there is a Real World explanation. You'll notice that no one on Yavin Base speaks about the Death Star being in the system on screen. All announcements to that are over the PA. Apparently, in the script, the rebels flew out to the Death Star, not vice versa. The idea that there was a time constraint was introduced to add tension.

[@zisforziggens]

"MON MOTHRA"

[@danielporter2887]

What are u doing are traveling or something else u left out have a nice day and merry Christmas

[@Kilgorio]

Wow!

[@cameronlaird949]

Ok so here my million dollar question is does the footage beyond a few clips still exist or if it even true that a new hope was cut short and that movie had about another hour of run time that has almoat never been seen.

[@sundragon7703]

Who doesn't love a successful "Hail Mary" followed up with an "all or nothing" defensive play to protect the slim lead achieved from the "Hail Mary"! We love it in sports and we love it in movies! (Go Hawks! Sorry Philly.)

[@HansZarkovPhD]

I think it was prety thoroughly explained in the movie.

[@brucechmiel7964]

I never thought that for a second. It was Leia's plan to lure the Deathstar in range of the Rebel strike fighters. She B lined it to Yavin knowing the ship was tracked. She also knew Tarkin enough to predict his tunnel vision The Deathstar is so powerful Tarkin would never think he was the one walking into a trap.

[@donnthesovereigncitizen1577]

Because the death star would have blown up Yavin4 if the rebels didn't press forward with the fighter attack!.

[@TheNewOrder-DaysOfConflict]

You have two options in that battle: die by fighting or die by a yee yee old man with a black cape

[@white-dragon4424]

Even better question, why did Leia lead the Death Star straight to the base, seeing that she knew that they were being tracked? Nothing prevented her from going to a port on another planet and catching a different ship to Yavin.

[@JAF30]

You were finally able to find the dolphins secret base and stage a surprise attack, weren't you?

[@blockmasterscott]

Well DUH! If they evacuated and ran, you couldn’t finish the movie. Geez! 😡🤬👿 I’m just messen’ with ya. 😂😂😂

[@matthewrees8944]

Hi Alan, tell us about your special day! Congratulations all the same 🎉

[@nathanieljackson5554]

I think the only reason they stayed was having the plans that they had previously fought so hard for. I'm sure Mon Mothma was given a copy before she was evacuated, in case the initial attack failed. Even if they had analyzed the Rebels attack, it would still be difficult to defend that pesky exhaust port that became their Achilles heal.

[@Mike1064ab]

Supposedly the rebellion sent a team to attack the Death Star super laser dish in case the trench team failed so the weapon wouldn’t backfire. They never said what happened to them or how successful they were. Luckily it wasn’t necessary. Seems like all the Death Star would have had to do is destroy Yavin and attack the moon conventionally. That way they could have done it immediately.

[@gideonhorwitz9434]

1:21 hey all I’m saying is if the empire was still using practical clone wars era equipment like ATTE or Laat gunships they could have quickly mass deployed forces down to the planets surface. Sure it’s possible they would have taken more casualties but they would have superior numbers and speed instead of waiting for the hulking ATATs to catch up giving time for the rebels to escape imagine LAATs rapid deploying snow troopers by the rebel trenches walkers moving fast instead of 4 you have 10 or 20 ATTEs moving fast

[@williammagoffin9324]

We don't know how weapons tech has really changed in the 20 years since the clone wars. As far as we know modern anti-aircraft (anti-aerospacecraft?) weapons make that impossible and AT-TEs might as well be armored with tissue paper against modern anti-armor weapons. There is a reason why IRL a massed helicopter assault against an objective behind enemy lines which happened 2 years ago became a slaughter for the airborne troops involved when 50 years ago that kind of attack terrified the people making defensive plans. When we see things not happen in a way we think is logical in Star Wars (or any science fiction) maybe we should think that the people in charge are competent at their jobs and there is something unknown to us in the universe that makes how we would think things should be done actually impossible.

[@skyden24195]

Typically, I find Generation Tech's analysis on Star Wars lore to be quite accurate, unfortunately there are significant misses in the analysis provided in this video. First, I would like to point out that the evacuation from Hoth began immediately after Han Solo encountered and helped identify the imperial probe-droid that self-destructed after Han had hit the droid "not that hard." This would cause General Rieken to give the order for immediate evacuation, an evacuation process that was already under way when Death Squadron had arrived. As far as Yavin IV is concerned, it should be understood that Alderaan's destruction was not covered up by the Empire as a mining accident as the attack on Jedha was. Remember, Tarkin states two things during the film that makes Alderaan's destruction by the station not a secret from the galaxy, 1. The Imperial Senate had been dissolved by the Emperor and the local governors had direct control over their territories with "Fear of this battle station," being the key to keeping the local systems in line. 2. When actually destroying Alderaan, with Senator-Princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa as political prisoner and witness to the destruction, Tarkin states that Dantooine is too remote for a proper demonstration. Essentially making it clear that Alderaan's destruction was to be a public demonstration to the galaxy of what would happen to any other system that resisted the rule of the Empire. All this being the case, maybe the rebels on Yavin IV did have an opportunity to run, but, in agreement that the Alliance had just fought the Battle at Scarif and obtained the technical "blueprints" of the Death Star and had the overall motivations that Generation Tech gave, but also, since they had the technical information that showed how to "light the fuse" on the Death Star's hidden self-destruct secretly placed inside by Gaylon Erso, why wouldn't they take the opportunity while the Alliance knew where the Death Star was going to be, and in short range of their available, and now experienced fighter squadron. Also, the time was critical because who knew how long the Alliance had before the Empire discovered the weakness themselves, which they actually do find during the battle thanks to analyzing the rebel attack. "We've analyzed their attack, and there is a danger. Shall I have your ship standing by?" "Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances." Good-bye Grand Moff Tarkin.

[@escos0410]

And I’ll put my penny in Nowt to do with anything just proving this film was called starwars with no intention of another 2 films after it One off

[@skyden24195]

@@escos0410 for sure. Did you know, though, that the full title was originally, "Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker"? But the title was a bit long, so it was shortened to just "Star Wars" for the film, however, the book (novelization) that George Lucas wrote to accompany the film, when it was released, had the full title of "Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker." It would be the only novelization of any of the films that George Lucas would write himself. (I have a 1983 reprint of the book.)

[@theromanorder]

Day 324 i think.. Or 26 PLEASE DO MORE TACTICS VIDEOS AND STRUCTURES LIKE THE CIS NAVY STRUCTURE AND RANKS And im not watching this as my thoughts are, its too big, so the hyperspace shadow is too big to jump to hyperspace

[@dustybunny6716]

Wasn't the Senate dissolved shortly after Leia's capture? Mon Mothma's status as a senator would have been irrelevant. And it's been a while since I watched Rebels but wasn't she being targeted by the Empire as well?

[@theliato3809]

She went underground shortly before her proclamation at dantoine.

[@mikecotto1167]

Um, Echo base was on Hoth in Episode V.

[@FurryAzzre]

The AI Timeline generator misspelled Scarif to Scarth

[@MrSHADOWANGEL999]

It was do or die in all senses of the word, it was the best and only chance for the rebellion to attack and destroy the deathstar and the imperial dominance it would have ushered in

[@jeffreycarman2185]

The attack on the death star was a Hail Mary for the rebellion.

[@thralldumehammer]

Sorry, it has always bugged me when the general says Leeya and not Laya (Leia).😅