Why Star Wars Shields Make No Sense

[@EckhartsLadder]

Breaking down how something is inconsistent doesn't mean I'm hating on it. I enjoy looking at how stuff is handled in universe -- you'd know that if you watch to the end of the video :).

[@lukelehne4420]

go there, it is desired.

[@Sandwich13455]

Corrillian ship's are yuuuuge?🤯

[@Blitzkrieg23]

xytan 'jar wattinree vs endgame thanos

[@hotshotx1598]

Maybe particle shields require a LOT more energy and a more robust projection system, hence why the Death Star II needed to be near a planetary shield generator & projector in order to have a particle shield deployed (obviously it did because the Rebel fleet had to pull up while being able to fly very close to the hulls of ISDs). Even though it's the size of a small moon, it still doesn't have the means of independently creating a full particle shield along with the ray shields. Maybe that is because the bigger the object, the bigger the generator and projector? Or maybe particle shields only work by being projected from an external source, so you can't just attached a particle shield generator to your ship and deploy it around you like you can with the more energy-efficent ray shields. Most ships, even large capital ships like the ISD or SSD simply don't have he means to deploy a particle shield. They would need a separate generator and projector for each ship, which would increase costs and be another target to be protected from Rebel strikes and sabotage. Follow this logic, it makes sense that we don't see particle shield a ton, because they are very expensive, very complicated, and they don't really offer that much extra protection when most weapons in the SWU are energy based.

[@SunSheepOfLight]

I really think should do videos on terminators and hunter killer vehicles for a change.

[@dovahkat9635]

Shields are like a physical manifestation of plot armor. They exist when needed, and vanish when they're not. The Protag shields are almost always working unless some dramatic tension is needed, and enemy shields are almost never working unless, again, some dramatic tension is needed.

[@angry_eck]

i think something that surprisingly does it better than most is resistance

[@jankrizkovsky9446]

TLJ shields? The shields there literaly change ship from ship in a way to conveniently force the desired plot.

[@c5quared626]

Just more evidence that sci-fi, particularly star wars fans don't know shit about science. The writers may but film is generally a dumb genre compared to print. Get a degree in science, engineering, math you want to even start being called a nerd

[@merendell]

@@c5quared626 most star wars fans accept its more science fantasy than hard SciFi. we've got space wizards running around with laser swords. May as well be D&D in space.

[@c5quared626]

@@merendell lol I know right. What's the point of geeking out over navigating the universe and light sabre technology? The button interfaces are all still 1980s, and there's no damn internets or wifi lol the droids literally speak to each other.

[@InsomniacDoggo]

90% of the time I forget that shields exist in star wars

[@unconqueredson1424]

Holy shit. Same here.

[@2MeterLP]

So do the writers.

[@mrlescure]

90% of the time they don't.

[@mightyone3737]

@@2MeterLP Came here to say this.

[@deltadude7417]

-every single tie fighter pilot

[@stephenlutz6936]

Rebels had the worse sense for shields out of anything I think. Ships were being destroyed by single shots and just one proton torpedo.

[@Harshhaze]

No shields, but plenty of plot armor

[@jareks.8231]

I just remember that one robot manipulated by the ghost crew who exploded inside a star destroyer and blew up the whole ship lol, I dont remember the episode...

[@coconutshrimp707]

@@jareks.8231 If i remember correctly the robot had a built in proton bomb, so when it returned to the ISD and blew up, that one explosion set off all the other bombs in the dozens of other droids, a few dozen proton bombs exploding within an ISD would probably be enough to destroy it internally

[@evster7flick]

@@jareks.8231 The one destroyed by a feedback signal?

[@riesenfliegefly7139]

Whaaat ? From what I remember Rebels is one of the only bits of star wars that actually show shield. Of course they dont do much, but at least they do something and you can actually see them.

[@fantasymashup6538]

this came out at the perfect time i literally have 10 minutes of free time to watch this video

[@siroohhyee9205]

Same before class starts

[@bigafroman4277]

I love it when that happens

[@OgLarry420]

This is the way

[@siroohhyee9205]

@Raphael nice video

[@Moonwake534]

@@siroohhyee9205 It was okay

[@Shankinator-zx4tp]

Shields in Star Wars are just like magazine capacity and body armor in movies. 90% of the time they don't exist, and the 10% they are there is only for tension/plot.

[@bennyjones7292]

Indeed... "I'm hit and I'm outta ammo!!!" Says the person who had a bottomless clip and got shot 80 times throughout the movie.lmao

[@MrCoolguy425]

I find it funny how ur talking about body armor while ur profile pic is a puma lmao

[@morrellman93]

*Anakin and Obi-wan on Greivous' ship, trapped by the ray shield that only stops energy from passing through:* How did this happen!? WE're SMarTeR ThAn tHis!

[@spartanalex9006]

To be fair, a ray shield is probably a field of electrified plasma contained by a magnetic field. While a fighter that has the capability to survive planetary reentry or a solid tungsten shell might pass through, some mostly unprotected humans are going to get fried by the electricity and cooked by the plasma.

[@Obiwan7100]

Rey shields

[@digitalis2977]

Just because matter can pass through doesn't mean you can come out the other side alive...

[@mikefischer8576]

Yah its actually noted that why yes physical objects can pass thought it due to it being a plasma like substance..most things just melt

[@digitalis2977]

@@mikefischer8576 It doesn't even have to be plasma...plasma would lend itself more to a particle shielding system than energy shields; however, a high level of ionizing radiation would theoretically stop most forms of energy while allowing matter through...so long as that matter doesn't have un-hardened nervous systems to fry, brains to cook, or hearts to stop.

[@masonmiller8899]

Another weird example is in the clone wars when the separatists had to lower their shields before firing their turbolasers, I think it was the episode cat and mouse

[@EckhartsLadder]

Iirc that was a torpedo, but yeah

[@alejandroelluxray5298]

Actually they lowered their particle shields to fire missiles

[@johnverick-smith913]

Actually it was a prototype thermal shield that Trench invented that blocks all forms of attack incoming and outgoing so to fire they had to lower it and as it used the existing shield system when it was down the whole ship was unshielded. Also Anakins stealth ship in that episode only had torpedoes no lasers and they ran out of them towards the end so that's why getting Trench to lower the shields to fire was so important as it had a recharge time limit.

[@masonmiller8899]

Thanks all

[@pepperedash4424]

Anakin had to beat Trench somehow.

[@bjoernusw5195]

Talks about star fighters just being more complicated projectiles while showing A-wing footage - Arvel Crynyd approves

[@CrustyMcButternuts]

shart fighters

[@blazingtoken1162]

“I’m Rey” “Rey who?” (sees ghost of star destroyer) *”Rey Shield”*

[@paperfilmworld2520]

Greatest comment iv seen this week :)

[@angry_eck]

how could this happen we're smarter than this

[@VaderViktor]

How RoS should have ended

[@trevorforbes9274]

ACTIVATE RAY SHIELDS

[@trevorforbes9274]

This has zanny bf3 energy to it

[@danieb52]

Personally I think of it like this: Capital ships have both particle and ray shields, but keeping both up at 100% at the same time consumes a lot of power, so they could reroute power from one to the other based on threat assessment. It would make sense for some commanders to reroute power from the particle shields to bolster the ray shields if they don't anticipate a threat from starfighters or missiles (or if they underestimate that threat). This could easily explain some inconsistencies in Star Wars media. For example on Endor, the Executor was under turbolaser fire from the Rebel capital ships so it could've rerouted all its power to its ray shields and turbolasers, leaving its bridge vulnerable to a kamikaze attack.

[@swan3swan]

A good assessment, but the Executor's shields collapsed because of a withering bombardment from a bunch of Mon Cal cruisers and Rebel frigates and corvettes: even with the Empire's most advanced ray, particle, and thermal shields up, it couldn't stop that attack. But yeah, like you said: extreme power demands all around--especially for a ship that size.

[@darkleome5409]

"There're multiple types of shields" Namely non-existent

[@isaiahgrey2458]

Yes.

[@aureusknighstar2195]

That hurts

[@merafirewing6591]

That smarts.

[@Obiwan7100]

How does the economy work in Star Wars? and will there be in the future of the galaxy any richer than the Bohhuah Mutdah

[@Themrine2013]

I think it was based off of the american economy which is based off of supply and demand

[@Obiwan7100]

@@Themrine2013 my doubt is how much money there is in the galaxy. Bohhuan Mutdah was the richest person in the galaxy in the imperial era (19 BBY to 5 ABY) he had hundreds of trillion credits, he had money to buy hundreds of death stars, my doubt is if there was someone in the future of the galaxy with hundreds of quadrillions or quintillions maybe 100 or 1,000 years after the imperial era

[@DIEGhostfish]

Bohhuah Mutdah was something of a very pulpy character and he most likely had his money tied up in assets and stock and commodities. The actual value of a credit is a bit odd. It's like 3-3.5 1970s USD.

[@digitalis2977]

@@Obiwan7100 "Money" is simply a portable, tradable proxy for Labor, so it's only real requirements to exist is that it have a scarcity (a plain pebble off the ground doesn't count as anyone can pick it up at any time) and a degree of difficulty to produce that ensures that a person put their effort into generating money through work instead of putting their work into *physically* producing money (counterfeiting.) So, on an Open Galactic System, there would theoretically be no "limit" to money because there would be no limit to population growth, desired trade goods, and tradable labor.

[@SunSheepOfLight]

It depends on where your at. Some planets are poor, others not so poor and some don’t have any sentient creatures at all.

[@Notorious_MIG]

Interesting fact: shields were added to Star Trek because they didn't want to damage their models in every space battle, so they just create dramatic tension by saying "shields are low". I remember seeing it on spacedock I think. I like that having the star fighters fly under the shields justifies having bombs "drop" in space. If you can fly along the length of a ship, under its shields, it makes sense to have bombs which you can fire below you to damage wide sections of a capital ship. The opening battle in TLJ seems a bit cooler after playing Squadrons.

[@maciek_k.cichon]

yeah, 'shields up' and then we see all these Mirandas dying around from direct hits

[@129das]

they never said shields are low in star wars I think. Maybe something like we lost shields or are about too.

[@grjohejw84thg]

@@maciek_k.cichon To be fair, that was mostly the DS9 era, when they went from standoffs/battles being 'the Enterprise and a few other ships' to 'hundreds of ships fighting at once'; it's understandable that shields basically stopped showing up to simplify the CGI. (especially on a TV show budget and production timeline -- thus also the extensive reuse of shots)

[@evanboll4651]

@@maciek_k.cichon At that point, the Miranda class was over a century old.

[@laggedoff]

The main reason for particle shielding being weird, is because they protect key areas more than they project across the entirety of the ship, more often than not you'll have the ray shielding as the absolute primary (which is a given since most of the weapons in SW are energy based), and the particle shielding over key areas like gun directions, hangars, engineering, bridge, vital power sections etc. It's also made this way because they want to keep fighters, bombers, and interceptors far more useful, otherwise shields would just stop them and they'd be near worthless assets comparatively.

[@brandonmadigan7523]

I agree... If we HAD to deliver a solid explanation id say ray shields are bubble like and particle shields are skin tight but cover areas with less armor. Heck we could just say particle shields are like ST: Enterprises polarized hull plating - when activated it doesn't actually shield anything but makes existing armor/hull tougher.

[@129das]

Particle shield may use more energy meaning you can't use them as much.

[@jasonbaird1645]

I prefer the EaW model of having projectiles pass through shields. It's simple and it makes sense, and it's consistent with not having to lower shields to launch fighters. Why would you bother loading missiles onto something like a Victory Star Destroyer, and risk having them all shot down on their way to the target, unless they could do something that turbolasers can't?

[@Shenordak]

@@jasonbaird1645 Probably the ray shields stop a lot more of the energy of energy weapons than how much deflectors stop torpedoes and the like.

[@JihoSSJ5]

RotJ novelization mentions several fighters crashing into the Death Star shield when Lando says pull up

[@EckhartsLadder]

ESB novel also mentions shields during the asteroid chase

[@JihoSSJ5]

@Sam Daniel Jones yea i'm sure Lucas will eventually CGI it in for the Ultra-Special Edition

[@snipersl270]

@Sam Daniel Jones IMO they were running into a planetary defense shield that was modified to wrap around the DSII instead of Endor. Planetary defense shields are consistently harder than anything else in universe. Vader landed outside the one on Hoth and walked in and Rouge Squadron infiltrated Coursicant to take its down for example.

[@basedeltazero714]

​@@snipersl270 There are three scenes in the original trilogy that seem to actually show a shield functioning. One of them is a planetary shield.

[@marcus7564]

Shield inconsistency bothers me less than travel time inconsistency.

[@torinmorris6648]

Next up: why real life doesn’t make sense

[@robertnelson9599]

Because people don't make sense.

[@cancelanime1507]

"Reality is stranger than fiction"

[@pepperedash4424]

@@cancelanime1507 "Reality is often disappointing".

[@IsaacCoverstone]

I think KZbin has a video length limit, so might be a tough episode to make......

[@nobleman9393]

Reality isn't Everything

[@leonzhang1028]

Episode one chase scene pilot: The shield generator’s been hit! Qui-gon: What the hell, why is the shield generator outside the shields, which idiot designed this ship?

[@1SilverDollar]

What I assume happened was that the shields were partially punctured and one lucky shot damaged the shield generator. That's my excuse for that scene.

[@swan3swan]

@@1SilverDollar That's not an excuse, that's probably an accurate reading. The other thought is that they were keeping the shields offline until they got closer to the blockade--dodge the shots from long-distance, then put up the shields to soak up damage once you get close enough that they're not going to miss you.

[@shloots]

in episode 8 with leahs ship, when theyre being chased, is literally the best example of shields working.. thats it

[@jimskywaker4345]

in the battle of endor you see fighters crashing into ships a lot but the explosions generally don't do much to the ships

[@deltadude7417]

Shields don’t exist unless they are relevant to the plot

[@brianjungen4059]

almost like the Force....

[@deltadude7417]

@@brianjungen4059 So true lol

[@brianjungen4059]

@@deltadude7417 like you can pull an X-wing out of 5 feet of mud but can't untie the net you're caught in made by rejects from a Build a Bear workshop...

[@deltadude7417]

@@brianjungen4059 so true for every sci fi movie

[@2MeterLP]

As a rule of thumb bad guy ships never have shields

[@luapark3068]

I've always thought shields in star wars are more like an ovaloid bubble around a ship, rather than a form fitting barrier, which helps explain some inconsistencies

[@bennyjones7292]

They could have both in my fanfic. A triad in my opinion, a deflector for laser bolts and beams. Which redirects them at enemy ships. An absorbing shield to congeal missiles, warheads and other projectiles into energy to power the ship. And a reflector shield that returns all shots back at the sender...

[@onlypeaceindeath]

The intro to A New Hope has actually both. The tantive IV has a invisible bubble that blocks laser blasts before they reach the hull while the ISD seems to have a hull-hugging shield. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rH3KpJluhcqcbLM A laser bolt is stopped above the hull of the Tantive IV at 00:25. The ISD's shield seems to be more form fitting, if not even integrated into the armor itself. At 00:18 there is a massive shield flash on the ISD, probably caused by one of its weapons interacting with its own shields.

[@steynravenshorst3463]

Shielding never really made sense but this explains it the way it should

[@blazingtoken1162]

This guy is a boss at Squadrons, great content

[@skyden24195]

All about the "Grogu" dashboard bobble.

[@fxshlein]

Maybe ships going into shields is "ok" because the ships have shields too. I imagine a shield generator would somehow have to crate some sort of force field, so having a second, smaller, generator enter would just "bend" the capital shield force field around the smaller ship. If thats the case maybe you could just stick a shield generator on a Missile?

[@HartleyHitman]

Just start arming missiles with shields and bada bing now a star destroyer's shields are useless

[@navilluscire2567]

@@HartleyHitman Yeah, this always bugged me, if ships can pass through say planetary shields for ground invasions why not...just send a bunch of missiles from orbit to blow up ground target to smithereens! There is no way a bunch of missiles are more expensive than sending ships through shields to transport entire armies!

[@floseatyard8063]

A way I think about friendly shielding and how starfighters land in friendly hangars is that each same shield from each same faction sort of fuses. As in kf one smaller shield touches the same factions it sort of fuses, so when the starfighter is right next to the shield the two shields fuse sort of making a little bump on the big shield, and it disappears when the fighter is inside. This doesn't explain why fighters can go through ENEMY shields though, so idk.

[@Imperator_Prime]

I get the impression that Star Wars particle shielding works along the same lines as the ones in Lynch's Dune movie, or a few episodes of Stargate SG-1-- they have a critical velocity threshold above which they're effective and below which they aren't. Roll a grenade or throw a knife or fly in a fighter, it passes through-- fire a bullet or launch a missile, the shield kicks in and blocks it by exerting a counter-force. Perhaps the "particle" part describes what's actually stopping the incoming object: a projected gradient of low density matter that acts like that water and corn starch non-Newtonian fluid we played with as kids-- exert enough force and it acts like a solid, exert less and it remains 'liquid' and flows around the penetrator.

[@augmentedjustin835]

I like the way mass effect handled shields. It was explained in one of the books that shields basically act like a velocity gate. So anything traveling over a certain speed gets stopped while things moving slower than that pass through.

[@richlynch9068]

It’s funny, I know the lore doesn’t exactly support this but I’ve always assumed shields in Star Wars work the way shields in Dune do. Basically it’s based on speed which is why a high velocity energy bolt can’t burst though a shield that a droid could leisurely walk though. For some reason it never even occurred to me that different shields are for different materials even though we totally see ray shields a couple times

[@thegreatchimp]

On that subject, lasers are of limited use in Dune because when they strike shields they cause a nucleur explosion, destroying both target and shooter. Yes, its absurd I know

[@draagedeh1983]

Ah yes I am here incredibly early That must mean I have to tell everyone in the comment section

[@jalakor]

I always thought of the X Wing/TIE Fighter (as well as how you mentioned the Naboo star fighter in Phantom Menace) series of games as far as how shields should work, and I assumed that even unshielded star fighters had some basic type of deflector array that kept small space debris from shredding them. The shields in X Wing/TIE Fighter series seemed to be form-fitting to the ships, which makes sense how star fighters fighters can do attack runs so close to a ship.

[@jessehernandez1903]

I gave up long ago trying to make sense of Star Wars shields. I was so happy tho in the opening scene of episode 3. In the background you can see the shields at work on lucrehulk battleship.

[@DanBen07]

2:42 i like the gameplay of squadrons showing a Starfighter go under then into a hangar bay of that ship.

[@markusmencke8059]

Another example, the fighters flying through the Death Star I shields in the Battle of Yavin and shaking, Red 1 even commenting about it iirc...

[@nekophht]

Actually, I think that was them passing through the magnetic field. Lemme find a clip of that to check. Yep. "We're passing through the magnetic field. Hold tight. Switch deflectors on, double front." That being said, there is mention later on about a "deflection tower"...

[@ratplank]

Please never EVER change your outro.. thank you c: ♥

[@dustinakadustin]

Some quotes on shields "Have you noticed the shields are still up???" - Obi-Wan Kenobi battle of Coruscant. "Ray Shields" "how did his happen we're smarter than this!" "Apparently Not" - Anakin and Obi-Wan battle of Coruscant. "We've gotta be able to get a reading on that shield up or or down" -Lando Calrissian Battle of Endor " IT'S A TRAP!" - Admiral Ackbar battle of Endor

[@fredschaefer6000]

I think you and EC Henry should try to figure out shielding in Star Wars and release a video on your findings.

[@skyden24195]

Start with studying shield artwork then go from there.

[@Snowburden]

It's funny, recently I've actually been having some deep conversations with friends and family about the inconsistency from various sci-fi and others - universes. It's like, as if the longer the series goes on the more inconsistency that happens. As if the author forgets about a big thing they put in the show/movie but as episodes/movies go on that thing just drifts away and isn't there anymore. Like... come on now. Why did that really powerful magic spell (etc) happen on episode 2, was super cool, they talked about it all the time, and now, on movie 8 they didn't do anything with that said thing since movie 2. Pretty much the same thing you were talking about. Forgetting about something and they never go back to it as they write the lore/script.

[@InsomniacDoggo]

It may be that most capitol ships dont have particle shielding since projectile weapons are pretty rare. Even torpedos and bombs are pretty rarely used.

[@mikefischer8576]

I don't think that is the case given almost ever single fighter in star wars can take bombs or torps unless there pure fighters like the tie fighter or v wing

[@InsomniacDoggo]

@@mikefischer8576 yah but how often do you see them actually used??

[@xizthexizuchini172]

Point a railgun in the general direction of a star destroyers power source, boom, no more star destroyer

[@InsomniacDoggo]

@@xizthexizuchini172 same idea with Jedi and bullets. Ballistic weapons are more effective against Jedi because they cant deflect them with their lightsabers.

[@xizthexizuchini172]

@@InsomniacDoggo forces in star wars are so reliant on energy weapons its rediculous

[@liamb.9964]

5:52 I would just like something to say in defense of that episode. as I believe was in Splinter of the Minds Eye (it was either Luke in an X-wing or Han in the Falcon) said to turn on the shield but that it would only help a little because they were going into the atmosphere. I know you probably won't read this but I love your channel so much, please keep up the great work!

[@jrokur551]

Amazing video. Keep doing these on inconsistencies. Its awesome to pull back and see all of the different interpretations across SW media

[@jakedempsey3809]

My personal favorite was in the classic Thrawn books when ISD's couldn't use long range comms while the shields were up. That one really never made sense to me, and it's never really brought up again

[@stapuft]

shields are SUPER strong magnetic fields, magnetic fields repel radio signals, see planet earth and "A.M. radio signals" for a prime example of using the magnetic field of our planet to bounce radio signals, around the globe. it actually makes 100% sense, if you know even a little bit about science.

[@kodylarson2983]

@@stapuft thats fine if there useing radio wave...but this is star wars where you can send messages across systems, so they must have some sort of SoL or FTL communication that doesn't use radio waves

[@jakedempsey3809]

@@stapuft I don't think you see the problem here. The issue is that communicating through shields is a major issue in the Thrawn books and is then never brought up again. It's routinely ignored or contradicted. Also, you're applying real-world physics rules to a universe that they don't apply to. it actually makes 0% sense, if you know even a little bit about Star Wars.

[@stapuft]

@@jakedempsey3809 LOL no man almost everything can be explained through actual physics, the thing is you don't understand it, its ok. thrawn was using chis tech on his chis ship then, it could easily be that simple. chis tech is slightly inferior to the tech elsewhere in the galaxy, they were an isolationist society after all. also tech evolves, they could easily overcome it by using laser burst transmission, and having the bursts be timed to the frequency of the shields so that they pass through unimpeded like bullets through the propellers of old school war planes.

[@jakedempsey3809]

@@stapuft well first of all it wasn't a Chiss ship, the Chimaera is an Imperial Star Destroyer, and explicitly an Imperial communications ship at that. Secondly, ships from the Clone Wars and even well before that had no trouble communicating with their shields up. You're using real-life physics that aren't applicable to the example and then trying to frame it like I don't understand. You're not making me look stupid, you're making yourself look like an arrogant jackass with a superiority complex

[@projectpitchfork860]

I can hardly remember any battle, were shields were portrayed at all. Usually everything just goes directly onto the hull. Things like the Executor in Episode VI are exceptions.

[@RbkARI]

Usually they're mentioned, but yeah, they're never shown.

[@TabascoSauceBoss]

I always thought maybe the deflector shield’s bubble was just super tightly generated around the hull, but the Last Jedi showed that it’s just a giant loose bubble around the Raddus so I don’t fucking know anymore

[@VegetaLF7]

Jango Fett in Slave I vs Obi-Wan in his Jedi Starfighter. During the portion where Jango is firing the rapid fire lasers, we see them exploding all around Obi-Wan without actually hitting anything. Apparently those were shield strikes.

[@Kit_the_Kitsune]

@@VegetaLF7 That's impossible as the Delta 7 has no shields, it was more likely that Jango was just hitting space debris.

[@TabascoSauceBoss]

@@Kit_the_Kitsune yeah the amount of hits Kenobi’s “shield” was taking would be wild. Like that starfighter had shields stronger than Hoth. So yeah, I agree. They were in an asteroid field after all

[@jankrizkovsky9446]

Worth mentioning the ship shields in Rogue One consistent with shields in Rebels. That tight fitting film around hull dispersing blaster and turbolaser bolts. Probably consistent with ep. 1 naboo fighter shield and Millenium Falcon in New Hope being shot at and hit but tanking it in a flash of light. And in TCW there was that special shield on admiral Trenche's ship that was visible, super effective, but had to be lowered down to fire.

[@johnpatz8395]

I’d always said, that if Tie fighters didn’t have at least a particle shield in the battles we’ve seen more would be lost from space debris from the battle, than by weapon’s fire itself, as each hit on a ship of any size would likely create hundreds if not thousands of debris of various sizes

[@AdmBerner]

Yes, would love to see more about this subject

[@undead.rising]

I've always thought of shields like the ozone/outermost layer of atmosphere of a planet: a craft only needs to resist gravity (fly) to get out of the ozone/shield barrier, but when going in (re-entry), things burn up. I assumed shields were created in our fictional future purposefully to mimic this effect.

[@jmthekid2399]

I'd love to see that second vid you mentioned. Much love keep up the good content!

[@zachgreen4182]

Hey buddy, I mentioned having a child on the way, some time back, and, well, he's here!! Really hope you and your family are adjusting well to the second child. I know it's tough to deal with even one. Props to you for still giving us content to watch. And with my shorter timeframes of free time, your videos are perfect for newborn dads to get that unwind time just before going back to changing poopies and cuddling. Thanks, Eck!

[@WolfX1120]

I was under the impression that the snub Fighters Shields canceled out the other ships Shields.... You can kind of see it with the Tie fighters that don't have shields versus the ones that do.

[@Youngsquid97]

This is a problem I’ve struggled with for a while, thanks Eck

[@riesenfliegefly7139]

But honestly, did it help ? :D

[@TheEmpireDabsBack]

Never click on a notification faster than for Eck!

[@friendlyneighbourhoodfrog5650]

Me to

[@ShinennoHikari]

What it basically sounds like is that capital ships just don't use particle shielding more often than not, unless they are drastically larger than other capital ships, probably because of some kind of a power draw. But who knows for sure.

[@craigstevens2334]

I agree completely. Speaking about the original trilogy only, particle shields seem to require a huge amount of power to generate. Only the rebel base on Hoth and the Death Star II were protected by particle shields, both of which required massive power plants. Even if capital ships and Death Stars could conceivably have the power capacity to generate particle shields, they just don't carry them. Besides that, there are plenty of instances of ships losing ray shields. The original trilogy is pretty watertight on the subject.

[@rumblerLX]

Please research this further! I like the concept of angling a shield rather than a general bubble surrounding a ship. Makes more sense that you can divert/concentrate power to a specific area but the inconsistencies of the movies along with the books just bears further discussion. That being said I want more vids like this Ecks, keep up the great work!

[@aidanpezzutti6060]

Eckharts ladder please correct me if I’m wrong but ships can fly in the shields of other ships because they merge. Like how a smaller bubble will latch on and add to the size of a bigger bubble.

[@digitalis2977]

I don't think they actually merge...they overlap without touching (or else it stands to reason that they would drain each other from the contact.) So a fighter moving in for the kill isn't so much "flying through the shields" as "winding its way back and forth *between* the shields." That's the reason you only see starfighters do it (and not gunboats, corvettes, Frigates, etc) because the larger vessels can't fit through the gaps.

[@infinitecanadian]

I like the way that shields were in the first Star Wars: a laser blast looked like a flash of lightning when bouncing off of a shield.

[@itty_224]

EC henry has a fantastic video on this titled "the last jedi solves space combat"

[@HistoryGameV]

From what I remember, in the X-Wing series it is explained that during firing its weapons, the gun computers of a ship make the shields deactivate in tiny areas so they can fire through them. Thus they are working in both directions, at least that's what is said there. For the Naboo Starfighter shields, as far as we know these are pretty expensive, hand-build starfighters? So it would make sense that even their shields are fine-tuned to be as close to the ship as possible. Since this would reduce the number of near misses hitting your shields, even if they would not have hit the fighter itself. Which in turn increases the shields durability. For the thing with smaller craft flying through shields...yeah, that is something. Only explanation I could come up with was size. Maybe shields are tuned to only react to objects with a certain size or makeup?

[@Phreemunny]

Thank you for addressing this! I was just playing Squadrons the other day, and the inconsistency in the rules of shielding came to my mind.

[@kheopsz81]

Not sure if it was mentioned, but I read about particle shields in the 90s, in the rpg, or some other sourcebook: most of the ships have particle shield, it makes the hull a little bit stronger, but they are not far from the hull, the particle shield is around a couple of millimeters (or less-don't remember) from the hull itself. I think they add 2D-s for the hull strength, so if a ship has a 4D hull, that's 2D hull+2D particle shield. And these shields are constantly on, except doors, projectile stuff, etc

[@Recitetheconstitution]

finally lore has made its way back to Eckharts Ladder

[@dylandreisbach1986]

Imagine in a series about space wizards you have made the shields so confusing on how they work.

[@marcusedwards5177]

I have a theory of my own I would like to propose, though I don't know a lot about shields in star wars. What if the reason that fighters are able to get through shields and attack ships is because the fighter's shields disrupt it just enough to allow it to get through and the reason why they couldn't get through the Scarif shield is because it was being supplied enough power to not be disrupted by the fighter's shields and the reason for capital ships not being able to do the same is because they are not able to output that same level of power. As for fighters like the tie fighter which doesn't have a shield, what if it does have shield but the shielding that it provides is only powerful enough to disrupt the shielding on ships but not enough to protect it from attack.

[@mihajlo961x]

Good video Eck, I'm surprised you didn't mention the episode of The Clone Wars with Admiral Trench and the stealth ship when discussing particle shielding. It was only after the shields were lowered and Trench fired the tracking torpedoes was Anakin and crew able to take down the bridge.

[@DevilDude912]

one explanation for the fighter thing may be that fighters have deflectors of their own, it could just boil down to a figher using it's shields to cancel out the ship's in a localized zone. That would then open up the question of sheilded torpedoes, but the answer there could just be that adding a shield would make a torpedo too big and easy to hit with point defenses.

[@josiahjoedeman6544]

Just an idea, I might be way off base, but... We know that ion cannon projectiles can go right through a SD's shields (Empire Strikes Back). Maybe a ship's shields function similarly, but instead of passing through unaffected like the ion cannon, shield vs shield results in a momentary nullification of both, allowing the ship to slip inside but needing a moment to regenerate shields. The Death Star might be a different situation, in that it would have enough generator power to output layered shields. While the attacking ship might get through the outer layer, it would crash into the next before its own shields come back online.

[@shadowsofdawn3871]

Theory: Due to Power Constraints, Particle Shields are 'localized'. Explanation: A Capital Ship has only so much power to use for ray shielding, particle shielding, and weapons. Due to this, shielding, in particular Particle Shielding which would have a lower general need for use vs shielding protecting from energy weapons, is activated on an at need basis, a computer tracking in coming targets and throwing up shields at each point as needed, when needed. This requires the shield projection to have a minimum distance as well to avoid interfering with the ships superstructure. Objects like star fighters are generally too large (or to numerous) for particle shielding to stop without risking a full overload of the shields during normal combat maneuvers due to the large amount of targets incoming. This results in the shielding computer prioritizing them last, as stopping larger capital ship missiles would be a greater priority, as even if the snub fighter or bomber gets inside the shield, it still is not going to do as much damage as a capital ship's missiles due to comparative yields. This is why Fighter Screens are used to combat these attacks. Due to this being the standard setting for the computers, even outside of normal combat, a pilot can take advantage of this gap in the technology unless the capital ship's captain has ordered the shields to be set to an alternative priority system, thus not letting the star fighters through. In Atmosphere, which your clone wars Ryloth Battle looked to be, Particle Shields are near useless. Once inside an atmosphere, the particle shield would be forced to contend with all the particles that make up that atmosphere, quickly overloading any attempt to use particle shields to defend against physical attacks. NOTE: This is simply a brain storm on how the shields could work within the limitations that you have brought up. It is in no way directly supported by cannon or legends material, simply my attempt to explain why they function the way they seem to. Planetary Shields or Shields like that used for the Death Star would be a different animal due to the sheer amount of energy that can be produced dirt side and then pumped into the shields. Star Fighter shields are smaller and require less energy to function as well as being less protective over all, thus being useful as all around shields with the option to direct the available power to strengthen shields based on the direction you expect attacks to come from.

[@andymac4883]

Another fun shield is the one on the Droid Control Ship in TPM. The N-1 starfighters make several strafing runs, including proton torpedo shots that you can see in a shot of fighters flying over the sensor dishes, that appear to impact directly on the hull with no shield effect but also no damage, which brings on comments about the deflector shield being too strong. And yet Anakin's fighter flies straight into the hanger with no trouble, though some folk do claim that Droid fighters are also exiting the hanger at the same time. Also, in the background of the Battle of Coruscant, there appears to be a Lucrehulk battleship getting hit by weapons fire that has a blue shimmering shield effect that seems to be wrapped around the hull.

[@starsilverinfinity]

I always thought that Ray shields = the bubble shields that we can see in, say, Squadrosn Particle shields = skin-tight shield that protects against projectiles and such So flying through the ray shield to hit a ship directly would make sense since particle shield doesnt do so good against energy weapons, or you could dump some heavy ordinance too close for PD to take it out

[@desel8737]

commander: shields up minion: what shields? commander: the plot shields

[@TheRealDarthias]

Actually if I recall it is actually explained in the Essential Guide to Warfare: If a ship has their ray shielding (used against lasers, etc.) they can't use their particle shields (against physical objects) at the same time as it is too much of a drain on their generators. Which is why you don't have one-all powerful shield that can deflect EVERYTHING at once.

[@k.b.6331]

I always pictured the shields as blades or sheets of energy from the individual shield generators that didn't cover the entire ship but provided good overall protection with gaps that could be exploited or covered by angling the shields. On capital ships the gaps are large enough to be vulnerable to fighters while providing overall protection from barages.

[@chloe_gospinny]

You're not early, you're on time.

[@dim-flower]

Are you a watermelon?

[@chloe_gospinny]

@@dim-flower no

[@jayweber3022]

@@dim-flower he’s a milk product. Duh

[@dim-flower]

@@chloe_gospinny green and red though

[@pascaltheile7955]

@@dim-flower the italian and mexican flags are now watermelons

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

I've always thought of Stat Wars shields as blocking projctiles and energy weapons but only from one direction. Though partical shields do not work aganst slow moving objects (in order to prevent the shield from overloading from the constant contact when hovering in atmosphere). Additionally shields themselves are projected right outside the hull of a ship, meaning that large explosives can still cause some damage from the shockwave penetrating the shield.

[@jetoak]

Why Eckhartsladder removing his Doge profile picture makes no sense

[@Palpatine001]

5:56 Star Trek, Star Wars and Stargate have often said shield strength is reduced by up to factors of 50% when a ship is in atmospheric flight owing to gases interacting with the shield compared to a vacuum. That said Deflector Shields or Particle Shields might overload being whammed by well heavy air particles all the time in atmospheric flight so they also could need to be deactivated thus a cruiser is relying on half power Ray shields and the ship's armour (both useless for Flak)

[@skyden24195]

I would suggest a lot of shielding issues could come from variates of manufacturers, type specifications, as well as anti-measures aboard snub fighters and the like. Think about this, in "Rogue One," the Death Star plans could not even get off of Scarif without the planetary shield being offline, yet, of course, other Imperial controlled communications could be sent through.

[@darthnihilus1572]

From what i can remember about Kotor explaination about shields, ray shield that just block energy are the "constant" since particle and hybrid (think were thermal") were really expensive so is almost a NO for mass-produced ships and rarely into any flagship thats why physical objetcs ignore those shields (remember the ISD getting hit by a meteorite on episode 5) yet there is the question why figthers shields dont crash against capital shields but can also tell us why planetary invasions need to be deployed outside the shields (or you risk your landing to AA). Shields work in a way like ww1-2 biplanes that could only shot at certain "times", when the helix would not be hit by the plane weapons shotting, so each "faction" work with certain times/laser/turbolaser that they can shot with shields up that or close they made their computers calculate the time/rate to shot.

[@andrewadams8601]

Pretty much sums it up. I've noticed this before, and for some reason it especially bugged me in Episode 8 where Ben flies through his mother's ship blowing everything up. I remember wondering during that scene how any ships survive if a single starfighter can just destroy them like that. Another thing that always struck me as being inconsistent is how powerful Jedi can be. Especially in the EU, you'll sometimes see one Jedi destroying hundreds of enemies or a few padawans grouping to pull an SSD out of the sky (even though it killed one of them), and other times one Jedi gets his but kicked by one enemy. Or when Jango Fett just whips out his blaster, fires a couple of shots, and kills a Jedi in Episode 2.

[@Delta-zy1et]

I love the videos Eck

[@hokagehaydn4697]

My head-cannon is that particle-shields take more energy to maintain than ray-shields. So a capital ship would almost always have their ray-shields up, but would only have their particle-shields if they’re expecting lots of physical threats like torpedos, missiles, asteroids, etc. They could also take time to put up which could allow fighters get under the shields and wreck havoc

[@snipersnest6088]

There was one book, from 20 years ago, that tried to say you could do one or the other but not both at once. It was how they explained trench run disease working the way it did. Wish I could remember the book.

[@GenericProtagonist118]

I think the first time I remember seeing sheilds actually work in Star Wars was in one of the newer movies. Every other time before that (even in clone wars) we were told the sheilds were up but the ships still took damage the same way.

[@derpyno-scope2590]

Shields are also explained really nicely in the outbound flight. There it is stated that shields used in star wars almost always work one-directional, that would explain how ship are able to fire with their shields up and how starfighters are able to launch out of hangers (this would not explain how fighters are able to get into a hanger while the shields are up, but it does mean at least that part is logical). And that because the Chiss only had two-directional shield, they almost never used them as it would restrict the user aswel, but they did use shielding as a way to catch criminals, which is a nice detail in my opinion.

[@digitalis2977]

From looking at a ship shield generator (specifically, the ISD) it's easy to deduce that a shield "bubble" isn't actually a bubble, and that shields are actually projected in the same shape as the projector itself (that is, geometrically). Since it's easy to assume that one shield contacting another would cause both shields to drain energy from each other, a stand-off distance between the individual projections would be necessary to save a vessel from wasting power. So..."flying through the shield" should be thought of less as a straight line and more like working your way through a queueing line at the movie theater or DMV as you weave your way back and forth under individual layers and through gaps until you finally reach your destination.

[@vegetableman9137]

Thank you! I have been thinking this forever! The shields are integral for ships that are important to be kept alive, while ones that aren’t are destroyed shields or no shields.

[@brodeurheaton]

I want more!!! More!!! This has always bugged me and I demand more information lol

[@RC11361]

My theory on shileding has always been this, the ships hull has its own projectors, and all weaponry exsists out side of these projectors. Where as the turbo laser turrets have there own projectors to protect the majority of the turret, only the barrels are not protected by the shields, hence why they can shoot out. In regards to particle shields, when you are constantly launching and refueling fighters can you afford to have your particle shields up? And how much power will a particle shield take from the weapons, ray shields, engines etc?

[@nicholassabatino7293]

Hey EckhartsLadder, first congrats on the baby, hope you don't name 'em grogo 😅. I love your videos man!! You've got nothing to apologise for, I too have the some of same questions & "pet peeves" about Star Wars & movies in general. I have a background in TV & Tech. Theater, so I have an eye for these kind of things... Yet they are movies & subject to certain liberties, like sound in space, etc.

[@Corran51]

Didn't Stackpole explain in one of his books that you can set the shields to either closely hug the ship which decreases area and therefore increases strength but it puts more strain on the generators. On the flip side you can extend it so it makes a bubble around the ship so smaller ships can be encompassed by it for cover or for similarly sized vessels to combine shield strength and damage is shared across the entirety of the combined bubble. Also explains particle shields are to repel micro particles and debris, but they can be reinforced in an area to repel fighters or ordinance. Inconsistency with if different type of generators needed, look at the droid army penetrating the Gungan shields in Ep1, the droids get slowed as they force their way through the combined ray and particle shield. Best way to describe star wars shields, is plot shields

[@uwerta5631]

I don't know that much about the lore, but my explanation would be this: starships and some higher-quality missiles have a technology built into them that lets them bypass particle shields. Something about this technology (vulnerability to magnets, acceleration, or something like that) prevents them from working as railgun shells, which is why railguns aren't the predominant weapon in SW. Some shields, such as the one around Scariff, can block that technology, but the shield blocking method is either too expensive or heavy to put on most capital ships.

[@pdeniro57]

Always like you stuff. I Appreciate the moments that I can except this reality. Thumbs up!!!

[@DeleoDeluxe]

My head Canon is that most starfighters have some sort of Anti-shield-technology (which can be adapted and built into expensive Piercing-Torpedos) that cancels out the particle Shield-part. And shields are polarized, which helps explain the hole "fire from the inside" aspect.

[@johanbendiksen7051]

To me, Star Wars wouldn't feel like Star Wars if the tech worldbuilding didn't bend to serve the story.

[@Linkman95]

Yeah I never got into Star Trek but I love Star Wars and I think a fair amount of it is Star War's willingness to not be super tight with its rules.

[@soljafon]

@@Linkman95 star trek isn't as tight as the fandom would have you believe

[@glacieractivity]

I would be worried if ANYTHING in Star Wars was discovered to be internally logical. How and what the force is. Space ghosts. The whole midi-chlorians thing. Why Jedi must be start training prior to age 5. If you are not called Luke. Or Aniken. Or Rey. Or Leia. It is the whole point for me. Star wars is softer on science and logic than Robin Hood and such medieval myths. It is pure happy times. The lightsabres - they reflect laser-rays back to the sender - without being associated to angles - so that is a cool prism trick built into ... plasma...? They have all sorts of anti-gravity devises on anything. Still, they drive around in machines that float half a meter over the ground. Space-ships in interplanetary space or in orbit, they keel over as if gravity suddenly start to affect them - while the internal "gravity thing" that makes them walk on the floor is still working - while they slide on said sloping floors. It is fantastic. I totally get that it is a nightmare for writers. The entire world-building process is based on totally random plot necessities. It is fantastic. And charming.

[@Linkman95]

@@glacieractivity Yeah, I've always felt the only consistency Star Wars should have is to it's inspirations. A space battle should feel like a old school naval battle, etc.

[@EvelynNdenial]

it mostly works if you consider they cant raise both types of shield at the same time. so in battles they'd have ray shields up and the fighters can get in, in specific circumstances particle shields are up to protect the ship from debri or specifically when missiles and torpedoes are the only threat in the area. in the death stars case they could have both because the deathstar had it's ray shields up and a separate generator outside the ray shield bubble (on endor) created the particle shield or vice versa. and in most cases you wont see the shields working anyway because pretty explosions and plot.

[@benbowerman1582]

If you get the chance I would love to see a breakdown of Coruscant vs the SCP When Day Breaks Scenario

[@tylerbehrens7660]

A good explanation would be that on capital ships the shields arent strong enough to stop a fighter, so the fighter either just breaks through the shields or the shields auto cycle when fighters pass so they dont overload them, causing the whole section to be unshielded. Planetary shields would have much stronger power sources and a much bigger size cap so they can be much more powerful. As for why its different in games is just balancing and fun

[@silvussol8966]

Ray shielding is projected in a circular pattern, so it forms a sort of bubble around the ship. Particle shielding is projected flat, like a wall. Also, since particle shields prematurely detonate explosives, they are spaced out a ways from the ship. This is what Han was talking about when he said “angle the deflector screens”; adjusting the angle of the particle shield screens. This projection pattern means there are often gaps in the wall that can be flown under and out of. Especially with bigger ships like the ISD. Also, there technically should be a sort of particle shield ceiling above the Star destroyer from the fighter doing the attack runs perspective. They’d also have to fly out from a gap in the particle shield or risk hitting it.

[@JoaoPedro-ol7sl]

In my opinion, to make things easier would be like the shield is almost nothing far from the hull so you need to destroy the shield to destroy the ship so like starfighters can`t pass through the shields(unless for gameplay mechanics like in squadrons) and as the new update in squadrons, there are penetrating torpedos and missiles as also the normal ones but the penetrating ones are very expensive. But that's just my opinion

[@joshuam3573]

You have the best outro on KZbin

[@Palpatine001]

Star Wars Shields make no sense? Wait until you see shields over on Star Trek and constantly hear Worf say Shields Down.....