Skip to main content

star wars - What Purpose Did the Laser Gates in "The Phantom Menace" Serve?


In this question about Obi-Wan crossing all the laser gates during the duel with Darth Maul, there's this good screen shot of the laser gates:


enter image description here


Which raises a question I've wondered about over and over. What is the purpose of these gates? If they were for security, they would not be opening and closing regularly, allowing people to go through. Anything else that might be effected by the gates opening and closing (such as air circulation) could be controlled with physical doors and wouldn't pose the threat to life or safety that lasers would.



So what purpose do dangerous laser gates like this actually serve?



Answer



The script is not explicit on their purpose :



INT. THEED - POWER GENERATOR ELECRIC BEAM - HALLWAY
The SITH LORD, followed by QUI-GON, enters a long hallway filled with a series of deadly rays that go on and off in a pulsing pattern that shoots down the corridor every minute or so. DARTH MAUL makes it down several walls of deadly rays before they close. QUI-GON is one wall away from the DARK LORD. OBI-WAN is just starting into it and is five walls way from DARTH MAUL.



But, according to Wookieepedia Qui-Gon Jinn article, it's a security system.



While his Padawan rushed to catch up, Jinn and Maul moved on, passing through an impenetrable laser shield security system to one of the cooling pits.





UPDATE :


I finally found a well buried article on wookieepedia : Laser gate. It also explain the reason why they are cycling on and off.



Laser gates, also known as electron walls, were designed to protect high-security or dangerous areas by sealing them off with a wall of energy. Laser gates were installed in the Theed Generator Complex on Naboo. The barriers were strong enough to easily block a lightsaber strike and would vaporize any matter that touched them. These gates were crucial to the death of Qui-Gon Jinn at the hands of Darth Maul as the laser gates prevented Jinn's Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, from coming to his aid against the Sith. However, the generators were unable to keep up the immense energy needed to power the gates, and so they would cycle on and off approximately every five minutes. Each gate remained open for only around ten seconds before cycling on again.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Was Galadriel's temptation of Boromir instrumental to his fall?

We know Galadriel tempted the members of the Fellowship, did she tempt Boromir with visions of taking the Ring and saving Gondor? In the books, Boromir willingly accepts the judgement of the council that the Ring should be destroyed, but after the meeting with Celeborn and Galadriel his personality seems to change. Was the temptation offered by Galadriel in some way responsible for Boromir's fall? Answer It's likely, but not certain I believe it is likely Galadriel tempted him with the ring, and in doing so re-ignited a pre-existing idea to take the ring, but to be clear lets break this down into three parts. Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir after setting off Boromir after being tempted Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir pleas for the ring to go to Minas Tirith, to help Gondor in its defense against Mordor. “ Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely...
Post a Comment
Read more