Who, exactly, designed the Death Star?

[Hoby-Wan]

Ok...I'm confused. In "Darksaber," the Hutt guy enlists the aid of the original designer of the Death Star, yes? Well, in "Rogue Planet," the original designer of the Death Star is someone completely different! Written by a only one-time SW author, Greg Bear, I wonder if Mr. Bear just overlooked that little tidbit...what do you guys think?

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- Your friendly neighborhood HOBY Jedi,

Hoby-Wan

[Darth Dorth]

The designr of the Death Star Was cheif engineer Bevel Lemelisk

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"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge"
Darth Maul to Darth Sidious(Master Sido-dyas)
The Phantom menace
:eek:

[Hoby-Wan]

That's what I thought. In "Rogue Planet," it's some guy named Seinar Reinar or something like that. Which is why I wondered. Personally, I'm going to stick with Bevel.

[Chandrila]

Where does Qwi Xux fit into all of this then? I thought she designed it whilst at the Maw Installation, thinking it would be used to crack asteroids' crusts for mining purposes?

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Luminous beings are we; not this crude matter!

[Hoby-Wan]

GOOD POINT! I'd forgotten about Qwi's involvement. What's really interesting is that Kevin J. Anderson wrote Dark Saber AND the Jedi Academy series, so that's even more confusing. If he mentioned in the Jedi Academy books that Qwi designed it on her own, then he'd be contradicting the whole thing with Bevel. Perhaps Dr. Xux simply worked with Bevel, and wasn't the main designer. I know she had a part in it...it would be nice to know how the two tie in. Thanks for bringing that up, Chandrila!

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- Your friendly neighborhood HOBY Jedi,

Hoby-Wan

[This message has been edited by Hoby-Wan (edited July 17, 2001).]

[IHC w/ Destro helmet]

At one point, I had a prepared statement for addressing this one. I cannot find it. So I'll just have to summarise.

Raith Sienar created the expeditionary battle planetoid, which used asteroids to fuel its main artillery weapon, which was essentially just an Uberlaser cannon. Following his falling out with Commander Tarkin in Rogue Planet, Mr Sienar permitted Tarkin to take the plans for the EBP, wanting nothing to do with it.

Commander Tarkin then took the plan, and, once being created Wilhuff Moff Tarkin, he created the Maw Installation. Here's where things get tricky.

Tol Sivron was the director of operations on the deep space mobile Imperial battle station (D.M.I.B.S.) project. Dr Bevel Lemelisk, master designer, was the chief of the research crews, and the actual architect of the D.M.I.B.S. itself. One of his subordinates was Dr Qwi Xux, who seems to have been instrumental in the design of the main artillery weapon, which is an improvement on the turbolaser to the extent that it can accelerate a planetary mass to escape velocy and beyond in less than a quarter of a second.

Others included in the design phase, who appear to have been external to Dr Lemelisk's research crews in the Maw Installation, are Dr Ohran Keldor, Dr Rorax Falken and the staff of the Mrlssti academy (whose research enabled the Empire to build both the Death Stars and the worldcraft). Nasdra Magrody seems to have been a chief instructor to many of the researchers, but was not actually involved in the construction of the D.M.I.B.S.

Given the recent trend of backwards-continuity, it seems likely that Umak Leth, the more-than-slightly-twisted genius behind the Galaxy Gun, World Devastators, Shadow Droids, and the SD-10 war droids was also involved---after all, the singularity drives which powered his Devastators were designed in the Maw Installation.

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The floggings will continue until morale improves.

[Hoby-Wan]

Most helpful! Thank you very much!

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- Your friendly neighborhood HOBY Jedi,

Hoby-Wan

[Jedi Solo]

In Ep II didn't someone in the meeting with Count Dooku/ Darth Tyranus have plans of the Death Star? I thought I saw them on a screen above
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[Chandrila]

Yes, but if you notice, this is a very old topic so we didn't know that at the time

But you're right, the Death Star does make an appearance in Episode II, so it seems that GL's usual disregard for the EU is in effect once again. How on earth EU fanatics will explain this away I do not know. In fact, I don't know how GL expects to explain it away, given that the Geonosians didn't design Imperial technoglogy - the style of their tech is entirely different to that seen on Star Destroyers and the like. I can't imagine large insects building the shiny metal thing we see in Ep IV.

[Jedi Solo]

Sorry, forgot how old the last post was!
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[Jedi Noswal]

Yes, but just because Count Doo-do had the plans there in AotC, doesn't mean that the Geonosians were the designers... does it?!?

two thoughts come to mind;

1) Maybe those bug bastards got the plans from someone else.

OR

B) perhaps they did the original design, (it does kinda have a "Hive" mentality and feel to it, I always thought so anyway) but then during the whole final design / sign off with the Contractor process it was a given a more "human" feel since it would be manned by people not bugs.
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[Chandrila]

I think the Geonosian that hands Dooku the plans says "take this to your Master, if the Republic finds out what we're building we're doomed" or something similar. So I think it's entirely possible that they are the ones that built it.

I prefer the EU explanation with Imperial scientists and the like doing the work, especially given the Empire's obvious anti-alien stance (no aliens in uniform to be seen anywhere in Ep IV-VI). It wouldn't make sense to have the Empire's greatest weapon designed by something they apparently despise. It's just not self-consistent at all and I wish that GL hadn't put it in.

I mean, it's ok not to be consistent with the EU, but to not be consistent with your own story is just stupid, especially given how much time they have had to work on the stories. I mean, where are all the Neimodians, battle droids, Dugs, Gungans, Geonosians, AT-TEs, podraces and the like in Ep IV-VI? Surely not all of that lot could've been wiped out in 30 years, especially given that the Republic is meant to be thousands of years old. GL really pisses me off sometimes

[IceHeart Clone]

There's no contradiction between Attack of the Clones and the established continuity of the Expanded Universe. Nothing seen in Episode II actually poses a problem.

Interestingly, the New Essential Guide to Characters states that Dr Lemelisk was present on Geonosis at some point prior to the Battle of Geonosis, and that he worked with the Geonosians.

Conclusion: After Mr Sienar turned over the EBP designs to Commander Tarkin, Commander Tarkin gave them to the Supreme Chancellor. Assuming that the Supreme Chancellor doubles as Darth Sidious (which is not properly an assumption, as Mr McCallum has explicitly stated that they're one and the same), that clearly explains how the Count of Serenno acquired the plans.

Lord Serenno provided the plans to the Geonosians, who, in conjunction with Dr Lemelisk, upgraded the basic outline of the EBP into a larger and more powerful DMBS (deep-space mobile battle station). This basic outline was then "fleshed out," so to speak, by Dr Lemelisk's design team at the Maw Installation.

In any event, it's important to remember that no single person could possibly have designed something the size and complexity of the Death Star. Even an entire dedicated "think tank" like the Maw Installation could not have done it.

That's why it's wholly realistic -- indeed, wholly necessary -- for people like Dr Keldor (ref. Children of the Jedi), Professor Falken, and the faculty at the Mrlssti Academy (ref. The Phantom Affair) to have also participated in the design process, even if unwittingly at the time.

Consider: The Manhatten Project required the concerted effort of hundreds -- if not thousands -- of people, not just the scientists working on designing the bomb mechanism itself. Nevertheless, Dr Oppenheimer is usually credited for the Project's result -- for the simple reason that he was the head researcher.

Properly speaking, then, it isn't even necessary that Dr Lemelisk have been the innovator of the design; he may well have been brought in years after the design was conceived. The fact is that he was the chief engineer and head researcher (a remarkable feat; he appears to have successfully combined theoretical and applied sciences), and therefore receives credit for the project's success.

Interestingly, according to the Dark Empire Sourcebook, at some point Dr Lemelisk was dismissed from his posts as Chief Engineer to the Emperor and Master of Imperial Projects, to be replaced by Dr Leth, a former member of the staff at the Maw Installation.

And, for the record, the Empire's lack of nonhuman uniformed personnel is largely irrelevant; the counterrevolutionary rebel Alliance also demonstrated a pointed lack of nonhuman uniformed personnel until Return of the Jedi -- and then, the vast majority of the nonhuman uniformed personnel were of the same species.

Amazingly, the explanation for the Empire's lack of species diversity is explained as xenophobia, but the Alliance's lack of species diversity is explained as logistical necessity.
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Veni. Vidi. Vici.

[handofthrawn]

Palpatine formed a team of people to design it for him which included both Qui Xux and Lemelisk, as well as many others.
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Click cautiously.

[Hollynkesten]

Ill stick with how i feel, Geonosian came up with the idea...

Qui did work with Bevel, though she was sent to The Maw to continue work on a better plan. As for Bear...doesnt know what he is talking bout...

Back to the Geonosians, Qui and Bevel brought the station into sensible mathematics, they made the Geonosian dreams reality.

The truth we shall not know intil E3 b/c the truth belongs to GL and nobody else.........
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[CRITIQUE DISCOURAGED]

[Myth Hunter]

Qwi was kept in the Maw Installation mot of her life. So she can not have been anywhere else haelping to create the Death Star.

It may be that someone (Palpy?) went to the Maw and said See if any of you can create this, and Qwi came up with the best idea, which was taken away and worked on and created and built.

There problem solved.
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[Keiran Halcyon]

Qui Xux & Bevel Lemelisk designed the first Death Star & Qui the second.
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Jedi are overated
Sith are underestimated.......

And who destroyed 10,000 of their enemies

That's what I thought

[kl°kwise]

I agree with Iceheart's Clone on this one. No one person could have designed the Deathstar. The concept can be thought up by one person, (George Lucas did it) and perhaps even one person designed the primary systems of the Superlaser. But the entire thing was a collective effort by probably hundreds of thousands of minds.

Also, note that the Geonosians were NOT the entire Seperatist movement. They were but one world, and, it would seem, the only reason that the meetings and the battle took place there was because they had droid construction facilities to build the droid army with. And we don't even know if the Geonosians made the droid construction facilities in the first place. They may have just had lots of hollowed out caves to hide them in, so they wouldn't be noticed by oribital scans and patrols.

More likely the Geonosians had nothing to do with the Deathstar, they were merely running the command center when the clone army attacked and their leader, Poggle the Lesser, handed the plans over to Dooku so that they would not be captured.

If we follow George Lucas's vision it is more likely that the Techno Union (sounds lame, I know, so does Attack of the Clones) that ends up building the Deathstar. See for yourself. How it comes to be under Imperial control, and especially mirror all Imperial technology, we'll just have to wait and see. Also, there are only 4-5 years between Episode II and III which is no-where near enough time to actually build the thing! So it must only begin construction in Episode III and then be just completed (as per the opening crawl says) in Episode IV, nearly 20 years later. (Luke is 18 isn't he? Whether he's born at the end of Episode III or not is not known)
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"Hurry up, goldenrod, or you're gonna be a permanent resident!"

[Kirna Dyreth]

An additional note on Bevel Lemelisk-

He was an absent-minded scientist and wasn't a perfectionist and it showed in his designs for the Death Stars. Because of his poor work there is no question that many others had a significant hand in the design and ultimate contruction of the Death stars. In fact becuase of the Emporer's displeasure at Lemelisk's work he was executed-death by piranha beetles to be exact. The Emporer actually had him killed 6 times. At the point of death each time all his memories and mind were transferred into a clone. Eventually he went to work on the Darksaber project but there too he failed and although he used the original DS plans, Darksaber proved to be a dud.

So if this is an example of his "briliance" I'd say that there is no possible way he could have been the sole designer of the proect.
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[GABRIEL]

I think that it was the genosisians that were the og's of building the death star.they have the plans in the movie,but then again they might just be the contractors and not the designers

[Lt.Nebfer]

dident lemensk know that the dark saber was going to explode when fired. and that it wasent Realy his fault that time but to thos little critters that the hutt used??
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Fear the power of Clan Snow Raven!

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