In RETURN OF THE JEDI, is the new Death Star 100% brand new, or is it built from the remains of the death star we saw destroyed in STAR WARS?

the first Death Star was obliterated at the end of “A New Hope”. that’s clearly shown.

the real question is: how did it take 20 or so years to build the first one (remember, we see it being built at the end of Ep3), but like what – a year to build a bigger, badder one?

i think they were building two to begin with. i think the evil empire had a pretty large budget and no labor laws or unions to worry about.

I think the real question here is….... who the hell cares?

@superdan basically, the Empire was a gigantic labor union?

@superdan…. and can’t forget the unlimited supply of clones. I think thats what stormtroopers were

I think I have heard before that they actually were building two, the second one was equally as secret as the first Death Star.

I agree with the building two at the same time theory.

There’s no way they could have started from scratch and been done in time.

The Force isn’t stronger with the dark side, but it’s got waayyy better project management skills, apparently.

The weren’t enough parts left from the original. They had to start over from scratch. However the Empire had the resources of just about the entire galaxy so raw materials would not have been difficult to come by.

Why build one when you can have two for twice the price?
Wanna go for a ride?

@filmfann thanks for the Contact reference.

Maybe they built 2 because materials costs were predicted by some management board that it’s gonna rise by the last episode?

It’s new. The first Death Star was destroyed by Luke in the first movie.

i present the following tidbit: In Ep4 (“A New Hope”), the one dude (who Vader chokes) states that ”this station is the now the ultimate power in the universe.” ok, so perhaps he doesn’t know of the (presumed) other station. However, he seems to be high up enough to know about that sort of thing. and besides, a Super Death Star would probably be big news in the Empire.

thoughts?

@eponymoushipster no, i dont think he would have to know. It could be like super secret.

The real answer.It’s just one of the many things in star wars that dont really make sense but we have to accept anyway because we’re all a bunch of star wars lovin nerds.

why would you build a tank and then build a robot to pilot said tank? why not just give the tank AI? Why build a driod and then give the driod binoculars? Why not just build zoom lenses into their eyes?

Why would a slave-child on a sand planet build a protocol droid?

@filmfann to help his mother…..

“Two Death Stars there were. Fooled you we did. A midget with a light saber and an attitude I am.”

- Yoda

I would say that the need for new star wars movies outweighed the sense of common knowledge, but then again common knowledge doesnt include things in galaxies that are long ago and far far away.

@uberbatman lol

I’m going to tell my six year old that after building the first one they learned so much that it made building the second one much easier, and that they could do it much faster.

Thanks for all of your answers!

The second one was a lot more powerful, which probably made it much more top secret.

“Their shields can’t repel fire power of that magnitude.”

The second Death Star, if I’m not mistaken, was quite a bit larger than the first one. (by alot)

Evidence.

@Nullo Your link doesn’t work.