Star Wars: The Five Best Fires in Space
Fires in space are a long-time Star Wars staple, regardless of how much the internet wants to argue about it.
The Acolyte is the newest in Disney+’s offering of streaming Star Wars shows, and it’s also the first show set during the High Republic period. The show generated a lot of buzz before its release.
Well now it’s out, and the show is fine. Its no Andor, but its also far better than Book of Boba’s Feet. Despite this, there’s a subset of the fandom that’s going out of their way to hate on the show. A particular criticism has been a scene in the opening episode that featured a fire on the outside of a spaceship.
Somehow, these people claim, this was a crazy betrayal of Star Wars and the lore. And I have to ask, have you seen Star Wars? Fires in space are a staple of the franchise. They occur in a fictional space which does not follow our laws of science.
Don’t believe me? Here are five of Star Wars‘ best fires in space.
5. Artoo Burns in A New Hope
Let’s start off at the very beginning. From A New Hope we’ve got a number of fires. Ships and even Death Stars putting off flames as they explode. But we’ve also got some great smaller-scale fires. A really underrated one to me is when R2D2 is hit during the trench run. He clearly bursts into flames and there is firing shooting out the top of him—a great example of early fire.
There’s also a lot of symbolism here. Anakin Skywalker was famously burned by his friend Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now he inflicts burns on another old friend, R2. Like Anakin, the droid will survive and arguably become more powerful.
4. So Many Burning Venators
I can’t even pick one particular fire for this. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is just full of burning space ships. However the most iconic of them have got to be the many, many, many burning Venators we see. Sometimes these ships are destroyed and ruined. Other times they are pretty beat up but still in the fight.
What’s great about these is that they are clearly not explosions. They are large burning fires on the outside of the ships. In fact they even often put out large plumes of smoke. In space! Because—and this is true—this is Star Wars and Star Wars is not real.
3. Rogue Squadron
X-Wing Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole is generally considered a staple and standout book in the old EU. It kicked off possibly the most popular Star Wars series Rogue Squadron and introduced a host of massively important characters. The cover art for the whole series is pretty iconic and beloved.
And what do we have right there on the cover of the very first book? It’s some epic fire. I’m not just talking about the explosions or the first on the ISD in the background. I’m talking about the beautifully burning, engulfed in roaring flames, TIE-Interceptor in the middle of the cover. Its a great bit of space fire and some that’s been copied a lot.
2. Death of the Executor
We’ve all seen it. It’s one of the most iconic bits in Star Wars. At the height of the Battle of Endor Arvel Crynyd crashes his A-Wing into the bridge of the SSD Executor. Crippled, the Super Star Destroyer crashed into the Death Star.
The Battle of Endor is full of fires in space, but the Executor’s might be the best. This is no mere explosion, nor is it a little fire on the hull of the ship. This is a massive, kilometer-tall, biblical pillar of fire shooting off of the ship and burning like a beacon in space.
1. Artoo and Another Space Fire
We’ve come back around to old R2-D2. During the heroes’ escape from Naboo they come under fire (heh) from the Trade Federation blockade. The attack causes damage to the ships shield generator, which catches fire.
R2-D2 and some other droids are sent out to fix the problem. It’s a scene full of fiery explosions, large fires on the ship, sparks and smaller burning fires. It’s also our heroic introduction to the true hero of all Star Wars- R2-D2.
On top of that, it’s clear the the fire scene in Episode 1 of the Acolyte is a loving call back to this very scene. In this scene the Trade Federation causes a fire in another ships shield generator and droids, per the laws of the time, are sent out to fix it. For the Acolyte (also an episode 1) a Trade Federation ship has an issue with it’s shield generator (due to cheapness).
In some kind of Old Republic OSHA violation, droids are not dispatched. Instead Osha herself is sent to deal with it, because again the Trade Federation is cheap and does not care about people. It’s not only a great OSHA joke, it actually demonstrates a clear knowledge of Star Wars. And that’s why this fire gets top place as one of the most influential fires in all of Star Wars.
Bonus: All of John William’s Music
Every single soundtrack is pure fire in space.
We have a burning desire to know you favorite fire in Star Wars space, so lets us know in the comments!
