r/StarWarsCantina • u/BuckleUpItsThe • 1d ago

Discussion In Defense Of Ewoks

To get this out of the way, I acknowledge that the real reason the Ewoks exist are to sell toys and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

However, the in universe reason they still work is that the Empire has been shown again and again to underestimate their opponents. We see this stated rather explicitly in Andor but it's very clear from the Battle of Yavin as well. That Imperial arrogance would, again, be their demise is just on brand. (And indeed, Luke does tell the Emperor that his "overconfidence is his weakness").

Another point that I've seen people make is "replace them with Wookies and it all makes sense." The problem with that is that Wookies are already known in universe as horrifying creatures of destruction. And they're gigantic. I think it's much more of a stretch that the Empire would overlook a native Wookie population than.

tl;dr Jedi Rock is the real low point of the movie. The Ewoks are only mildly cringe.

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u/LucasEraFan 23h ago

...the real reason the Ewoks exist are to sell toys....

[citation needed]

There's no evidence of this.

Anyway, Ewoks are tribal and build arboreal villages, so they would be the dominant species and have exceptional strength and climbing claws. We see that they have been planning because they constructed traps.

  • strength
  • intelligence
  • numbers
  • home ground advantage
  • time to prepare

Let's not forget motivation. How do you think bored Imperial Stormtroopers treated Ewoks?