3

Yes. I know they really only owned them for a day at this point in the movie.

TROOPER How long have you had these droids?

LUKE About three or four seasons.

BEN They're for sale if you want them.

Is Luke referring to a farming season or planetary season? How long are these seasons?

In Luke's lie/fantasyland, how long did they own the droids?

phantom42
  • 134,387
  • 74
  • 573
  • 831

2 Answers2

11

Based on Luke's conversation with Lars about him leaving, I think it's planetary seasons, with a yearly harvest:

LUKE: I think those new droids are going to work out fine. In fact, I, uh, was also thinking about our agreement about my staying on another season. And if these new droids do work out, I want to transmit my application to the Academy this year.

OWEN: You mean the next semester before harvest?

LUKE: Sure, there're more than enough droids.

OWEN: Harvest is when I need you the most. Only one more season. This year we'll make enough on the harvest so I'll be able to hire some more hands. And then you can go to the Academy next year.

OWEN: You must understand I need you here, Luke.

LUKE: But it's a whole 'nother year.

OWEN: Look, it's only one more season.

LUKE: Yeah, that's what you said last year when Biggs and Tank left.

(Quoting from Revised Fourth Draft, January 15, 1976; but the dialog hasn't changed much from that to the final release IIRC)

DavidW
  • 128,443
  • 29
  • 545
  • 685
DVK-on-Ahch-To
  • 342,451
  • 162
  • 1,520
  • 2,066
  • 5
    It might be the case that the academy only takes enrolments at a particular time of year, so if Luke misses this year's time, even if only by a week or so, he has to wait until the next year. –  Jul 16 '14 at 13:48
  • @JimmyShelter - that's a valid interpretation. Make it an answer? – DVK-on-Ahch-To Jul 16 '14 at 13:49
  • I'm reluctant because it's speculative. There may be something in EU material to support it, but I don't follow the EU. If someone else with the required knowledge wants to pick up this ball and run with it, they're welcome. –  Jul 16 '14 at 14:05
  • I'm not sure why your speculation is worse than the nits who write in the EU. – Oldcat Jul 16 '14 at 23:01
  • 2
    @JimmyShelter: That's established by Anne Crispin in The Han Solo Trilogy, actually. I unfortunately don't own the books anymore, so I can't quote it as an answer, but Han has to be on Coruscant, and have his fingerprints and facial features altered (he has one hell of a criminal record) to deliver his application by a certain date, or he'll have to wait another year. – James Sheridan Jul 17 '14 at 01:22
  • @Oldcat: Not everyone who writes in the EU is a nit. Just, you know, most of them. – James Sheridan Jul 17 '14 at 01:23
  • 2
    @Oldcat - I suppose that I could actually write this up, thereby becoming an EU author, and thereby - under the old rules - make a claim that it's canon... –  Jul 17 '14 at 07:52
  • ...but since @JamesSheridan has identified a source for it, I'll let him have first dibs if he wishes. –  Jul 17 '14 at 07:53
  • 1
    @JimmyShelter: I no longer own that book, unfortunately, and none of the Wookieepedia pages relating to it seem to reference that particular paragraph. Since my memory is hardly a good enough source for something this obscure, we'll just have to hope someone else here has access to the book. – James Sheridan Jul 17 '14 at 10:47
2

Disclaimer: this is highly speculative.

I believe they mean farming seasons, and that these seasons are not related to the orbital period.

According to Wookieepedia, moisture farms were collecting water to raise underground crops. It is unlikely that such crops would care about the solar cycle. (Now is the time for another disclaimer: I do not know much about biology.) For example, in what seems to be the closest real-world example, fungiculture, seasons last 60-100 days.

Furthermore, Tatooine orbits around two suns. I assume that the definition of a year is based on a full rotation around the pair of suns, but then the position of the suns will be roughly independent from the time of the year. Hence, predicting the weather on Tatooine based on the time of the year could prove difficult. (Daily weather forecasts are easy though: "It will not rain".) Additionally, while not a proof, I don't remember hearing or reading anything about "summer", "winter" or "rain season" (???) on Tatooine. (Most Star Wars planets seem to have this kind of constant weather, though.)

So, without any physical indication of the time of the year, maybe the farmers are using the rhythm of their crops instead, hence their use of "season" instead of "year". In this context, I take the word "semester" to mean "half a season".

Another reason for thinking in "seasons" instead of "years" is that the variety of solar/planetary cycles in a large galaxy makes our earthly time differences look like a funny joke. According to the EU (but still the most likely solution canon-wise), the Star Wars galaxy was using Coruscanti years for that purpose. Non-Coruscanti could then have reserved the word "year" for galactic years.

DavidW
  • 128,443
  • 29
  • 545
  • 685
T. Verron
  • 121
  • 4