Watched Star Wars Episode IV Last Night...

... and wondered something.  Why the HELL did Luke get the chance to shoot the money shot at the end? 

Both his friend Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles were still kicking around, and had already proved their mettle as a pilot multiple times before the Battle of Yavin.

Compare them to
Luke, who had, approximately 2 hours earlier, joined the Rebellion, never before that point in time flown an X-wing (or any starship for that matter), and was by far the most junior/inexperienced pilot out there.

You have to consider that at that time, nobody knew about the Force- they call it "sorcery" and an "ancient religion" repeatedly throughout the film. 

And even if they did acknowledge that the Force existed and was important (as they do later on in the series), you need to take into account that Luke had known about the existence of the Force for about 2 days before this happened.  It wasn't like he knew what the hell he was doing.


I love it when Han mockingly says "May the Force be with you" to Luke before he ditches the rebellion with all his cash.  What an asshole.

In addition, why didn't Leia and all the other chief Rebel Leaders try to run away?  It wasn't like Leia was doing anything but staring at the TV apprehensively the whole time the battle was being fought.  Granted, I'm glad she was there (because I'm a guy) (and also because I didn't have to smell her - she still hadn't changed from when she was in the trash compactor), but she would have been of much more value off politicking it up elsewhere.

Haha, you just have to wonder what people were thinking when Luke was on his Attack Run, and switched off his targeting computer.  "Is it broken?" they ask.  "Nope, just wanted to do things my own way, in a ship I'm not familiar with, flying in space which I'm also not familiar with," he says. 

"We're screwed," their minds collectively murmur.

Sure, it ended up being the 'right' choice, by merit of results.  But seriously, was the Rebellion's early leadership so lacking in common sense?

Please don't get me wrong, I'm an enormous Star Wars fan (you don't want to know how many of the EU (extended universe) books I own and have read).  I guess it gives me free reign to critique it, because in the end, Star Wars will always be awesome to me, no matter how many holes I poke in it.

Anyone have a good answer for me? 

Alright, I'm done.  /endstarwarscritique

May the Force be with you.

Here are some fun pictures I found relating to Star Wars, lol.