The Battle of Hoth

[Luna]

(I think Anakin even flew one at one point)

He flew a BTL-B with Shadow Squadron during the destruction of Malevolence's ion cannon and maybe briefly on another occasion or two.

[reiperx]

It would have also made more sense for the Empire to also utilize two interdictor class ships to keep the transports from even being able to hit hyperspace.

Then again I don't think Lucas had thought about that type of ship (or even if he even came up with the idea himself ever) for the movie. But Interdictor ships are amazing, especially how Thrawn used them to not only prevent escape but also to bring in backup exactly where he wanted it. (he's put the edge of the field right where he wanted his ships to come out at, that way it eliminates all guesswork and the capital ships can come out of Hyperspace right on top of a planet if need be.

[Manroon]

Good point. Though the Interdictors weren't, as I recall, in wide service at that time.... you'd think if ANYONE could get their hands on one, it would be Vader. Then again, you'd also wonder why the Empire didn't put some Grav Projectors into the Executor Class.

[kewlkev360]

Good point. Though the Interdictors weren't, as I recall, in wide service at that time.... you'd think if ANYONE could get their hands on one, it would be Vader. Then again, you'd also wonder why the Empire didn't put some Grav Projectors into the Executor Class.

Because it wasn't in the script?

[Luna]

Because it wasn't in the script?

Wait, are you suggesting that the whole thing was scripted? Preposterous!

[kewlkev360]

Wait, are you suggesting that the whole thing was scripted? Preposterous!

I'm proposing that the whole thing was a movie, and that reality as we know it is just a simulation run on a computer by a vastly advanced civilization (No, not the Matrix).  How else can you explain the phenomenon that particles don't have a state while not being observed?

/mindblown

[Vyk]

For in-universe chronology, the first Interdictor was built two years before the battle of Yavin, but there wasn't much demand for them outside of Vice Admiral Thrawn's fleet until the Rebels escaped Hoth when they could have been stopped by an Interdictor (as you suggested).  That drove up demand, but the ships are apparently difficult to produce--by Endor there were still only a handful, and mostly in the Outer Rim with Thrawn.

For real-world chronology, I believe Zahn came up with the idea of the Interdictor, which I think you hinted at.  One of the interesting things about Zahn to me is how convincingly he could write a genius like Thrawn.  I'm of the opinion that it's impossible for an author to convincingly write a character vastly smarter than the author is--you can make him figure out things that you wouldn't be able to figure out, but you can't keep him from missing things you'd miss and you can't make him have an idea you couldn't have.  The fact that Zahn does write Thrawn very convincingly makes me think Zahn himself is quite intelligent.  (Stories I've heard from people who have talked with him back that up.)

[reiperx]

For real-world chronology, I believe Zahn came up with the idea of the Interdictor, which I think you hinted at.  One of the interesting things about Zahn to me is how convincingly he could write a genius like Thrawn.  I'm of the opinion that it's impossible for an author to convincingly write a character vastly smarter than the author is--you can make him figure out things that you wouldn't be able to figure out, but you can't keep him from missing things you'd miss and you can't make him have an idea you couldn't have.  The fact that Zahn does write Thrawn very convincingly makes me think Zahn himself is quite intelligent.  (Stories I've heard from people who have talked with him back that up.)

Very possible.  I'm sure he is very intelligent, but I wouldn't also put it past him to have other people helping him out with ideas and such. I know in my writing that I do, I have a handful of people helping me out with various scenarios in my stories for ideas. To even turn up the creativity, and help me have more fun writing, I also don't let them know they are working on the same stories, and none of them know all of the details about the stories (except one person). I've found that this helps get deeper character development with various groups and other characters because I more or less base their thought processes on some of the people helping me out. He may do something similar with group-think.