A Long, Long Time Ago...

[Neil]

That would ruin the aesthetics, which are important to a galactic society.  After all, what are the consequences of those open pits?  Somebody could fall in and die?  Who cares?  There are probably several quintillion sophonts in the galaxy.  Somebody could drop some equipment down there?  The Empire has effectively infinite resources, as demonstrated by the sheer wastefulness of the Death Star Project itself.  And yet as massive and wasteful as it was, it was trivially small next to the overall Imperial economy.

In that case they should have done a simple trom l'oeil painting of a reactor core shaft in the Emperor's throne room; the way the flat surface of Sant'Ignazio in Rome is painted to look like it has a dome.  That would have provided aesthetic appeal and safety.  While there might be sound technical reasons for having massive shafts into the power generation core; putting them in the Emperor's throne room is just asking for trouble given the VIPs he was likely to entertain there.

See, but that would be faking it.  You're ignoring the psychological aspect, which can be just as important as any practical concerns.  The Emperor was the most powerful man in the universe, politically, spiritually and physically.  He had no real concerns for his own safety, and no concern for that of others.

Most importantly of all, you've forgotten the implications of artificial gravity and inertial dampening.  Now, the Death Star would have been massive enough to generate it's own gravity, that would clearly be less than ideal in a structure that was intended to be at least partially habitable all through its volume.  What would stop the Empire from installing safety systems that would slow or halt a fall?  After all, we know that Bespin had such a system, as illustrated by Luke surviving a fall of at least a kilometer without injury.  Why not use them on the Death Star?  Clearly they hadn't been installed yet, but then again the Death Star wasn't supposed to be in use by the Emperor yet, and making the weapon and power systems operational took priority in order to accomplish the Emperor's plan.

[jimmy olsen]

And normally, the Emperor would be able to slow his fall with the force.

[Neil]

And normally, the Emperor would be able to slow his fall with the force.

I have my doubts.  After all, if he could, why didn't he?

Although we've seen Jedi engage in great feats of leaping, I don't recall seeing levitation or flight from them.  They can move other objects, but they seem to have trouble moving themselves without an object, whether the ground, a plank or a handhold, to exert their force on.

[Razgovory]

While there might be sound technical reasons for having massive shafts into the power generation core; putting them in the Emperor's throne room is just asking for trouble given the VIPs he was likely to entertain there.

maybe he liked to throw people into the pits for VIP kicks?

That would just gum everything up wouldn't it?

[The Brain]

I have a massive shaft in my office.

[The Minsky Moment]

But it had an outlet to the nuclear reactor core in the Throne Room; that's fundamentally poor engineering.

Throwing enemies and surplus thralls into the nuclear reactor core from one's Throne Room is the principal fringe benefit of the imperial throne.   

[Savonarola]

See, but that would be faking it.  You're ignoring the psychological aspect, which can be just as important as any practical concerns.  The Emperor was the most powerful man in the universe, politically, spiritually and physically.  He had no real concerns for his own safety, and no concern for that of others.

Obviously he should have.  His over confidence was his weakness.   

Most importantly of all, you've forgotten the implications of artificial gravity and inertial dampening.  Now, the Death Star would have been massive enough to generate it's own gravity, that would clearly be less than ideal in a structure that was intended to be at least partially habitable all through its volume.  What would stop the Empire from installing safety systems that would slow or halt a fall?  After all, we know that Bespin had such a system, as illustrated by Luke surviving a fall of at least a kilometer without injury.  Why not use them on the Death Star?  Clearly they hadn't been installed yet, but then again the Death Star wasn't supposed to be in use by the Emperor yet, and making the weapon and power systems operational took priority in order to accomplish the Emperor's plan.

You are correct; I was not aware such technologies existed.  That would explain why there isn't an enormous wind force in th Emperor's throne room.  There should be a massive pressure difference between the core of the Death Star and the outer shell where the throne room is located and such a massive shaft would allow for a huge transfer of air.  Artificial gravity would prevent such a pressure difference from occuring; but if there is artificial gravity in use anywhere on the Death Star why did the Emperor fall in a straight line rather than a parabolic trajectory?

[Neil]

Obviously he should have.  His over confidence was his weakness.   

He forgot that family was an important motivator for the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Most importantly of all, you've forgotten the implications of artificial gravity and inertial dampening.  Now, the Death Star would have been massive enough to generate it's own gravity, that would clearly be less than ideal in a structure that was intended to be at least partially habitable all through its volume.  What would stop the Empire from installing safety systems that would slow or halt a fall?  After all, we know that Bespin had such a system, as illustrated by Luke surviving a fall of at least a kilometer without injury.  Why not use them on the Death Star?  Clearly they hadn't been installed yet, but then again the Death Star wasn't supposed to be in use by the Emperor yet, and making the weapon and power systems operational took priority in order to accomplish the Emperor's plan.

You are correct; I was not aware such technologies existed.  That would explain why there isn't an enormous wind force in th Emperor's throne room.  There should be a massive pressure difference between the core of the Death Star and the outer shell where the throne room is located and such a massive shaft would allow for a huge transfer of air.  Artificial gravity would prevent such a pressure difference from occuring; but if there is artificial gravity in use anywhere on the Death Star why did the Emperor fall in a straight line rather than a parabolic trajectory?

Personally, I don't think that was the actual core of the Death Star down there, but rather a smaller, subsidiary reactor, or perhaps some other device.  After all, the Emperor only fell for five seconds or so, which means there's no way that he could have fallen the 480 km to the centre of the Death Star.  It was hard to judge the height of his throne room tower, but perhaps to the base of that.

As for the Emperor's fall, it would be hard to say how artificial gravity would interfere without knowing more about how the technology operates, and on what principles.  It seems to operate only on specific planes, so that a human can walk upright across a deck at a comfortable 9.81 m/s², but this same artificial gravity generator has no effect on space junk in free fall, as demonstrated by the Avenger dumping it's garbage in Empire Strikes Back.

[Darth Wagtaros]

I have a massive shaft in my office.

Rubber shafts don't count.

[jimmy olsen]

And normally, the Emperor would be able to slow his fall with the force.

I have my doubts.  After all, if he could, why didn't he?

Although we've seen Jedi engage in great feats of leaping, I don't recall seeing levitation or flight from them.  They can move other objects, but they seem to have trouble moving themselves without an object, whether the ground, a plank or a handhold, to exert their force on.

When Vader picked him up didn't the force lighting form some kind of feedback loop and fry the Emperor as well?

Even if it did not, how do we know he didn't slow down and survive the fall? He could have been killed when the Station blew up.

[Neil]

When Vader picked him up didn't the force lighting form some kind of feedback loop and fry the Emperor as well?

It didn't seem to.  It seemed as if Vader was fried, while the Emperor didn't seem to suffer any ill effects.  After all, he was able to continue generating lightning, which clearly took some exertion and conscious effort on his part.

Even if it did not, how do we know he didn't slow down and survive the fall? He could have been killed when the Station blew up.

Generally speaking, that explosion that happened after the Emperor's scream stopped is generally seen as an indication that the Emperor had died.  The explosion could be from the power reactor that the Emperor was thrown into, or it could be all the evil power in the Emperor's body being released by his death.

[Tamas]

it could be all the evil power in the Emperor's body being released by his death.

I always thought this was the case.

[Caliga]

I always thought this was the case.

Same.

[Neil]

I always thought this was the case.

Same.

It seems that many other people felt that way, since powerful Dark Jedi killed in the derivative works often show a similar effect.

[Barrister]

I always thought this was the case.

Same.

It seems that many other people felt that way, since powerful Dark Jedi killed in the derivative works often show a similar effect.

There was no similar effect at the death of Darth Maul or Count Dooku though.