It kind of got lost over time, but the Stormtroopers in A New Hope were never trying to kill the heroes. Instead, they were herding them around the Death Star so that they could make a daring escape and lead Tarkin and Vader to the hidden Rebel base. They knew the Rebels had a hidden base, they just didn’t know where it was. Similarly, in Empire, they’re trying to capture the group rather than kill them and are actually quite effective in that regard. It’s not until Jedi where they suddenly become incompetent.
Ah, you’re referring to the part where one of the rebels looked directly at the audience and said “just so you know, this wasn’t a plot hole; I am explicitly acknowledging the fact that they let us escape so that they could track us.”
It kind of got lost over time, but the Stormtroopers in A New Hope were never trying to kill the heroes. Instead, they were herding them around the Death Star so that they could make a daring escape and lead Tarkin and Vader to the hidden Rebel base. They knew the Rebels had a hidden base, they just didn’t know where it was. Similarly, in Empire, they’re trying to capture the group rather than kill them and are actually quite effective in that regard. It’s not until Jedi where they suddenly become incompetent.
Ah, you’re referring to the part where one of the rebels looked directly at the audience and said “just so you know, this wasn’t a plot hole; I am explicitly acknowledging the fact that they let us escape so that they could track us.”
Stupid ambiguous writing
The Stormtroopers in Jedi were handpicked by a career politician.