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Cell Block 1138 was allegedly a detention area aboard the first Death Star. When Luke Skywalker discovered that Princess Leia Organa was being held in Detention Block AA-23, he convinced the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca to help him rescue the Princess. The two Humans, wearing stormtrooper armor, "escorted" Chewbacca, a Wookiee, to AA-23.
When Shann Childsen, the officer in charge of the detention block, inquired as to where they were taking Chewbacca, Skywalker answered that he and Solo had been ordered to transfer the Wookiee from Cell Block 1138 to Detention Block AA-23. Having not been notified of the transfer, Childsen decided to check in with his superiors. Sensing that they could no longer further their deception, Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca opened fire on the detention block staff. It is unknown whether Cell Block 1138 actually existed or Skywalker improvised the name.
Behind the scenes[]
Luke Skywalker was originally to say the bogus "prison transfer" was to be from "'…cell block…' and then lots of letters and numbers," according to Mark Hamill. (Based upon the dialogue in the novelization, the original designation may have been TS-138, or according to the Marvel comic adaptation, TX-138.) When shooting the scene, Hamill decided to replace the original name of the cell block with "1138," a reference to director George Lucas's first feature-length film, THX-1138. Lucas was initially not impressed by Hamill's improvisation and told the actor, "Don't do that." However, the reference was retained in the finished film.
Appearances[]
- ° Star Wars radio drama
- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
- Star Wars: A New Hope novelization (and unabridged audiobook) (First mentioned, in book)
- Star Wars (1977) 3 (colorized in Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 1: Doomworld and Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope) (Mentioned only)