10 Star Wars "Plot-Holes" That Really Aren't
2. Why Did That One Trade Federation Transport Not Shoot Qui-Gon Jinn?
The Plot-Hole:
Qui-Gon Jinn is seen fleeing from an armed Trade Federation transport. Only a few minutes ago we saw them try to kill Jinn. So why doesn’t it open fire?
But...
To solve the mystery we need do nothing more than look at the context. All military operations are time-critical and the battle droids aboard the transport were needed to pacify any resistance on the part of the Naboo. Having witnessed the futility of pitting a squad of battle droids against a Jedi, and unable to halt the entire invasion to deal with a single Jedi, there was simply no point in engaging Jinn.
But they did not need to. A force of battle droids riding STAPs (Singe Trooper Aerial Platform) had already been dispatched to deal with the Jedi. That they were ineffective might come as no surprise to the viewer but having seen the success of heavy weapons like Droidekas the Trade Federation would have backed their chances...wrongly, as it turned out.
Silly though the plot-hole may seem the scene is pivotal: if Jinn died at this early juncture then Jar Jar Binks is never recruited, Obi-Wan never arrives in Theed City in time to save the Queen, never meets Anakin, who then is never trained, never fathers Luke, and never becomes Darth Vader.
Quite literally, no Qui-Gon Jinn, no Star Wars.