“Single file to hide their numbers.”
Did anyone else say that whenever you couldn’t fit too many people on a path? I don’t know about where you guys live, but here we have Cape Cod. Beautiful area, even though the water is downright frigid even in the summer. In order to get to a beach, you often have to walk on a tiny serpentine path surrounded by tall stalks of grass.
There’s only space for one person since you are also carrying bags and beach chairs, so it’s the perfect time to shout, “We must walk single file to hide our numbers!”
Nobody else did that? Oh.
I do feel a little bad for all the Jawas that were mercilessly murdered just so that the stormtroopers could find the droids. But, from a filmmakers perspective, it gives a good feeling of tension as you connect the dots with Luke. They murdered Jawas and destroyed their Sandcrawler…so you can assume they’d do the same to Luke and his family.
What always surprised me about this scene is that Obi-Wan actually did not follow Luke, but let Luke rush off into potential danger by himself. My thoughts are that either a) he knew they had long since left the Lars Homestead b) he thought it would be smarter to stay with the droids or c) he thought this would be a good learning experience for Luke. I would think the first choice, but does anyone think otherwise?
Other than that, type in “Sandpeople always ride single file” for some funny memes.
EXTERIOR: TATOOINE — WASTELAND.
Threepio, Artoo, Luke and Ben walk among the scattered bodies and rubble of what remains of the huge sandcrawler.
LUKE: It looks like Sand People did this, all right. Look, there’s gaffi sticks, Bantha tracks. It’s just…I never heard of them hitting anything this big before.
Ben is crouching in the sand studying the tracks.
BEN: They didn’t. But we are meant to think they did. These tracks are side by side. Sandpeople always ride single file to hide their numbers.
LUKE: These are the same Jawas that sold us Artoo and Threepio.
BEN: And these blast points, too accurate for Sandpeople. Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise.
LUKE: But, why would Imperial troops want to slaughter Jawas?
Luke looks back at the speeder where Artoo and Threepio are inspecting the dead Jawas, and put two and two together.
LUKE: If they traced the robots here, they may have learned who they sold them to. And that would lead them back home!
BEN: Wait, Luke! It’s too dangerous.
Luke races off leaving Ben and the two robots alone with the burning Sandcrawler.
Star Wars Anonymous 
Yep, I agree. He let Luke run off because he knew the danger had already passed. He knew what Luke would find there too.
I do a lot of backpacking. There may, on occasion, be opportunities to shout out, “we must walk single file to hide our numbers.” Though, we rarely do any shouting because hot, tired, and lack of oxygen at higher elevations. 😛
Well, next time, make sure you shout that line. It will be well worth it, despite the heat.
Can I just mumble it instead?
HAHA. Sure. Baby steps. But eventually you need to get to the point that it’s shouted.
No rush me! I’m backpacking here!!
I love how chill Obi-Wan is in that moment. He just gives a look of, “Well, he’ll be back,” rather than being worried.
Haha! I love that take on it. I’ve never really looked at it like that before. I actually do love this scene a lot and wish I had more time to think about it in depth. It’s such a turning point in the movie. And I feel like I could have written on this scene already lol. That would be interesting…to see my thoughts now vs. before.
Nope. Guess I didnt write in this specific scene.
Is this the only place where “robot” is used, and not droid? I can’t remember offhand.
Good question. I actually noticed that too. I was going to see if I could find the scene to listen to it…cuz I feel like Luke says droids, but I didn’t have the time. I’ll try to get to it this weekend.