the AT-AT is an iconic, imposing design which is completely impractical and unfit for purpose and it's obvious from the moment you see it what the glowing weak spots are
which makes it a great representation of the military technology of an overextended, declining empire with a rigid hierarchical structure
"why did the Empire built a second Death Star with the same vulnerability as the first one?"
because the guy who ordered it can crush your trachea with his mind
I understand the impulse and heaven knows I've been That Guy but "aha! according to Facts and Logic this character didn't make the most rational choice available! dinosaurs don't work like that! that's nowhere near enough dynamite! plot hole! plot hole! I declare victory!" is the most boring possible analysis and we've let people get away with cinema sins ding for too long.
advanced tactic: instead of jumping off and abandoning all verisimilitude at the first sign of narrative disjunct, flex your nerd cred and make it make sense in-universe. all things are possible. Toonstruck is the prequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
the only person who has done more damage to media analysis than Cinemasins Jeremy is whoever wrote that Tumblr post about "the curtains were fucking blue"
like I think it's not exactly the interpretive stretch of the century to say that the Empire and Rebellion in Star Wars represent the concepts of empire and rebellion
on account of, among other things, those are their names
