Grand Moff Tarkin?

[trancejeremy]

Yeah, I got the impression in Ep IV that Tarkin & Vader were friends.

Anyway, you have to separate the Expanded Universe stuff, which does elaborate a lot on who Tarkin was, and what a Grand Moff is, and what Lucas actually had in mind.

 

[Tewligan]

Yeah, I got the impression in Ep IV that Tarkin & Vader were friends.

When Vader is jabbering on about the Force in Episode IV, doesn't Tarkin call him "old friend" when he tells Vader he's the last of that religion?

 

[Goodsport]

There seems to be some more info on Grand Moff Tarkin here.


-G

 

[billd91]

From the dialogue of Star Wars I always assumed that Vader and Tarkin are friends in some ways. Tarkin knows that Vader is Anakin Skywalker and that his old master is Obi-wan Kenobi.

Vader says something to the effect of " I feel my old master"
to which Tarkin replies "Obi-wan Kenobi here?"

Perhaps episode 3 will prove us wrong, but I have always felt the secret identity of Darth Vader was just that...secret.

It's possible that Tarkin is privvy to secrets that no one else knows, whether he's really an old friend of Vader's from way back or just the couple of decades between Episodes 2 and 4 (which would probably still qualify as "old friend").
We know from Episode 2 that Anakin has an authoritarian streak (though he has a hard time submitting to authority). Tarkin could make a good mentor for him in the downward spiral from the Republic. But we'll see. Most likely Lucas will come up with something suitably mediocre and waste plenty of potential.

 

[Klaus]

Well, there is a 16-year gap between Ep III and Ep IV. That's plenty of time for Tarkin and Vader to become friends, specially since they both show extreme competence in establishing a unified galaxy under Palpatine's rule.

The plans of the Death Star might not be Tarkin's idea, but its use can certainly be credited to him. Other Grand Moffs could look at the plans for the Death Star and say that an armada of such things would be unwieldy and impractical. Tarkin would look and say "there's no need of an armada. there is need for just one. there is no need to destroy multiple planets. destroy just one and the others will submit." That's the Tarkin Doctrine.

 

[David Howery]

Well, there is a 16-year gap between Ep III and Ep IV. QUOTE]

It's this gap which has made me wonder if ol' George is going to spring one more SW movie on us after Ep. 3.... sure, it would be 'out of sequence' with the others, but there's a lot to tell in it.... there's the initial victory by the rebels mentioned in the intro to Ep.4, the theft of the Death Star plans, Leia getting involved with the rebels.... it could make a pretty good movie....

 

[enworldatemylogin]

Yep, others have it right.

Grand Moff Tarkin was the ruler of a vast area of space. If my West End Games Star Wars knowledge holds out, there are like 12 Grand Moffs, similar to 12 Grand Admirals, but I could be wrong.

Tarkin and Vader may or may not hold similar "ranks" but Vader really doesn't fit into any structure other than "right hand" of The Emperor.

After the first movie Vader is tasked by Palpatine with hunting down Luke and the rebels helping him. He is given the Super Star Destroyer, Executor, and the regular star destroyers, one of which was his former vessel, (there was a side bar in a book about which ships were under his command but I don't think it was a complete listing of vessels).

The Empire Strikes Back is often called the best of the 3 because of the character development and that is why we don't see anything more of the Grand Moffs. They simply have no reason to be in the 2nd and 3rd movie.

 

[enworldatemylogin]

Regarding Tarkin and the Death Star, the Clone Wars movie can be argued to have invalidated 3 novels, which isn't a good or bad thing.

The Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson "revealed" that Tarkin built a secret station, Maw Installation, behind the black holes that make the Kessel Run so dangerous. At this installation the Death Star and other super weapons were developed.

Now, obviously we see the plans for the Death Star in Attack of the Clones.

I'm sure somebody has tried to reconcile these two events. Personally I think it is just best to separate the official universe from the expanded universe, (where all the novels are) and be happy.

 

[Klaus]

Well, there is a 16-year gap between Ep III and Ep IV. QUOTE]

It's this gap which has made me wonder if ol' George is going to spring one more SW movie on us after Ep. 3.... sure, it would be 'out of sequence' with the others, but there's a lot to tell in it.... there's the initial victory by the rebels mentioned in the intro to Ep.4, the theft of the Death Star plans, Leia getting involved with the rebels.... it could make a pretty good movie....

The Death Star plans were stolen by Kyle Katarn (the mercenary that would become Jedi) in the first Dark Forces game by LucasArts.

Expanded Universe, but it's there...

As for the Maw Installation, in 16 years there's plenty of time for Tarkin to take the plans to the Maw and start trying to turn those blueprints into something more palpable. Including the Darksaber (a Death Star stripped down to just the big gun, looked like a lightsaber handle, but huuuuuge).

 

[Hypersmurf]

It's this gap which has made me wonder if ol' George is going to spring one more SW movie on us after Ep. 3....

SW 3.5?

-Hyp.