Grand Moff Tarkin?

[Villano]

What I want to know is, once you're a Moff, how do you go about becoming a Grand Moff? And could I be a Pretty Impressive Moff someday?

I might be wrong on this, but I once read that the ranking breakdown went something like: Governor is in charge of a planet, Moff is in charge of a solar system, and Grand Moff is in charge of many solar systems.

So, a Grand Moff is in the upper, upper, upper levels of leadership. These are the guys the Emperor entrusts to run huge chunks of the galaxy, so it's most likely that they answer solely to the Emperor. I guess Vader knows that anything that Tarkin says virtually comes from the mouth of the Emperor.

Of course, this was well before the prequels came out, so, even if that was correct when it was written, Lucas may have changed it since. It's not like he particularly adhears to continuity.

I've been hearing whispers for a while now that Tarkin will be making an appearance in Episode 3.

Sometime ago, there was a photo circulating that was supposedly Tarkin. It makes sense that he'll be in the next one. We did see the plans of the Death Star in Attack and Tarkin was in charge of the project. I wouldn't doubt that Lucas would include him solely to put him in a scene with Chris Lee (since he and Cushing were frequent co-stars).

And, knowing Lucas, the Death Star will probably be completed and be what the Emperor uses to conquer the galaxy even though its very existence is a surprise in New Hope.

 

[Goodsport]

Sometime ago, there was a photo circulating that was supposedly Tarkin.

Was it here?


-G

 

[Villano]

Was it here?


-G

Yep, that's the one.

 

[Endur]

Nahhh! What's his name with the floppy ears is going to propose that President Palpatine become Emperor for life. That's how the Empire begins.

Revenge of the Floppy Ears.

And, knowing Lucas, the Death Star will probably be completed and be what the Emperor uses to conquer the galaxy even though its very existence is a surprise in New Hope.

 

[Villano]

Nahhh! What's his name with the floppy ears is going to propose that President Palpatine become Emperor for life. That's how the Empire begins.

Revenge of the Floppy Ears.

Floppy Ears don't seek revenge. Shouldn't that be Return Of The Floppy Ears?

 

[WayneLigon]

So, a Grand Moff is in the upper, upper, upper levels of leadership. These are the guys the Emperor entrusts to run huge chunks of the galaxy, so it's most likely that they answer solely to the Emperor. I guess Vader knows that anything that Tarkin says virtually comes from the mouth of the Emperor.

Tarkin does, since in many ways Tarkin is the Empire. As the person in charge of the Outer Rim he had a lot of power and a lot of leeway. The entire 'rule by fear' doctrine, which lead to the creation of the Death Star? His idea. It even bears his name. How they are going to reconcile that with what we saw in Ep 2, I have no idea unless the Emperor simply turns it over to him somehow.

 

[argo]

The story, as I have been made to understand it for many years, is that Tarkin was a close personal friend of the Emperor and one of the key figures in the founding of the Empire. He was responsible for reshaping the Imperial Navy into its current form and was the fundamental mind behind the institution of the Empire's doctrine of "rule through fear" (out of which was born the Death Star). He was the only man in the galaxy that Palpatine trusted to run a large swath of the galaxy as well as hold the keys to the Death Star (notice that Palpatine takes personal command of the second one).

Meanwhile Darth Vader is Palpatine's Sith aprentice, high priest, and personal representitive. But not a govenor or general. I always got the feeling that Vader and Tarkin were equal in standing but from totally different branches of government and that Vader deffered to Tarkin while on board the Death Star because that was Tarkin's personal command. After Tarkin's death Vader clearly stood head and shoulders above anyone else in the Empire, enough so that he could reach across branches of government and take greater authority in military matters.

I am disapointed that we haven't seen anything of Tarkin in Ep 1 and 2. But then I am disapointed in a lot of things about Ep 1 and 2.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

You'll notice that Vader's profile within the Imperial military rises commensurate with his son's in the Rebellion.

And vis a vis his "rank" in Empire Strikes Back: he was specifically tasked with hunting down Luke and his buddies, and given a fleet to accomplish it. Captain Needa et al worked directly for him.

 

[Orius]

I might be wrong on this, but I once read that the ranking breakdown went something like: Governor is in charge of a planet, Moff is in charge of a solar system, and Grand Moff is in charge of many solar systems.

So, a Grand Moff is in the upper, upper, upper levels of leadership. These are the guys the Emperor entrusts to run huge chunks of the galaxy, so it's most likely that they answer solely to the Emperor. I guess Vader knows that anything that Tarkin says virtually comes from the mouth of the Emperor.

Yeah, it's something like that. The Grand Moffs reported directly to the Emperor, so in the Imperial hierachy, he's kind of equal to Vader.

Also, as someone stated before, Tarkin was in charge of the entire Outer Rim. He pretty much had free rein to do whatever the hell he damn well pleased, as long as he didn't betray the Empire. Vader's role in the Empire for the most part was to hunt down and destroy the Rebellion, that's more or less why he's running the show in Empire.

 

[satori01]

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.