CT Darth Vader Admiral Piett

I always thought Vader was a bit more tolerant of Piett than he was with his other officers, almost fond in a way. Do you think something had happened in the past that had lead to some sort of mutual respect between them? Has their relationship been expanded on in the books at all?

 

It's not his fault the rebels get away in ESB.

Also Piett isn't a pompous idiot like Ozzel. He is more competent. Perhaps he has respect for that. He is a likable Imperial officer unlike Motti and Ozzel.

It could also be said Vader was too depressed to kill him. Vader has killed officers that hadn't been a fault for rebels escaping such as Needa.

 

Agreed. I had a boss like that. He fired one of our worse employees we ever had, and started treating the rest of us better simply because none of us, in our worse moments, was ever that guy.

 

it was ozzel's attitude that got him killed. piett was definitely a different character than ozzel. in some ways, piett was responsible for them finding the rebels on hoth anyways...

 

I think Piett was honest and followed orders.

The others were either too arrogant, too incompetent, or had too many excuses.

Even though Piett screwed up a couple times, Vader still preferred to keep him around.

 

I don't recall Piett screwing up, but I think he's loyal and honest.
I consider him an example of an honorable Imperial.

Ozzel would betray people if it increased his standing in my opinion.

 

VADER: Did your men deactivate the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon?

PIETT: Yes, my lord.

VADER: Good. Prepare the boarding party and set your weapons for stun.

PIETT: Yes, my lord.

Then this happens:

 

That's not his fault. He did his job.

 

Vader didn't know it wasn't his fault. Vader was kind of shocked the Falcon disappeared and did a double take.

 

Needa did his job as best he could - it's not his fault his ship was not equipped to detect Han's clamping on.

 

Yes I know, I was just pointing out Piett didn't screw up either.

I mentioned above

It could also be said Vader was too depressed to kill him. Vader has killed officers that hadn't been a fault for rebels escaping such as Needa.

But Piett being a competent Admiral doesn't hurt.

 

The scene where they watched vader walk by after that was awesome

 

Mine as well. Every time I watch that scene, I'm thinking, ‘you're so dead, Piett!’ but Vader walks past him. Piett has this face that reads, ‘Wait . . . I'm not dead? Why? HOW!?’

 

Exactly.
He did what he was supposed to.

 

Lost Stars goes into the history of one of the two people who did the actual disabling job on that hyperdrive.

They were on the bridge with Piett - and having the same "we're doomed" reaction that Piett was having. They survive too though - and it doesn't hinder their career any.

 

Yes, indeed.

Yes, indeed. It really prepared us for ROTJ.

I believe that Vader quickly put together that they had repaired the hyperdrive, and he didn't care about Piett because he was too upset about Luke escaping with them. He was probably thinking something to the effect of this: "What must I do now?" He had all these plans for Luke.

 

It seems to me that Ozzel was willing to stand up to Vader and disagree with him. Did Piett ever do that? He might have been the reasonably competent yes-man that Vader wanted to obey orders without question.

 

Piett didn't agree with Vader all the time.

"Bounty hunters? We don't need their scum."-ESB Piett

I take Ozzel disagreeing with Vader as arrogant/dumb and not standing up against him.
Why wouldn't he investigate Hoth?

but not a lot is given about Piett in movies so much can be left to fan imagination and I like to think of him as a better man than bad Imperial officers like Motti, Ozzel,and Tagge.

 

I would say more shaken than depressed. His son had just refused his offer to join the dark side. He had chosen death over evil. How can this be? Old feelings are brought up in Vader, feelings he hadn't felt since he was Anakin Skywalker. The moment Luke rejects him is the moment Vader begins to turn back towards the light.

So he doesn't kill Piett. He doesn't kill anyone except the Emperor after this point in the OT. His anger has subsided, he no longer feels the need to lash out at his subordinates when things don't go his way. It marks a shift in his character. And that is why this quiet scene is so powerful. No dialogue, but a lot is said.

 

Piett might not have always agreed with Vader...but he never said anything to his face.

"Bounty hunters? We don't need their scum."-ESB Piett. This was an aside to a junior officer behind Vader's back.

The very next line is some officer saying "yes, Sir".

He only whinges down the command chain. Never up it. Perhaps that's the way Vader likes it on his Command Ship?

None of this, "We thought it would be wiser..." nonsense from subordinates needing a good choking..

 

I think it kind of is his fault. His men disabled the hyperdrive but left it easy to bypass/fix for a droid. He should have removed the whole part (the one that Qui Gon tried to buy from Watto).

Another Piett screw up is that at the beginning of ROTJ the death star construction is way behind schedule.

That's two force chokable offenses lol.

 

That was not Admiral Piett on the D.S

Maybe Piett told his officer's to remove it, but they were lazy

 

MidKnighT
If they remove the hyperdrive, I feel like someone would know. I think switching it off and disabling it the best they could was enough, especially since Artoo was there. And this'll get back into the argument of "why didn't he do more?"...and the answer is probably just "he did what he thought was necessary". He told them to do something, they did it, then Artoo reversed it...somehow. In my opinion entirely, the look on his face kind of said to me "what in Chaos?" then "oh ****."
And since we have no idea what Artoo did, we can't blame any one person.

Also that's Tiaan Jerjerrod, and Tiaan is evidently also the most competent one in that case because nobody kills him.

 

"What in Chaos?" I know what you mean. I hadn't thought about that in a long time. Han was right" "We'll see you in Hell!" Everyone was going through hell in that movie. Vader was so disappointed about Luke that he didn't have time to say, "Chaos take your hyperdrive!"