"Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battlestation."

Okay - so Palaptine wanted to disband the Senate, but waited for nineteen years to do it because that's how long it took to finish the Death Star, and without the terror it caused, the local systems would split.

But that doesn't make any sense. The Death Star was destroyed a few days after the Senate was disbanded, but it took years for the Empire to being to fragment - not until after the deaths of the Emperor and other high-ranking officials, and it could probably be said that it didn't really start to fracture until after Pestage was deposed.

Then, there was the fact that though they couldn't actually destroy a planet before the DS, the Empire could definitely wipe all life out on worlds - and we know they did so. Wouldn't that have gotten the point across just as well and inspired just as much fear? After all, the mere act of Imperial forces occupying Kashyyyk was enough to shock the Galaxy into obedience into a few years before Yavin.

So I just don't really get what Palpatine was hoping to accomplish with his Death Star. It seems like more effort than it was worth.

 

It was a largely symbolic gesture. Realize that those 19 years weren't just building the Death Star but also purging Republic loyalists, solidifying his control over the galaxy, killing traitors, and building up the military that was loyal to his cult of personality.

Though the Death Star loss was a serious hit to his credibility....Palpatine pretty much was already secure enough to disband it even without the Death Star.

The Death Star was basically just one tool in his countless bag of tricks for helping enforce terror across the galaxy. It's like S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and stolen nuclear weapons. If you destroy them and their operating team then they suffer a serious blow but not a fatal one.

 

Not necessarily. The Death Star was not a replacement for the Senate's authority. It was a Separate authority, a scary superweapon.

Tarkin believed that the Death Star would keep the systems in line. The Emperor's power was consolidated without the Death Star. The Senate was redundant, and it's dissolution only pissed off worlds that were already against Palpatine's rule, because they were robbed of the only arena where they were able to legitimately voice dissent, not to mention it was the last vestige of democracy. Tarkin's hope was that this massive symbol of the Empire's power would scare dissenting systems into silence, to show that the Empire was an entity of incalculable power. The destruction of Alderaan was a horrifying display. Alderaan was notoriously anti-Empire. It's a terrible though, really, that the Empire was so cold in the rooting our of their enemies that assasination was not enough. Individual lives meant nothing. A world was destroyed to silence dissent. I'm sure Tarkin's plan may have succeeded, by and large, had the Rebels not destroyed the Death Star. Leia was correct: the more Tarkin tightened his grip, the more systems slipped through his fingers.

The US military could put in tons of military effort and destroyed thousands of Japanese lives, and leveled their cities with bombardment. The atomic bomb was easier, not to mention shock and awe. The Emperor can flip a switch and turn a planet into rubble. That's scary.

A plaything. A symbol of his might. A phallic symbol.

 

Dunno if you're joking, but for clarification I meant it in the sense that a new, fire-truck red Porsche is a phallic symbol. You know: Freud. Palpatine likes showing off how big and powerful he is.

I believe what I said was "the last vestige of democracy." Sure, there's been no galaxy wide democracy since a little while before Palpatine's election, but in disbanding the Senate, it shows that there's no longer even any interest in holding up the facade. It's been a democracy in name for a long time, and now they've even dropped the name.

 

There's been no galaxy-wide democracy since... well... ever.

 

Double post.

 

But Palpatine did. What's your point? Earth governments showed restraint. Palpatine needn't, because he's freakin' evil. Palpatine has developed the ultimate weapon, the single scariest mo-fo-ing thing ever created, the one weapon that encapsulates all military might into one devastating blow. It's the weapon to end all arms races, the sort of power that every galactic power would strive for, has been striving for since military might came into existance, since...well a lot longer than 48 years.

It's often been pointed out that the GFFA is technologically stagnant. Things have remained basically the same for thousands of years. In all that time, no one's blown a planet to bits.

 

well, they can blow a planet to bits, but not with a bit huge orbital station that survives the attack to move onto the next target.

the difference between the death star and the imperial army and navy and countless stormtroopers is the level of fear it can produce. a rebellious element might think they stand a chance against stormtroopers, or at least have the satisfaction of taking some part of the empire down with them.. but with the death star - you can't fight it like you can an army, and short of its design flaw, you can't stop it.

it blows up you, your dog, your house, your neighborhood, your city, your world. boom. you can do nothing against it. that is the type of fear it produces. much more terrifying than the naval fleet showing up and you dying, but at least you can fight back and possibly take out some troopers or TIEs before you go, and possibly there might be something left of your neighborhood or world as they would focus on killing combatants and not simply decimate all.

 

Exaaaaaaaactly. Like I said, shock and awe.

 

I think the Death Star is a pretty good for keeping the systems in line. Sending it on a tour to any troublesome planets would remind them, that this is what you face if you get out of line.
Stormtroopers and Star Destroyers are one thing, but going up against a government that would build something capable of destroying an entire planet would make you think twice.

 

It was to bring that control directly under his personal hand. Vader was there to ensure that Tarkin didn't uppity and decide he would be the boss. The Emperor would presumably have up his rulership almost exclusively from the Death Star. We can hypothesize maybe eventually moving to the larger DS2 and leaving the original to Vader.

After the DS is gone, of course, there is the risk of general rebellion without either the bureaucracy or the Death Star to keep things in line. Thus begins a much rapid creation and mobilization of the Imperial Starfleet. The danger being that Grand Admiral or dozen deciding they doen't want to listen to an Emperor or his 'sorcerous' minion and that he's going to do what he wants...