CT Grand Moff Tarkin's role

Discussion about the role of Tarkin in ANH and the overall trilogy. As far as the first film is concerned, Tarkin is the main antagonist and the man with the most authority that we see in the empire. If we only go by the first Star Wars, Tarkin is in command of Vader, and in charge of the biggest threat to the heroes.
However, at the end of the first movie, Tarkin dies in the Death Star's explosion. This leaves Vader as the main villain of the following film, and Palpatine is shown as the empire's ultimate authority. Despite a mention in ANH,the emperor doesn't appear in the film. In my view, Tarkin serves almost as a placeholder for The emperor in IV, looking at the overall trilogy. If it weren't for the sequels, he'd be the main villain of the Star Wars saga. Kind of interesting when you think about it.

 

Very interesting. I agree, especially because he ordered the destruction of Alderaan and because of what he did in R1. I don't think it would have been good for the movies, though, because Tarkin isn't as....impressive?....as Vader is, so they don't match, so to speak. Palpatine and Vader matched better.

 

Yeah Tarkin wasn't a very intimidating villain. Just seems like an arrogant a-hole for most of the film. I even regret him being the main villain in ANH. Cader served just fine.

 

*thinks, then laughs*

Yeah, I guess that was his official role.... "a-hole."

*laughs*

 

I love Tarkin. To me is a sad sad thing he died, I wish we'd see more of him in OT. Glad to see him in R1 tho.

 

I was surprised how much they showed of him. Dialogue too! I thought it was going to be just a glimpse like in ROTS.

 

I was surprised too. The most real CGI i've ever seen. And the voice acting was on spot too.

 

Tarkin is not in charge of Vader. He only tells him to let go of Motti, nothing else. While Vader was designed as a henchman for the final film, he is not depicted as just taking orders from Tarkin. He is seen as an equal to him.

 

Even when Tarkin does tell Vader to let go, Vader holds on for a second or two longer before complying anyway - making the point that he absolutely could and would kill Motti if he really wanted to, but he's made his point. There is also a valid argument that Vader was there as a countermeasure to Tarkin - if Tarkin went rogue and used his control of the Death Star in ways contrary to the Emperor's wishes, then Vader is there to take him out.

 

But visually, Vader is not depicted as an equal to Tarkin: Tarkin is ruling "behind a desk" while Vader is never seated and looks more like a bodyguard or the head of security. (Think about Amidala and Panaka in their first scene in TPM and you'll see that it mirrors Tarkin and Vader's scenes). He reports to Tarkin (although he clearly makes his own choices) and stands behind him all the time.

It's interesting to compare Tarkin to the Emperor, because while both act as the "master villains" of their respective films, Tarkin is depicted as a realistic, "boring" militaristic villain, while the Emperor is portrayed as a satanic sorcerer out of a fairy-tale (Tarkin's scenes never have any music, while the Emperor's scenes are always scored with his wonderfully diabolical theme).
A clear sign of the evolution of the OT from a more realistic Western/WWII- fairy-tale to sweaping operatic fantasy saga.
(and that's absolutely fine by me!)

 

In his own way, Tarkin is just as dangerous as Vader or the Emperor. He may not have Dark Side powers, but he is just as ruthless. He will stop at nothing in order to accomplish his goals. And once he was given control of a planet killer, I'm sure both Vader and the Emperor, for all of their "the Force is superior" attitudes, were worried about just what he could do if he set his mind to it. In fact, as I noted in another thread, the character descriptions in the photo section of the ANH novelization from back in the day actually say that Tarkin is out to depose Palpatine and become Emperor himself. And I wouldn't put it past the man that he'd actually try it.

 

A desk or a throne does not make a ruler, nor a leader. Tarkin never sits in RO, yet he becomes the one in charge.

 

Is a visual representation of power.The Emperor is seated in his throne while talking to Vader, who is stand up. That shows that they're not equals.
Similarly, Tarkin being seated while Vader is not indicates that Tarkin is in charge of the Death Star (but not in charge of Vader, who is free to make his own choices). When Leia is talking to Tarkin, Vader doesn't talk and he just holds Leia from behind, again acting more like a bodyguard and not an equal to Tarkin (and obviously, Leia refers to Tarkin as the one who is holding Vader's leash).

It's obvious to see from the way it's portrayed in the films (and the development of the scripts) that when the first film was made Tarkin is meant to be the big bad guy in charge and Vader is the action commander.

That doesn't mean that it's a contradiction with the rest of the Saga. It's just a minor oddity (such as Vader not having his theme in ANH) that can be easily addressed.

 

Tarkin is one of my favorite villains in the series: he is cold, well respected in the Empire, and highly manipulative. He is also one of the only major villains in the films who is a non-force user. One of the complaints that I have with the plot of ROTS is that Tarkin wasn't used efficiently in it. IMO He should have been given screen time throughout the film (particularly the opening scene) and should have been the one to issue Order 66, as a loyal henchmen to Palp. Doing so would have added weight to his appearance in ANH and would be another connection to the OT.

 

It would also seem completely out of place, IMO.

Order 66 would only ever be ordered by Palps/Sidious. He's been waiting for decades for that moment. He wouldn't be handing it over to anyone, that was his reward for his patience.

I think Tarkin was utilized just fine. A small glimpse and homage in ROTS, which seemed more like an Easter Egg than anything, at the construction of the DS; the battle station he will one day be in charge of. I haven't personally seen R1 yet (I know, I know, bad fan here.) but from what I've heard on the JCF he seems pretty popular in it and most fans seem genuinely happy with the amount of screen time he got.

He didn't need much more expansion after ANH, he served his purpose. Vader's chilling on Tarkin's battle station/ the new super weapon of the Empire making sure he's following the Emporer's wishes and a Sith is there to assist him if needed. As Sinister pointed out earlier, they are equals to each other on the station, Vader isn't under his command, and Tarkin is only slightly under Vader's if only because Vader could kill him within a second if he wanted to. There's a mutual respect between the two, which alone makes Tarkin an awesome character if he can be comrades with one of the most feared villains in the galaxy.

The thing I love most about Tarkin is that he is so cold and calculating. You can tell that he deserves his Grand Moff rank, and that he followed every sinister order without question to obtain it. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty and doesn't even flinch when destroying a whole planet. Tarkin got his time, and still made an impression. If he had survived the DS attack, and came back for ESB or ROTJ, it would feel crowded. Too many villains can be a bad thing, personally I feel the PT feels almost cheapened by the fact that bad guys seem disposable; Maul, Dooku, Dooku + Grievous, Sidious... it's too much.

 

I saw Vader and Tarkin as having a strong working relationship and they are both interested in continuing this relationship for the future which means they will keep from doing anything the other greatly disagrees with. It's probably been important to Tarkin to get Vader's loyalty (to the extent this is possible) because Vader is so powerful. Unlike a lot of the officers who basically are trying to stay on Vader's "good" side, Tarkin I think actually tried to find a way to interact with Vader on a more personal level. He actually managed to form a relationship with Vader. I think he considers Vader's feelings even. It's kind of stunning how someone as cold-hearted as Tarkin seems to be is so good with relationships to actually win Vader's "friendship" (or the closest you can get to that).

Although I think that Tarkin is clearly in command of the Death Star and Vader will respect that as the Emperor approves of Tarkin's command (Vader happens to also approve it seems), I don't think Tarkin outranks Vader. Vader doesn't have a rank. Most of the Imperial chain of command has to do what he says. Tarkin doesn't have to, but Vader doesn't have to do what Tarkin says either. They just try not to piss each other off mostly. And Motti wasn't worth creating a rift with Tarkin over, so Vader let him go as requested. Maybe Tarkin doesn't approve of the choke-all-your-officers-to-death style of leadership.

It was somewhat amusing that Tarkin watched Motti being choked at first with interest.

As for Vader standing behind his chair like a guard dog, well, I think Vader has taken on his role of protector for a "wise leader" once again. He respects Tarkin. He lets Tarkin hold his leash.

I almost think the Emperor likes them together because each can keep the other in check.

 

Tarkin has complete and utter control his word silences the others. He has rested as much power as he could from the Emperor. The Death Star is his personal possession.

 

I think "utter" is perhaps a bride too far when someone that can kill with a thought with their own agenda and greater loyalty to someone else is about.

If the Emperor or just Vader himself decided Tarkin was out, out he'd be and that would be that. He may not believe he has a collar but that is more perception and arrogance than reality. His leash is as long as the Emperor thinks it should be that also doesn't inspire Vader to take matters into his own hands.

I say his latitude was considerable but far from absolute.