CT Was the defeat of the 1st Death Star bigger symbolically than it was morally?

And what I mean by that is, of course the Rebellion destroying the Death Star was a great victory for them morally, since they had destroyed a terrifying and insanely powerful weapon of mass destruction. Because no one in the galaxy should have that much power. No one has the right.

But was that victory even bigger symbolically? In the sense that it showed the rest of the galaxy that the Empire (as mighty as they were) COULD be defeated eventually, and that they were not invincible, and it would've given a lot of hope to all of the planets oppressed by the Empire? Which in turn would have caused a lot of planets who were neutral before the Death Star's destruction to join the Rebellion? Cause I know that if I were the leader of a neutral planet who hated the Empire, and I had heard about the Death Star's destruction, I would immediately join the Rebellion!

 

In the nucanon, the destruction of the Death Star was covered up immensely. It certainly increased rebel morale, but the average joe didn't know what happened at Yavin. Most Imperials were kept in the dark as well. In the empire, it was even referred to as "Tarkin's Folly" by the higher ups that knew what went down.

 

I think the whole "moral" part of it is up to debate. I realize that it was for the greater good, but I'm sure not every person on the Death Star deserved to die with it at the level of Tarkin. A structure that size, likely there could be children on it somewhere.
I do, however, think that the Empire would have tried to hush it up, but that would have been near impossible (a big publicly used threat suddenly disappears), and likely would have inspired neutral people or groups to join the Rebellion. It would have done little, however, to sway Imperial loyalists.

 

Emperor Ferus, how public was the Death Star? From what I can infer, not many people outside the Empire knew about it. It's not like it was unveiled over the holo-net or anything like that.

 

Oh I think it was the moral thing to do, and that there shouldn't be any debate, mainly because the Rebellion had no choice. It came down to either them or the Empire. The Empire was about to destroy Yavin IV. What else should the Rebels have done? Let the Empire destroy Yavin IV? Yes, there were innocent people on the Death Star, but it's not like the Rebels could have boarded the Death Star and evacuated all of the innocent people on there.

There's no moral relativism here. The Rebels simply had no other choice.

 

Even if they could hide the Battle of Yavin, the Empire couldn't hide Alderaan's destruction from the public. People would wonder why the Death Star didn't do the same to other planets and put two and two together.

CrAsHcHaOs

Right, of course they had no choice but to blow up the Death Star. That doesn't necessarily mean that the innocent lives on the Death Star (there had to be some) didn't matter.

 

Well, the innocent people living on the Death Star must've known that they were living inside an evil weapon, and they were OK with the idea that the Empire had a weapon that could destroy a planet, and they placed their sons and daughters in harm's way. I blame those parents.

 

I doubt Leia was the only prisoner in the entire complex. That wasn't the fault of the Rebels, but we shouldn't ignore the prisoners and others on the Death Star, even if some were there without complaint.

 

I think the amount of people saved by blowing it up made up for the innocent lives lost. Sometimes the ends justify the means.

And, CrAsHcHaOs, what makes you think every Imperial was okay with what the Empire was doing?

 

I don't think anything can make up for even one innocent life, imperial or not, but I think we do agree that the Rebels did what they had to do, and shouldn't be blamed.

 

I'm sure that Luke, being the wholesome good guy that he was, thought a lot about the people on that station after he destroyed it. I don't think he shed any tears for the innocent people who died but I definitely could imagine him thinking, "War is hell, and I blame the Empire for putting those innocent people in that situation."

Snax Rebo, of course not every Imperial was OK with what the Empire was doing, but I can imagine that every adult Imperial serving aboard the Death Star was OK with it. Why? Because I'm sure only the best and brightest Imperial officers were chosen to serve on the Emperor's prized flagship (yeah it's a space station but it's also a starship). And the best and brightest Imperial officers consisted of the ones who proudly served the Empire.

 

the death star's coming out party was the destruction of alderaan... i think it became public at that point... as alderaan was meant to be public.

i'm not sure what the empire did after it was destroyed... wouldn't they want to keep that a secret? i mean then can say they still have it, so everyone should behave or else it will visit their world?

???

 

Tarkin's folly. Orson Krennic got the last laugh then!

 

CrAsHcHaOs wrote

But was that victory even bigger symbolically? In the sense that it showed the rest of the galaxy that the Empire (as mighty as they were) COULD be defeated eventually, and that they were not invincible, and it would've given a lot of hope to all of the planets oppressed by the Empire? Which in turn would have caused a lot of planets who were neutral before the Death Star's destruction to join the Rebellion? Cause I know that if I were the leader of a neutral planet who hated the Empire, and I had heard about the Death Star's destruction, I would immediately join the Rebellion!

From the January 1, 1976 screenplay draft

Striking from a fortress hidden among the billion stars of the galaxy, rebel spaceships have won a crushing victory over the awesome Imperial Starfleet. The EMPIRE knows that one more such defeat could bring a thousand more solar systems into the rebellion, and Imperial control over the galaxy would be lost forever.

From the first draft of ESB:

WILLARD
Since we destroyed the Empire’s Death Star, many more systems have found courage to join the rebellion. At the last count, one thousand and twenty-six. But as you see, we’re widely scattered and still vastly inferior in ships and men. This base, if we can establish and hold it, is strategically placed for….

According to Rinzler's Making of ESB these figures came straight from the creator, that's all that ultimately matters to me and constitutes George Lucas Canon.​

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@Emperor Ferus wrote​

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I doubt Leia was the only prisoner in the entire complex. That wasn't the fault of the Rebels, but we shouldn't ignore the prisoners and others on the Death Star, even if some were there without complaint.​

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Of course not, the cover to infiltrate detention block AA 23 was a "prisoner transfer from block 1138" which itself didn't arise any suspicions (nor Chewie being escorted through the Death Star corridors).​

I'm pretty certain that the Death Star held position in the Alderaan System to intercept all vessels heading there (especially those that could have come from Tatooine with the Death Star plans), so there were probably plenty of civilians being held in custody there.​

 

the empire would of covered it up for sure but yes it was bigger symbolically people who found out realized the rebels were well equipped and probably won them more allies in high places.

 

Personally i don't think the DS prison was full. The station was brand spanking new.