CT What was the Death Star intented to do?

It being removed from the actual opening crawl, allows for a vaguer "margin" between viable control and un-viable control.

 

I figured its removal from the finished film was so that the crawl could introduce Leia and the Tantive.

 

The Death Star was absolutely essential to the Empire's long term survival. The thing about the galaxy is that it's just really staggeringly huge. You could never, ever, EVER hope to maintain control through boots on the ground and ships in orbit. That's why the Senate was maintained until the Death Star was operational ... even Palpatine knew that he was still only in charge because the galaxy was allowing him to be. If there were to be a mass uprising, he's done, and he knows it. The Senate allowed him to retain the "consent of the governed."

People often mock the Empire for immediately constructing another Death Star, when the first failed. "Man, that's dumb."
No. Not dumb. Palpatine knew that it would simply be impossible to rule the way he wanted, with total authority, without such a weapon. There simply is no other way to keep an entire galaxy completely cowed. A fleet ... ANY fleet ... is just not enough.

That said, you probably only need one. It's a terror weapon, and the "nice" thing about it is that it can really just attack at it's leisure. Once you make the decision to destroy a planet, there's usually no hurry. The planet isn't going anywhere. Time-sensitive targets like a Rebel base that could be evacuated would be rare. Mainly the Death Star would be used to retaliate against civilian populations that supported the Rebellion (like Alderaan). Having four of them would be a waste of resources that would be better used making more Star Destroyers to broaden your footprint out in the Galaxy.

 

It WAS pretty dumb however in the sense that the Ultimate Weapon has just been proved in the most spectacular way to be actually not all that infallible after all... and took Grand Moff 'Rule Through Fear' Tarkin with it besides. If everything else had played out as it had (with the Rebels taking a hiding right after their big win and forced to retreat) then the same amount of money spent on a fleet to corral them and pin them down would have made a second Death Star pretty much unnecessary.

 

EntechednReformatted

I agree that it wasn't "dumb" to build a second Death Star (after all, the only problem with the first one was a single design flaw which they no doubt corrected in the new design), but I don't know that it was necessary. The galaxy is enormous, but when the population and number of planets is mind-bogglingly huge, everything else scales up along with that--the number of troops you can recruit, the resources for building Star Destroyers, and so on.

 

The rationale was explained quite well in the newcanon novel Lost Stars - at least for "ordinary" Imps:


As soon as the doors slid shut, she said, "I can't believe they built another Death Star."
Berisse shrugged as she leaned against the wall, no longer military proper. "I can't believe they did it this soon. How long does it take to construct one of these? They must have started right after the Battle of Yavin. Good for them."
Ciena refused to believe she'd heard that right. "... good for them?"
"Well, we had to rebuild the Death Star. I mean, come on!" Berisse's frown revealed how confused she was by Ciena's reaction. "The single biggest and most powerful station ever constructed in galactic history, and it gets blown up by rebel scum? Re-creating the Death Star is the only way we could ever honor our people who died at Yavin. If we hadn't rebuilt it, then the terrorists would have won."
"You don't seem to agree, Ciena." Nash's tone was light, but she could see how intently he was looking at her. "What do you think?"
She realized she'd begun to sweat. "I think - I think that if we've built a Death Star, we plan to use it. That another world will die, just like Alderaan did."
Berisse scoffed. "No way. Once the station's complete and word gets out? Nobody will ever defy the Emperor like that again. The Rebellion's going to melt away. Wait and see."
Even amidst Ciena's most painful doubts about Imperial tactics, she had believed that rule of law was always better than chaos - even when that law was harsh. But the future Berisse described was not rule of law. It was rule by fear, and therefore tyranny. Even the darkest atrocities of the Clone Wars did not compare with the destruction of an inhabited world.
And what did it mean that Ciena was afraid to say that out loud, even to her closest friends?
She tried to find the right words to make them understand. "When Alderaan was destroyed, we thought it would force the Rebellion to surrender. That we could prevent this war. But we've been at war for three years anyway." And if someone as cynical as Thane can find rebel leaders to follow and admire, the Rebel Alliance won't vanish as easily as you think. "Don't you see? Those tactics didn't work. If this station isn't used to protect the Empire's citizens from war, then how can we justify it?"
Nash stood up straighter, his eyes narrowing. When he answered her, his voice gave her chills. "Are you saying that Alderaan was destroyed in vain? For nothing?"
Ciena held up her hands. "Nash, please, I don't mean to -"
"Listen to me," he said. "Alderaan had to die for the Empire's true power to be acknowledged. My homeworld's end was also the end of the Imperial Senate, the end of the countless petty power struggles that had plagued Palpatine's early reign. Only then was the Empire's true strength revealed."
His gaze had become glazed, almost unfocused, like that of someone suffering from a fever. This was what his face must have looked like during the Hudalla dogfight.
Nash continued, "This war is only the aftermath of the conflicts that have racked the galaxy during the past century, the final useless gasp of those who would oppose us. Through sheer stupid luck, the rebels managed to destroy the first Death Star. By rebuilding the Death Star, and using it as many times as necessary to restore order, we prove that their luck only goes so far. We prove that we are the only galactic authority and always will be."

 

What was the Death Star intended to do?

Be completed...

 

Pretty much, it worked well because it both made sense AND did not need a lot of new exposition, we knew what Death Star mk 1 was built for and its capabilities so Death Star Mk 2 did not need to be have a lot of screen time spent on building it up.

The whole political situation for me very obviously draws on Roman history. The Old Republic is the equivalent of the Roman Republic with rule by the senate and some kind of democracy, Palpatine(name probably based on the Palatine Hill in Rome) prior to events in ANH seems to have been ruling via a princeps like system where he has the central power and control of the armies but keeps the senate around for legitimacy and some more local control. The title Emperor doesn't actually mean "even more powerful than a king" , in Latin it means "military commander’ appointed to keep the peace. By disbanding the senate Palpatine is following latter Emperors after Diocletian who ruled in a more obviously king like fashion without the nominal approval of ths senate.

Obviously the Romans had no super weapon but I would say the Death Star takes on a similar kind of role to the Pretorian Guard. They were only limited to Rome but unlike the Star Wars universe that's where democracy had existed previously and were much of the politics carried on so having the Pretorian Guard under your control gave you a lot more power to rule via fear.

I wonder especially whether Lucas had been reading I' Cladius as to me the situation in ANH seems rather similar to Tiberius;s time at Capri with the Emporer absent and Vader, Tarkin Motti, etc taking the Sejanus and Macro like roles grabbing power with a bit of a sense of discord between them and indeed victimising a senator in Leia.

 

My thoughts exactly. And the Roman Senate also had control of finances next to political power in the provinces. Hence my speculation that Vader's aide aboard the Devastator was so concerned about the senate's reaction (and unaware that it was about to be dissolved).

Palpatine probably asked for additional funding of the black ops guys or "Vader's Guard Corps" to deal with the rebellion, but the moment the Imperial Senate would have learned that one of their own (Senator Organa) had been attacked and abducted by aforementioned "black" organization, they probably would not have allocated additional funding to such an organization.

 

Death Star 1 (ANH): To bully other systems into submission

Death Star 2 (ROTJ): It's a trap!

Droid Control Ship (TPM): To control droids...or something

Starkiller Base: A weapon of convenience for lazy story tellers

 

To inflict terror and damage on any planet they wanted to. It was a sign of true dominance for the Empire.

 

To keep the emperor safe at night and the rest of the galaxy scared $hitless.

 

Indeed. Sidious wanted to use the Death Star because of his substantial ego. Tarkin wanted to use it to ensure absolute compliance. Vader believed the Force was a more effective weapon, and he was proven correct when Luke used the Force to guide the torpedoes into the DS.