Rogue One Team Tarkin or Team Krennic

Tarkin for sure. One of my main issues with RO is Krennic, he's utterly fantastic in the prologue but then becomes a rather pointless character in the rest of the story (he has virtually no effect on the heroes, even Jyn, and can be cut out entirely without much of a change). He seems to function as an odd b-plot, truthfully I don't think they really knew what they were doing with the character. The biggest issue I have with him is him screaming at Tarkin, which seems so uncharacteristic of any imperial officer and him especially. It's a childish tantrum moment more than anything that Kylo Ren ever did.

Krennic does have an interesting character premise though, and I wish we had seen this kind of imperial story in a TV series instead, rather than forced into this movie.

 

Krennic was a refreshingly non-standard genre villain. More of an ambitious middle manager type. New money vs. Tarkin’s old money.

And his outburst at Tarkin was wholly in-character. He has an impatience and volatility that is constantly trying to bubble to surface, as we saw from his very first scene. His impatience has let him rise this far, but in the Empire, there’s a hard glass ceiling. And in the moment that he lets his impatience and ambition get the better of him in the outburst scene with Tarkin, he seals his fate. He’s a uniquely tragic antagonist. Bordering on hapless at times, yet dangerous because of his insecurity about that, and the immense power he wields. You can sense the fragility of his ego under that bluster. Quite Trumpian, in a way.

 

This must be why I voted for Krennic

 

Krennic was pretty bland. Plus his uniform makes him look like a dandy dentist, which might've worked if his characterization was not so routinely forgettable. Tarkin wins this one.

 

Sort of, I guess. Not sure how you can argue that he's an impatient character when the DS took this long to be finished and when he crows about only losing time to Jyn - he's quite clearly thinking of the long game. The issue is that the outburst occurs far too early in his story in the film. We're effectively introduced to a character that we know is going to lose (quite aside from the ANH), with him figuratively killing his own career. How has he survived this long? Why has this been bubbling under the surface? What's driving his ambition? I didn't read Catalyst and the movie doesn't really cover any of the stuff necessary to develop him as a fully nuanced character (which ideally would make up for his serious shortcomings as a villain), so while they may have attempted a non-standed genre villain, he just comes across as muddled and pointless. The best of neither world.

 

The imperial characters in Rogue One for me though are rather different to what we've seen previously in the way the film uses them. Yes there antagonists to some degree but really I think the main purpose of that story is to provide a counter point to the rebel characters(and Galen), basically whilst we see those characters move in an increasingly selfless fashion we see the Imperial characters acting in an increasingly selfish fashion.

As far as Krennic and Tarkins confrontation post Jedha test I wouldn't say this automatically dooms the former so much as makes it clear they are in direct opposition. In the scene with Vader latter on Krennic might get force choked but you can see from his little smile that he thinks things are going his way, that Vader is potentially going to give him more of a line to the Emperor and maybe the chance to supersede Tarkin for control of the Death Star. He's sent off to Scarif with the task of making sure Galen hasn't compromised the Death Star believing this is a test for such a potential reward only to have Tarkin use the rebel attack as a pretext to take him out.

 

Tarkin's ambitious maneuverings in R1 are completely undermined by his arrogant failures right after that in ANH. Fact is the DS is destroyed on his watch. He seemed so hellbent on 'making a statement', with the DS to further his own position. Probably why he took the station without any backup from an Imperial fleet to Yavin. So he could take all of the glory. Didn't work out so well. That's what happens when you allow a politician/governor to pretend he's a military leader. Krennic may not have been as good at furthering his career but he seemed far more competent at his job.

 

I'm on Team Tarkin. When it comes to the Empire, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to survive.

 

Tarkin was an interesting character. I'd say he's the primary antagonist of ANH, not Vader, although Vader is, of course, always interesting. The EU sheds light on Tarkin's development.

 

I'm with Tarkin. Krennic just didn't understand the politics well enough to keep up with Tarkin. Plus, there's something poetic about Krennic being killed with his own weapon, and his ironic death is part of why the ending is one of my favorite parts in Rogue One (other than the Vader scenes).

 

I almost feel sorry for Krennic. To put so much effort into something and have it taken from you from a superior officer must really hurt.

 

Tarkin made certain that this situation literally blew up in Krennic's face in the end.

 

I know this is an old poll but I just voted for the first time, for Team Krennic. It was certainly an interesting dynamic to have another character within the Empire side to go face to face with Tarkin over their new toy. The writers could've just as easily had CGI Tarkin mastermind the entire operation from the start and not introduced the Krennic character. But I'm glad they did include him.

 

Totally agree. You'd think after the surprise 'victory' of the rebels on Scarif (which he overlooked), he'd be a bit more cautious of their capability

 

Tarkin

Not sure if its just me but in both RO and ANH Tarkin seems to have this foreboding presence when he's on screen and the fact he has little fear of force users helps.

 

I think TCW further utilized that foreboding presence of Tarkin from the films. He had a big role in the final three episodes of Season 5.

 

You could see Tarkin's arrogance even in Rogue One. Instead of destroying Jedha completely, he only ordered the city destroyed, giving Jyn and company a chance to escape, which they did, albeit barely.

 

Tarkin all the way.

Remember -- Krennic did made time an ally of the rebellion....

Plus I felt sorry for krennic. He was such a sycophant trying to make it in the empire and tarkin and vader could smell the blood miles away. Imperial bullies.

 

Team Tarkin because he is in a higher position of power and controls the death star and I wouldn't want to cross the guy with a weapon capable of destroying a planet.

 

Easily Tarkin. He handled everything with such confidence and ruthlessness. Krennic often came off as a bumbling incompetent buffoon to me.

 

Krennic built the DS and conducted a successful first test.

Tarkin did nothing to justify full control of the DS, and in fact was responsible for losing the DS in less than a few weeks after Rogue One.

 

I've always liked Tarkin's villainous ways in ANH, and I guess his actions in Rogue One help futher his image as a ruthlessly ambitious person.
That said, there's something about Krennic that fascinates me. His arrogance and dry sarcasm makes him feel like a typical Imperial Officer, but he still seems slightly out of place within the hierarchy of the Empire. He loses his temper in front of everyone in an almost childish display of frustration, and he clearly lacks proper abilities as a leader. He even has the audacity to ask Darth Vader to confirm his continued importance in the chain of command! He's really struggling to stay in control of events around him, and this leads him to do desperate - and despicable - things. I guess it's ultimately his flaws that makes me appreciate his character more than Tarkin's character.

Fun fact: I originally disliked Tarkin's part in Rogue One because I felt like it lessened Krennic's importance in the story. I now realize that part of the reason Krennic's character works so well for me is because Tarkin is there to belittle him at any given moment.

 

The feud between Krennic and Tarkin was dumbed down. At the end of the day they're fighting over who gets credit for the Death Star... that's it. So lazy. Nothing to think about whatsoever.

Admiral Motti and General Tagge had a more interesting conflict in ANH and that was a mere single dialogue exchange that lasted no more than a minute.

 

Tarkin defenetly

 

hmmm...after careful consideration i'd say that i'm team they can both die in a fire

(but really i guess i'm team tarkin since he's more composed but i'm partial to krennic because ben mendelsohn)