I think of the Empire as more of the UK style government, if the Queen actually used her power and didn't defer to the civilian government on everything. The Queen is technically in control of the military, technically appoints the Prime Minister, has the power to declare war, etc. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No, he isn't the supreme commander/leader of the military if that's what you mean. He is only the army one. He was the chief of the imperial army, which doesen't grant him much more power, but then again he has the grand general rank. In army. He didn't command all of military.
They always did that in Legends and even in canon because the public perception was the Emperor was a doddering old fool who was controlled by his Viziers.
ยจ Is that supposed to tell me that he is the supreme commander? Because nothing there confirms such. I'll tell you what's confirmed though, that he is a grand general which is an army rank and vice versa for navy is grand admiral. Now, if you want to compare US ranks, let's have a look at those: General of the Army -- highest army rank Fleet Admiral -- highest navy rank It wouldn't make much sense JUST to suspect the grand general of being that. Now, there is also a special US rank called "General of the Armies", which basically is supreme commander. However it makes much less sense to assume that Tagge has that instead of General of the Army.
Actually the part where the Emperor says he's the Supreme Commander is the part where he's the Supreme Commander. It's just that panel isn't on Google.
In Darth Vader #1, the Emperor says that "While the second Death Star is constructed, [Tagge's] philosophy must be dominant. It was lucky he left the station before its destruction to return to his beloved fleet, or I would have no one I could use." Basically saying that yes, he has a fleet and he is now the guy running the Imperial military until the DSII is up and running.
Literally the only thing Palpatine says is that he argued about DS1, that he escaped it, and that he returned back to his own fleet. I don't see how this can point to that he is supreme commander. By the way, IF this was actually true which I don't believe. Do you mean that, Grand General is the rank above the 3 branches in the military? (military consists of army,navy,intelligence). And how does the Grand General relate then, to for instance Grand Admirals?
The word "dominant" is rather telling. And the Darth Vader comics are pretty clear that Tagge is running the Imperial military in the period immediately post-Yavin.
I don't think Grand General is an actual rank so much as an honorific Palpatine made up on the spot since, unlike the Grand Admirals, Vader treats it like an empty title. The fact Vader is given Tagge's position post-Endor also means it was just a set up for Vader all along. Also, Tagge has the Eclipse as his flagship. Which is quite the change from its role in Legends. Presumably, Darth Vader is the second Grand General of the Empire and presumably in charge of all military resources as well as assets.
I thought there was a scene where Vader saw the Eclipse and basically rolls his eyes at Tagge's ostentaciousness.
http://www.starwars.com/databank/general-tagge "the Emperor promoted him to Grand General and placed him in charge of the Imperial military." I found this, apparently Tagge was infact in charge of the military. I don't think it confirms that the Grand General is given command of the military, rather that Palpatine granted him the rank, plus giving him the position of being in charge of the military. Sort of like Vader. Assuming it does mean that Grand General is the leader of the military though, would that mean that there can only be one person holding the rank of Grand General at one time? Also how does it relate to Grand Admiral. Does Grand Admirals work outside of the military hierarchy, or do they really have to answer to the Grand General?
I think it wasn't quite as detailed as it could have been. While Star Wars fans hate politics, they love military minutia. Though I would love for Vader to be Grand General and annoyed because it's a title he thinks is stupid.
Sorry for being so late with my editting. "Assuming it does mean that Grand General is the leader of the military though, would that mean that there can only be one person holding the rank of Grand General at one time? Also how does it relate to Grand Admiral. Does Grand Admirals work outside of the military hierarchy, or do they really have to answer to the Grand General?" And yeah, being familiar with the structure is fun.
That's pretty much it, yeah. So the rank "Grand General" is just an honorific, same as Vader's old EU title of Supreme Commander. And, tellingly, Tagge outranks Vader. EDIT: This was a reply to several posts up. You guys work fast!
I can get annoying during these fast posts, because I often tend to just post my reply and then edit in much more
For awhile at least. The Legends works made the Grand Admirals to be the single highest ranking group in the GFFA, even though the equivalent RL title was Supreme Head of the Navy. Presumably because you can't really be a "secret" Supreme head of the Navy even in Star Wars. Also, because if Palpatine was going to put anyone in charge of that, he would have done it with Vader. Grand Generals never really existed in Legends despite one reference to one because SW has always been about the Naval fights and starfighters versus ground wars. However, traditionally on Earth, when you do have someone who is the Supreme Commander of all branches and not the Head of State then it tends to be done with Army ranking. Barring a dilution of the title, it would be Grand General Tagge then Vader. Gallius Rax breaks with this tradition, though, by appointing Rae Sloane to Grand Admiral and head of the military than Grand General--probably because this is a single comic book plot point.
There was another Grand General though. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kenner_Loring Meaning it was probably a true rank and not something Palpatine made up. It still makes me think of how the Grand Admiral-Grand General relations would be.
Here's the relevant panel from Darth Vader #1. Or maybe not so relevant, there's been so many posts in the past few minutes! "Primacy" could have been a discussion point but I guess not so much now.
You could be right about separating the rank from the position. It's also possible Kenner Loring appointed himself Grand General as a way of legitimizing his rule, especially if Vader held the title thereafter.
Yeah I found that aswell, it was too vague in my opinion. The databank cleared it better up. It's still left unclear how the rank relates with Grand Admiral. Isn't Grand Admiral supposed to be the highest? edit: Also, it's doubtful that Grand General is a position, considering Tagge held already the position of Chief of the Imperial Army. The Chief position could then again mean that Grand General is just an army thing, and that he gained his military-absolute power from the Chief position, not grand general rank. However, it seems unreasonable because when I look at Motti who was chief of the navy, I don't really see him outranking Thrawn. So it could again might aswell be a meaningless position, only to bring word to the table of the joint chiefs from that specific branch. Alright, here is my "speculation graph" _____________________________________________________________________________ Why was Tagge the leader of the military as the databank states? 1) The rank of Grand General grants him such power 2) The position of Chief of the Imperial Army+Grand General grants him that 3) Palpatine bestowed the power upon him while his position and ranks does not relate to such power. -> How would the so called "Leader of Military" relate to Grand Admirals?
Yeah, I'm going with Grand General is Supreme Commander of the Imperial Armed forces with Grand Admirals answering to him. It's not a real title, though, with Grand General as a thing which Palpatine makes for Tagge then gives to Vader. But we should probably ask Pablo. I do think the Grand Admirals answer to the Emperor and possibly joint chiefs in this reality. Albeit, in the Thrawn Trilogy, it's mentioned the warlords/Grand Admirals exist so Palpatine can bypass the military bureaucracy and have more direct control.
