CT Imperial Dignitaries

They've been discussed in other threads, but if there is a bunch of characters that are (barely) present in the OT and that I absolutely love and feel could be discussed more, is the Imperial Dignitaries.

An amazing bunch of evil doers with no (prominent) Force abilities, I think they've always represented such an interesting part of the Empire´s everyday shenanigans. Sate Pestage was quite important in some stories (in Rogue Squadron, and was also intended to appear in ESB at some point), and so was Ars Dangor, with Sim Aloo, Janus Greejatus and Kren Blista-Vanee even gaining representation in the 3.75 collecting world.

The latest of these individuals to gain their moment in the spotlight are Veris Hydan and Yupe Tashu, and we got a great look into the way the OT buch related to each other too, in Jason Fry's fantastic "Kernels and Husks" short story (which also included Pebiramus Xorn). And, even if Mas Amedda took Pestage´s place in canon, and characters like Sly Moore have been given a little more development lately, I still enjoy every little bit we get from the advisors, like some great moments they had in the Tarkin novel.

Is there any of these terrible individuals you particularly enjoy or would like to know more about?

 

Aw, our dear dignitaries are not getting much love. This is, well... totally expected to be honest, haha.

Still, one of the lot is getting some interesting development in the new Legacy of Vader series:

Spoiler

Vanée was one of my favorite parts of that great movie, Rogue One. I imagined him as some cultist leader worshiping Vader, and in a way he is just that, even if his backstory is not that much what I expected.

Now we get to see that he is around decades later, his head preserved in a jar attached to a droid, not that unlike the b`omarr monks (Vanée has his full head, though, not just the brain).

I imagine we'll get to learn a lot of his perspectives of Vader in this comic. Sounds really exciting!

 

There's a story about them called "Kernels and Husks" in the ROTJ From a Certain Point of View book.

I wonder if the people of the galaxy who weren't aware that Palpatine was a Sith Lord thought that Amedda, Moore, and the Dignitaries were the real rulers of the Empire and that Palpatine was a figurehead. Maybe there were "Clone Wars truthers" who thought that Dooku was working for Amedda.

 

Absolutely. Kernels and Husks was my favorite story from that Certain Point of View book. Sim Aloo had long been neglected in canon material up to that point, and we got a good look at how ruthless and petty these individuals really are. And surely, those other visions of the dignitaries role in the Empire would be most welcome to be explored indeed. After all, wasn´t Aloo himself said to walk around like a god in his home planet?

How would I love to see Pestage or some other of these dignitaries in Andor. Doesn´t seem all that likely, but not impossible either... particularly a mention or some scenes in The Mask of Fear seem plausible enough!

 

In the 80’s - like when the Imperial Dignitary action figure was released - I thought these guys were more to do with the Force and the Dark Side. They are the Emperor’s advisors for special dark side matters. They don’t need to be Force powerful. They just need to be able to read the tea leaves as it were.

Later they became what was essentially cabinet ministers. They are the bureaucrats the universe thinks are running everything for their puppet emperor.

I never liked that. On screen the Emperor seemed to really be confiding in them about important matters.

After Thr Rise of Skywalker I get the feeling these guys are once again other worldly evil doers. They’re from Exegol and are part of the Sith cause advising Darth Sidious on matters of the Force.

It’s these geezers who help made Palpatine somehow return.

It is interesting that when the push comes to shove and it’s time to turn Luke to the Dark Side the Emperor kicks everyone out so it’s just him, Luke, and Vader.

 

Absolutely agree. In fact, I seem to remember Pestage, Aloo and Greejatus listed as darksiders in legends material; Pestage in particular, conducted several dark side experiments on Byss, and took the mantle of Blackhole at some point. They work perfectly as otherworldly counselors, and I love to think they do use the Force, but mildly and not in a martial way. Not unlike what has been done with Sly Moore in canon.

 

So I dunno if something's going on on my end, or if the images you posted just broke over the past month or so, but we're talking about the guys in funny hats, right? Cause I love digging in to the little trivial nonsense in SW and imagining what these characters are doing off-screen

One thing that I really like (I think this is established in some of the books?) is that Palpatine isn't actually all that interested in the everyday political machine that is running the Empire. If I recall right, I THINK it was the Tarkin novel (or maybe some comics) that establish he was originally planning to more or less make Tarkin the political face of the empire and Vader the military face of the Empire, while he himself of course kept all the actual power. It's interesting to think of the funny hat guys as like.... I dunno, potential replacements for that idea? People he assigns to do the boring political **** while he's busy reveling in having power and furthering his studies of the dark side

Yeah, screw it, that's my headcanon now

 

I always wondered who knew that the Emperor had Force powers, after all Motti was pretty dismissive of it all with Vader. And it would make sense for Sid to keep it quiet, that way potential opponents would be lacking key info.

I kinda thought Tarkin figured he'd become Dictator soon, he was in control of the superweapon and Palps was old now.

 

Tarkin knew him well enough that he addressed him by first name, so I think it's a safe bet that he's at the very least aware Sheev is an evil space wizard

Counterpoint: "You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion." Vader was Jedi. Palpatine never was. Given that one of Tarkin's biggest traits is how intelligent he is, and that he had a close rapport with Palpatine, he would almost certainly realize there was something different

(For that matter, he also more or less knew Vader and Anakin are the same person, so if he can figure that out, I would be baffled if didn't know something about Palpatine's real agenda)

 

Of course, that line of Tarkin's in SW 1977 was written when Lucas didn't yet think the Emperor was a Force-user himself. Rather, he was a politician who oversaw the Republic's military victories in the Clone Wars - perhaps being a talented military strategist, in the vein of Julius Caesar or Napoleon - and then partnered with Vader (and possibly other Sith Lords, if there were any) to establish a dictatorship.

That would suggest a much more uneasy relationship between the Emperor and the Dark Sider(s) who helped maintain his rule. Something like the tension between Grand Admiral Thrawn and the insane Dark Jedi Joruus C'Baoth in Timothy Zahn's novels, or even the dynamic between General Hux and Kylo Ren in the ST.

 

Huh?

...what? Why would knowing his first name mean anything?

 

Given that it was back when Palpatine was just a Senator, it's not really relevant to knowing Palpatine's deepest secrets.


“Perhaps you and I could serve each other, as well as the Republic, by taking Valorum down a notch.” His shoulders heaved in a shrug of uncertainty. “With the backing of your family, you may not even need our help, but rest assured that we will bolster you if necessary.” Palpatine quirked a sly smile. “You will be Eriadu’s finest leader, Wilhuff.”
“Thank you, Sheev,” Tarkin said, with obvious sincerity, and using Palpatine’s given name.



Tarkin suspects he's Sith - but mostly because of the Jedi assassination attempt and his association with Vader:


It was that genuflecting obedience, the steadfast devotion to execute whatever task the Emperor assigned, that had given rise to so many rumors about Vader: that he was a counterpart to the Confederacy’s General Grievous the Emperor had been holding in reserve; that he was an augmented human or near-human who had been trained or had trained himself in the ancient dark arts of the Sith; that he was nothing more than a monster fashioned in some clandestine laboratory. Many believed that the Emperor’s willingness to grant so much authority to such a being heralded the shape of things to come, for it was beyond dispute that Vader was the Empire’s first terror weapon.


The Emperor swiveled his chair toward the light, and Tarkin glimpsed his sepulchral visage; the molten skin beneath his eyes, the bulging forehead. After all these years, he was still not accustomed to it. “When one consorts with vipers, one runs the risk of being struck,” the Emperor had told Tarkin following the attack on him by a quartet of Jedi Masters.
There were many stories about what had occurred that day in the chancellor’s office. The official explanation was that members of the Jedi Order had turned up to arrest Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, and a ferocious duel had ensued. The matter of precisely how the Jedi had been killed or the Emperor’s face deformed had never been settled to everyone’s satisfaction, and so Tarkin had his private thoughts about the Emperor, as well. That he and Vader were kindred spirits suggested that both of them might be Sith. Tarkin often wondered if that wasn’t the actual reason Palpatine had been targeted for arrest or assassination by the Jedi. It wasn’t so much that the Order wished to take charge of the Republic; it was that the Jedi couldn’t abide the idea of a member of the ancient Order they opposed and abhorred emerging as the hero of the Clone Wars and assuming the mantle of Emperor.

In the Tarkin novel 14 or so years before ANH he's at the "strongly suspect" stage:

Very early on in their partnership—soon after both had been introduced to the secret mobile battle station—Tarkin grew convinced that Vader knew him much better than he let on, and that behind the bulging lenses of his face mask, whatever remained of Vader’s human eyes regarded him with clear recognition. More than anything else it was those initial feelings that had provided Tarkin with his first suspicion as to Vader’s identity. Later, observing the rapport the Dark Lord shared with the stormtroopers who supported him, and the technique he displayed in wielding his crimson lightsaber, Tarkin grew more and more convinced that his suspicions were right. Vader might very well be Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, whom Tarkin had fought beside during the Clone Wars, and for whom he had developed a grudging appreciation.

By ANH, lines like "my old master" about Kenobi kind of give the game away since Kenobi never took any other Padawans beside Anakin.

 

Sadly yes, the picture is no longer there, but it depicted our funny hat friends indeed! Interestingly enough, I seem to recall reading that many looked down on the Ruling Council as mere sycophants, when in reality they held considerable power and could even appoint Moffs, if I remember correctly (didn´t Ars Dangor appoint Tarkin as such?).

At least in earlier stages of his career, Tarkin had to answer to the Ruling Council indeed, as seen in his novel. So did COMPNOR and its ISB, and so did Imperial Intelligence, the Joint Chiefs and the Inquisitorius (connecting at least the highest ranking dignitaries with dark side knowledge, even though I don´t know if this is canon anymore). These individuals are very, very high in the Imperial politic ladder, and it appears that in Mask of Fear Mas Amedda will get some development of his own, too. He was an interesting figure for Krennic to deal with in Catalyst, I felt.

 

I think along with Jabba's gang that turn up at Docking Bay 94, Palp's sycophants deserve a lot more attention in this new era than they're getting. You don't really see them in ROTJ so recasting isn't such a great problem, I can't see why you wouldn't use them in place of Palps, Tarkin or Vader. Veris Hydan is the only example of Palp's Dark Side followers being used in either film or series and that's a shame with the potential these characters could have.

 

The Silly hat crew!

 

In the JEDI novelisation, Vader hated these perfumed ass-lickers - the Emperor's toadies.

I find them fascinating. I wonder if they had more screen time originally?

 

they've got an archbishop vibe going on.

 

Thank you very much, sir or miss, that was it.

The most fantastic one, I find, is Sate Pestage (at some point Sate Moloch) having a scene in ESB warning Vader of the Emperor´s foul mood before their holographic meeting. Even if it was only present in earlier drafts, I believe, this scene has long cemented Pestage´s status as a particularly important character in my view, one waiting for development and prominence in a story. He did get it in the Rogue Squadron series, but there is always room for more!

 

He got a mention on the vintage Kenner Darth Vader Meditation Chamber set I believe. Either the packaging or the instruction sheet? Must've been an important character to make it into the film's merch.

 

I think the blue dude maybe Dipsy’s grandpa. As a nipper I always assumed that they were just members of The Emperor’s Bridge club.

 

I reckon they were all in a boy band when Shiv was a teenager and he got them back together.

 

They're on a mission from the Dark Side.

 

The blue, "tall hat" dignitary is pretty interesting! He was established in canon as the visual reference for Ars Dangor. Curiously enough, we went from this depiction of the man in legends:

Spoiler

To this one in canon (it was rumored to be Dangor in legends anyway):

Spoiler

Along with Pestage, arguably the most important of all dignitaries in terms of in-universe, political power.

 

whats with the spoilers? these guys need their day in the spotlight.,