Moff Panaka?!

I was just on wookie and I was reading about Captain Panaka and discovered he is a weasel! It turned out he was close to Palpatine and he told Palps that Anikin and Padme were married. It went on to say that Palpatine made him a Moff of the Naboo Sector.

"Panaka remained close to Palpatine and was later promoted to Moff of the Chommell Sector. As a gift, Panaka gave an ornate statue to the Emperor which was placed in the Emperor's receiving chamber aboard the second Death Star." - Wookie

Can anyone confirm all this? My view of the character has suddenly dropped from one of respect to wanting very bad things to happen to him or to have happened to him.

 

So, you have less respect for him upon learning that he had a successful career?

 

Yep, Panaka became a Moff. I thought it was an interesting direction to take the character only because it is so unexpected.

 

Panaka's Moffship only strengthened my already esteemed opinion of him.


EDIT: I wouldn't mind seeing Moff Panaka at a Mofference in the new Death Star novel...

 

Why? We could see that Palpatine was evil, but it wasn't so readily apparent to the galaxy at large, at least at first.

Imagine you're Panaka. Your job is the security of Naboo and Naboo's sovereign. You find out your Senator has been clandestinely married to a Jedi, a marriage which by its very nature will be prone to problems and propaganda issues. Do you sit on this fact? Or do you consider it your duty to inform those Naboo dignitaries who are likely to be affected by the propaganda nightmare it might entail if revealed, dignitaries like the Queen and the Supreme Chancellor?

Now, imagine the Clone Wars have ended. From your point of view, the dastardly Jedi insurrection has been put down, your Senator and former Queen has unfortunately died of unknown causes (but not, to your knowledge, as a result of anything Palpatine or his regime has done), peace is being restored to the galaxy, and the Emperor - your former Senator and Supreme Chancellor - asks you to help ensure order and security in the Chommel Sector. You've already devoted your career, indeed your life, to order and security as part of Naboo's security force. Why would you turn him down?

 

The little number tags are your friend.

 

Ah! Moff Panaka! I thought this was a great decision on the part of LFL. It really helps show that the "good guys" in TPM are not on the same side as the good guys in the OT. By the time of TPM the Republic was well on its way to becoming the Empire, and it is only logical that folks like Panaka become loyal Imperials. The big twist of the Clone Wars (which we all knew from the get-go, but never really accepted) was that the folks we were rooting for were the stormtroopers and the Empire. LFL was just able to make us so familiar with them that when the inevitable occurred we felt betrayed. I really think that feeling has been the height of the PT and is just another reason why reading the EU heightened my experience of the movies.

 

I just want to see him as a moff wearing his Helm of Pessimism.

 

I read awhile ago and i thought that it was pretty funny but after that it made sense because Panaka was always loyal to Naboo and helped the Queen as leader of her Security and refused to allow her to go to Tatooine until the Jedi overided him, Panaka is even present in the Novelization of AOTC and is still loyally serving the other Queen, In his eyes he is serving the greater good of Naboo by becoming Moff Panaka and protecting Naboo under the Empire he loyally takes the job and supports the Emperor because hes from his Homeworld and he thinks that Palpatine is a good man doing what is right, nothing wrong with that, Although i also seem to remember that in one of the Last of the Jedi books where Ferus kills Imperial Inquisitor Malorum it shows Panaka and the Queen and both of them dont seem to like Palpatine at all because they know that he is a Tyrant but pretend to have loyalty to avoid trouble for Naboo so maybe Panaka takes the job of Moff to protect Naboo from Palpatine and his ruthless oppression that is already well known.

 

[image=http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/6634/moffmoffrence8cq.jpg]

 

I've always thought this was a great twist for the character, and I'd love to see it explored in EU lit someday.

 

It's not Panaka who becomes convinced of the Empire's evil nature in Last of the Jedi; it's his nephew Typho. So if Panaka truly is a loyal Imperial, and not someone biding his time like Bail Organa, he's up against his own family too.

>EDIT: I wouldn't mind seeing Moff Panaka at a Mofference in the new Death Star novel...<

IIRC, Galaxies has him as a colonel around 1 ABY.

TC

 

Yeah, I like this development with him. And remember, working for the Empire doesn't automatically make him evil (though other things might). He may be a Moff, but that doesn't mean he's going to massacre his own people or drown younglings or anything. Maybe like many who serve the Imps, he believes in sacrificing some freedom for peace and order. Who knows, though, maybe he is just a soulless bastard.

 

That's what Panaka gets for not signing on for AOTC.

 

He was too busy fighting Daleks in 1930 New York.

[image=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/gallery/s3_04-05gallery/800/26.jpg]

 

Remember, this is the guy who came in glowing when Palpatine was nominated for Chancellor...Now whether he had gone to the senate hall to witness this (thus abandoning his charge of security for the Queen) or Palpatine actually paused on his way to see Amidala to speak of the nomination...both indicate that Panaka was more then a security man...or at least he wanted to be.

I could see Panaka very easily falling into a Moff's chair...I could also see him very easily accepting Imperial edicts and actions as neccessary and prudent. Just because Panaka was a good guy in TPM does not make him a champion of democracy or republican government. I could easily see Panaka being one of the staunchest supporters of Palpatine until his death.

 

Haha, I was wondering when someone would mention that.

 

You know, that's a great insight.

 

Nice to see our heroes moving onto fighting even greater evils than before

 

Did he meet up with Boba Fett and 2-1B while he was there?

 

!!!!!

*dies*

 

I'd like to see more of his Imperial era adventures. More of Ric Olie too (assuming he didn't die in the beginning of AOTC). Maybe he became TIE fighter ace?