Rogue One Tarkin & Krennic's Relationship (Spoilers)

After seeing Rogue One for the second time last night I noticed a lot that I didn't notice in my first viewing due to the excitement and mania of the experience.

Among other things, I noticed that while Krennic is obviously power hungry and desperate to choke on his ambitions rise through the ranks of the Empire, Tarkin also - to me at least - seemed to be hell bent on not letting the Director receive any credit for anything and possibly even felt threatened and had a personal dislike for the guy.

I'm interested to see if anybody thinks that part of Tarkin's decision to use the Death Star on Scarif was because he knew Krennic was on the planet?

The Empire's plans for various projects were held on Scarif so there was a significant loss in nuking it. It could be seen as a necessary sacrifice to wipe out the remaining Rebels on the world but, like I said, I got the feeling the second time around that part of it was to get rid of Krennic...

 

Firstly, I do believe in a certain "Honour" among even the most evil of sorts, and to see Tarkin commandeer Krennic's efforts, wasn't in keeping with my perceptions of him.

Along the same lines, seeing Krennic as a sniveling lightweight, was disappointing as well. Tarkin always had him by the plums.

Just had to get that out of the way.

I see Krennic as beneficial collateral damage, but I don't see Tarkin ever feeling threatened enough to think the targeting of Scarif was necessary to eliminate any loose ends (though as punishment for another of Krennic's failures, maybe).

 

I think it was the main motivator for Tarkin. I can see the wheels turning in his head and the delight upon learning that Krennic was on Scarif. I loved it!

 

Yes, I think one of the reasons for Tarkin nuking Scarif was that Krennic was there.

I mean, the laser shot goes directly through Krennic (at the top of the tower) before hitting the ground. It must have been Tarkin firing directly at him.

 

I think it was just Tarkin’s way of killing two birds with one stone. Also, I don’t believe that the Empire doesn’t make copies of their project plans.

Catalyst provides a great background for their rivalry. I don't think it was so much that Tarkin felt threatened by Krennic gaining the Emperor's favor, but more that Krennic was dangerously ambitious. You don't want a person like Krennic, who sees you as a rival, to have the keys to a superweapon like the Death Star.

 

This. Also, I really want to re-read Catalyst. It provides a great background details on Krennic and his rivalry with Tarkin (as well as his overly ambitious nature, even in his early years).

 

In both Catalyst and Tarkin it's clear that Tarkin is put in charge of the overall Death Star construction. Krennic is overseeing the weapon only, hence his need for Galen Erso. In R1 when he complains to Tarkin that Vader and the Emperor should be there for he test it's obvious he is still gunning to be in the upper echelon and have the Emperor know who he is an what he's accomplished. Tarkin puts him in his place when he tell him that he'll "inform the emperor that the weapon he told him about long ago is now ready" meaning that the Emperor likely doesn't care about the details. He just gets updates on the overall project from Tarkin.

 

I don't agree. For me i feel Tarkin just didn't care that Krennic was on the planet. He made no attempt to ascertain the whereabouts of Director Krennic's specific location. Director Krennic was behind the leak of sensitive plans so his end was justified. Grand Moff Tarkin was his replacement and under his stewardship their would be change. No more defectors and traitors this was a new shift. You stray from the playbook and your liquidated.

 

Then why did the Death Star fire directly at Krennic? The laser goes right through him (at the top of the tower) before it hits the planet. I think Tarkin wanted to get rid of Krennic as fast a possible to become fully in charge of the Death Star.

 

I don't think he was firing directly at Krennic. How would Tarkin know Krennic's location on Scarif from the Death Star. Tarkin knew that the quickest solution to stopping the transmission of the plans was to just nuke the whole base. Killing Krennic was a bonus but he would have been dealt with one way or another.

 

Precisely he knew Scarif was director Krennic's station so seeing it get destroyed must have been enjoyable to watch.

 

I didn't notice that, thought it just hit in the middle of the ocean. Are you sure?

 

Tarkin fired at the comms tower to prevent any transmission from escaping the planet. Krennic happened to be right there.

However, Tarkin knew full well that Krennic was on Scarif, and would be killed by the ensuing blast.

Two birds with one stone.

People can have multiple motivations for the same act...

 

Yeah it definitely does. I missed it on first viewing also but it goes directly through the base of the large transmission disc which is pretty close to Krennics location at the time

 

After Catalyst, I can understand why Tarkin disliked Krennic so much. And him firing directly at Krennic on Scarif is no coincidence. Tarkin wanted Krennic's last moments to be him observing how his very own weapon that he spent half his life building, obliterates him. The Death Star is the reason why Krennic got overly ambitious and in the end it's the thing that took his life. And Krennic realises this in his last moment, as he sees the Death Star aiming directly at him. The look on his face is priceless. It's the irony in here.

 

This still from unused footage might explain why Tarkin opted to make things personal at Scarif:

Spoiler

If one recalls the scene in question, we know who is standing in the crosshairs.

 

One of the coolest things in R1 for me was the Krennic-Tarkin feud. That really got me pumped, and is so in character with Tarkin to have Imperial rivals and troubled work relations, like the one with Vader.

BTW, nice to see some of you mentioning Catalyst. I gotta check it out ASAP.

 

I did not realize it was because Tarkin had seen through Krennic's ambitions and he was overstepping his boundries. I took Krennic's claims to be justified for some reason.

If Krennic's ambitions stem from the Death Star as mentioned by Vader0706 above, it brings an interesting perspective to the meeting scene in ANH:

As Motti is passionately saying "This weapon is now the ultimate power in the universe! I suggest we use it." you immediately see Tarkin lean back in his seat with a strange expression. I previously took this to be some sort of disappointment, as if saying "Such lack of vision...", especially when Legends later said he had secretly been overseeing development of a bigger weapon. This reaction from Tarkin, after this whole incident with Krennic, might mean something slightly different now.

Vader too. Telling Motti about the power of the force might have been his way of warning him that himself and the Emperor are a worse nightmare than the DS. This time it's a more subtle approach rather than straight out choking him since Motti is not as ambitious as Krennic. It is only until Motti ignorantly/arrogantly dismisses the Force that he takes action. Hell, Vader might be more patient than we give him credit for. It is only when you respond with arrogance, greed or failure that he chokes you.

 

What does it mean, in your interpratation? got me curious.

 

Perhaps shock that the station is enough to inspire such zealotry in someone. Perhaps weariness of seeing yet another high-ranking imperial be so witless and lacking more vision.

 

Glad you bring that up, because now I view Peter Cushing’s puzzling expression in that scene as Tarkin thinking “okay, you are reminding of that idiot Krennic, I should be wary of you too.”

In one of the scenes of the RO trailer that did not make to the final cut, we see Krennic saying “The POWAH we are dealing with here is immeasurable.” Which is very close to what Motti says: “This station now is ultimate power in the universe.”

As for Vader, there is an interesting note in the RO Visual Dictionary on how he feels about the Death Star: