Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Tarkin is first a Captain and last a Grand Moff but always an extremist

Captain Tarkin is on the right
For those of you who are fans of the original Star Wars movies, you may remember Grand Moff Tarkin having this little exchange with Princess Leia:
"The more you tigthen your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
                                       --Leia Organa to Grand Moff Tarkin
We get to know Tarkin a lot better in the cartoon series The Clone Wars. One of the episodes I'm thinking of is "Citadel" and it's subsequent sequels that take place near the tail end of the third season. In that episode, Captain Tarkin and Jedi General Even Piell undertook a mission to find the Nexus Route, a strategically valuable hyperspace route which would lead into both the heart of the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems (that's where all the Separatist planets are). During the mission, they were ambushed and attacked by Separatist forces. Before they got boarded, Piell and Tarkin each memorized half of the information regarding the Nexus Route before erasing it from the ship's computer files. After being forced to surrender, Tarkin and Piell, along with other officers were taken as prisoners to the Citadel, a Separatist prison on Lola Sayu.
Captain Tarkin at the end of season five sentencing Ahsoka Tano for
bombing the Jedi Temple. His manner, appearance, and uniform strike
me as being very "Nazi" ish, which I'm sure is intended.
Needless to say, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and padawan Ahsoka Tano rescue Tarkin from the Citadel. However, not before Tarkin let's loose with this little bit of conversation to Anakin:
Anakin:  "You lack faith in the Jedi."
Tarkin:  "I find their tactics ineffective. The Jedi Code prevents them from going far enough to achieve victory, to do whatever it takes to win, the very reason why peacekeepers should not be leading a war."
Basically, what Tarkin says reminds me of what I think a dictator would say. You know...the kind like Assad of Syria that would feel it's okay to turn chemical weapons on his own people. Also, with regard to the above quote, Anakin agrees with Tarkin in that episode. All the signs were there. Obi-Wan should not have been surprised that Anakin went to the Dark Side so easily. In this YouTube clip Anakin and Tarkin exchange words, basically trying to outdo each other on how well they know Chancellor Palpatine (he later becomes the Emperor).
I'm pretty sure that at the time of Star Wars: A New Hope arrived, Tarkin was the most powerful non-Force user in the Empire. I think he even outranked Vader, but don't quote me on that. It just sure seemed like it.

27 comments:

  1. I had no idea there was such great shows on the Cartoon Channel.

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  2. I suppose Tarkin was more of a big deal than Vader in the first movie if only because Lucas underestimated how much more people would like Vader over Tarkin. As if it were even a contest.

    One of those fun facts is that Peter Cushing I think was in some movies with Christopher Lee, who went on to play that old Sith guy in Episode II.

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  3. I remember the line from Leia. Wasn't Tarkin the commander of the Death Star? The animation captures his cadaverous face very well.
    Fun post! :-)

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  4. As a kid, I think he actually creeped me out more than Vader! lol

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  5. Yeah, I remember that quote from Leia too. Great line.

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  6. I should check out the cartoon channel more often. I had no idea the quality was so high.

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  7. I agree that Tarkin was the most powerful non force leader. I even think if he had the force, he'd be the maybe equal to that of the Emperor.

    :)

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  8. Peter Cushing will forever be Van Helsing fighting Dracula (Christopher Lee). And it did seem like Tarkin outranked Vader (perhaps the Emperor did not fully trust Vader.)

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  9. "Captain Tarkin is on the right"... thanks for the heads up. It's funny the things that make me laugh.

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  10. Peter Cushing was a great actor. voice sounds a lot like him.

    mood

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  11. Tarkin was a slimeball. I'd really like to start watching this series. I've always appreciated the Star Wars story.

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  12. Your posts have inspired me to watch the Star Wars movies again. Not the new ones...not a fan other than Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor...but the old ones. :)

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  13. I need to watch it too... Then I could really appreciate the brilliance of these posts. Right now I am in limbo.

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. I met General Veers at a Star wars gig a year ago. He was great.

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  16. Yes, Vader was taking orders from Tarkin at the time.

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  17. I remember him! He's quite hardcore.

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  18. Yes, I do remember that quote from Leia.

    Just goes to show that we can't let our fears run us, for if we did, then we might go to extremes to make ourselves feel safe.

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  19. I always thought he looked like a Nazi too. Lol...

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  20. Princess Leia is a badass. Tarkin is truly a tyrant type. I'd agree that many a dictator feels the same.

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  21. I think they're plotting to clone you!

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  22. I really admire the way you know the world of Star Wars so well, Michael, even though it's so complicated and there are so many characters. Me, I have trouble navigating my way around even this measly little planet we're on.

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  23. I do remember that guy. He was quite intense...and creepy. It's cool to get so much more background on these characters through the cartoons. Nicely done!

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  24. I guess I'm yet again going to disagree with PT above. Of course Vader was a bigger deal than Tarkin in Ep. IV. Only one of them survived the destruction of the Death Star.

    When you go back and watch that movie, you do get the feeling that Tarkin is somewhat ranking above Vader - kind of like an emperor/shogun relationship.

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  25. At last another character I know. Sorry I keep raining all over these posts with my dislike of all things pre- Han Luke and Leia, but those characters and their films are iconic in my mind and anything that SW that does not involve them seems blasphemous and wrong.

    PT would be correct, Cushing and Lee starred in hell of a lot of films together as opposing forces. Particularly in the Hammer horror films.

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