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| Captain Tarkin is on the right |
"The more you tigthen your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."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.
--Leia Organa to Grand Moff Tarkin
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| 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."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).
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."
I had no idea there was such great shows on the Cartoon Channel.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteOne 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.
I remember the line from Leia. Wasn't Tarkin the commander of the Death Star? The animation captures his cadaverous face very well.
ReplyDeleteFun post! :-)
As a kid, I think he actually creeped me out more than Vader! lol
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remember that quote from Leia too. Great line.
ReplyDeleteI should check out the cartoon channel more often. I had no idea the quality was so high.
ReplyDeleteAnother character I don't remember.
ReplyDeleteI 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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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.)
ReplyDelete"Captain Tarkin is on the right"... thanks for the heads up. It's funny the things that make me laugh.
ReplyDeletePeter Cushing was a great actor. voice sounds a lot like him.
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Tarkin was a slimeball. I'd really like to start watching this series. I've always appreciated the Star Wars story.
ReplyDeleteYour 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. :)
ReplyDeleteI 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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ReplyDeleteI met General Veers at a Star wars gig a year ago. He was great.
ReplyDeleteYes, Vader was taking orders from Tarkin at the time.
ReplyDeleteI remember him! He's quite hardcore.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do remember that quote from Leia.
ReplyDeleteJust 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.
Sorry, don't recall.
ReplyDeleteI always thought he looked like a Nazi too. Lol...
ReplyDeletePrincess Leia is a badass. Tarkin is truly a tyrant type. I'd agree that many a dictator feels the same.
ReplyDeleteI think they're plotting to clone you!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteWhen 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.
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.
ReplyDeletePT would be correct, Cushing and Lee starred in hell of a lot of films together as opposing forces. Particularly in the Hammer horror films.