this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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[–] rwhitisissle@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

All of this is your own personal headcanon. Which is fine, but let's not pretend like it's factually correct. And while I know wookieepedia is far from a perfect source, it at least tries to get as close to the canonical truth of the often contradictory backstories of characters in Star Wars media. On the page for Anakin Skywalker, one section starts

Believing that he lost all that he cared about by his own hand, Darth Vader embraced his role as the Emperor's chief enforcer. Few knew who he was, and even fewer suspected that he had once been Anakin Skywalker. Some rumors circulated that Vader was a counterpart to the late Separatist warlord General Grievous, whom Palpatine had held in reserve, while others speculated that he was a technologically modified warrior trained in the now-forbidden arts of the Force. His appearance at the Imperial court and the favor he carried from the Emperor earned him the distrust of Imperial officers. They resented him for appearing out of nowhere and having authority over them because of his link to his Master. They also resented his heavy-handed treatment of them, such as when he used the Force in the presence of his Master to choke Colonel Barokki. In secret, Barokki and another Imperial officer plotted to assassinate Vader, whose position in the new Empire they did not understand.

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's from the books which aren't Cannon anymore.

[–] rwhitisissle@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, the books were never really "canonical" in the same sense as the films. But the films themselves, if that's what you're going on, never make any reference to Vader's presence in the empire in a larger context. We just see that he is, generally speaking, the person in charge, aside from Tarkin in A New Hope, and the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. So, if we are going purely off of that, then we have no way of knowing how various parties in the galaxy perceived Vader or understood his role in the grand scheme of things. Which is probably fine, because it's fundamentally unimportant to the story being told. But it still makes more sense for him to just be an agent of the Emperor who operates with virtually unlimited authority and who is outside of any kind of formal military command structure.

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If we're adding the books then nutsack face was never in control or in fact that strong basically everyone around him paying lip service were stronger and more in control, they essentially yes manned a senile old man who thought himself more grand then he actually was.

[–] rwhitisissle@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is all just blatantly, completely untrue. I'm gonna go ahead and do the thing I initially told myself I wasn't, but you're so off base I literally have to: do you have any source, at all, that backs up any of what you're saying? Any specific piece of Star Wars media one could look at to verify that what you are describing is at least even close to accurate? Because I've literally read dozens of Star Wars novels and graphic novels, have played most Star Wars video games, and seen most of the Star Wars television series ever created, and at no point have I ever encountered anything that supports what you're describing.

[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Another galaxy, another time.

The Old Republic was the Republic of legend, greater than distance or time. No need to note where it was or whence it came, only to know that... it was the Republic.

Once, under the wise rule of the Senate and the protection of the Jedi Knights, the Republic throve and grew. But as often happens when wealth and power pass beyond the admirable and attain the awesome, then appear those evil ones who have greed to match.

So it was with the Republic at its height. Like the greatest of trees, able to withstand any external attack, the Republic rotted from within though the danger was not visible from outside.

Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic.

Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor, shutting himself away from the populace. Soon he was controlled by the very assistants and boot-lickers he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears.

Having exterminated through treachery and deception the Jedi Knights, guardians of justice in the galaxy, the Imperial governors and bureaucrats prepared to institute a reign of terror among the disheartened worlds of the galaxy. Many used the Imperial forces and the name of the increasingly isolated Emperor to further their own personal ambitions.

But a small number of systems rebelled at these new outrages. Declaring themselves opposed to the New Order they began the great battle to restore the Old Republic.

From the beginning they were vastly outnumbered by the systems held in thrall by the Emperor. In those first dark days it seemed certain the bright flame of resistance would be extinguished before it could cast the light of new truth across a galaxy of oppressed and beaten peoples...

Introduction to the original Star Wars novelization from 1976. Of course, basically every piece of media since The Empire Strikes Back ignores the whole "isolated Emperor" bit.