Why Darth Vader Believed Destroying Alderaan was a Mistake - Star Wars Explained

how did Vader actually feel about the destruction of alderon and why was his opinion somewhat controversial greetings friends and acolytes of the force and welcome back to the channel in A New Hope the Death Star first demonstrates its full destructive capabilities on the innocent diplomatic world of alderon right there watching it happen with Darth Vader restraining his daughter as they watched the planet be obliterated in the films we aren't exactly sure what Vader feels about this since it's Tarkin who is doing most of the talking and gives the order however we do know that in the force Ben Kenobi felt millions of voices crying out and then were suddenly silenced surely even though he was a Sith Vader would have felt this as well so what was going on through Vader's mind when he watched this planet be destroyed in a single instant well my friends today we have found several sources which tell us everything we need to know about Vader and how he truly felt both during and after the destruction of alderon and how he thought it may have been a major mistake but right now we wanted to let you know that we're always uploading holocrons each day so be sure to lock on to the Subscribe button and fire when ready now let us begin our first source of the day comes from the rise and fall of Darth Vader and the dark lord actually had no prior knowledge of tarkin's plan to Target alderon as is revealed in the book he went into the interrogation thinking they were about to find and squash the world of the Rebel hidden base so it was actually somewhat of a surprise to Vader when Tarkin suddenly chose to Target Leia's home world to not only get her to talk but to teach her a lesson however Darth Vader did have reservations about the matter let's read directly from the novel I think it's time we demonstrated the full power of the station Tarkin said turning to MTI he commanded set your course for alderon with pleasure MTI replied with an evil smile realizing what Tarkin intended Vader surveyed the man with new respect the dark lord had done many horrendous and unpardonable things but it seemed that Tarkin at least in this situation was even more diabolic ly inventive however Vader had one problem with tarkin's scheme alderon is one of the foremost of the inner systems Vader said the emperor should be consulted do not think to challenge me Tarkin snapped you are not confronting tag or mati now the emperor has placed me in charge of this affair with a free hand and the decision is mine and you will have your information that much sooner Vader had long suspected that grandoff Tarkin was utterly insane but it was not until Tarkin had addressed him just then without a trace of fear that Vader was left without a doubt Vader said if your plan serves our purpose it will justify itself the stability of the Empire is at stake Tarkin said a planet is a small price to pay just from this we can tell two very specific things right before the ACT takes place Vader approves of tarkin's call to threaten alderon and has absolutely no problem with the world and millions of lives being destroyed at least initially Vader's only concern at this point was the opinion of Palpatine Vader's loyalty and the will of the emperor supersedes just about everything else in his life and at this point he is fully devoted to Palpatine first his concern is that alderon being one of the core systems holds a lot of political power and that because of this the emperor needed to be consulted when he was not this would indeed make a powerful statement for them to destroy alderon but what should not be understated is that it also came as a massive risk risks that actually would come back to haunt The Empire after Tarkin snapped back at Vader losing his composure at having his authority challenged Vader realized that Tarkin had lost his mind long had Vader suspected that Tarkin wasn't exactly all there his Fierce Devotion to the Empire was admirable but no one could do the things that Governor Tarkin did and sleep at night no San man at least not to mention he seems to have very little in the way of self-preservation Tarkin talks to Vader any way that he wants he strong arms his authority and refuses to leave the battle station even though it was in imminent danger Vader always hated Tarkin for being an average human that got so high up in Imperial command and now he was rubbing it in Vader's face to Vader he thought this man believed that he was his equal equal to the dark Lords of the Sith and this made Vader think that Tarkin was starting to slip and this little Outburst only proved this point Vader though decides not to push the issue this time believing that Tarkin will face Palpatine's punishment if he lives Vader's feelings here though would cause him some future discomfort we learn in issue 24 of the recent Vader series that he indeed heard all of the voices screaming out in Terror in Vader's memory he recalls the incident where he stood by and watched the planet explode Vader recalls how it felt in the force and just like Kenobi the amount of Life lost was staggering however Vader had an entirely different reaction unlike Obi-Wan who was taken off his feet by the incident Vader remembered all those that he had massacred personally killed for the sake of the security of the Empire he's reminded of the Tuscan Raiders the Jedi younglings the separatist leaders all of them fell in droves by Vader's blade for the purpose of peace and Order and Vader considered this to be no different just the burning of a potential nest of rebellious leaders like Leia Vader in this moment accepts his role as a dealer of death and he justifies losing alderon after this entire ordeal Vader is pondering on the event in A New Hope novelization it is here where we learned this Vader stared at the mly array of stars displayed on the conference room map while Tarkin and Abal mati conferred nearby interestingly the first use of the most powerful destructive machine ever constructed had seemingly had no influence at all on the map the map in itself represented only a tiny fraction of the section and one of the most modes Siz galaxies it would take a micro breakdown of a portion of this map to reveal a slight reduction in spatial Mass caused by The Disappearance of alderon alderon with its many cities Farms factories and towns and traitors Vader reminded himself despite his advances in intricate technological methods of annihilation the actions of mankind remained unnoticeable to an uncaring unimaginably vast Universe if Vader's grandest plans ever came to pass all of this would change he was well aware that despite all their intelligence and the vastness and wonder were lost on the two men who continued to chatter monkey-like behind him Tarkin and Mai were talented and ambitious but they saw things only on the scale of human pettiness it was a Pity Vader thought that they did not possess the scope to match their abilities still neither man was a dark lord and as such little more could be expected of them these two were useful now and dangerous but someday they like alderon would be swept aside for now he could not afford to ignore them and while he would have preferred the company of equals he had to admit reluctantly that at this point Vader no longer had equals we see again Vader's self-justification In this passage he pays close attention to how alderon disappearance ultimately did not affect the rest of the Galaxy it seems just from reading this passage that Vader not only excuses the destruction of a planet but plans to continue changing the galactic map as he deems fit however he ignores the the fact that he is bothered by the sudden loss of life or perhaps it all gets lost on him because of how deeply sunk in the dark side he is the second part again though is more Venom tossed at Tarkin his respect towards the man is begrudging as Vader respects the power and intimidation that the Death Star provides but he is disappointed by the petty and narrow vision of the non- Darksiders around him it's interesting that Vader appreciates the Ingenuity of the Imperial commanders but still sees them as an ultimate hindrance and new nuisances their abilities have a place in the Empire but their Petty Ambitions do not so overall Vader's thoughts on the incident are very intriguing he is the most machine like he has ever been at the time of a new hope this Vader is interesting he's very much unlike himself in The Empire Strikes Back And even further from the Vader born in Revenge of the Sith gone is the fury of his old days replaced by Cold calculation and a Heart of Stone emotion and passion were lost on him until he found Luke and at this point is mostly going through the motions he is impressed by the ruthlessness of Tarkin but again he does view it as a potential hindrance even on the galactic scale alderon shouldn't matter but yet he's impressed that someone like turkin could be so cruel he's also impressed that he didn't just talk back to Vader without fear but that he also superseded the will of the emperor this marks an important period of time for Tarkin as we know according to Palpatine and Vader he had overstate his welcome and they were both ultimately glad that he perished on the Death Star despite all of this Vader does not gloat about the destruction of alderon and he mostly attempts to put it behind him what's fascinating though is despite all of the people that Vader frequently kills he doesn't Revel in the death in the way that Palpatine does his views on death are a means to an end even if that end is self-satisfaction Revenge or to prove that he is more powerful unlike Palpatine and Tarkin he doesn't get a rush of adrenaline once alderon is destroyed it is a means to an end cyas has death fuel his Empire and his power but Vader perceives it differently a key difference between the two dark Lords in the end though many of Vader's worries would be proven correct and the destruction of alderon would be a rallying cry for Rebels from across the Galaxy but anyway my friends what are your thoughts on this do Vader's thoughts on the destruction of alderon surprise you at all also how do you feel about how Vader looks at people like Palpatine and Tarkin in this moment was Tarkin growing too dangerous and should he never have superseded the emperor and spoken so disrespectfully to Lord Vader thank you as always my friends so much for visiting the archive today and May the force be with you

Channel: The Stupendous Wave

Views: 105,914

Keywords: Alderaan, Alderaan Destruction, Star Wars, Star Wars Theory, Tarkin, Darth Vader, Death Star, Darth Vader Death Star

Id: PNQWFZumJZc

Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 09 2023