Which brings me to: How the hell did Tarkin out rank Vader! I mean come on!
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Well, Tarkin was older, and was probably working the organs of power when Vader was still writing love poetry (in rhyming couplets, naturally) on the verdant moors of Naboo. Tarkin also never got carved up by a Jedi or fell into a depression over the death of his wife. He didn't go around killing Imperial officers, and needed no one to hold his leash. That's the difference between a career military/political officer and a thug.