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How does Grand Moff Tarkin fit into Ep 3?

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I have yet to hear anyone talk about the possibility of Grand Moff Tarkin returning in Episode 3, so here's my opinion on what happens.

First of all, I think Tarkin is more important to the Star Wars cannon than most people think. In A New Hope, Tarkin and Vader are depicted as having a father-son relationship, but how can that be when Vader is supposed to be the most powerful man in the universe second to the emperor? Why is it that when Tarkin gives Vader an order, he follows it? If there was no bond between Vader and Tarkin, Vader would simply have strangled Tarkin and been done with him. Therefore it would be absurd to leave Tarkin out of Ep 3.

Here's my 2 cents on Episode III:

I think the movie is set in the time frame of 10-20 years after Attack of the Clones. The Republic is becoming more and more militarized every day as a result of the Clone Wars. We find stormtroopers and uniformed officers walking around everywhere. Palpatine is gaining more power, and Anakin is more at odds with his master Obi-wan. And, since the Republic is becoming more militarized, Anakin starts to drift away from the Jedi and joins the military, because, afterall, his first love is piloting. In the armed forces Anakin meets and befriends Tarkin who is about the same age as him. Obi-Wan is always struggling to win back his apprentice and make him forget his emotions and military ambitions, but Anakin's friendship with Tarkin (and Palpatine?) keeps him in the Empire. Tarkin might even serve as a spy to Palpatine so he can keep up-to-date on the young Jedi's progress to the darkside. Eventually Anakin comes face to face with Dark Sidious (Palpatine) and the Sith. In a Sith council room--resembling the Jedi councel--Darth Sidious orders Darth Tyrannus (Count Dooku) to attack Anakin with lightning power. Anakin finishes his conversion to the dark side by killing Darth Tyrannus--exactly what Palpatine was hoping for. This is exactly how Palpatine hoped to turn Luke over to the dark side in ROTJ. He had Vader, and himself, attack Luke in order to get Luke to defend himself by killing Palpatine or his own father. When Vader saw Luke in pain from the lightning blasts it reminded Vader of his encounter with Count Dooku or someone else, and that's what convinced him to save his son. After killing Tyrannus, Anakin completes his transition to the Dark Side and helps Palpatine in his quest to rid the galaxy of the remaining Jedi. Palpatine puts Anakin and Tarkin in command of the special forces to wipe out the Jedi. Earlier in the movie Palpatine kicks the Jedi out of Coruscant because of their disagreement with him assuming more power. Palpatine might even forge a fake conpiracy incident to make the public distrust the Jedi. After being expelled from Coruscant the Jedi go into exile in other parts of the galaxy. Anakin, Tarkin, (Boba Fett?) and their special forces search out the Jedi and slaughter them. Some time in all of this mess Padme gives birth to the twins Luke and Leia. Either Padme dies in child birth, Anakin kills her in rage, or she accidentally dies--either way, her death infuriates Anakin, and he might even blame it on Obi-wan. At this time Obi-wan goes back to Coruscant, to the hospital, and kidnaps Anakin's children. This pisses Anakin off and he chases Obi-wan through the hospital to kill him and reclaim his kids. Mace Windu is with Obi-wan and he either gets killed by Boba Fett for revenge for his father, or Anakin kills him. Obi-wan and Anakin then get into a saber battle near a lava pit and Anakin falls into the lava. After Obi-wan escapes with the twins Palpatine recover's Anakin's body from the lava pit and makes him into Vader. Obi-wan gives Leia to Organa and takes Luke with him to Tatooine where he spends most of his life in exile.

The end of the movie will be similar to the end of A New Hope in the form of a dark side ceremony in which Tarkin is awarded the title of Moff and Anakin, in Darth Vader fatigues, is made Dark Lord of the Sith.
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i actually like the way you fit Tarkin in there..
its almost like Palpatine is vaders father in a way and take tarkin under his wing...
just like most fathers do with a friend of their sons...
if that makes any sense

im still praying for episode III to end with obi wan retreating to the mountains of Tatooine...
"Never. I'll never turn to the darkside. You've failed your highness. I am a jedi, like my father before me."
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Interesting ideas there. Sounds pretty solid to me, although I would picture Tarkin as being in command of military projects and tactics, while Vader is in charge of the destruction of the Jedi. Actually, that would tie in nicely, as you could say that when Vader finishes off the last of the order, he returns to Tarkins side, on the newly constructed death star of course. I haven't put as much thought into this as you have though.

Oh, and I agree with you completely that Tarkin is the boss in ANH. He even calls Vader "My friend" just like the Emporer does in ROTJ... "You, my friend, are all that is left of their religion..." And he even "threatens" Vader: "This had better work." Can you imagine any of his underlings speaking to Vader like that?
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that sounds good. but i can tell you right now tarkin is much oldler the vader. in rogue planet a book that takes place between ep1 and 2 anakin is like 10- 11 were as tarkin is a genral in a task force sent to take over the rogue planet.
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but Rogue planet is EU and therefore has no baring on continuity as it takes place in an alternate dimension and GL pays no attention to it.

As for Tarkin, I'm dissappointed he did not play a larger role in the PT.

He will appear in Ep3 in the final scene, but has no dialogue and is just there as a nod to the fans.
And I dance. And I sing.
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Yeah, I was just thinking about Tarkin the other day and wondering why he had more control than Vader and actually refers to him in one scene as "My Friend". I think it would be a great idea to put Tarkin in EP3 as an important character. In Ep3 Tarkin and Anakin could be like boy-hood chums and Tarkin helps lure Anakin to the dark side by encouraging his flying ambitions. Even if there's a ten-year age difference between the two they could still be friends. In ANH Vader is probably around 40 years old, while Tarkin could be 50 or younger; considering that each prequel takes place 10 years from each other. Anakin was probably in his early 20s in AOTC and he probably had Luke around the same time; Luke is about the same age in ANH, so that would put Vader at around 40.

Rebel Scumb how do you know what will happen in Ep3?
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Originally posted by: Rebel Scumb
but Rogue planet is EU and therefore has no baring on continuity as it takes place in an alternate dimension and GL pays no attention to it.

As for Tarkin, I'm dissappointed he did not play a larger role in the PT.

He will appear in Ep3 in the final scene, but has no dialogue and is just there as a nod to the fans.

that is true but i think GL would atleast keep charaters ages the same. and that was my point from before
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One note about ages: Vader is supposed to be 41 in ANH (E1 takes place 32 years before ANH and Annie is 9 year old), but Tarkin looks *much* older. I'd say over 70... well, at least in his late 60s.

When Vader dies he's about 44-45... "And his name shall be 44" LOL! (that quote is from classic literature)
I saw the original theatrical release of the Old Trilogy on the big screen and I'm proud of it...
How did I accomplish that (considering my age) is my secret...
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true about the age, I don't disagree with that. And also something that should be remembered is that Tarkin knew, or knew of Obi-wan kenobi.


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Rebel Scumb how do you know what will happen in Ep3?


A lot of stuff has leaked out. Some of it has been on TF.n and other sites. Other info just gets passed around amongst a smaller inner circle of SW fans on the web. A lot of that stuff comes my way, but the Tarkin thing has been in a lot of spoiler reports on the reputable SW fansites (if such a thing exists)

He may appear earlier in the movie perhaps as a commander during the space battle, but as far as I know he is with Vader and palpatine on the bridge in the final scene and that is it. Some pics leaked onto the web months ago of makeup tests for Tarkin. (I can't post them) and I believe its the current popular opinion (I believe it anyways) that the austrailian actor who plays Scorpius on Farscape is playing Tarkin.

Like anything in a SW film its subject to change, but at this point i believe we will see Tarkin in the final scene.
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
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Tarkin is one of the great characters of the Original Trilogy, with a depth and complexity that sets him apart from the (so-far) more superficial characters of the prequels.

I believe that Tarkin's future significance - and his control over Vader - lies in the role he will play in moulding Vader from the reckless youth of Episode II into the mature, authoritative leader he will become.

Consider how rash and impetuous Anakin is in Episode II. This rashness will ultimately lead to his estrangement from his Jedi allies, his crippling, and the loss of his great love, Padme. After all of these mishaps, he will learn to control his temper and become the ice-cold, calculating Darth Vader.

I believe that Vader accepts his status as an underling to Tarkin in Episode IV because he most likely saw him as somewhat of a role model. Think about it - how else to explain his transition from the emotional, reckless youth of Episode II to the totally calm and in-control Vader? His personality turns around a full 180 degress between Episodes II and IV. Surely the transition phase would have involved learning from someone he respected for their pragmatic, ruthless and expedient style. No one better fits this description than Tarkin. Vader, like all great totalitarian dictators with nothing to fear, would only bow to someone they respect personally, as they can never be constrained by any formal authority. Even if Tarkin does not end up playing a big role in Episode III, I am certain that in the period between Episodes III and IV, Vader will learn to respect and admire Tarkin for being such an effective, ruthless, emotionless operator and this will help mould his character. Having lost so much from being rash in his youth, Vader will learn the value of Tarkin's cold, calculating style. Even by the time of Episode IV, Vader is still learning from Tarkin and being impressed by his ruthlessness and cunning. Consider how impressed Vader is when Tarkin devises the plan to persuade Leia to confess by threatening to destroy Alderaan - a cunning plan that Vader himself was not able to devise.

No wonder Vader looks on Tarkin as a friend. By the time of Episode IV, Vader will rightly be able to say that Tarkin "helped make me the man I am today".
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I like your thinking, Dale. BTW, welcome to the forums.

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Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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it would be cool to see Anakin serving under Tarkin while Obi-wan serves under Bail, but the likelihood of hit happening is pretty slim.
And I dance. And I sing.
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is bail going to be in this movie.
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Uh-huh. They have to make up for Smits' lack of screen time in Ep II.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Episode 3 is set 3 years after episode 2, which makes it approximately 19 yrs before ANH. If for arguments sake Tarkin is say 65 in ANH then hes going to be mid to late forties in Ep3. I was under the impression that he was going to be called "Captain Tarkin". If i recall all the casting rumours the dude thats gonig to play the young(er) tarkin is merely referred to as a Young Captain on the starwars.com cast list.

I think then its fair to assume that he will be a Captain of one of those early Star Destroyer ships we saw at the end of Ep2. Perhaps he is Captain of the ship that Obi-Wan is commanding the Clone Troopers that will eventually turn on him?

Perhaps this is how Tarkin learns of Obi-Wan, with reference to Ep4, otherwise perhaps we are meant to assume that Vader & Tarkin had a nice chat sometime between eps 3 & 4, when they were bored on the Death Star, perhaps dunking biscuits & listening to Mozart?

Not a lot else to do on a space station on a Sunday afternoon except reminisce on days gone is there?
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Oh except visit the Death stars canteen every once in a while & remind eveyrone that you are LORD DARTH VADER & can kill them with a single thought & not Jeff Vader, head of catering

Evil dude: "You do not no pain, you do not know fear. You will taste MAN FLESH"

Evil ugly dudes: "YIPPEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
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Originally posted by: Shimraa
is bail going to be in this movie?


Quite a bit. I think he actually has more screentime then Padme who has basically been sidelined and barely appears (compared to her usual lead role). From what I understand she has a few political scenes in the first half, but is essentially a walking womb. There are a lot of rumours that NP and GL fought so much on Ep3 (I've heard she's hard to work with on other films) that GL was this close to firing her and hiring Keira Knightly, but KK was unavailable.


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Episode 3 is set 3 years after episode 2, which makes it approximately 19 yrs before ANH. If for arguments sake Tarkin is say 65 in ANH then hes going to be mid to late forties in Ep3. I was under the impression that he was going to be called "Captain Tarkin". If i recall all the casting rumours the dude thats gonig to play the young(er) tarkin is merely referred to as a Young Captain on the starwars.com cast list.


You're thinking of Rohan Nichols. He might be playing Tarkin but I think that has more or less been debunked. Its also rumoured that he might be playing Captain Antilles because the Tantiv4 is featured prominently in Ep3. But he MIGHT be Tarkin.

And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
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Originally posted by: Rebel Scumb
There are a lot of rumours that NP and GL fought so much on Ep3 (I've heard she's hard to work with on other films) that GL was this close to firing her and hiring Keira Knightly, but KK was unavailable.

The sad thing is that she's not even that big a star to be that big a bitch yet. But then again, this could have everything to do with GL's "peoplecentric" personality. So I won't use this revelation to judge her. Yet. I hadn't heard anything like this about her until I read Scumb's last post. What other movies was she supposedly "difficult" during the filming of?
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The only difficulty I've heard of being associated with Portman was her refusal to do a nude scene in Anywhere But Here, and the director was willing to get a rewrite to accomodate her.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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I would consider that pretty understandable. Many people refuse to do nude scenes.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
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Not me, give me $5 and I'll bare all for anyone!
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
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regarding NP being difficult, I forget which films it was. I know there was an extra on the set of Ep2 who said she was kind of a primadonna. I don't know if any of it is true, I'd say its likely that if it is it has a lot to do with GLs directing (or lack there of). NP was great in cold mountain, I've only seen her in SW for so long that I forgot she could act.
And I dance. And I sing.
And I'm a monkey, in a long line of kings.
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one word: leon.
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