We actually see Vader and Palpatine watching the Death Star being constructed along with a younger Tarkin at the end of episode 3. And while The Clone Wars expanded on the Anakin/Tarkin relationship we don’t have anything from between the films…I think.
(I have no exposure to expanded universe stuff besides the TV show, but feel free to mention it!)
I realize in real life the somewhat odd relationship Vader and Tarkin and also the rest of the crew in the opening of ep.4 is just down to retcons and Lucas changing his mind, but go with me!
It doesn’t really bug me that Vader would listen to Tarkin, and that Tarkin would be able to bring him to heel in EP4. Tarkin is the captain of the DS, and they have a relationship going back decades.
What most people find really shocking is the way the rest of the crew treats Vader, here is how I see it…
Vader when EP4 opens is a washed up old joke almost, he has no purpose as the last of the jedi have loooong been hunted down and slaughtered. Vader likely has nothing to do but sit in his pod container all day soaking in despair about Padme, I’d almost think Vader may have been close to suicide. The subordinates dare mock him because he hasn’t done shit but sulk around the ship for more than a decade. He has no real place or purpose in the Empire, even Tarkin has this weary look when dealing with him.
I mean hell by EP5 Vader is almost a new invigorated machine/man, there are jedi and force users running around again and he has now been given full command of the Empire’s forces.
Vader is a representative of the Emperor, and not part of the Government, particularly with no association with the construction of the Death Star.
There’s a new animated TV series about to début called Star Wars Rebels, which will likely clarify this relationship better, as it’s set precisely in this unexplored period.
Vader was such a big hit after ep4 his role was expanded in subsequent movies. In ep 4, he had less than 10 lines total. As you’ll notice, ep 5 and 6 have an unplanned, almost improv, feel.
“Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.” sets up the smirking response that prompts the choke with a side of “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Likewise, “I sense something; a presence I’ve not felt since…” sets up “I’ve been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner. Now, I am the master.” And there’s the whole “Commander, tear this ship apart until you find those plans” bit, after he talkatively interrogates the guy he’s lifting off the ground and throwing around with one hand. Plus there’s his appraisal of the young pilot he’s trying to shoot down: “The Force is strong with this one.” Speaking of which, there’s all the confident boasting:
“I have you now!”
“Your powers are weak, old man.”
“Escape is not his plan. I must face him – alone.”
“The plans you refer to will soon be back in our hands.”
“I told you she would never consciously betray the rebellion.”
“You are PART of the rebel ALLIANCE and a TRAITOR! Take her away!”
“And now, your highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden rebel base.”
“This will be a day long remembered. It has already seen the end of Kenobi; it will soon see the end of the rebellion.”
Tarkin and his kind took care of the purely secular, build-ships-and-fleets-and physically-conquer-worlds aspect of his regime.
Vader took car eof the remaining Jedia, and, if EU is to be believed, located and recruited (or killed) various untutored Force-users.
As well, Vader is Palpatine’s eyes-and-ears abroad, keeping an eye on the various Moffs and Admirals, lest one of them decide to pop into Coruscant with a battle fleet, and call the Emperor about some new power-sharing scheme he just developed.
Vader isn’t a joke in ANH. He is personally going after the stolen plans to the Death Star. I would guess that was Palpatine’s number one priority at that time. He follows Tarkin’s orders most likely because Palpatine told him to (but also to keep an eye on Tarkin as well)
I would guess some of the the Moffs treat Vader like they do because they were a generation raised to dismiss the Force and hate Jedis and Vader represented that. Also they are a bunch of assholes.
Vader does not follow Tarkin’s orders. I’ve never understood why people jump to that conclusion about the force-choking scene. When Tarkin says “enough of this, release him!”, it’s not like he’s saying “I command you to stop, and you will obey my orders!” It’s more like “dude, you’re killing my boy! You’ve made your point, now knock it off!”
As an analogy, if I witness a friend, or a colleague, or a boss - anyone, whether I have “power” over them or not - about to do something that would get them hurt, I’m going to shout “No! Stop!” And hopefully they would. It doesn’t mean that they follow my orders, or that a pecking order has been established and I am the dominant one.
And how great is SUPERMAN II, when Lex Luthor tells the Phantom Zone villains to attack our hero maybe two seconds before they’d do it on their own anyway?
And if you watch the scene you can see that Tarkin clearly *lets *Vader choke the uppity officer for a bit before requesting (not ordering) him to stop. Tarkin knows that strict discipline is important in the Empire at all levels. Vader also knows that he was mostly just indulging his own ego a bit, he made his point, and the guy didn’t deserve to die for his impertinence.
Shit breaks? When my refrigerator was new, it had a functioning ice machine in it. Now, it does not. That’s not a continuity error, that’s just entropy.
To me, an astromech is a bit more than a 'fridge.
I mean, if the rockets on my astromech (or even the ice machine in my 'fridge ) when on the fritz, I’d break out the tools or call the repairman and get them fixed.
What I considered a bigger issue was the construction of the Death Star. At the end of Episode 3, we see its construction well on its way. Then it’s launched in Episode 4. There’s supposed to be the passage of nineteen years between these two movies.
When the first Death Star gets blown up, they built a second one in only four years. And the second one was supposed to be a larger and more advanced model.
As noted, I don’t think Vader is as much of a joke/minor character in Episode 4 as OP seems to think. He’s the first main character (aside from the droids) introduced, the first villain introduced, he single-handedly takes down Obi-Wan, leads the counter-attack in defense of the Death Star, etc…
I have always wondered, though, if Lucas had decided to have Vader be Anakin Skywalker in Episode 4. A lot of people like to point to the “Vader = ‘father’ in Dutch” thing, but in the rough draft of Star Wars, Darth Vader shows up in a similar role he has in Episode 4. Luke Skywalker is the name of the Obi-Wan character, Annakin Starkiller is the young hero, and there doesn’t really seem to be any mystery as to who Annakin (his dad, Kane Starkiller, shows up in the story) or Leia’s parents (the king/queen) are. It wouldn’t surprise me if he came up with the idea between ANH and ESB… then again, he might’ve just left out any hints because he thought ANH would be a one-shot deal.
And yeah, the twenty-year gap in the timeline doesn’t really make much sense. Not so much the Death Star (there’s some EU material that it took them a long time to get the superlaser to work), but I was always bothered by the “ancient religion” line given how many Jedi are running around in the prequels. I’ve seen the counter-argument that the galaxy is full of gazillions of people and even though we see a ton of Jedi, they aren’t that numerous in propotion, but… I dunno, seems like most people know who Jedi are and what they do, and wouldn’t have forgotten in just two decades.
This isn’t something you have to wonder about. The answer is no. He didn’t come up with the idea that Darth Vader was Luke’s father until the second draft of second (aka fifth) movie. Darth Vader had killed Anakin Skywalker, just like Obi Wan said. If it had been planned, there would have been no need for something to be “true from a certain point of view.”
) when on the fritz, I’d break out the tools or call the repairman and get them fixed.