From: shoham@ll.mit.edu (Daniel Shoham)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars
Subject: Re: New Questions
Date: 16 Dec 92 02:10:14 GMT
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory

In article <BzB6s4.HyA@mach1.wlu.ca> lars4752@mach1.wlu.ca (Bradley Larsen u) writes:

>3)  Does Darth Vader have a rank?  I know his title is Lord, but wouldn't 
>a lord be above rank of a Grand Moff (ANH - Tarkin)?

Vader's rule has evolved in the trilogy.

I think Vader (like the Emperor) is a civilian! - not that the concept of
civilian/military seperation is an overriding one in assorted evil empires,
but it does have an important function in the chain of command. It could also
be a historical seperation that survived the Senate abolishing.

To understand Vader's position, we must make some assumptions about the
developments leading to ANH - since this is when the STRUCTURE of the chain of
command was created.

The process of replacing the Republic with an Empire was a gradual one. After
(almost) all of the Jedi were killed, the well established democratic bodies 
were defenseless against a systematic grinding down of their power. However,
the bureaucratic inertia of countless generations, made it impossible to simply
abolish all such bodies at once and hope to have a functioning empire (and not
just chaos) in place. There where three "branches" of government to consider:
The Senate, the governors, and the fleet. The emperor (with Vader's help),
set about to gain controling influence in all three branches.

 The Senate proved the hardest nut to crack (perhaps because the emperor was
once a senator himself, he could not bring himself to use the same brutal
tactics on that dignified body that he so effectively used elsewhere). The name
"Imperial Senate" suggest that there was some compromise (or planned gradual
change) that changed a (presumably) previously named "Republic Senate" (or
something like this) to be more to the Emperor's liking (and perhaps there was
some pro-emperor structual change as well - say, some appointed members added)
The new Senate was generaly cooperating with the Emperor, but was still
exhibiting too much independence (but probably not nearly as much as it's
predecessor). The statement "The rebellion will continue to gain support in the
Imperial Senate..." seem to indicate that Impies political analysis did not
consider Senate support for the rebellion to be too strong as of yet (but
growing). Ultimately, The Emperor abolished that overly-independent body
anyway. He was able to do it because he had carefully built up another
structure to take over the bureaucracy - the regional governors.

 The regional governors must have been much easier to control. Unlike the
large number of legislative polticians - skilled in the arts of diplomacy,
compromise, and oratory - that the Senate contained, the governors are a
smaller group of powerfull individuals, used to rule by decrees and not
by consultation. Such power-hungry individuals are just what the Emperor likes,
they can have (near) absolute rules in their systems and the protection of
the Imperial fleet if they would swear alligance to the Emperor, place their
bureaucracies at his disposal, and help finance his government. Surely, some
governors did not buy into such deals - but undoubtedly, the Emperor found
ways to have them replaced.

 The fleet was most likely the easiest structure for the Emperor to gain
control of (perhaps, the emperor have actually build the fleet - not just
inherit it). The art of killing attracts the "darkest" of individuals. The
strict chain of command fascilitate - more than any other body - one man rule.


In the period leading to ANH, the Senate - knowing that the fleet is likely
to be a tool in the Emperor's hand - insisted on keeping it a strictly
professional body. Strong markings of a professional fleet continue to be
exhibited long after the Senate was abolished. The fleet is not just a bunch
of thugs - it is a well discplained and professional body (that is *controlled*
by thugs). [Examples: they take prisoners - not just shoot them. Execution
orders are signed by high ranked officers - implying they are rare. Bounty
hunters make deals with the empire - implying it has a track record of honoring
deals [Lando's deal is an exeption. More on that later]. Captain Needa, knowing
the risks, appologize to Vader personally - intense professionalism I'd say].
Tarkin, the fleet supreme commander, appeared a reasonable compromise between
the Senate - who wanted a professional, not a thug - to run the fleet, and the
Emperor who wanted one of "his people" for the job. It turned out the Senate
was sadly mistaken, as Tarkin proved a very skillfull tool for the Emperor.
Vader, was truely a thug in his own class ("Only you could be so bold"). As
such, the Senate would not have him in the military (they clearly had the
power to do so, as evidanced by the fact that Vader was so in fear of the
Senate that Leia felt she could threaten him with Senatorial action, and he
felt the need to fabricate an accidental destruction of the Blockade Runner).
The Emperor, has thus created a special civilian slot for his favorite aide
(Vader). As a civilian, when aboard military vessels, he was subject to
commands by the supreme commanders (Tarkin). In theory, Vader was not supposed
to give orders, but so long as the Senate doesn't know, Tarkin allowed him
to command politically sensitive operations (after all, they are both on the
same team - the Emperor's).

After the Imprial Senate was abolished, Tarkin - who earned his rank with his
skills - may well have kept his job. However, blowing up with the death star,
proved too severe a setback for his career to survive. The Emperor placed Vader
firmly in command of the fleet - say, as defense minister. Vader's unpolished
thugery was quite a contrast to the professional officiers under his command.
He went on a chocking rampage of his juniors. His style earned the resentment
of even his own protege, Piett ("Bounty hunters, we don't need that scums").
His violation of the deal struck with Lando surely has damaged the Empire's
credibility (but curiously, Vader not only kept his deal with Boba Fett, but
even went as far as to offer to compensate the latter if Han died. Perhaps,
Vader and Boba are old buddies - Bobba talks back when Vader hired the BH's)

After his encounter with Luke, Vader begin to shed his thugish nature. He
stops chocking, etc. He even refers to himself as "forgiving" (at least more so
than the Emperor). The Emperor - perhaps suspicious of the changes taking
place within Vader (a well placed suspicion) - takes over military duties from
Vader and commands the fleet personally (Piett: "I have my orders from the
Emperor himself"). Vader is relegated to such non-glamerous jobs as overseeing
the DS-II construction. At one point the Emperor (blantly) tells Vader to "Go
out to the command ship and await my orders". The Emperor is visibly upset
when Vader violates this instruction (Because he noticed Luke is on the planet)
- clearly Vader is being "cut out of the loop".


Dan Shoham               shoham@ll.mit.edu
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