By [ad_1]
When Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin clashed in Star Wars, their brutal battle proved why both are the Empire’s greatest generals.
The original Star Wars villains were Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. When A New Hope was released, the Emperor was only an off-screen idea, so that left Vader and Tarkin as the villainous twin faces of the Empire. They had antithetical philosophies regarding warfare and combat, but the two of them clearly respected the other’s prowess.
They were both former members of the Republic, where Palpatine took a liking to their potential. Accordingly, they both found high-ranking positions in the new Galactic Empire. However, Vader and Tarkin share more history than simply having come from the Republic. There was a specific instance where the two of them pitted their skills against each other. That story is told in 2017’s Darth Vader #18 , by Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini and David Curiel.
On a planet called Chandar’s Folly, Vader had found out about Tarkin’s past: He grew up on the savage world of Eriadu where he learned survival skills and hunting skills lessons while completing a rite of passage deep within the wilderness of the Carrion Plateau. At this point in the comic’s arc, Tarkin owed Vader a debt for helping with the capture of Mon Cala’s King Lee-Char, so the dark lord finally called in his favor. He asked Tarkin to hunt him.
Tarkin was flattered that Vader would praise his hunting skills, but he couldn’t really figure out why Vader wanted to be hunted. His only hypothesis was that Vader was bored. With most of the Jedi dead, the Sith Lord has trouble finding opponents of worthy skill, Vader wanted a challenge, and Tarkin gave it to him. He gathered 20 men, and at Vader’s command, tried to hunt and kill the ex-Jedi.
As the comic opens, the hunt is on its ninth day, and Tarkin only has eight of his men still alive. Flashing back, Tarkin knew that Vader could deflect blaster bolts with a lightsaber or the Force, so he had armed his men with flamethrowers and slug-throwers. Their initial attack was successful, but Vader destroyed the flame-throwing weapons with his mind, killing four men. Then on day four, they made a plan to steal Vader’s lightsaber. They were successful but lost six more warriors in the process. After that, Tarkin essentially sacrificed two of his men to find out how close someone could get before Vader could kill them with the Force.
Back in the present, the tables have turned, and Vader has changed from hunted to hunter. He killed a Valath – the planet’s apex predator – and used its near-magic hide to blend into his surroundings. Along with that, Vader shut off the breathing apparatus on his suit, so that Tarkin’s hearing specialists couldn’t determine his position. During that attack, Vader killed the last of Tarkin’s soldiers and proceeded to determinedly follow a fleeing Tarkin.
Knowing his defeat was imminent, Tarkin appeared to surrender to Vader. Then, his whole plan comes together. He chose Chandar’s Folly as the place of their hunt for a specific reason. Just as Vader was about to kill him, Tarkin told himself that the “taller you stand, the quicker you die,” and a massive bolt of lightning blazed from the sky and completely incapacitated Vader. Tarkin thought that he and won and even called for a shuttle to pick them up, but Vader proved his determination and proceeded to choke Tarkin just to prove that he had not been completely beaten.
While Vader might dramatically physically outclass Tarkin, both of them are tactical geniuses in their own right. Moments like this prove why Tarkin deserved his place in the highest echelons of the Empire and show why Vader would take orders from him. By the end of this fight, Vader and Tarkin had a newfound respect for each other, Vader for Tarkin’s tactical resourcefulness and Tarkin for Vader’s sheer will and utter power. And this respect made them one of the deadliest duos in the Empire.
About The Author
[ad_2]
