I always thought that the Clone Wars were a small, but notable, regional conflict fought using clones (just like a nuclear war is a war fought using nukes), while the Kessel Run always sounded like some sort of illegal yet highly lauded space race of some sort, perhaps through a very hazardous chunk of space.
What did you think the colored badges on the Imperial uniforms mean, or how did they work? As a kid, I deduced that they were some kind of rank insignia, but I always figured that the not just number of squares, but color determined seniority
(Blue < Red < Yellow)
I remember seeing similar markings on Boba Fett’s armor (which was the same shade of green as the Imperial Army troops on Endor), and started to wonder if his was ex-imperial special forces or something.
What made the Empire evil, and the Rebel Alliance heroic? Sure the rebels were outnumbered underdogs, but the Empire is only as evil as we're supposed to believe they are. We're supposed to root for the Rebels because we're told the Empire is evil. Obviously the people at the top (The Emperor, Vader, Tarkin, the circle of assclowns running the Death Star) are pretty evil and out and out dicks at times, but in function, the Rebels are a bunch of crazy diehard terrorists trying to bring back an old, failed regime, because they don't believe the current one has any right to rule.
"The Academy" was pretty clearly Imperial flight school. Luke wanted to be a fighter pilot and his family kept having him work the farm. He had no idea the Empire was evil, nor any grudge against them, until Stormtroopers killed his family and burned his farm. Hell, most of the people in the Empire aren't evil, and don’t seem to mind the Empire, aside from paying taxes and such.
Oddly enough, most people don't seem to really remember the Republic, though they have heard of the Clone Wars (though there's nothing in the films describing that conflict, much less connecting it to the downfall of the Republic).
Pertaining to the Jedi, I always pictured them as a much smaller organization, more private, with one-on-one training, and "knights" doing whatever they thought was right, sort of like wuxia-style "errant knight" badasses, not tied to the formal power structures but held to defend ideals of peace and freedom. Yeah, Kenobi was a general, but he wasn't a general because he was a Jedi, he was just a good strategist and an all around badass.
Some Imperial jerkoff taunting Vader in Episode 4, stating: "Your sad devotion to that ancient Jedi religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes."
Always made me think that the Jedi ‘religion’ was actually an ancient dying religion that maybe 5 people in the whole galaxy even knew about or remembered.
Speaking of this scene, I always though that there was more of a story between Vader and Tarkin: Vader never answered to anyone save the Emperor, and apparently Tarkin.
When Vader was force-choking General douchebag , Tarkin commanded Vader to stay his hand. Maybe Vader’s heart just want into it, but considering how coldly Vader offs people for displeasing him, he appears to act all to quickly to Tarkin’s request.
Consider Tarkin's candid dialogue with Vader later on: “The Jedi are extinct. Their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion.”
Based on the line delivery in the film, Tarkin appears to actually use the word ‘friend’ to mean just that. It isn’t sarcastic or biting, but almost warm. It always felt like those two had a history, like they were good friends in the past, and that Tarkin was instrumental to turning Anakin to the Dark Side. Perhaps something like Anakin Sklywalker wanted to show mercy to some enemies in the Clone Wars or something and save them. And Tarkin, a cold-hearted pragmatists, point out to him that “We’re at war and letting the enemy live endangers the Republic. Destroy them!” This could have been one of many events that caused a crisis of conscience, while Tarkin could have been there to help pull Anakin down the dark path, the quick and easy path. Thus Anakin would be performing darkside acts, all the while thinking he is helping the Republic. An act acceptable for a non-force user but for a Jedi a very dangerous act to follow.
It also seam like Tarkin did right by Vader at some point, maybe even saving his life, to explain why Vader listened to and respected him.
What if Gillette WAS the best a man could get?
