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Truly Wonderful, the Mind of a Child Is...

by: kyle228

date posted: Jan 29, 2007 1:10 PM

Destruction of Yavin IV

Hello everyone!

I had a very random thought yesterday, when I was studying for my geography (

) exam.

I started to think of Ep. IV, and The Death Star attempting to blow up Yavin IV. Why would Palps (or more of his Sidious side, in this case) blow up this particular planet, where the Massassi Temples were? Wouldn't the two Sith in existance want these temples, which were made under Sith influence, to stick around?

Surely Palps and Vader knew that there were still hidden Sith secrets and spirits (i.e. Exar Kun) within the Temples. There would be such a strong Force presence there, that even if they didn't know about it previously, they probably would have picked up on it once they arrived there.

I also think that it would be of greater importance to Palps and Vader to find more Sith secrets than to wipe out the Rebellion at that time. Before the Rebels destroyed the Death Star, the Empire really didn't realize how big of a threat they were. So wouldn't Palps and Vader have just thought they could get rid of the Rebellion in some other fashion than blowing up a planet with such importance to their religion (so to speak)?

And yes, I realize that Palps wanted to get the word out there that he had a big bad superlaser that could destroy any planet that stood in their way, but I personally don't think that he would risk letting all the important history on Yavin IV disappear just to kill two birds with one stone (getting rid of the Rebellion and giving a demonstration of Imperial superiority).

Am I missing something? Perhaps there's some explanation out there that I'm missing... if so - lead me to it! If not, then let me hear some theories!

May the Force be With You, and Happy 30th Anniversary!

http://blogs.starwars.com/mindofachild/30

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	Captain Yossarian Captain Yossarian's Super Happy Fun Place
date Posted: Jan 29, 2007 1:28 PM Possibly the Sithyness of Yavin IV was only made up later in the EU and whoever did it didn't think too deeply about it.

JawaJoey
Return of the Jawa

date Posted: Jan 29, 2007 2:44 PM

Several possible explanations:

The Emperor, and any real idea of the Sith, didn't exist when ANH was made.

The Emperor simply put Tarkin in charge of the Death Star and beating the Rebels, and didn't know that he was going to blow up Yavin, and Tarkin didn't know about the Sith thing.

Maybe the Emperor and Vader didn't know about Exar Kun and stuff. Palpatine probably would know, but it is possible he didn't. When the new Jedi found out about Exar Kun, it was surprise.

JawaJoey
Return of the Jawa

date Posted: Jan 29, 2007 2:44 PM

The Emperor was threatened by Exar Kun. Even in death, Exar Kun was powerful and influential, and Emperor was fine with him being gone.

The Emperor didn't care about Exar Kun. What would he need from him? He already succeeded in destroying the Jedi and taking control of the galaxy, what else could he possibly need? Especially from Exar Kun, who was defeated by the Jedi.

Personally, I like the last one the best.

RC-1138 Boss
Yay for Sith

date Posted: Jan 29, 2007 3:17 PM

there are a ton of explanations why he would/wouldnt destroy the temples like: he has korriban, and dathomire, he didnt kno they were there. thats all i can think of at the moment and the temples were made by the massassi warriors after Naga Sadows death and after they evoled into the warriors. TO:jawajoey: Exar wouldnt of died by jedi if they didnt ambush him and trap him in one of the temples and their were alot of jedi who tried and succeded in killing him

LONG LIVE THE SITH

The Dark Moose
Moose Poodoo

date Posted: Jan 29, 2007 3:31 PM

Except for the study of sources of power, I am not sure any "good" Sith would care about destroying the moon. Perhaps all that was known of Sithery was already thought to be contained in the Holocron. As Sith aren't sentimental types, and thinking he had everything he needed for his new Sith Empire, Palpatine perhaps wouldn't think twice about the destruction of Yavin IV if it meant the destruction of the Rebel Alliance.

	Darth_Hiram A Journey into The Force
date Posted: Jan 29, 2007 6:47 PM I think thw "new" Sith philosophy abandoned some of the old. Palpatine was bent on power for him and him alone. He may not have cared what was contained in any temple as he now had what he wanted most - sole dictatorship.

	rj_peters Memos from the Imperial Finance Department
date Posted: Jan 30, 2007 12:53 PM Ah, the many conundrums in a universe that was pieced together in a non-linear fashion. The bigger question is how could a character as critical as the 'Emperor' in ANH be completely off-camera the whole time?

Elflord_2006

date Posted: Jan 30, 2007 1:33 PM

Destroying Yavin would show any future enemies of the Empire the lenght that the Emperor will go to to destroy a rebellion including destroying Sith antiquity. Truly ruthless.

But I do agree, the EU fabric is tearing with observations like yours. How distressing.

ANH raised another question for me though, in the beginning 3PO says they'll be no escape for the princess this time on the Tantive but later on Luke ask who the holoimage is and 3PO doesn't know, "...someone of some importance...", i think.

	jedi_iain From A Certain Point Of View
date Posted: Jan 30, 2007 3:05 PM I'm not really sure the Emperor had anything to do with it, I mean, Tarkin was in command of the Death Star, so maybe he just wanted to destroy the rebels and didn't bother to tell Palps what he was doing. Tarkin probably didn't know about the temples. Temples of evil probably isn't something the Yavin IV tourist industry advertises

	Jedi Master Mina Another Galaxy, another time
date Posted: Jan 30, 2007 10:14 PM The bigger question is how could a character as critical as the 'Emperor' in ANH be completely off-camera the whole time? I'm still waiting for them to piece that one together too!! Happy 30th BTW.

kyle228
Truly Wonderful, the Mind of a Child Is...

date Posted: Jan 31, 2007 9:33 AM

Thanks for all the comments, everyone! As always, much appreciated!

Sithyness of Yavin IV was only made up later in the EU
Most definitly, but I thought maybe some GFFA answer had been put out there sometime, somewhere...

He already succeeded in destroying the Jedi and taking control of the galaxy, what else could he possibly need?
The Sith crave power, obviously, but I think deep down they want to know all they can about their kind. They could have thought that a long, long dead Sith would have some secrets that had been lost over time.

CONT'D

kyle228
Truly Wonderful, the Mind of a Child Is...

date Posted: Jan 31, 2007 9:34 AM

Palpatine was bent on power for him and him alone
He sure didn't give two hoots about Vader. He would have given him the boot the second a stronger Sith candidate (an Emperor's Hand, perhaps... M.J.?) came along.

Tarkin probably didn't know about the temples
No, but Palps did (at least I believe he did). And even though the Regional Govenors (spell) had 'complete control' over their territories, Palps surely could have stepped in and told them what to do once and a while.

CONT'D

kyle228
Truly Wonderful, the Mind of a Child Is...

date Posted: Jan 31, 2007 9:34 AM

The bigger question is how could a character as critical as the 'Emperor' in ANH be completely off-camera the whole time?
Let's not go there... nobody'll ever come up with an answer to that one (unless GL tells us, someday) except for that he wasn't a fully imagined character until much later.

Once again, thanks for all the comments!

MTFBWY, and Happy 30th Anniversary!

	gallandro77
date Posted: Jan 31, 2007 3:25 PM maybe the emporer just didnt care, or thought hed learned everythi alreadyng

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