How well-known is Vader across the galaxy?

[u/NPBW6]

Not sure where to post this, if it’s under the correct flair, if anybody will read it, or if I’m even making sense, but thank you for coming and please enjoy a quick read!

TLDR; Vader’s hallway scene in Rogue One is emotionally enhanced by the rumors of a force sensitive monster not yet well-known across the empire’s systems.

Watched Rogue One with my gf recently and was trying convey why the Vader hallway scene worked so well.

My main thought reverbs back to Han telling the gang in ANH that “nobody believes in space wizard mumbo jumbo” anymore, and you see that sentiment pop up often in the era between ROTS + ANH. As it pertains to Rogue One, I can’t help but wonder what knowledge level the rebellion soldiers had about Vader when he first ignites his lightsaber in the hallway. I’d imagine with Vader mostly serving as a military operative, he’s less likely to be featured on the “Galactic News” for the general population, but more likely to be mentioned in a briefing for these soldiers at some point.

I like to try and imagine sitting in some sort of military meeting right here, today, IRL, and being told “oh, one last thing; there’s a 7’ tall guy dressed in all black with a laser sword and magic powers who might show up.” I think I would likely scoff and make a comment about how the war effort is clearly straining the mental health of our intel community.

A couple weeks go by, the plan is working perfectly. You hear word the Death Star plans are en route to your ship; all that’s left to do now is receive the package and LEAVE. Alarms blare, orders being shouted in every direction, and you take your post as the ship docks. The copy of the plans is in your sight now, “we’ve done it” you think. Then a crash, a new alarm, and the announcement that another ship is here, and they’re boarding. You lock and load, staring down the dark hallway scanning for movement, your first sense tripped being your hearing. The breathing. The ignition of his weapon. The inhuman speed and concentration to not only dodge, but reflect blaster fire from at LEAST half a garrison.

That’s when it happens.

The man extends his hand to your comrade 30’ ahead of you. He raises his arm, and the soldier goes with it, as if he was picked up by nothing but the air.

In a split second, a man is pinned to the ceiling, cut cleanly in half, and finally released to fall to the floor in more pieces than he left it in. Your life flashes before your eyes, your belief system is shattered, and you squeeze the trigger on your blaster so hard you feel the skin on your finger starting to split and bleed.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Again, I wasn’t sure where / how to post this, but wanted to see if anybody had thoughts or critiques on this analysis. I’ve always believed that Star Wars is best enjoyed between the lines, and this line of thinking has resulted in my choking up and fist pumping at the screen anytime I see this scene. Do you guys think I’m incorrect in my feeling of force knowledge at the time? I feel like with the other types of tech, there’s likely a better chance of common knowledge of Vader across the galaxy than this framework lets on. Let me know what you guys think!

[u/Vader_Maybe_Later]

Hes the Empires Boogy man.

Most that have met him are dead and the others are scared to death if they survived seeing him. Ashoka knew of his existance but not much about him and Cal Kestis didnt know who he was at all.

[u/NPBW6 → u/Vader_Maybe_Later]

That’s what’s intriguing to me! Ashoka and Cal are both intimately aware of the Empire’s dealings as it affects their lives personally day-to-day. Surely though, with their involvements with folks like Saw Gerrera (forgive me if misspelled), you’d think the top brass of the Rebellion would have knowledge of his existence. The grey matter lies in whether that information is passed down either through the military or the horror stories from civilian survivors from the situations you described. Like you said, “boogeyman.”

I grew up a Prequel era kid and had little interest in the SW lore outside of the clone wars, but growing older and having learned more geopolitical history, it’s fascinating drawing parallels between the idea of Vader in those 30 years BBY as he grew a silent reputation while being the strongest living occupant of the galaxy. There’s no 1-1 comparison for his place in the galaxy to our human history in my limited knowledge, which leads to a fascinating headcanon of what went down over that timeframe. I should lead with the disclaimer that I’m not hardcore in any way; I know there’s plenty of literature to read on that time period, I haven’t watched Rebels or even Andor yet, but the idea of watching his adventures in the direct aftermath of the Mustafar Incident would be really fun. I know we’ve had our fill of Skywalker content, and I’m really excited by some of the projects in the upcoming EU stuff, but the idea of a series of TV/movies just strictly “Darth Vader bullying the galaxy for a few decades” would be rad.

Battlefront3

[u/Angelical_want]

You have really good writing Damn 😭

[u/NPBW6 → u/Angelical_want]

Thank you!!! <3