The deep dark secret of Alderaan...

[Gotham Central]

So is there some deep dark secret event that took place on Alderaan before it was reduced to a ring of dust?

I only ask that because Lucas and company...in both the Prequels and Clone Wars...have steadfastly refused to spend any time there. Its absence in any of the stories is noticeable given that Lucas spent lots of time creating Naboo, a world nearly identical to Alderaan in every way but whose fate is never really in danger.

From the perspective of good storytelling, you would think that someone might decide that it is a good idea to SHOW us why the destruction of Alderaan was so tragic. Instead it was destroyed in A New Hope and never mentioned again. The scene in ROTS felt almost like an afterthought. Why is it never shown in Clone Wars?

 

[The Wormhole]

According to Wookiepedia, Alderann has been seen in Clone Wars.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

I wonder if Naboo was originally planned to be Alderaan, but Lucas realised that the daughter of Padme as a senator from Alderaan would be too easy to figure out...

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I don't see any reason to suppose that Alderaan was anything other than a peaceful and idyllic planet, possibly even a veritable utopia. I would not doubt that Alderaan was still figuring prominently in the Senate when the Emperor dissolved it. None of that is a stretch, even based only on what is in Episode IV.

Is the OP trying to suggest that the people of Alderaan somehow deserved what happened to them?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

According to Wookiepedia, Alderann has been seen in Clone Wars.

Yes, Padme visited the planet in one episode. She gave a speech and there was one guy in the audience who I thought looked quite a bit like Luke.

Is that the deep dark secret they're trying to hide?

 

[Admiral_Young]

Alderaan is nothing more than a plot device. There's no dark secret or particular reason why he hasn't been shown or referred to more than it has.

 

[Candlelight]

Makes you wonder how much sway Tarkin had over/with the Emperor. He made the decision to change course for Alderaan, and to destroy it. Didn't even drop a line to the Emperor to say 'hey, you know that planet over there, the one with that nice picket fence? I'm just gonna blow it up to show the galaxy how evil we are'.

Then again, by then the Emperor probably only cared about Coruscant and building artificial worlds.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm guessing that Tarkin had standing orders from the Emperor to target whatever rebel stronghold he could find, or use the Death Star on a planet they felt was aligned with them. We already know that Tarkin was in the inner circle. He wouldn't have been included in that scene at the end of ROTS if he wasn't.

 

[Whofan]

Well, the planet was home to Jimmy Smit's character Bail Organa, one of the architects of the rebel alliance and Leia's foster father.

 

[Ayelbourne]

So is there some deep dark secret event that took place on Alderaan before it was reduced to a ring of dust?

You have to be very strong now:

http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/funny-gifs-alderaan-shot-first.gif

 

[Checkmate]

Lucas is a horrible writer and has the creative imagination of a preteen. That's the reason for the vast majority of the stupidity in Star Wars. He's simply gifted at hiring other people to make him look good despite those facts.

 

[spooky spice]

You have to be very strong now:

http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/funny-gifs-alderaan-shot-first.gif

LOL

 

[Gotham Central]

So is there some deep dark secret event that took place on Alderaan before it was reduced to a ring of dust?

You have to be very strong now:

http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/funny-gifs-alderaan-shot-first.gif

 

[Gotham Central]

I don't see any reason to suppose that Alderaan was anything other than a peaceful and idyllic planet, possibly even a veritable utopia. I would not doubt that Alderaan was still figuring prominently in the Senate when the Emperor dissolved it. None of that is a stretch, even based only on what is in Episode IV.

Is the OP trying to suggest that the people of Alderaan somehow deserved what happened to them?

No its more sarcasm. I'm trying to figure out why Lucas and company have decided to largely avoid doing anything with Alderaan in the prequel era. I always figured that if the audience knew more about Alderaan it would give its destruction more dramatic impact. Instead we spend lots of time on Naboo and Tattooine (a planet that we are told REPEATEDLY is unimportant and not close to anything).

 

[Whofan]

Naboo was actually called Utapau in early scripts (The name was eventually used for the ROTS planet)


The Illustrated Star Wars Universe book-not sure if it's still available in print-has some paintings of Alderaan's cities which are pretty nifty, as well as reused concept art that 'stands' for Alderaan.


As for Alderaan's issues, there's also the whole Dark Nest trilogy in which we meet Alderaan's original inhabits-giant bugs. Not kidding.

 

[Gov Kodos]

So is there some deep dark secret event that took place on Alderaan before it was reduced to a ring of dust?

You have to be very strong now:

http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/funny-gifs-alderaan-shot-first.gif

A most elegant summation of what Lucas's fiddling has amounted to.

 

[Kegg]

The same film that gave us Naboo did refer to another Senator from Alderaan, and Bail Organa played a minor and distinctly underwritten role in the prequel films.

But yeah. Naboo being Alderaan - as much as it smacks of the kind of small-universe syndrome Star Wars is endemic with - would have given more dramatic impact to the destruction of Episode IV... but blutned the Phantom Menace's own.

I mean they spend the entire film trying to save a planet that everyone in the audience knows is doomed. It makes the film a far more obviously futile gesture than it currently appeared.

But yeah. Of all the planets from the original trilogy that could have genuinely benefited from a prequel treatment, Alderaan's second behind only the unnamed and unseen Imperial capital world (which, of course, we now know as Coruscant).

As far as Tarkin goes... the guy was trusted with the keys to the Death Star, the Empire's ultimate superweapon. He first arrives after consulting with the Emperor personally, announcing to surprised Imperial commanders that the Senate has been dissolved. He countermands Vader, at that.

I think it can be safely assumed he had full discretionary authority to use the Death Star to blow up whatever the hell he pleased. His destruction of Alderaan - chosen not for its rebel actiivity, but for its importance as a highly prominent world whose destruction would serve as an example to the rest of the worlds - does seem to be in line with the show of force the Emperor expects.

Naboo was actually called Utapau in early scripts (The name was eventually used for the ROTS planet)

Utapau was also the name for Tattooine in basically all the scripts for the original film. In the end, though, no name for Luke's desert world was ever said on screen.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I took it to mean that it was blown up because of Leia's connection and to get at her, and not so much because it was important. But it does strike me as odd that while she's supposed to be in hiding from her father, that she was wearing the Princess role. That likely made it easier for Vader to track her down. Was she a leader of Alderaan just like her mother was leader of Naboo, I wonder? You'd think that to be in hiding, she'd want to come across as a civilian as much as possible. And how exactly did she become Princess of Alderaan? There's the obvious lineage going on, but how did she become a leader of that planet in particular? Sounds like there could be an interesting story there.

 

[Kegg]

I took it to mean that it was blown up because of Leia's connection and to get at her, and not so much because it was important.

Ah, but as Tarkin does say:

Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration.

Tarkin may have blown up Alderaan anyway even if the base was ideally situated (he is that kind of jerk), but it seems that Dantooine was so obscure a world that its destruction wouldn't have the fear-inducing impact the Death Star was supposed to be about.

But it does strike me as odd that while she's supposed to be in hiding from her father, that she was wearing the Princess role. That likely made it easier for Vader to track her down.

Leia wasn't hiding. The ship she was on was, officially, a courier on a diplomatic mission. The Tantive IV is going about very public business, and the star destroyer's sudden assault is quite arguably illegal. She was using her status as Princess as a shield and cover, basically, and it's only at the start of the film that she's summarily accused of being a rebel.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I didn't get the sense that she was the leader of the planet, just an adopted member of the royal family. And considering her adoptive father was a Senator, the royalty thing seemed ceremonial. You can be a Princess but you have to earn the title of Senator.

Maybe the royal family of Alderaan is in the habit of adopting all sorts of kids. That might have made Leia's presence less suspicious. Remember, Anakin didn't believe that his children were alive. He wouldn't have been looking for them. The more interesting notion is whether the Emperor had suspicions where either of the twins were.