Warning: contains spoilers for Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1!Throughout the Star Wars franchise, there is no shortage of pivotal moments–from the attack of the clones in Episode II to the death of Snoke in Episode VIII–but none are more so than one particular event in the very first installment, and Palpatine just flipped it on its head.
In Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, fans are introduced to the world of Star Wars in truly epic fashion. In the opening moments, an Empire Star Destroyer is attacking a Rebel vessel as the Rebellion successfully stole the plans to the Death Star and the Empire was hellbent on getting them back before that information could be used to destroy the Empire’s most powerful weapon. After the Empire’s most terrifying enforcer in the galaxy, Darth Vader, boarded the Rebel ship, Princess Leia–a Rebel leader–uploaded the Death Star plans into the drive of the droid R2-D2 before making a message for the Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, begging him for help. R2-D2 and his companion droid, C-3PO, were then tasked with finding Obi-Wan, getting him the Death Star plans, and relaying Leia’s message–but first, the two droids had to survive the attack launched by Darth Vader and the Empire. So, R2-D2 and C-3PO boarded an escape pod and set off to find Obi-Wan–and the only reason they weren’t shot down by the Empire’s Star Destroyer is because the gunner of that ship didn’t see any signs of life in the pod, so he didn’t waste the ammo it would take to blow it up.
In Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1 by Charles Soule and Steven Cummings, the leader of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, Lady Qi’ra, is launching a full-scale assault on the Empire–even going so far as to contact Emperor Palpatine directly via hologram as she launches her attack. Qi’ra is determined to kill Darth Vader and the Emperor, but her lack of Force sensitivity has made that nearly impossible. However, it is revealed in this issue that Qi’ra got her hands on a Sith artifact that could be used as a weapon against Sidious, and she wanted to see the look on Palpatine’s face when she attempted to unlock its power. In response to Qi’ra’s assault, the Emperor ordered his troops to invade the planet he believed Qi’ra was on. When members of the Crimson Dawn tried to evade the Empire’s ships by-way of escape pods, the Empire ordered his troops to, “Target all escape pods”.
Palpatine Could Have Won Star Wars with His Most Recent Order
While it is a quick line that seemingly holds little significance, nothing the Emperor says is to be taken lightly. So, when Palpatine orders that all escape pods are to be shot down, he means all of them–even if there are no signs of life. This completely flips the pivotal moment in the first installment of the franchise as the only reason the Rebellion was victorious was because R2-D2 and C-3PO’s escape pod wasn’t shot down. If the Emperor issued this order at that time, then the Rebellion wouldn’t have gained the Death Star plans, Obi-Wan wouldn’t have gotten involved, and Luke Skywalker would have remained on Tatooine.
This Star Wars comic issue takes place after the events of Episode IV, so it is unclear if Emperor Palpatine learned from the mistakes his Empire made in the past regarding seemingly insignificant escape pods and made sure to clarify that any and all of them are to be shot down, or if he just wanted to send a message to Crimson Dawn by obliterating the entirety of its forces. What is clear, however, is that Palpatine flipped the most pivotal moment in Star Wars history with a single line.
Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.