STAR WARS

I'm on the leader

Before the battle, Vader (confident now that his intricate plan is coming to fruition) lets loose with an uncustomary proclaimation:
"This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Kenobi. It will soon see the end of the Rebellion."
Tarkin is noticeably weirded out by the statement and flashes Vader a disturbed look.
One can only hope that Tarkin feels appropriately out of his depth.

Is Tarkin worried here that Vader is speaking of HIS rebellion from the Emperor?
He should be.
We never get to see the Emperor talk about Tarkin at all.
He never seems to mourne the loss of one of his trusted high command.
Vader and Palpatine are buddy-buddy in ROTJ - is this because Vader saved the Emperor's bacon (not to mention the Empire itself) from Tarkin's mutiny?
Remember, Vader is the one orchestating getting the plans to his daughters forces thru his OWN ASTROMECH DROID!!
And when the Rebels come a callin with the info HE GAVE THEM, he splits and makes sure he is jolly well OUTSIDE the base when it blows.
If Luke missed the shot, would Vader have taken it?
Vader and his son are the ones who end up at the end of that trench run, headin' balls out for the exhaust port.

Power struggles...
man, they get complicated...

You aren't still be clinging to the idea that Vader is in any way in charge of the Death Star are you?
Well, ARE YOU?!?
While Tarkin is smuggly distracted, Vader decides beats feet to the hanger bays and snags two pilots to act as his wingmen!
(compare this to his actions on Hoth - he isn't piloting a Scout Walker on the battlefield)
Vader isn't antsy or bored or trying to re-live his fighter pilot past,
he has orchestrated the destruction of the battle station and needs to GET THE FUCK OUT

It's Vader's presence in the trench that shuts down the auto-defenses.
Vader needs these fighters to get to the exhaust port
His wingmen pick off 'Rebel' fighters but Vader makes it clear he alone gets to shoot at the lead ship
Actually, he's making dead certain that he's there for the shot to kill the Death Star

When the Death Star explodes, he escapes and Tarkin's would-be power grab ends, saving the galaxy.
I hope he got a vacation.
I don't know that Vader would be a good leader for the galaxy.
The Old Republic were negligent and irresponsible. The Jedi, bullies.
The Emperor turned out to be what Eddie Izzard refers to as a 'mass-murdering fuckhead'.
In Empire, Vader pleads with Luke to help him end conflict and bring order to the galaxy.
That still makes him and his rotten little brat despots, so yeah, that's bad.
My approval of Vader over the Jedi rests mostly on his ability to beat those miserable thugs at their own game.

To my endless chagrin, the most compelling evidence that Vader is indeed the hero of this story is, quite simply,
he is the King

And that VOICE!
Ya gotta admit, the boy's got style :)