STAR WARS

Caught by Vader

We find what is supposed to be a 'consular ship' on a diplomatic mission. Rebel soldiers ready themselves in the hallway. The Imperial shock troops hit. As soon as the Rebels are cleared from the hallway and are being pursued within the ship, but BEFORE the captured ship has been secured, Vader shows up on the scene. It's Vader's Star Destroyer that has captured the Rebels (waiting until AFTER the Rebels have recieved the Death Star trasmissions - a circumstance that Vader himself may have orchestrated (even more bizarrly, he may in fact be working with Leia and R2 - fuck me, this can get muddled), and he himself is on hand at the battle scene. Impressive. Most impressive.

Vader makes an excellent point shortly: "If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador?". Vader is two steps ahead of the Rebels at all times, and this is the first time we see the so-called 'Rebels' lying, which while necessary in war, I feel is also indicative of their general character; as royalists, the Rebels are no doubt familiar with intrigue.

Keep in mind too that Vader is by marriage a part of the House Amidala from Naboo. Naboo may very well be the seat of galactic royalty - why else does EVERYBODY give a shit when someone from Naboo so much as farts? His Lord title is not a Sith title, but one of his royalty. He wears a cape for shit's sake!

A few notes about the choking incident here: We never see Vader randomly choking people. He does it three other times in the trilogy, all three victims are high ranking officers. Who is the man Vader is choking? I assume he has been targeted by Vader specifically. Vader is a professional soldier, and as such knows there is very little point in random torture. In fact, we never see torture from the Imperials to the Rebels. Vader tests a torture device he thinks he may need to use on his son on Han Solo, but not to question him. When he interrogates Leia, it seems to be with just a truth serum. Also interesting is that while Vader is holding this man in the air by his throat, Vader is not leaning forward at all. This has been noticed by many. Some feel that Vader is holding the man up with the Force, but nothing magical seems to be implied here. Rather, Vader being more machine than man (Obi-Wan's words), I agree with others more observant than I that this demonstrates the power of his cybernetic armature.

In short order, Leia is captured and brought before Vader:

I love that accusation. It's completely true. One of the first lines of the movie, "There'll be no escape for the princess this time", indicates previous Rebel activity on the part of Leia. Vader is not just grabbing random citizens and proclaiming them Rebels, his invective is aimed at one of the highest leaders of the Rebel Alliance, a member of royalty with aspirations to power. I love this boy already.

This little exchange indicates Vader is far from all powerful at this point - as the movies progress, so Vader moves up in command until he is second only to the Emperor.