Mas Amedda is like a royal secretary. If Palpatine wants to speak with someone, for example, he might have Amedda arrange the meeting for him... But he had no control over Tarkin whatsoever.
As mentioned, Palpatine himself was the ONLY person in the Empire with more authority than Tarkin... If Amedda tried to give him an order of his own, Tarkin would probably laugh in his face before having him executed.
From the Tarkin novel-
Vizier Mas Amedda, swathed in rich maroon robes, the cyan tint of the holofield darkening the Chagrian’s natural blue pigmentation. From bulging extrusions of flesh on either side of Amedda’s thick neck dangled tapered horns that matched the pair crowning his hairless cranium.
“We trust all is well at Sentinel Base, Governor.”
Tarkin couldn’t be certain if or how much Amedda knew about the recent attack. On Coruscant information was closely guarded, if only as a means of maintaining one’s cachet, and even the head of the Ruling Council might not have been made privy to details known to Military Intelligence and the Admiralty.
“Rest assured, Vizier,” Tarkin said.
“No surprises, then?”
“Only the expected ones.”
The ambitious amphibian vouchsafed a tight-lipped smile at his end of the duplex holocomm. Obstructive and fault finding during his years as vice chancellor of the Republic Senate, he had become one of the Emperor’s most valued advisers, as well as the Empire’s most formidable intermediary.
“Governor, your presence is required on Coruscant,” Amedda said after a moment.
Definitely seems like Amedda was Tarkin's superior to me. 😕
You left out a few key bits of context, lol.
a.) In the dialogue immediately following the excerpt you posted, Tarkin flat-out ignored Amedda's "order":
"Governor, your presence is required on Coruscant," Amedda said after a moment.Tarkin moved to his desk and sat down, centering himself for the holocam. "I'll certainly try to make time for a visit, Vizier."
"Permit me, Governor, but that will not suffice. Perhaps I should have said that your presence is urgently required."
Tarkin waved a hand in dismissal. "I'm sorry, Vizier, but that doesn't alter the fact that I have my priorities."
"Priorities of what sort?"
Tarkin returned Amedda's mirthless smile. There was probably no harm in sharing with Amedda information about the expected shipments of materials from Desolation Station to Geonosis--including vital components for the battle station's complex hyperdrive generator--but he was under no obligation to do so.
"I'm afraid my priorities are on a need-to-know basis."
"Indeed. Then you are refusing the request?"
"Let's say that I'm reluctant to abandon my post at this time, Vizier. If you wish, I'll provide the Emperor with my reasons personally."
It wasn't until Amedda told Tarkin that the order came from Palpatine himself that he finally obliged:
Amedda tilted his massive head to one side. "That's a matter for you to discuss with the Emperor, since it was he who issued the order that you report to Coruscant."Tarkin concealed a grimace. "You might have said as much at the start, Vizier."
b.) That scene took place before Tarkin had been promoted to Grand Moff(he was still just a standard Moff/Governor there)... Yet he still didn't give a shit what Amedda had to say. Quite telling, imo...
It doesn't.
As mentioned, Tarkin didn't give a single f*ck what Amedda had to say back when he was just a Moff... Amedda's word would have meant less than nothing to him as a Grand Moff.
I've posted this stuff before, but...
At the time of ANH, Tarkin was the undisputed #2 in the Empire -- even Vader was his subordinate.
Originally posted by Eli VantoThat's not true at all. Tarkin didn't have to use an intermediary when he wanted to talk to Palpatine... He had that number on speed dial, and had one-on-one conversations with Sheev quite frequently.
That's what I was thinking. 👆At least on Coruscant everything seemed to go through Amedda. He was the intermediary between the Emperor and the galaxy. He was basically the Emperor's voice.
Again, Amedda was beneath Tarkin's notice.
Originally posted by Total WarriorGoes back to this:
Now that we have proven that Tarkin>Ameda, it would be cool to see who was the Empire No.3 between Vader and him
So where the Imperial hierarchy is concerned, Palpatine > Tarkin > Vader > ALL.
👆
And there is substantially more evidence stating that Tarkin outranked Vader -- I posted it all in one of the other Tarkin threads some time ago. It is an irrefutable fact at this point.
Granted, there seemed to be a mutual respect between the two, but when it came down to it, Tarkin was definitely in command.
