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It's pretty established at this point that Tarkin was #2 in the Empire by the time of ANH, but as a Governor what did he control exactly? I know he controlled a fraction of the Outer rim, which included Lothal, but what differentiated him from another Governor like Pryce? When both were on Lothal what made him superior to her considering BOTH were Governors?

Simple.

Tarkin was a Grand Moff and Oversector Governor. He controlled the entire Outer Rim(not just a fraction of it), along with ALL worlds/territories within it. Not only is the Outer Rim the largest portion of the galaxy by far, but it also contains more worlds than the Mid and Inner Rims, combined... That's the level of power Palpatine vested in that man.

Anywho, Pryce was just one of Tarkin's many local/planetary Governors. She only controlled Lothal, and still answered to Tarkin(obviously.)

Ahh I see.

I was just confused because I was rewatching Rebels and reading the Thrawn novel the other day and pretty much everyone just refers to him as either "Moff" Tarkin or "Governor" Tarkin. Never Grand Moff or Oversector Governor. If he sits above regular Moffs and Governors, you'd think he'd correct people for calling him by those lower ranks. It would be like a doctor letting people call him a nurse lol.

And the Thrawn novel states that Tarkin controlled "a large portion" of the outer rim, not the entire thing?

Originally posted by Mendax
Ahh I see.

I was just confused because I was rewatching Rebels and reading the Thrawn novel the other day and pretty much everyone just refers to him as either "Moff" Tarkin or "Governor" Tarkin. Never Grand Moff or Oversector Governor. If he sits above regular Moffs and Governors, you'd think he'd correct people for calling him by those lower ranks. It would be like a doctor letting people call him a nurse lol. We've had this discussion before.

Tarkin's particular rank/title is somewhat situational, and changes in accordance with whatever issue(s) he is addressing at any given time. In all dealings with Palpatine, for example, he should be referred to as a Grand Moff. In military matters, however, he should be referred to as a Governor:


...But aside from Thrawn(and sometimes Vader), who typically did refer to Tarkin as "Governor" when they discussed military affairs, and "Moff" or "Grand Moff" when they discussed all other Imperial matters, no real distinction is usually made -- the titles/ranks are often used interchangeably. Simply put, Tarkin is Tarkin, and his position/status within the Imperial pecking order was well-known to pretty much everyone in the galaxy. As I've said before: it doesn't matter what you call the guy, he was still the Empire's second-highest ranking official in both political AND military affairs, period -- he answered only to Palpatine himself.

Originally posted by Mendax
And the Thrawn novel states that Tarkin controlled "a large portion" of the outer rim, not the entire thing? Yes, but several other sources confirm that he controlled the entire Outer Rim...

"Grand Moff Tarkin Governs ALL of the planets in the Outer Rim for the Empire.":
https://i.imgur.com/2kkEMgO.jpg
-Rebels Visual Guide

"Wilhuff Tarkin--proud and heartless Governor of the Outer Rim territories.":
https://i.imgur.com/Hl0H7eY.jpg
-Star Wars: AEYNTK

"Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin--Governor of the Outer Rim territories.":
https://i.imgur.com/NT4EqmM.jpg
-Star Wars: AEYNTK


To help put that into perspective, here is a fairly recent/updated map of the SW Galaxy:
https://i.imgur.com/WQ7zOMi.jpg