Tantive IV/Legends

Tantive IV Tantive IV was a Corellian Corvette owned by the Royal House of Alderaan. The ship was central player in the events following the end of the Clone Wars and the beginning of the Galactic Civil War.

The ship was originally named Star of Alderaan, but was renamed in honor of diplomats from Tantive IV whom visited Alderaan.

The ship sported twin turbolaser turrets and a massive drive block of eleven ion turbine engines. The blockade runner also held eight tiny escape pods that could seat up to three people and four laser-mounted ones that could hold 12 passengers.

History
The Tantive IV was built by the Corellian Engineering Corporation, sometime before the end of the Clone Wars. Originally called the Star of Alderaan, it was renamed to honor the Tantive system's diplomats. During the time of the Clone Wars, the ship was the consular vessel of Alderaan's Senator in the Galactic Republic, Bail Organa.

After witnessing first hand the betrayal of the Jedi, Senator Organa departed Coruscant in an attempt to rescue as many of the few survivors of the Jedi Purge he could. Using a stolen Jedi Beacon, Organa was able to contact and rescue the last two surviving members of the Jedi Council, Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Later, after the death of their mother, it was onboard the Tantive IV the fates of Leia and Luke Skywalker were decided. Accompanying Organa on this fateful journey were Raymus Antilles and Captain Colton. The droids R2-D2 and C-3PO were assigned to the ship at this point.



It was during an exercise testing the launch of escape pods that Tantive IV was attacked by a pirate gang from the Karthakk system. The Corvette successfully evaded the attack, though lost its jettisoned escape pods in the process. It was soon discovered that R2-D2 and C-3PO were aboard one of the pods. Chief Petty Officer Corla Metonae, supervisor of the exercise, was blamed for the loss of the droids.

Bail Organa placed high importance on retrieving the droids, and eventually succeeded in returning them to the Tantive IV.

During the days of the Empire, Princess Leia used the ship and her position in the Imperial Senate to help the struggling Rebel Alliance, often undertaking secret missions under the guise of humanitarian work.

The vessel's final voyage was in Operation Skyhook; a secret mission to the planet Toprawa to obtain the plans for the Empire's new battle station, the Death Star. While the plans from Toprawa were initially from Danuta, and only partial, it seems a second piece of the plans from Polis Massa were beamed simultaneously. The plan was to deliver them to Liberty, however a sudden appearance of Immortal, caused the transfer to stop, and Tantive IV moved to Tatooine.

The second part of the mission was to the planet Tatooine to find Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the last Jedi that survived the Great Jedi Purge, and deliver him to Alderaan, along with the plans for the Death Star. Unfortunately, before the ship ever reached Tatooine it was intercepted by the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator, the flagship of the dreaded Darth Vader. The Tantive IV was quickly disabled and captured, and though Rebel troops resisted the Imperial boarding party, the stormtroopers of the 501st Legion quickly eliminated the opposition and captured Princess Leia. However, unable to find the plans (which the Princess had secretly given to the droid R2-D2, who then made his getaway in an escape pod), Vader took Leia and discarded the Tantive IV, proclaiming that it was destroyed in a tragic accident.

Interior Design


The hallways of the Tantive IV mostly had bright white walls and grey floors. The ship also housed living quarters, formal dining rooms, and conference rooms.

Princess Leia's stateroom suite
Princess Leia had a luxurious stateroom on the highest level of the ship. It was filled with art and expensive furniture. The stateroom contained many rooms that included a living room with a small round coffee table and two large red sofas.

Behind the scenes
Certain fans maintain that slight differences in the appearance of the Tantive between Sith and Hope must mean the cruisers are two distinct vessels. Some even "confirm" this supposition with quotes from sources hardly any more canon than Expanded Universe material, such as animation directors. A popular quote is the following, from Rob Coleman:

''"One of the most fun things about this show was linking the first trilogy to this one," said animation director Rob Coleman, "introducing designs that make more of an appearance in A New Hope." The cruiser flown by Bail Organa, for example, is a predecessor to the rebel blockade runner featured in the first shot of the original Star Wars. "It looks a little bit different, but you can tell it comes from the same factory."'' - Cinefex #102 pg. 68

However, these assertions do not hold water. At the official Star Wars website, for example, the Tantive IV -- specifically -- is shown to appear in Episode III, Episode IV, and Episode VI.

Many sources support this, including The Art of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, which states:

" . . . Lucas reveals that [the] first ship seen in the 1977 Star Wars -- the Rebel blockade runner (aka the Tantive IV) -- will reappear in Revenge of the Sith. Within the ship, in addition to reconstructing the familiar corridor through which Darth Vader strides, Lucas requests a new meeting room.  He also approves of an idea whereby the ship could be reverse-engineered from its Episode IV Rebel version to an earlier peacetime version of itself." - AoSW:RoTS pg. 104

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: X-Wing
 * Empire at War

External link

 * Article examining the differing models of the Tantive IV