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Grand General

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This article covers the Canon version of this subject.  Click here for Wookieepedia's article on the Legends version of this subject. 

For other uses, see General (disambiguation).

"And that's Grand General Tagge, Vader."
―Cassio Tagge, to Darth Vader[2]

Grand General was the highest military rank in the Imperial Army of the Galactic Empire. The creation of the rank was after the Imperial Navy established the rank of Grand Admiral, and those promoted to Grand General were a mix of individual who had military acumen and political connections. Grand Generals included Supreme Commander Cassio Tagge, Levinous, Kenner Loring, and Ormeddon.

Description[]

The senior military rank of Grand General was used by the Imperial Army of the Galactic Empire, and was the highest rank in the service. The rank was established after the creation of the Imperial Navy rank of Grand Admiral. Officers granted the new rank were a mix of individuals that demonstrated military prowess and those with political connections.[4] A Grand General had the authority to issue the status of a most wanted bounty.[5]

Imperial officers who served as Grand Generals included:

History[]

Establishment and political maneuvering[]

The Grand General rank existed as the highest position attenable within the Imperial Army, acting as a counterpart to the Imperial Navy's high Grand Admiral position. In fact, evidence existed that the Grand General position came into being thanks to heavy lobbying from army officers, who wanted to a similar level of recognition as that garnered by naval commanders. Upon its creation, the rank was recieved by a mixture of those who seemed to have legitimately earned it through effective military command and those who had sufficient political connections.[4] By 10 BBY,[7] an Imperial officer named Ormeddon had become a Grand General.[6] Ormeddon had a reputation as a "fixer," seeing deployment by the Imperial Military command or Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine himself when supply lines were disrupted. As such, he was regarded by later historian Beaumont Kin as a tactician who had made sense to be named a Grand General.[4]

Meanwhile, an Imperial officer named Levinous would arise to the position of Grand General despite his poor reputation amongst military circles. He was regarded as a "holotable officer" because he never actually left the Imperial capital world of Coruscant, instead commanding campaigns without physically entering the sector the fighting occurred within. However, Levinous had close ties to Grand Vizier Mas Amedda because he was a major shareholder within the Champalan Imperial Mineral Extraction Initiative, with Kin later theorizing that Levinous was only able to get the rank because of his connection with Amedda.[4]

Imperial operations[]

Ormeddon was based out of the location known as Foundry. He was deployed to put down the Berullian Checkpoint thefts by Palpatine after the Emperor was urged to take action by three Imperial advisers[6] during or prior to 10 BBY.[7] The thieves—the members of Beckett's gang—waited for Ormeddon to be away from his security and stole his shuttle fifteen minutes into his inspection, flying back to Foundry and using his clearance codes to enter Ormeddon's personal hangar bay. With that, they managed to steal an experimental deflector shield.[6]

Following the Battle of Yavin, General Cassio Tagge was promoted to the position by Emperor Sheev Palpatine,[2] becoming the most famous Grand General in Imperial history because he was also given overall command of the Imperial Military.[4] Furthermore, he was given authority over the Sith Lord Darth Vader.[2] In the aftermath of Doctor Cylo's attempted hijacking of the Executor, Tagge was demoted back down to a standard general. All of his authority was granted to Vader, who Force choked the Imperial officer.[8] Nonetheless, he would be remembered by Kin as someone who had made sense to be named a Grand General.[4]

Imperial collapse[]

Levinous declared himself Galactic Emperor after Palpatine's apparent death only to be arrested by his own forces.[4] By the tail end of the Galactic Civil War, Kenner Loring held the rank, though Grand Admiral Rae Sloane was among several who always had wondered why Loring was made grand general instead of Hodnar Borrum.[3]

Legacy[]

"That figures like Levinous were granted the most prestigious rank in the Imperial Army while others like General Maximilian Veers were not , is an indication of how counterproductive the decision-making process within the Imperial military could be."
―Beaumont Kin, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire[4]

Historian Beaumont Kin reflected on the rank of Grand General and how its holders were not always worthy of such a title in his book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire. Noting how competent officers like Maximilian Veers were never made Grand Generals, yet someone with political connections like Levinous was, Kin believed the decision-making behind who became a Grand General was an indication of how counter-productive the thinking behind the Imperial Military could be.[4]

Behind the scenes[]

The rank of Grand General first appeared in Star Wars: Force Commander, a 2000 Star Wars Legends video game.[9] It became canon when it appeared in Darth Vader (2015) 2, a comic book written by Kieron Gillen and published in 2015.[2] Holocron continuity database keeper Leland Chee was the one who came up with giving the Grand General rank to Cassio Tagge in Gillen's comic.[10]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ Star Wars: Timelines dates the death of Tobias Beckett to 10 BBY. As Solo: A Star Wars Story: Tales from Vandor establishes Beckett took part in the operation at the Berullian Checkpoint where Ormeddon served as Grand General, the military rank must have been established by 10 BBY.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Darth Vader (2015) 2
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Aftermath: Life Debt
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
  5. ↑ Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Solo: A Star Wars Story: Tales from Vandor
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Star Wars: Timelines dates the death of Tobias Beckett to 10 BBY. As Solo: A Star Wars Story: Tales from Vandor establishes Beckett took part in the operation at the Berullian Checkpoint, it must have occurred by 10 BBY.
  8. ↑ Darth Vader (2015) 25
  9. ↑ Star Wars: Force Commander
  10. ↑ Pablo Hidalgo and Leland Chee Interview with StarWars.com | Star Wars Celebration Anaheim on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)
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