Star Wars: 10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About The Empire

This fully armed and quite operational list is about to reveal the truth about certain legendary vehicles

what Imperial personnel really thought of a well-known cyborg, the Emperor's awesome-looking guard

and so many more things fans have understandably assumed about the Empire for a long old time

So I am Gareth, this is WhatCultureStarWars, and here are 10 things everyone gets wrong about the Empire

10. Not everyone followed the Empire for greed and power When you think of the Empire, there's a decent chance your mind jumps to a bunch of cold, suited and booted villains

who are motivated only by greed and the quest for power. But not every Imperial employee followed the Empire for those specific reasons

Just look at one of the most captivating villains in Star Wars history, Grand Admiral Thrawn

Now sure, he was unquestionably a rather ruthless individual, and one who relished the opportunity to outthink any opponents he was faced with

But he actually only joined up with the Galactic Empire in the first place

as he felt there would be a strong ally who could help protect his people, the Chiss, from the Grisk hegemony

Thrawn wasn't greedy or that bothered about power, he was just doing all he could to keep his people safe

If you're looking for another example, Del Miko from the Star Wars Battlefront 2 video game

was another person who served in the Imperial military that wasn't in it for those aforementioned selfish reasons either

Being a quite conflicted soul, a conversation with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker during that game's campaign

sees the Inferno Squad member admit that he's well aware of what the Empire was capable of

but he didn't know what else to do to keep the galaxy safe. After being told he had a choice to be better, though

Miko would eventually defect to the rebels with Iden Versio, as they attempted to save innocent civilians from the Empire

In other words, not every Imperial's motivations were the same, folks. Some genuinely just wanted to protect people, and saw the Empire as a means to an end

Now I've got a quick question for you, what is a cool fact about the Empire that you just need to share with the world

If you've got one, then pop it in that comment section down below, and we'll all look at it and we'll give it loads of likes

Number 9, the Empire were defeated by the Ewoks. One of the more divisive moments in Star Wars history

occurred during Episode VI, Return of the Jedi. As the Empire's forces look to have foiled our heroes' attempts

to destroy the shield generator that's protecting the Death Star 2, the little furry Endor natives known as Ewoks arrived to save the day

For many, though, the idea of a bunch of teddy bears defeating the technologically superior Imperial Army

on their own seemed like a silly step too far. But that's not actually what went down here

when you really yze the ground section of the Battle of Endor. By spreading out the Imperial forces

and unleashing everything from flying logs to many a rock from the sky

these rebel allies simply acted as a distraction to buy Han Solo and the rest of his strike team

enough time to blow up the shield generator and join the fight. Even George Lucas himself has confirmed in the film's DVD commentary

that the Ewoks' purpose was just to distract the Empire here. So the next time someone balls up their fists

at the thought of these primitive aliens defeating the Emperor stormtroopers and ATSDs gently remind them that they weren solely responsible for this rebel victory their clever distraction just played a crucial part in it number eight the second death star being built

a lot quicker actually makes sense sticking with that final chapter in the original trilogy episode

six return of the jedi brings with it the return of the empire's planet killing super weapon

the death star with that first version of the space station taking a whopping two decades to

construct though, many were understandably quick to question how the Empire were able to mostly

build another just four years after that original Death Star was destroyed. Now sure, this second

gigantic sphere wasn't actually completed by the time the rebels arrived to explode it, but it was

still operational enough to cause chaos with its laser. After spending years secretly developing

and gradually building that first devastating weapon and its laser though, the process of making

another of these terrifying spheres was logically a lot quicker due to having already pulled off the

feet once before and then you have the fact that the emperor was more concerned with getting this

rushed death star fitted with a laser than fully completing it this time around he just wanted to

get rid of the rebel threat as quickly as possible and even lured them into discovering the unfinished

weapon by leaking information about it in an attempt to wipe them out asap it didn't really

work out for him but you can see what he was going for and just like that the fact this second super

weapon popped up so rapidly suddenly makes a lot more sense. Number 7. Xenophobia was actually not allowed in the Empire, but happened anyway

A quick look at the Galactic Empire's officers and troops throughout the original trilogy and

in various other forms of media, and the way the dictatorship generally acted towards non-human

species, tells the story of a quite xenophobic organization. Now it is worth mentioning that

the inquisitorious group the Empire used to hunt down the last remnants of the Jedi Order

definitely boasted a whole host of alien personalities, and the legendary Grand Admiral

Thrawn was obviously a chiss male. But outside of those rare exceptions, the Galactic Empire

seemed like a quite xenophobic organization that didn't play nicely with anyone who wasn't a human

You'll likely be shocked to learn then that being xenophobic wasn't something that Imperial

personnel were officially allowed to do. That's according to Imperial General Orders found in

Timothy Zahn's canon Thrawn novel anyway, but the vast majority of the Empire's forces and employees

just opted to ignore that rule, clearly. So despite what it may look like when watching the poor way

the Empire typically treats alien species across this galaxy, those putting on stormtrooper suits

and officer caps were actually officially instructed not to be xenophobes. Most of them just didn't

listen though. Number 6, TIE Fighters were not worse than X-Wings. The Galactic Empire boasts some of the most

recognizable and coolest vehicles ever to move across a screen. From the mighty AT-AT

seen stomping their way through snow and sand, to the monstrous Star Destroyers at the center of many

an epic space battle. These baddies move around the galaxy in style

However, there is one imperial mode of transport that has been on the receiving end of a ton of unjust

disrespect over the years. The vehicle in question is the Roaring TIE Fighter, a flying eyeball that many feel is

completely inferior to the Rebel Alliance's equally iconic X-Wing, often seen gunning

them down But that is not strictly the truth people The TIE Fighter may not have boasted a shield like the X but what it lacked in protection it certainly made up for in maneuverability and speed with these unmistakable fighters being able to run rings around the far more cumbersome Rebel ship

They also required an elite pilot in the cockpit. Said drivers needed seriously enhanced reflexes and a lack of fear to successfully steer these swift, way less protected vehicles

So while they definitely were quite cheap to manufacture and were often blown up by less shots than your average X-Wing

those who say the TIE fighters and the people flying them are worse than the Rebels fighters and their pilots in every way are just plain wrong

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Number 5, They Didn't Really Rule the Entire Galaxy Time and time again, during the rise of the Galactic Empire

it's made clear that the Emperor and his apprentice, Darth Vader, are looking to rule the entire galaxy

They want it all. And by the time of the original trilogy, it does seem like they're well on their way to achieving that villainous goal

Their Death Star was up and running for a bit, wiping out any planet they wanted to and striking fear into the hearts of countless others

It appeared as though the entire galaxy had no choice but to obey the evil organization

It wasn't always as simple as that though. Take Jabba the Hutt for example

In the wake of the destruction of the first Death Star, the Empire desperately needed to make a deal with the Crime Lord

one that involved him giving them military resources in exchange for payment

and the freedom to carry on operating his criminal empire. In other words, he wasn't being ruled

This gangster slug and his Huck clan weren't the only ones the empire allied with rather than ruled either

The Mandalorian protectors on Concord Dawn also formed a mutually beneficial alliance with Papa Palpatine at 1.2

So while the empire did typically have a habit of controlling through force

It did occasionally work together with its enemies in order to get what he wanted

4. What the Empire Really Thought of Darth Vader Though it is somewhat clear in the original trilogy that Darth Vader isn't unanimously adored by those following orders within the Empire

many viewers likely didn't realize just how much the Emperor's right-hand cyborg was despised by the Imperial officers scurrying around the galaxy

In fact, there were even times there when certain Imperial personnel attempted to have Vader assassinated

They didn't like that the masked figure seemingly just popped up out of the blue

and was now suddenly bossing them around because of his connection to Palpatine

And how did Vader respond to this? By force choking five random Imperial officers in front of the rest of the Imperial Officer Corps

showing what would happen to anyone who defied his orders. Damn. All that went down after the Emperor had informed the Corps that any command from his apprentice

was to be taken as one by the wrinkly Big Bad himself

It's also largely thought that the only person Vader answered to away from Palpatine was Grand Moff Tarkin, as seen in 1977's Star Wars

However, in the wake of the embarrassing destruction of the Death Star, Vader actually had a bit of his authority taken away

with General Cassio Tague actually being made Vader's commanding officer for a while

before the Chosen One eventually executed Tague after he was demoted for his own failures Not hard to see why he wasn the most popular bloke in the organization then 3 Stormtroopers Don Always Have Terrible Aim It may be a running joke that the Empire soldiers on the ground possess some laughably

bad aim, but is it actually the truth? When you really stop and think about it

you realize that these troopers are a lot more accurate than most people choose to remember

The skeleton-suited troops gunned down a number of rebels with some rather accurate shooting during

the opening scene of 1977's Star Wars, for example. Rogue One, a Star Wars story, sees many a hero

getting gunned down by a stormtrooper. Can't do that if you miss. And there's even a reason why

the troopers seem so incapable of hitting the target when chasing after Han, Luke, and Leia on

the Death Star, too. You see, Vader had planted a tracker on the Millennium Falcon and actually

wanted them to escape the space station, so it's likely he simply ordered the Empire's soldiers to

not kill the gang before they could lead them to the rebel base. They obviously still missed the

target a decent number of times across big and small screen projects and media away from the

screen. They're only human, but stormtroopers definitely weren't as consistently terrible as

the jokes would have you believe. So give them a break. 2. When the Empire Were Actually Defeated

One of the most impressive visuals to pop up in the sequel trilogy involved a massive

crashed Imperial-class Star Destroyer sitting in the middle of the desert world of Jakku

And what many may not have realized, even after sitting through Episode VII The Force Awakens a

few times, is that the battle which saw that ship fall to the planet's surface was actually the final

stand for the Empire. While it may have felt like the Empire had been defeated during the final

moments of Episode VI Return of the Jedi, the organization actually continued battling against

the Rebel Alliance for another year. The Battle of Jakku, something Battlefront 2 players got to

experience in the video game, saw the Empire be decisively warped by the now New Republic

leading to the signing of the Galactic Concordance Treaty, which ended both the Galactic Civil War

and the Empire itself. And after all that fighting the galaxy far, far away, never had to worry about

stormtroopers, irritating officers, or terrifying Star Destroyers ever again. If only. 1. We do actually get to see the Royal Guard fight

Speaking of the sequel trilogy, that collection of Star Wars movies did actually give fans something they'd wanted to see for decades

And we're not just talking about the return of the original trilogy icons. Episode 8, The Last Jedi, saw Rey and Kylo Ren face off against a recently deceased Supreme Leader Snoke's collection of red-suited guards

And the end results were pretty damn awesome. However, those who have long complained about the Emperor's own group of silent red protectors known as his Royal Guard

never really seeing any action or doing much, you know, protecting in the Star Wars universe, are actually incorrect

On the big screen the closest fans got to the cloaked badasses getting their hands dirty like Snoke's guards did

was in an episode 6 Return of the Jedi deleted scene. But in the new canon and expanded universe, the guards are shown doing their thing on a number of wonderful occasions

Like in the Crimson Empire comics, for example. And Ezra Bridger actually faced off against a few during the Star Wars Rebels animated series, too

So while they may not have done all that much in the movies, the warriors known for looking after the Empire's leader were definitely not the slouches you may think they are

They just didn't like doing stuff in cinemas