Star Wars Has Never Shown the Empire’s Most Terrifying Tactic

by

In Star Wars, the Empire isn’t known for being discreet. Once Palpatine sees his plan to control the galaxy within reach, he immediately starts building a huge weapon – the Death Star – to intimidate anyone who might oppose him. However, the Rebel Alliance isn’t easily deterred. They manage to steal the Death Star’s plans, thanks to the courage of several heroes. The first Death Star is quickly destroyed, but instead of learning from the mistake, the Empire stubbornly begins building a second one, refusing to accept defeat.

The Empire is relentless – it never surrenders, even after its Emperor’s death. Losing their leader might actually motivate them to work harder, determined to show the galaxy they’re the only ones who can bring stability to chaotic times. However, the story itself isn’t helping the Empire’s case, as it keeps preventing them from using their most frightening strategies.

The Empire Has a Trick Up Its Sleeve Worse Than the Death Star

As a huge Star Wars fan, I’ve always found the Death Star fascinating, but also a bit impractical. The idea is that the Empire could just obliterate a whole planet if it became too much trouble, solving problems quickly and without any casualties on their side. But it wasn’t a foolproof plan! The Rebellion kept blowing it up, which was a major issue. Plus, keeping that thing powered up must have been a huge drain on resources. When the Death Star was down for repairs (which happened a lot!), the Empire would fall back on good old-fashioned orbital bombardments – basically, sending Star Destroyers to hover over a planet and just blast everything on the surface with their cannons. It’s a brutal tactic, but it got the job done when their superweapon was out of commission.

When a planet is targeted with orbital strikes, the core might survive, but the cannons ensure nothing lives on the surface. The destruction isn’t always the same, though – the most extreme level is called “Base Delta Zero.” This code signals the Imperials to completely obliterate the planet, turning it into a fiery wasteland. Base Delta Zero is infamous for destroying the Imperial lab on Setron after dangerous experiments got out of control. While Star Wars: The Bad Batch references this event, it doesn’t actually show the planet’s destruction. In fact, Base Delta Zero has never been fully depicted in any Star Wars story, but many believe that will change soon.

Base Delta Zero Might Still Be on the Table for the Empire

The Empire isn’t a significant threat in the current Star Wars stories, with Emperor Palpatine gone and his fleet destroyed. However, earlier stories show a different situation. In shows like The Mandalorian and others connected to Dave Filoni’s vision, the remaining Imperial forces are actively trying to regain control. The return of Grand Admiral Thrawn in Ahsoka adds to the complexity, though he might not be the biggest challenge for Ezra Bridger and his allies. For example, in Season 2 of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin and Migs Mayfeld go undercover at an Imperial base. Their mission hits a snag when Mayfeld encounters his old boss, Valin Hess, and they start discussing the past. This conversation reveals details about Operation Cinder, a devastating plan to bombard planets that was launched immediately after Palpatine’s death.

Hess hints that the Empire’s current plans will make Operation Cinder seem insignificant, though he’s killed by Mayfeld before he can explain further. The message is clear: the Empire’s next move in the Star Wars story will be a much greater threat. The New Republic needs to prepare, or many worlds will suffer.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/list/every-star-wars-movie-that-turned-into-a-tv-show/embed/#

Read More

2025-12-27 23:41