Strange Bedfellows
A shared feature of two Lucasfilm franchises, Star Wars and Indiana Jones, is the recurring partnership of villains who seek supernatural power with villains who discredit the supernatural and rely instead on technology. Despite fundamental differences, the mystics and skeptics join forces because they find each other useful for securing power.
In A New Hope, Darth Vader helps Grand Moff Tarkin and his Imperial officers defend the Death Star, even though he isn’t impressed by its power. When Admiral Motti boasts that “This station is now the ultimate power in the universe,” Vader replies, “Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed,” because it “is insignificant next to the power of the Force.” Likewise, Tarkin relies on Darth Vader to counter the Rebellion even though he is dismissive of Vader’s belief in the Force. Although he sees that Vader has some kind of non-technological power when he chokes Admiral Motti, he doesn’t believe Vader when he says he sensed Obi-Wan Kenobi’s presence in the Force. “Surely he must be dead by now,” Tarkin insists, and adds condescendingly, “The Jedi are extinct… You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion.”
In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the archaeologist Belloq helps Colonel Dietrich and his Nazi officers find the Ark of the Covenant, even though he doesn’t have any interest in how Hitler would weaponize the Ark. All Belloq wants is to use the Ark as “a radio for speaking to God.” (Notice his statement reduces the Ark to a piece of technology; his intentions are hardly pious.) Reciprocally, Colonel Dietrich reluctantly allows Belloq to use the Ark first – even though this requires what he spitefully calls a “Jewish ritual” –but only to ensure that it works, not wanting to deliver Hitler a faulty or counterfeit product. The parallels between Vader and Belloq and Tarkin and Dietrich are underscored by how Belloq calls archaeology his “religion” and admits that, by partnering with the Nazis, he has “fallen from the purer faith.” Tarkin also used the word “religion” to describe the Jedi, and Vader also abandoned “the purer faith” when he betrayed the Jedi and partnered with the Empire.
The Rise of Skywalker references both the Vader-Tarkin and Belloq-Dietrich partnerships by making General Pryde a composite of Tarkin and Belloq. Pryde is like Tarkin in that he was previously one of Emperor Palpatine’s top officers, but he is more like Belloq in that he reverences Palpatine as a Sith Lord. When General Quinn expresses reservations over using Palpatine’s Sith fleet because “they sound like a cult” (recalling Dietrich’s discomfort with the “Jewish ritual”), Pryde cuts him off. Whereas Tarkin rescued Motti from Darth Vader, Pryde does not protect Quinn from the wrath of Kylo Ren. And when Pryde talks to Palpatine’s hologram later, his eyes glow as Belloq’s do when they first peer inside the Ark. Ultimately, both men are destroyed for staking their plans on an unstable fusion of material and immaterial powers.
EXPLORE FURTHER…
Characters: Admiral Motti / Darth Vader / General Pryde / Grand Moff Tarkin
Films: Episode IV: A New Hope / Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
GO DEEPER INTO THE ARCHIVES…
Concepts: faith / nature and technology / power and weakness
Influences: Indiana Jones
READ MORE ABOUT…
Follow The Jedi Archives on…