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A school of thought exists that had the Emperor not disbanded the Imperial Senate, his reign may have been significantly longer. Even the illusion of power can stave off serious rebellion, and perhaps the disolvement of the Imperial Senate was the last straw that gave the Rebel Alliance what was necessary for inevitable victory. What think you?

Interesting notion, given that part of the justification for the dissolution for the Senate was the terror engendered by the existance of the Death Star. But instead, it was destroyed by a bunch of snub fighters fifteen minutes later.

It undoubtedly did help fuel the Alliance's recruiting and support efforts to a great extent. Did it shorten his reign, though? I wouldn't think so. The Alliance was still hopelessly outgunned, and only Palpatine's using himself as bait for the trap gave them the chance to pull off the one in a million longshot.

The existance of the Senate means little when the boss has his own personal planet killing station is using it on his biggest threats. Once the Senate sees that they know it's rebellion or end up like Bail Organa.

IIRC the Rebellion gained alot of steam after the Senate was disbanded and the Empire began to exert its power by way of the Tarkin Doctrine. The Tarkin Doctrine was used to replace the Senate in a way. Rather than have planets and sectors be able to bring up their aggrievances with Imperial policy in the Senate Forum, they would be silenced by "fear of the threat of force" brought down on offending systems by the military. This change in doctrine lead many more people to become dissillusioned with the Empire (though still an infinitesimal fraction of the civil population) and join the Rebellion.

IMO, if the Senate had not been disbanded, the OT would have proceeded very differently, as its dissolution was necesary for the Death Star to be unveiled and used. Alderaan would not have been destroyed, and the Tarkin Doctrine would have never been instituded. The Battle of Yavin would have never taken place as it was and subsequently, everything else would be radiacally different. Would make an interesting Infinities one day though. . .

The Original Nex wrote:IMO, if the Senate had not been disbanded, the OT would have proceeded very differently, as its dissolution was necesary for the Death Star to be unveiled and used. Alderaan would not have been destroyed, and the Tarkin Doctrine would have never been instituded. The Battle of Yavin would have never taken place as it was and subsequently, everything else would be radiacally different. Would make an interesting Infinities one day though. . .

I don't believe that the DS and the Senate are mutually exclusive entities. The DS removed the need for the Senate, surely, and rendered it obsolete. Would there be any point to retaining such a political entity? I suppose that not all grievances would need to be settled with a superlaser (or threat thereof), so an emasculated Senate could still be useful, even if only in a minimal sense.

SCRawl wrote:

The Original Nex wrote:IMO, if the Senate had not been disbanded, the OT would have proceeded very differently, as its dissolution was necesary for the Death Star to be unveiled and used. Alderaan would not have been destroyed, and the Tarkin Doctrine would have never been instituded. The Battle of Yavin would have never taken place as it was and subsequently, everything else would be radiacally different. Would make an interesting Infinities one day though. . .

I don't believe that the DS and the Senate are mutually exclusive entities. The DS removed the need for the Senate, surely, and rendered it obsolete. Would there be any point to retaining such a political entity? I suppose that not all grievances would need to be settled with a superlaser (or threat thereof), so an emasculated Senate could still be useful, even if only in a minimal sense.

The dissolution of the Seante was necessary for the Death Star to be used effectively.

The high ranking officers on board the Death Star fear the Senate to the extent that the Senate itself is becoming sympathetic with the Rebellion. The Senate certainly wouldn't tolerate the destruction of Alderaan, and even if they have very little real power by ANH, they can certainly be a rather large thorn in the Emperor's side, especially when it comes to a WMD like the Death Star. Had the Senate not been disbanded, the events of ANH could not have preceded as shown.

What I don't really understand is....if the Senate had any power, how can someone just disband it? Who would care if they wouldn't tolerate the destruction, if they aren't able to stop themselves from just being cast aside anyway?

Boyish-Tigerlilly wrote:What I don't really understand is....if the Senate had any power, how can someone just disband it? Who would care if they wouldn't tolerate the destruction, if they aren't able to stop themselves from just being cast aside anyway?

They have the power of having a voice. They can create alot of problems for the Emperor by virtue of having influence over the public. That's why we see so many Imperials in ANH worrying about them:

"If word of this gets out it could generate sympathy for the rebellion in the Senate."

General Tagge: "The rebellion will continue to gain support in the Imperial Senate-"

Grand Moff Tarkin: "The Imperial Senate, will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just recieved word that the Emperor has dissolved that council permenantly."

Tarkin says that the Senate is "no longer a concern," implying that it WAS a concern before its dissolution.

Boyish-Tigerlilly wrote:What I don't really understand is....if the Senate had any power, how can someone just disband it? Who would care if they wouldn't tolerate the destruction, if they aren't able to stop themselves from just being cast aside anyway?

It has moral authority and power. Also, (thanks to the prequels) it is clear that Palpatine has simply taken the Supreme Chancellor role and expanded it just a bit (ok - a lot. ). And the Chancellor was the head of the Senate, so the Senate essentially acted as the source of his legitimate power. The Tarkin doctrine essentially substituted raw force and terror for legitimacy, which would really have helped rebels in general.

I'm surprised to see that the poll indicates that many of you seem to think that the Seante would have had no effect on Palaptine's reign had it not been dissolved in ANH. How people can think that is simply beyond me.

The Senate was all but powerless in ANH. In fact, it had already lost its real power in ROTS. In the novelization and cut proto-Rebel Alliance meeting, the former Loyalists speculate on whether Palpatine planned to dissolve the Senate after placing his governors over all sectors; Mon Mothma replies, "Why should he bother? As a practical matter-as of this morning-the Senate no longer exists." Of course Mon Mothma is exaggerating, as Obi-Wan points out to Bail Organa that the Senate is still necessary to keep the illusion of democracy to prevent a general rebellion. But after nearly 20 years, one would expect the Imperial Senate to have become completely powerless and irrelevant except, as The Original Nex pointed out, as a forum for public conversation between systems.

The continued existence of the Imperial Senate would not have prolonged the life of the Empire; if anything, it would have contributed to the spread of the Rebellion after the destruction of Alderaan. And the Emperor's reign(s) ended primarily because of the Skywalker family; political maneuverings had very little effect on the Rebel career of Luke Skywalker.

The continued existence of the Imperial Senate would not have prolonged the life of the Empire; if anything, it would have contributed to the spread of the Rebellion after the destruction of Alderaan. And the Emperor's reign(s) ended primarily because of the Skywalker family; political maneuverings had very little effect on the Rebel career of Luke Skywalker.

I am of the opinion that Alderaan would have never been destroyed if the Senate had not been dissolved. That was a primary reason it was dissolved in the first place, to keep a diverse political body such as the Senate from being able to publicly outcry against the use of the Death Star. The Rebellion didn't get into full swing until after the Senate was dissolved and Alderaan was destroyed. Everything would have to be different if the Emperor had never intended to dissolved the Senate, right up to there being very different plans for the Death Star's unveiling and use. No doubt it was always Palaptine's plan to dissolve the Senate from the start once he had a working, operational battlestation. If he had never planned this, the Death Star Project would have been very different if not nonexistant.