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Okay, as I was watching ANH again the other day on my DVD I noticed two "regular" looking Stormtroopers standing around during the "extended approach to Mos Eisley" sequence (added in the 1997 SE and then tweaked for the DVD).

Were these part of the detachments sent to locate the lost droids from the Star Destroyer that attacked Leia's ship? Or is this the fabled "Tatooine Imperial Garrison"?

I didn't think to grab a screen cap at the time so I couldn't tell you if they looked like they were carrying any special gear or anything. Blink and you miss it (as I did the 8 or 9 other times I've seen ANH SE).

Would these guys even fight to save the system?

Why is the garrison "fabled?" It is very prominent in the view of Mos Eisley in the ITW:OT.

I'd imagine that they had most of their sandtroopers out in the desert, except for a few. Given the importance of what they were searching for, it doesn't surprise me that they'd send down some regular stormies to help search the towns.

Noble Ire wrote:Why is the garrison "fabled?" It is very prominent in the view of Mos Eisley in the ITW:OT.

I don't have that book. All I've got is the shot of two Stormtroopers in the SE that I never noticed before. I assume those were added in 1997.

I honestly didn't know for sure if the Empire had a presence on Tatooine before the mission to re-capture the stolen plans...

Kurgan wrote:

Noble Ire wrote:Why is the garrison "fabled?" It is very prominent in the view of Mos Eisley in the ITW:OT.

I don't have that book. All I've got is the shot of two Stormtroopers in the SE that I never noticed before. I assume those were added in 1997.

I honestly didn't know for sure if the Empire had a presence on Tatooine before the mission to re-capture the stolen plans...

A small imperial presence would give them plausability for any actions they needed to take in the region. Even if it was only a diplomatic post. It did seem however that their presence was around long enough for them to adapt to local transportation.

Arcen wrote:

Kurgan wrote:

Noble Ire wrote:Why is the garrison "fabled?" It is very prominent in the view of Mos Eisley in the ITW:OT.

I don't have that book. All I've got is the shot of two Stormtroopers in the SE that I never noticed before. I assume those were added in 1997.

I honestly didn't know for sure if the Empire had a presence on Tatooine before the mission to re-capture the stolen plans...

A small imperial presence would give them plausability for any actions they needed to take in the region. Even if it was only a diplomatic post. It did seem however that their presence was around long enough for them to adapt to local transportation.

Sort of like the Rebels on Hoth?

As I recall, the IMperials maintained a small garrison there to make sure that the reigning Moff got a cut of the profit from the illicit activities that ran through the planet. Despite the fact that some people constantly complain about it, Tatooine was actually fairly important to the sector's underground economy, at least while Jabba was there.

Why would anyone garrison an utterly useless planet like Tantooine? Hell, the Jawa's would probably leave if they could.

Kurgan wrote: Sort of like the Rebels on Hoth?

To some degree but I always felt that the Rebel presence on Hoth was more accidental in nature. Prior to being chased out after the destruction of the 1st Death Star, I figured that they were using Hoth as a weapons cache site with minimal manning if any. The presence of SS on Tatooine was more of a consequence of Imperial dealings concerning the Huts. Having a "friend" outside the law can come in quite handy at times.

If you are using clones as troops its probably very easy to have small garrisons on every world. And given Tatooines nature and role as a smuggler port, a security force would be a must. The Empire wouldn't want it to become a rebel hive of activity for gun smuggling, etc.

The local garrison is probably doing the urban policing roles and also security in the desert for the farmers to keep the Sand People away. Thats both logical and also whats suggested in the EU books references to the subject.

frogcurry wrote:If you are using clones as troops its probably very easy to have small garrisons on every world.

Actually, it'd be even easier if you have conscription.

utterly useless planet

The planet is home to many spaceports and is the de facto headquarters of a notorious Hutt gangster. I´d say that warrants some attention by the Empire. (And Biggs mentions Luke´s uncle being affected by the Empire´s new economic policies in an ANH cut-scene, so it has some control.)

The garrison even uses tanks and AT-ARs, so they must think something´s worth defending.

I re-watched the Biggs/Anchorhead deleted scene from Star Wars and I notice that it's not Biggs who doubts the Empire "would even fight to save the system" it's actually Fixer. Somebody awhile back made a comment that whatever Biggs was saying was probably Rebel propaganda, but if Fixer said it that lends some more weight to the notion, at least that the public's perception of Imperial presence (in whatever form) on Tatooine is pretty dismal. And these things were said in the presence of more than just Luke, so while these people are friends, it's improbable that they are all indoctrinated Rebels at this point.

Biggs of course is planning to JOIN the Rebellion, he hasn't actually joined yet, but he "met some friends" "at the Academy" who were planning to jump ship and join. Obviously he believes enough in them to risk his neck joining them, but still.

Anyway, if that helps any...


The question of the Hutts raises another issue. Is the planet still controlled by the Hutts? Do they have defacto control? Are they vassals of the Empire? Or do they just bribe the local "Imperial Governor"?

Certainly Jabba's waltzing around in ANH seems to fly in the face of Jonathan Last's claims that the Empire "obviously cracked down on crimelords once in power."

The question of the Hutts raises another issue. Is the planet still controlled by the Hutts? Do they have defacto control? Are they vassals of the Empire? Or do they just bribe the local "Imperial Governor"?

Jabba bribes the local imps although the degree of his influence over them is very erratic from source to source in the "Tales from Jabbas palace anthology".

The hutt's are technically under imperial control (Han Solo trilogy) but bribe their way to better terms and are left alone.

That makes sense. As Arcen said, even for the Empire, having "friends" in the underworld could come in handy at times for a myriad of reasons, such as information and contacts. The Empire's use of bounty hunters supports this notion.