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They said that Prince Xizor was the third most dangerous (powerful?) man in the galaxy, after the Emperor and Vader.

If that's true, then pre-Endor, who was after him in danger and power? I'm not expecting an exact ranking, I'm just wondering who else is as close. I was surprised that a non-Imperial was third, but I guess it makes sense since the Emperor and Vader wouldn't want to have any subordinates too close to their power.

Battlehymn Republic wrote:They said that Prince Xizor was the third most dangerous (powerful?) man in the galaxy, after the Emperor and Vader.

If that's true, then pre-Endor, who was after him in danger and power? I'm not expecting an exact ranking, I'm just wondering who else is as close. I was surprised that a non-Imperial was third, but I guess it makes sense since the Emperor and Vader wouldn't want to have any subordinates too close to their power.

ANH era: I'd say Grand Moff Tarkin was well up there, as well as the other Imperial Grand Moffs.

ESB: Who knows.

However, I daresay Xizor's rank was third most *overall* powerful person, due to his control of the crime syndicates and the mercantile industries. In that case, I'd say Kuat of Kuat was also fairly significant; the Grand Moffs mentioned earlier would've been more military and governmental control.

Grand Vizier Sate Pestage essentially controlled day-to-day governing of the Empire up until Endor (and briefly ruled it afterwards), and was foremost among Palpatine's advisors. I'd say he has to have been in the running for the fourth spot (indeed, I think he might have given Xizor and perhaps even Vader himself a run for their rank).

Maybe some of the Grand Admirals might have been near the top, but not that close I suppose. Leader/Owner of the corporate sector? I'd say the owners of KDY, CEC and whoever runs Fondor would be up there too.

I think it was Publius, who suggested that "third most powerful person" refers more to a kind of rank or power-level with Palpatine being Nr.1, people like Vader and Pestage Nr.2 and Tarkin, Xixor and Kuat of Kuat Nr.3.

It would be interesting to know, if Orman Baron Tagge had reached Level2 or if he belonged to the "threes".

From a certain perspective, Luke Skywalker could very have been, or possibly Yoda or Mon Mothma. But I doubt those suggestions would fit in with the context of this rating system.

I always thought Xizor overestimated his own stature in the galaxy anyways. The fact that he had such a close relationship with Palpatine was one of very few downsides to SoTE.

Darth Fanboy wrote: I always thought Xizor overestimated his own stature in the galaxy anyways. The fact that he had such a close relationship with Palpatine was one of very few downsides to SoTE.

Could it have been that Palpatine only put up with Xizor because he wanted to use Xizor's transport fleet to help with construction of the Death Star Two? Maybe planning to discard him after construction was completed?

The New Essential Guide to Droids mentions that the Tagge Company absorbed much of the former Trade Federation's assets after it was Imperialized following the Clone War. The Dark Empire Sourcebook reveals that TaggeCo. controls its own shipyards (Tagge Industries Shipyards Ltd.), which was sufficiently large that it was able to bid on contracts to provide the Imperial Navy's fleet auxiliary force with support ships; Cloak of Deception even compares TaggeCo.'s shipbuilding division to Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc., in terms of output. Goroth: Slave of the Empire shows that TaggeCo.'s Tagge Mining Company also had such significant assets available that it was able to simply outspend and outmuscle even multistellar corporations like the Karflo Corporation and Trigdale Metallurgy. The Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook numbers it as one of the Corporate Sector Authority's voting sponsors, which means that it invested at least 50 quadrillion credits in the Corporate Sector.

The House of Tagge also had direct access to military-grade hardware. In "House of Tagge Sides with Loyalists," it was mentioned that the Tagges controlled a private military of more than a million soldiers and a private fleet of over 5,00 ships. By the time of the Empire, there were a pair of Tagge noblemen in the Empire's general officers corps, TaggeCo. was routinely seconded the services of Imperial stormtroopers, and the Baron Tagge even had a commissioned officer as his personal liaison. Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds mentions that the House of Tagge provided forces to support the blockade of the Gordian Reach Sector on par with Darth Vader and Bright Jewel Oversector; these are explicitly said to be "Tagge warships," and yet when General Tagge appears in "Return to Tatooine!", he is on board a battlecruiser larger even than the commonest Imperial Star Destroyer. The Prince Xizor's fleet is not known to possess anything larger than an unmarked corvette.

The Lord Tagge controlled a vertically monopolistic conglomerate that had major holdings in nearly every aspect of the galactic economy, including Xizor Transport Systems' primary field of concern (there is also the Baron d'Asta's holdings to consider, and at least one other major shipping line, Red Star Shipping, is a confirmed CSA voting sponsor, which XTS is not). TaggeCo. has been identified as the primary corporate sponsor of the Corporate Sector Authority, and also the largest corporate supporter of both the Imperial State and of its allied governments. Its employees number in the millions, and its finances run into the quadrillions. When the Lord Tagge plotted against his enemies, it involved the mobilization of military assets and the deployment of powerful technological innovations like Achtnak Station or the Omega Frost. When the Prince Xizor plotted against his enemies, it involved personal humiliation and embarrassment.

In The Mandalorian Armor, the Galactic Emperor remarked that he would keep the Prince Xizor around if for no other reason than the "stimulating effect" he had on Darth Vader. In other words, as soon as Vader succeeded in killing the Lord Tagge -- a serious rival -- and neutralizing his family as threats to his own power, the Galactic Emperor started keeping the Prince Xizor around to annoy Vader.

Are you saying that Xizor's widely-renowned and rather infamous position as "third most powerful person in the galaxy" is overrated?

Then again, being made such an important pawn is rather powerful. And I don't think the Emperor would let Vader kill him if the point for his presence is to annoy Vader.

Battlehymn Republic wrote:Are you saying that Xizor's widely-renowned and rather infamous position as "third most powerful person in the galaxy" is overrated?

IIRC the references to Xizor's position in the galaxy largely come from himself, and he was pretty egomaniacal.

Battlehymn Republic wrote:Are you saying that Xizor's widely-renowned and rather infamous position as "third most powerful person in the galaxy" is overrated?

The Prince Xizor's power is 'soft' power, obtained through corruption and manipulation. He controls an organization that numbers in the thousands only. How seriously can one take his claims, when there are people like Sate Pestage, Ars Dangor, and Mon Mothma, who control enormous organizations numbering in the millions and have the firepower to lay waste to dozens of worlds at their beck and call? How seriously can one contend that an oversexed gangster is the third most powerful man in the galaxy, when there are dark side hierarchs like Jerec and Kadann, the Galactic Emperor's co-religionists? Jerec was a billionaire nearly as powerful in the dark side as Vader -- meaning that he was in the same order of magnitude as the Galactic Emperor himself -- and yet a playboy businessman is supposed to be more powerful? The idea is quite frankly asinine.

A question to ask since very little is known: How much by way of mercenaries did Black Sun control? I seem to recall the Han Solo trilogy where Xizor deployed his mercenaries.

I think I need to find the exact passage in Shadow of the Empire. I think it was the author who (through his narrator-voice, I think, not as Xizor speaking) described the "third most powerful person" title. But to be fair, wasn't Shadows written before a lot of the other EU material?

Either way, if it's a claim made only in that novel, then I guess it can be easily disputed.

There are some interesting things in the Wookiepedia article on Xizor but I can't find much in the way to back these up. Among the things I've peeked at:

-Xizor was present at the Boonta Eve Classic in TPM, The cameo was a micro machines toy though, and the confirmation of this is only for hyperspace members.

-Xizor tried and FAILED to get control of KDY from Kuat of Kuat, I believe this would have been in the Boba Fett trilogy at some point.


Slightly off topic thingy I found that was cool: A category on wookiepedia called "Tales Stories With Canon"

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Category ... with_canon