No Disintegrations

[Crazedwraith]

Okay so we all know why Boba's popular. He's got a cool costume and he got face time and respect from Vader!

But okay, now just pondering here: What kind of shitty bounty hunter needs to be reminded not to disintegrate his bounties? Like even being generous and it was a bounty worth as much dead as alive. Why disintegrate the body?

Won't you need that corpse to prove that you know... you did the job and aren't faking it?

[Darth Yan]

Depends. If you show the video of them dying I think people will accept it.

[Batman]

We can already pretty convincingly fake videos today. And other than the costume and getting facetime with Vader there's nothing saying Boba Fett wasn't a shitty bounty hunter in the movies. He got (almost) killed by a blind man. BY ACCIDENT. The guy did NOTHING noteworthy in the OT, even his ship looked shit.

[bilateralrope]

Remember that Vader wanted them alive. The 'no disintegrations' warning should not be needed.

So Fett has a reputation for incompetence and/or Vader wanted to insult him.

[Ralin]

He wouldn't have been there if he was considered incompetent, if only because no one would want to be responsible to Vader for his fuck ups. I'm assuming it meant that Fett saw some really spectacular action during some bounties and has a bit of a reputation for overkill and/or getting into over the top situations.

We also don't know that the disintegrations were the actual bounties as opposed to people trying to stop him from collecting. Maybe the disintegration was some brilliant bit of genius under fire that stopped an otherwise ungettable bounty from escaping. Maybe it just stood out because it was a really fucking cool bit of violence even by Vader's standards and he felt the need to show appreciation in his own way.

Won't you need that corpse to prove that you know... you did the job and aren't faking it?

If he has a good enough reputation his word alone probably counts for a lot.

[madd0c0t0r2]

Okay so we all know why Boba's popular. He's got a cool costume and he got face time and respect from Vader!

But okay, now just pondering here: What kind of shitty bounty hunter needs to be reminded not to disintegrate his bounties? Like even being generous and it was a bounty worth as much dead as alive. Why disintegrate the body?

Won't you need that corpse to prove that you know... you did the job and aren't faking it?

Vader was also fond of force-choking loyal officers. He was a emotional conduit of spite and dark side, not a coolly rational statesman who measured his words.

[Solauren]

It could also be that most (if not all previous) Imperial bounties were 'dead or alive'.

Vader reminding the most feared (and probably effective) bounty hunter that this particular bounty was 'alive and preferably unharmed only' makes sense in that context.

[Galvatron]

It may have also been an unspoken threat against the more trigger-happy elements of the assembled group.

In other words: "You kill them, you die too. I need them alive and that's not optional. Fuck my plans up at your own peril."

[Lord Revan]

It may have also been an unspoken threat against the more trigger-happy elements of the assembled group.

In other words: "You kill them, you die too. I need them alive and that's not optional. Fuck my plans up at your own peril."

I suspect there was a bit "Don't try to pass of some random person you disintegrated as the target either" since I wouldn't surprise if some less moral members of the Bounty Hunter's Guild might disintegrate some random homeless person and try to pass the remains as the target instead of going to
the trouble of tracking down and capturing the target.

[Formless]

They've got pretty advanced sensors, so I wouldn't be surprised if there is an acceptable standard of proof for bounties that end with disintegration so long as its a "dead or alive" contract. The reason Vader would reemphasize the point to Boba Fett in particular? Its simple-- Fett also works for Jabba, and Vader knows it, but Jabba's bounty on Han (mentioned earlier in the movie and seen in the previous film) is apparently a Dead or Alive contract, and Vader has to remind Fett that his ass is grass if he prioritizes Jabba's price over the Empire's. Fett is a professional, but he's also a mercenary, so if Jabba was going to give him more money than the Empire for disintegrating Han to make a point, Vader's main way of making sure that doesn't happen is to make implicit threats that anyone who tries that is just as dead. And since this is Vader we're talking about, Fett knows better than to screw with him, especially when he can still capitalize on Jabba's contract anyway if Vader is willing to give up Han in the end.

[RogueIce]

The reason Vader would reemphasize the point to Boba Fett in particular? Its simple-- Fett also works for Jabba, and Vader knows it, but Jabba's bounty on Han (mentioned earlier in the movie and seen in the previous film) is apparently a Dead or Alive contract, and Vader has to remind Fett that his ass is grass if he prioritizes Jabba's price over the Empire's. Fett is a professional, but he's also a mercenary, so if Jabba was going to give him more money than the Empire for disintegrating Han to make a point, Vader's main way of making sure that doesn't happen is to make implicit threats that anyone who tries that is just as dead. And since this is Vader we're talking about, Fett knows better than to screw with him, especially when he can still capitalize on Jabba's contract anyway if Vader is willing to give up Han in the end.

I don't think Jabba's contract was "dead or alive" because Fett makes the point of telling Vader that Solo is "no good to me dead" during the carbonite freezing sequence. And Vader apparently respects him enough to offer compensation if Captain Solo perished, so the edge-y types in here with "Fett is incompetent lols" are kinda off.

I think it's more that Fett is ruthlessly pragmatic - he would take Solo alive, but he sure doesn't need Leia or Chewie. But Vader did. So Vader is stressing "no disintegrations" because he wants everyone on the Falcon alive and (reasonably) well so he has plenty of bait to lure Luke in.

[Ralin]

Hadn't considered that, but yeah. Vader also probably doesn't have perfect information on Luke's relationships and associates and would rather not have recruiting him complicated by a bounty hunter Vader sent needlessly killing someone Luke was close to.

[Galvatron]

I wonder if Vader knew that one of his men blasted Threepio. If he did, I wonder if he had a problem with it.

[Ralin]

I wonder if Vader knew that one of his men blasted Threepio. If he did, I wonder if he had a problem with it.

There's a post Facebook has advertised to me multiple times of Vader demanding to know how the Death Star plans were stolen and being told it was an astromech and a prissy sounding golden protocol droid and Vader going "Oh lmao those are mah boys"

[MKSheppard]

I think it's more that Fett is ruthlessly pragmatic - he would take Solo alive, but he sure doesn't need Leia or Chewie. But Vader did. So Vader is stressing "no disintegrations" because he wants everyone on the Falcon alive and (reasonably) well so he has plenty of bait to lure Luke in.

That's...actually a pretty good explanation.

[vakundok]

Vader: Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans and bring me the passengers. I want them alive!

Maybe he just prefers to be specific. Or has poor past experience when not being so.

[Khaat]

Vader does have an established history of "systems can fail, people can be broken".

[MKSheppard]

Maybe he just prefers to be specific. Or has poor past experience when not being so.

That brings up an interesting point.

*cough gasp* lord vader *choke* you didn't specify *gasp* dead *choke* or alive...

This is something I've got a problem with most depictions of Vader in the comics -- they always default to making Vader being "Atrocities for breakfast, lunch AND dinner" along with "kicking people's puppies to show how evil he is"; when in the 30-45 minute screen time we see in the OT, he's pretty much chill.

[Captain Seafort]

This is something I've got a problem with most depictions of Vader in the comics -- they always default to making Vader being "Atrocities for breakfast, lunch AND dinner" along with "kicking people's puppies to show how evil he is"; when in the 30-45 minute screen time we see in the OT, he's pretty much chill.

Exhibit A: The officer in ANH who was worried about the consequences of imprisoning Leia.

Not only was he willing to object to Vader's actions to his face (or respirator), but Vader's response was simply "leave it to me". The entire exchange paints a picture of a leader who is willing to take the time to both listen to his subordinates' concerns, including about decisions he's taken, and to reassure those subordinates. About as far from stereotypically Vaderish behaviour as you can get.

[Galvatron]

This is something I've got a problem with most depictions of Vader in the comics -- they always default to making Vader being "Atrocities for breakfast, lunch AND dinner" along with "kicking people's puppies to show how evil he is"; when in the 30-45 minute screen time we see in the OT, he's pretty much chill.

It's not just the comics anymore...



Now Vader just murders random onlookers for shits and giggles.

[MKSheppard]

It's not just the comics anymore...

[snip scene from OBI WAN]

Now Vader just murders random onlookers for shits and giggles.

In that specific case -- OB1 episode 3 -- Vader going completely unhinged makes sense. But there's a problem with that. Vader going unhinged means...he's never going to rest until he's found and killed Obi Wan; which is problematic for the greater backstory of Star Wars as a whole.

Essentially, the OB1 writers got their "aww yeah this is fucking METAL" scene for shocks , similar to comic writers; but didn't think it through past their "aww yeah this is fucking METAL" reaction.

[Solauren]

With the exception of Kenobi - Maybe it's a case of 'Vader is fine around seasoned, intelligent, known to be effective professionals', but around incompetents, his patience is near zero.

WIth Kenobi - Vader was clearly not over his loss to Kenobi. The Emperor more or less forced him to move past it.

[Elheru Aran]

As far as the disintegrations go:

We see in Mandalorian that bounties are assigned with 'tracking fobs', presumably connected in some way to biometrics. We also see that Mando's amban rifle is capable of disintegration, but there's still organic matter, so one can conjecture that in the case of disintegrated bounties, the kill can be recorded via the fob or some such; certainly Mando could have a gun-camera in his helmet or rifle sights for the purpose.

While information can certainly be faked, *hiding* that it's been faked is another matter, and word of mouth is important in the underworld community. If someone is killed without anybody else knowing how it happened and who did it, that's a bit unusual.

[Brobi-Wan Kenobi]

Yeah, from what we see in the OT Trilogy, Boba Fett is a VERY shitty bounty hunter. This implies he always takes the easy way out and just disintegrates his enemies, his father would be ashamed. Also, he's bested by a literal blind man. He should have stayed dead, and I think his death suited him. I never liked him as a kid, I always saw him as a lame coward.

[Galvatron]

Or maybe Boba Fett is just as pragmatic about bounty hunting as SLJ is in The Hateful Eight: