Thinking yet again about Garoche Tarkin and how incredibly tragic the end of his story is.
This is a young man, probably around Anakin's age, who's been pushed into doing and thinking terrible things. He's under pressure from his father to be something he isn't, and deep down he knows that but he can't act on it. By his own admission, he's killed children--committed sweeping executions on the orders of the Empire to which his family is so loyal.
And then he meets Saro on Atoa, and she clearly has her own political agenda and aspirations, but god--he's never felt anything like this before. He's never felt so seen, and he's never been offered the chance to be anything but a monster. It's all new and terrifying. Saro has a plan, though, and Garoche will do anything for this woman who's shown him how to be human again. It's going to work, they're both sure. Saro is so clever, Garoche thinks, and so kind. Of course she'll win for them both.
And then it all comes apart. He and Saro touched a nerve on Vader that wasn't ready to be touched, and in seconds they're dead. Garoche's beginning is his end. He and Saro could have led a small rebellion of their own. They could have told their story and Garoche could have set an example for ex-Imperials to come. It kills me how swiftly that potential was stamped out. And for what?
So Vader and Palpatine could bend Tarkin even further toward the cause that he'd already gone all-in on. He was loyal to start; they didn't have to kill his son to make him a better tool. They should have trusted his devotion to order and control, but they had to go and mess it all up. Now the Atoans are gone, Tarkin hides his grief under hate, and Garoche and Saro forgotten.
It's the theft of possibility that really gets me about this story. Garoche holds onto Saro at the end and says "We had no time," and Saro responds "We had time enough." It's such a harsh comfort for a boy who's truly had no time to explore himself in full. Saro's had time, sure, and she sees the bigger picture as a Force user. Garoche just has what's right in front of him. He's been robbed.
Feeling big things this late Saturday afternoon and I'm not sure I articulated this all as artfully as I'd like, but I want to talk about this story forever and ever.
