Skip to main content

star wars - Is the Alderaanian population Rebel-aligned in general?


Asking Have the Death Stars directly caused more Imperial or Rebel deaths? led me to question what I've taken for granted as an assumption all this while.


From available sources in canon & Legends, what do we know about the main allegiance of Alderaan's general population? Are they aware of Senator Bail Organa's involvement in the Rebellion, let alone the true nature of his role in it? Besides Bail & his circles, who is the rest of Alderaan loyal to?



Answer



Canon


The official Star Wars Databank has this to say:



If ever one needed an example of the irredeemable evil that was the Empire, turn to the shattered remains of Alderaan. An influential world, Alderaan was represented in the waning days of the Republic by such venerated politicians as Bail Antilles and Bail Organa. A peaceful world, Alderaan was bereft of weaponry in an era of galactic strife. It was not without spirit, however. Alderaan was one of the earliest supporters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, though its officials prudently kept all ties to the Rebellion secret. Despite such discretion, the Empire knew it to be a haven of Rebel activity, and Grand Moff Tarkin targeted the beautiful world for reprisal as soon as the Death Star was operational. The massive primary weapon of the battle station obliterated Alderaan, leaving only a lifeless asteroid field behind.




Wookieepedia (citing Star Wars Rebels – "A Princess on Lothal") says this:



During this time, Alderaan became the Alliance's main source of munitions. The planet's crown princess and representative in the Imperial Senate, Princess Leia Organa, adoptive daughter of Bail and Breha Organa, began using her diplomatic immunity as an Imperial senator to carry out Rebel missions in restricted Imperial systems.



Legends


In Star Wars: Battlefront II, a 501st trooper says this:



"For all their talk of being a peaceful planet, Alderaan had been thumbing its nose at the Empire for years."



The Star Wars: Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide labels Alderaan as one of the Empire's priority targets for providing political and strategic aid to the Alliance.



Wookieepedia says this (although they didn't cite their source so take it with a grain of salt):



Immediately after the formation of the Galactic Empire, Alderaan was wracked by anti-Imperial protests, mainly from alien refugees who were now forced to pay an exorbitant tax to return home. Alderaan eventually became a safe haven for rebellious elements who wished to fight the growing oppression of the Empire, which helped bring on the planet's very downfall.



Included among the population was a group of Caamasi refugees depicted in the novel I, Jedi, for example, that fled to Alderaan after an Imperial bombardment destroyed their planet. They were most definitely Rebel sympathizers.


Conclusion - YES


While it's hard to determine what percentage of the Alderaan people were pro-Rebellion, it had a reputation for being very sympathetic to the Alliance which should be sufficient for the question.


It's generally understood that a significant portion of the galaxy's population didn't like the Empire but any official stance against the regime would carry significant consequences and violent suppression. Therefore, Alderaan, being a peaceful planet, was officially aligned with the Empire but both its political figures and its people had a reputation of secretly being very influential supporters of the Rebellion.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...