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Rouge One: A Star Wars Story introduced us to Galen Erso and Orson Krennic
the men responsible for the development of the Death Star's super laser.
I would say that their Star Wars Legends counterpart is Bevel Lemelisk,
who was also credited for much of the Death Star's design.
Actually I would say he's kind of a combination of Erso and Krennic
So I'll go over their histories and we can compare their stories to see if Galen and Orson took any cues from their Legends predecessor.
Galen Erso was a brilliant mind and pacifist that was forced into developing the super laser for the Empire.
He resisted as best he could but he had to settle for sneaking a weakness into the Death Star's reactor.
He sent a message out to the rebellion to notify them of their flaw, but his good deeds were done too late.
The Alliance targeted him for assassination and Galen was killed in an attack on his facility.
Orson Krennic was a renowned architect that oversaw many large construction projects for the Galactic Republic.
He was given the task of managing the Death Star's construction and scientific development
before the Clone Wars had even ended.
He was himself managed by Wilhuff Tarkin much to his chagrin.
While he did have some military experience, his title was Director of Advanced Weapons Research
and his military promotions came through negotiations and manipulations rather than actual service.
In the end, he was killed by the very weapon he created under Tarkin's orders.
Star Wars Legends tells a very different story about the man who created the Death Star.
Bevel Lemelisk was also brought up with a very advanced education
but he couldn't ever be accused of pacifism even before the Death Star began.
He created attack crafts for Geonosians before the Clone Wars and developed a multitude
weapons for the Republic after the war began.
When the Galactic Empire rose to power he was named Master of Imperial projects.
That title and the fact that he was a renowned architect are why I think Bevel has a healthy dose of Krennic in him.
Lemelisk also worked under Grand Moff Tarkin but that was a challenge he was eager to tackle.
Of course he was not meant to complete the project on his own
among his colleague was a female Omwati named Qwi Xux.
She was manipulated into believing the Death Star was meant not for destruction
but instead to break up lifeless planetary masses to extract ores.
This is fairly similar to the relationship between Krennic and Erso.
Lemelisk actually survived beyond the destruction of the first Death Star
but was executed by Emperor Palpatine for his failure to create a flawless weapon.
So just like Krennic, Bevel was killed by his own people.
However, Palpatine used the Force to transfer his consciousness into a clone of his body
so he could immediately begin work on a second Death Star.
After it's destruction he continued to develop a total of six super-weapons
including his final weapon the Dark Sabre.
The New Republic destroyed it before it could be made operational and captured Bevel in the process.
He was executed for his crimes of genocide and he remained defiant to his end.
So I think there are some parallels to be drawn between Galen Erso, Orson Krennic,
Bevel Lemelisk, and Qwi Xux.
I love that there are two pair of designers and in each pair of them, one is being deceived.
But I more want to focus on Galen and Orson's differences and similarities with Bevel.
From Galen's side of things they were both brilliant scientists, researchers, and engineers.
They were both responsible for creating the super laser and they were both killed by the Rebel Alliance,
or the New Republic, or we'll just call them "the good guys".
However of course Erso was a pacifist that was forced to create the weapon, where Lemelisk was happy to do so.
Never had a crisis of conscience and didn't even express regret at his execution.
Galen Erso's dying words were to tell his daughter to destroy what he had built.
Shifting to Krennic, they were both known for being highly talented architects,
they were responsible for the over all development of the station,
they had similar titles, they reported to Grand Moff Tarkin,
and they were both killed by high ranking members of the Empire.
Although Bevel's death is a technicality since he was cloned and he came back, but I'm taking it.
Where they differ is in their ambitions.
Krennic wanted to command the Death Star and rise to higher and higher levels of power within the Empire.
Lemelisk just wanted to build super-weapons.
When I sat down to research this video it began as just a video comparing Bevel and Galen and how different the two are.
But then I started researching and writing and it occurred to me how many parallels both cannon and Legends have.
I don't necessarily think those parallels were all intentional,
but it's so interesting to see what themes pop up in both versions of the story.
Personally I like the cannon dynamic between Krennic and Erso more then Bevel Lemelisk on his own.
Qwi Xux is of course a thing, but her story involved a lot more brainwashing,
and I prefer Orson's outright manipulation of his friendship with Galen.
Also Lemelisk was just kind of a wacky character and I've never been a fan of the whole cloning thing that Legends did all the time.
Finally, I love that Krennic was killed by the Death Star and that's a far more fitting death in my eyes.
But that's it for today. Were there any other parallels you think I missed?
Do you prefer the duo of Krennic and Galen or the more solo effort of Lemelisk?
Let me know in the comments. And feel free to suggest more canon vs. Legends video for me to tackle because I really like doing them.
If you want to see more, here's a playlist of all the ones I've done so far.
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As always, thanks for watching. And May the Force be with you.