Deleted Scene Spoiled Darth Vader’s Secret Decades Early

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 25 seconds ago

Back in 1998, the coolest Star Wars video game quietly dropped on PC. Star Wars: Behind the Magic was less a game and more an interactive encyclopedia, one filled with all kinds of weird secrets about the franchise. It was from this weird little CD-ROM that I first learned about the Rule of Two, something that would become a big deal in the Prequel Trilogy. It was also the first time I learned more details on Darth Vader being a Sith, something that was weirdly absent from most of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Of course, the coolest thing about Behind the Magic was the inclusion of deleted scenes from A New Hope.

If we’re being honest, most of the deleted scenes from that first Star Wars movie are pretty bad, and it’s easy to see why they were cut from the film. However, one deleted scene that most fans have never seen (it most certainly wasn’t on that old CD-ROM!) was an extended version of the Death Star conference scene. It’s actually surprisingly great, with world-building and politics that feel right out of Andor. The scene also paints General Tagge as one of the most intense officers in the entire Empire. Most fascinatingly, though, this scene has Tagge call Darth Vader a “Sith,” a word we wouldn’t hear onscreen for another 22 years! 

Tagge, You’re It

The extended version of this scene from A New Hope only has one angle, and it’s fixed on Tagge the entire time. While that’s a little weird, it also lets us appreciate how much passion the late, great Don Henderson is putting into his performance. Tagge puts forth some rather justified paranoia, saying that Vader has “gone too far” and that this Emperor-sent errand boy will be their “undoing.” He goes on to describe how dangerous the Rebel Alliance is and how the Death Star is more of a vanity project for Tarkin than a useful military asset. The rest of the scene plays out as it did in the original movie. 

Beyond Henderson’s awesome performance, this extended scene is compelling because it provides some Andor-style Imperial worldbuilding. We find out that Motti isn’t the only one who distrusts Vader. We also find out that Vader was sent by the Emperor; the original film makes it seem like he is mostly Tarkin’s attack dog. Speaking of Tarkin, it’s awesome that Tagge calls out the Death Star as being part of “Tarkin’s bid for recognition” rather than “prudent military strategy.” Just like that, we have a fascinating glimpse into Imperial politics, including a high-ranked official saying that his boss is putting his ego ahead of the needs of the Empire. 

When The Sith Hits The Fan

Of course, the main reason this extended scene excites Star Wars fans is that it represents the first time the word “Sith” is spoken onscreen. “Onscreen” is the keyword here: the novelization of A New Hope called Darth Vader a “Dark Lord of the Sith,” and he had the same title in some early Star Wars marketing. He was also referred to by this title or, more simply, by “Evil Sith Lord” on some of the Kenner toys. Despite Dark Horse Comics giving more details about ancient Sith in comics like Tales of the Jedi, we didn’t really get much information before the prequels about Vader’s Sith specifics.

This is likely because George Lucas was hesitant to let Star Wars Expanded Universe writers muck about with certain aspects of his mythology. That’s why the EU was filled with so many Dark Jedi bad guys, like Joruus C’baoth. Lucas didn’t have a problem with people writing about corrupted Jedi, but he had his own plans for how he’d portray the Sith. Those plans played out in the Prequel Trilogy, where the word “Sith” was first officially spoken onscreen in The Phantom Menace. In those prequels, details about the Sith were a well-kept secret, mostly known to Jedi and Sith practitioners such as Palpatine.

Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe

Had this extended scene from A New Hope made it to the final film, fans would have spent decades begging to know more about the Sith. Plus, they’d probably want to know how an Imperial commander knows all about one of the most secretive cults in a galaxy far, far away. However, Lucas cut this dialogue out, leaving the Sith to be a secret that he mostly explored onscreen in the prequels and, later, the Clone Wars TV show. Now, it’s left to fans like us to spread the word of a deleted scene that nearly changed everything.

Don’t know how to introduce it to your buddies? I recommend starting out by asking if they’ve heard the tragedy of General Tagge, the wise. Tell them it’s not a story that George Lucas would tell them, and then roll that beautiful bean footage!