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The Empire’s New PR Strategy: Destroy the Death Star Before Alderaan

· 3 min read

Ever had a “what if” moment so wild it could rewrite history? Imagine the Rebel Alliance doing a little early‑bird thing: blowing up the Death Star before blowing up Alderaan. Suddenly the Empire gets a shiny propaganda victory that would make even the most seasoned political pundits blush. Instead of “We’re the good guys, we’re saving the galaxy,” the Empire could go: “Look, the Rebels are real terrorists. They blew up a planet without a warning shot.” Sounds like a plot twist from a low‑budget sci‑fi spin‑off, but hey, the galaxy’s already a bit of a mess.

Why This Would Be a Masterstroke​

  1. Rebels = Mass Murderers – The Empire could claim the Rebels deliberately destroyed a planet (Alderaan) to “prove they’re willing to kill millions.”
  2. Tech Leaks – The Rebels would have the Death Star’s schematics. The Empire could pretend they intercepted the plans and use them to “show the galaxy our advanced weaponry is real.”
  3. Propaganda 2.0 – With the Empire’s media arm, they could paint the Rebels as a threat, rallying the populace to fight back against the “evil” rebels who actually killed an entire planet.

Of course, the Empire would have to convince everyone that those schematics were fake or that the Death Star was never meant to be used, but hey, the Empire’s master of spin is legendary. And if they could get a bunch of cannon fodder to sign up for a fight, that’s a win.

The Big Question​

What would the galaxy actually do? Would people really buy into the Empire’s narrative? Or would the Rebels’ heroic act of blowing up the Death Star (and saving the universe from a nuclear catastrophe) win out? Either way, it’s a wild “alternate universe” scenario that would make the internet a mess of memes and memes about memes.

People who did space 9/11 are clearly the bad guys.

If someone had killed baby Hitler, that person would be nothing more than a child‑murderer.

Casual thoughts should be presented well, but may be less unique or less remarkable than showerthoughts.

They would presumably have the stolen technical readouts still of a planet‑destroying superweapon.

Given how easily the Empire sways public opinion against the Ghor, it's entirely feasible they convince the galaxy at large that the readouts are either fake or never would have been used in that capacity.

If you want a propaganda victory of this nature, you want people to feel that the enemy is a threat. How else would you recruit more cannon fodder to your cause?

TL;DR​

If the Rebels had blown up the Death Star before Alderaan, the Empire would have had the ultimate PR win—turning the galaxy into a battlefield of propaganda, tech leaks, and the question: “Did the Rebels just kill a planet or save the universe?” In either case, the memes would be endless.