A Deleted Death Star Plot Would've Made Return Of The Jedi Darker
The Rebel Alliance triumphantly destroyed the Second Death Star in Return of the Jedi, but their victory could have been much darker, thanks to a deleted sub-plot. Commander Jerjerrod had a relatively minor role in the film, serving as a far less ambitious replacement for Grand Moff Tarkin, but deleted scenes and rejected plot points nearly gave him a much larger role. One, in particular, put him in an unenviable position, courtesy of Emperor Palpatine, highlighting a rarely-seen human side of the Star Wars original trilogy’s Imperial villains.
In Return of the Jedi’s earliest story treatments, Jerjerrod was a Grand Moff and a much more similar character to Tarkin who worked with Emperor Palpatine in secret to undermine Darth Vader and ensure his replacement by Luke Skywalker. This ultimately led to Jerjerrod’s murder by Vader, who broke the treacherous Grand Moff’s neck upon discovering his betrayal. A deleted scene would later show Jerjerrod and two of The Emperor's Royal Guards attempting to block Darth Vader from entering Palpatine’s throne room, to which Vader threateningly Force choked the Commander so he’d let him pass.
Related: How The Second Death Star's Weakness Was So Similar To The Original
As shown in Return of the Jedi’s deleted scenes, the film was originally going to include a sub-plot in which Palpatine ordered Jerjerrod to use the Death Star II to destroy Endor if the shield generator is deactivated. When the Rebels win the ground battle on Endor, Jerjerrod resigns himself to The Emperor’s command, yet hesitates to give the order, giving Lando Calrissian and Wedge Antilles the necessary time to destroy the battle station. Jerjerrod’s guilt and reluctance to obliterate Imperial troops shows a rare human
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