First of all, I really admired this two very great antagonist. Both the performance of Charles Dance and Peter Crushing has shown us a form of villain who's power is not due to might but a different form of power namely fear and manipulation. If you are a Game of Thrones fan, then you will know very well that Tywin Lannister is very good at instilling fear and also manipulation, though not as good as that of Petyr Baelish. However he was able to crush the Starks even he loss an inconclusive battle at Green Fork and a strategic battle at Whispering Wood due to his inability to completely crush the Stark army which was the main objective of his invasion of the River lands which was done in order to draw the Stark army in order for him to destroy it and the capture of his son Jaime Lannister at Whispering Wood,but using vile, plots and deception he was able to crush the the Kingdom of the North by destroying its leadership namely through organizing the Red Wedding.
By Eliminating the head of the enemy which was mostly Robb and Catelyn Stark and replacing it with a new and loyal one which were the Boltons, Tywin was able to perform what would Sun Tzu called defeating an enemy without fighting or more specifically defeating an enemy without using men and precious resources to win a costly war.
Tarkin being the Grand Moff of a despotic and ruthless empire displays the same qualities of using fear and manipulation. James Luceno's novelization of Tarkin and to a lesser extent Rogue One has shown how ruthless Tarkin is. If you want to know how powerful is Tarkin is just think how he ruled the empire on the Emperors behalf. Do you think he simply rules by show force? No he doesn't, he uses fear to keep those who opposed the empire in line and brutality when neaded. For example in Star Wars Rebels he executed two Imperial officers for their incompetence of eliminating a small rebel threat because he knew the consequences if the grip of fear is loss.
Overall I can say that HBO's Game of Thrones adaptation of Tywin Lannister has shown a man that is a more of a master of deceit and also manipulation while Grand Moff Tarkin in the movies but especially more to Luceno's novelization has shown a man who is able to maintain peace using fear, to enact law through brutality and to counter rebellion through extermination and genocide.
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