10 Things You Missed In Star Wars Deleted Scenes
3. The Royal Guard ALMOST Does Something - Return Of The Jedi
Emperor Palpatine's (Ian McDiarmid) distinctive Red Guard were first introduced in Return of the Jedi, and it's something of a running gag among fans that they basically end up doing nothing at all.
Hell, George Lucas himself seemingly proved he was in on the joke in the prequels, when he had Yoda (Frank Oz) make short work of a pair of them in Revenge of the Sith.
Yet a deleted scene from Return of the Jedi grants them a teensy bit more agency, as they're present when Darth Vader Force-chokes Moff Jerjerrod (Michael Pennington).
More to the point, the two guards raise their weapons at Vader when he chokes Jerjerrod, and continue to keep them pointed at him even after Jerjerrod is released and walks away.
If nothing else, it makes the guards look a little more badass and a bit less useless, that they were willing to hold their ground against someone as terrifying as Vader, even if he likely would've absolutely merked them.