How Liberty Dies: The Politics of Star Wars

[Music] when they were first released over 20 years ago one of the main complaints fans had about the star wars prequels was their politics the politics of the films they said bogged them down and made them needlessly confusing but this ignores a central fact of the franchise star wars has always been political though it wasn't as overt the original trilogy was an allegory to the guerrilla warfare of conflicts like the vietnam war or the american revolution the rebels represent the small band of guerrilla fighters using asymmetric warfare against the large organized and mechanized military of the empire the near absence of politics from the sequels then is a major contributing factor to why they failed without a political undertone they lack direction star wars was not originally intended to be a trilogy but george lucas had a vision surpassing the scope of just the one movie why did you start in the middle of the star wars story and then go back to the beginning well originally star wars was one simple little movie based on a saturday matinee cereal the idea was that you came in you saw episode four you know what happened before you know what happened after the original script this it was one script it started with darth vader coming in the front door it ended with darth vader throwing the emperor down the tube and so you got a much better picture of the tragedy of darth vader which is what it was really about when i started writing it got too big i didn't have the money i would never get a studio to do it so i just took the first third and decided i'd make that into a movie and i would come back to the other two parts later which is why i ended up with sql rights because i was determined to see to it that that all got finished that that movie that i started with a new hope was created in many ways as a self-contained story but lucas's vision combined with the great success of the first film prompted him to create the empire strikes back and return of the jedi this would turn star wars from a standalone film into the franchise we all know today the various elements introduced over the course of the original trilogy set up a universe that served as a perfect vessel to explore certain questions which no other film or show would dare touch how does a democracy become a dictatorship how does a republic fall how does liberty die [Music] the phantom menace opens on a galactic republic in turmoil at the start of the film the trade federation a galactic shipping conglomerate is enforcing a blockade over the small planet of naboo due to a taxation dispute to try and mediate the crisis jedi knights qui-gon jinn and obi-wan kenobi are dispatched on a diplomatic mission to put it lightly the mission does not go well the pair descend to the surface in a droid transport ship as their frigate is destroyed and the blockade turns into an invasion they pick up a [Music] companion rescue the queen of naboo padme amidala and break past the blockade in the escape they take damage to their ship that forces them to make a landing on the desert planet of tatooine shenanigans ensue and after freeing a young boy named anakin skywalker from slavery and obtaining a new hyperdrive they finally arrive at their destination coruscant the entire planet is one big city there's chancellor vlorum shuttle and look over there senator palpatine is waiting for us enter shiv palpatine right now he's merely a humble senator from naboo but in time he will take his place as the most powerful man in the galaxy and the greatest villain in movie history as he talks to queen amidala he turns her against the incumbent supreme chancellor of the republic finis valorum claiming that he has no real power that bureaucrats control everything and that new leadership is needed the thing is palpatine isn't entirely wrong though his manipulation of padme may be a blatant grab for power he makes certain very valid points about the bureaucracy of the republic there is no civility only politics the republic is not what it once was the senate is full of greedy squabbling delegates there is no interest in the common good in the senate chamber we see the truth of his claims the trade federation a corporation somehow has political representation and in response to a cry for help from a people under military occupation senators propose that a committee be formed to investigate the queen's claims rather than suggesting any actual action enraged the queen motions for a vote of no confidence in the chancellor the vote passes and three candidates including palpatine are nominated to succeed valorum as the supreme chancellor but the queen decides she has no time to wait for the senate to finally do something she chooses to return to naboo with her jedi protectors she like so many others has lost faith in the republic it is clear to me now that the republic no longer functions i pray you will bring sanity and compassion back to the senate [Music] the third act of the film sees our heroes returning to naboo the trade federation is engaged in battle on three fronts as the two jedi fight the enigmatic sith apprentice darth maul displaying his skill as a pilot and his strength in the force anakin manages to destroy the federation control ship thus deactivating the droid army on the planet below as this happens qui-gon is killed by darth maul and maul is in turn killed by obi-wan or at least so we are led to believe palpatine newly anointed as the supreme chancellor arrives on the planet the jedi council agrees to train anakin as a jedi under obi-wan the planet rejoices at their victory and the film comes to an end episode 1 is the least monumental of the prequels in terms of the underlying political story but it serves to establish the decay of the galactic republic on tatooine we are shown the utter neglect of the outer rim the republic may talk a big game about freedom but on tatooine and worlds like it it means absolutely nothing i can't believe there's still slavery in the galaxy the republic's anti-slavery laws the republic doesn't exist out here we must survive on our own excuse me padme serves as our pov character for most of the prequels politics and as she comes to understand the harsh reality of the republic so too do we on coruscant we are given a metaphor for the entirety of the republic its shining exterior hides the rot endemic within it and the jedi order this is later allegoried by the sprawling criminal underworld of the planet layer upon layer of the worst kind of scum and villainy the phantom menace while perhaps lacking in political drama on its own shows us how far the republic has already fallen and sets up all that is to come fast forwarding by 10 years the attack of the clones opens on a republic engulfed in a full-blown crisis for the past two years planets in the outer rim region have been seceding from the republic and have consolidated into the confederacy of independent systems led by a fallen jedi named count dooku in the halls of the republic's government a debate is held over the creation of a grand army to quell the separatist threat chief among the opposition to this bill is padme now a senator for naboo to some in both the republic and the nascent confederacy this was unacceptable and much of the first act of the film focuses on repeated attempts to assassinate her eventually she is convinced to leave coruscant for her own safety with anakin now a padawan learner as her bodyguard in the meantime obi-wan attempts to track down the bounty hunter who's been attempting to kill padme he begins to follow the trail of a poison dart and the clues eventually lead him to a planet beyond the reaches of the known galaxy called kamino it is here that obi-wan discovers the clone army [Music] magnificent aren't they he also discovers the original donor for the clones a bounty hunter named jango fett the kaminoans arranged for the two to meet and during this meeting it very quickly becomes clear that he is the bounty hunter who's been trying to kill padme obi-wan also learns that jango was recruited by a man named taranis this will be relevant later on obi-wan reports his findings to the jedi council and tries to apprehend jango jango escapes but not before obi-wan manages to plant a tracker on his ship which he follows to the planet of geonosis there he witnesses the official formation of the separatist alliance by count dooku as i explained to you earlier i am quite convinced that 10 000 more systems will rally to our cause with your support gentlemen is that your disposal count their banking clan will sign your treaty good very good our friends from the trade federation have pledged their support and when their battle droids are combined with yours we shall have an army greater than any in the galaxy the jedi will be overwhelmed the republic will agree to he reports this to the jedi council and palpatine's loyalist committee after which he is attacked and taken captive anakin and padme head to geonosis to try and rescue him while on coruscant palpatine uses the crisis to his advantage his advisor suggests that palpatine needs to be granted emergency powers to approve the creation of an army palpatine feigns doubt asking what senator would be courageous enough to suggest such a thing answering his question in steps representative jar jar binks proposing to the senate to give palpatine the emergency powers and he's met with overwhelming approval his power growing palpatine continues to play coy acting as a humble servant of the republic it is with great reluctance that i have agreed to this calling i love democracy i love the republic the power you give me i will lay down when this crisis has abating [Applause] and as my first act with this new authority i will create a grand army of the republic to counter the increasing threats of the separatists it is done then [Music] meanwhile on geonosis the cryptic count dooku talks to the captive obi-wan and in this conversation we get a clear view on who count dooku is a political idealist who saw through the corruption of the senate long before the confederacy he attempted to bring reform to the institutions of the republic only to be pushed away in the prequel films we are only ever shown count dooku as a sith but in truth he never gave himself fully to the dark side his goal was always to fix what was broken ah he has a very powerful face doesn't he he was one of the most brilliant jedi i have had the privilege of knowing i never understood why he quit well one might say he was always a bit out of step with the decisions of the council much like your old master quick on gin really oh yes they were very individual thinkers idealists in the end i think he left because he lost faith in the republic he disappeared for nine of 10 years and turned up recently as head of the separatist movement the third act of the film takes place primarily on geonosis in their attempt to rescue obi-wan anakin and padme in turn get captured and all three of them are sentenced to be executed in the petranaki arena just as they're about to be killed jedi master mace windu shows up with over 200 more jedi to try and rescue them the jedi engage in battle with the newly formed separate destroyed army and though they fight valiantly they are massacred almost to a man with only 30 nights remaining dooku offers them to surrender the jedi refuse and as the rest of them are about to be slaughtered the clone army arrives look around the survivors and perimeter create for the first time we witness the clone army in action and as the chaos unfolds dooku attempts to escape the planet he is confronted by anakin and obi-wan who duel him to little success with anakin losing an arm in walks the grand master of the jedi order and dooku's former master yoda the two duel briefly before dooku flees the planet the battle comes to a close with a republic victory but the crisis has not ended i have to admit that without the clones it would not have been a victory victory victory you say master obi-wan not victory the shroud of the dark side has fallen begun the clone war has palpatine oversees the clones loading onto their ships as anakin and padme who've been in a love story that i've completely ignored so far get married and on that note the film comes to an end episode 2 marks the point of no return for the republic it may continue to exist in name but at this point palpatine holds all the cards the trap has been sprung and there is no escaping the inevitable pay close attention to the music here this is the birth of the empire the clone wars have begun and with them palpatine's already considerable power will only continue to grow while the jedi order remains utterly blind to his machinations the attack of the clones exemplifies the rise of an autocrat with emergency powers and no more term limits there is nothing stopping palpatine his plan in place the fall of the republic is no longer a matter of if but when but for that to happen the republic must fight in the clone wars [Music] the clone wars is a show about many things brotherhood found family purpose coming of age the loss of innocence and of course war however the theme of the clone wars that people like to forget about is how war can degrade democratic values and institutions the political episodes of the clone wars are some of the most overlooked and ignored in the entire show but they're also some of the most important the story of the prequels is ultimately the story of how republic falls therefore it is of paramount importance to explore the steps that lead into authoritarianism for about the first half of the show the clone wars presents a very simplified view of the conflict republic versus separatists clones versus droids jedi vs sith that's because this is precisely the polarized lens through which the vast majority of the galaxy viewed the war at the outset of the clone wars we are given just this understanding of it as a simple conflict between two opposing sides but what we come to see with time is that this romanticized view of the war is exactly what palpatine needs to become an absolute dictator between all a gallantry of the clones and heroics of the jedi the first three seasons of the show plant seeds of doubt as to the narrative we're being presented with it primarily does this through the eyes of non-aligned groups who bring conflicting perspectives that make us question the republic and the jedi the very first of these comes in the form of the two-episode lerman arc of season one the arc begins with anakin his new padawan ahsoka and jedi master ayla sakura crashing on the remote grassy world of maradon anakin is badly injured and in search of help the jedi and their clone companions find the village of the lehrman a diminutive people who despite their expectations are none too pleased at the jedi's arrival violence breeds violence jedi are no peacekeepers we're fighting for freedom and freedom and peace require fear and death we colonize this system to find solace from your wretched war we came here to find peace you must leave you will only destroy what small amount of peace is left in the galaxy you will only bring the destruction of us despite their disagreements the lerman do agree to help the wounded anakin and they bring him into their village but this tranquility was not to last the lerman's ideology is soon put to the test when a battalion of separatist droids lands on the planet to test a devastating new weapon facing extinction the jedi tried to convince lerman to fight back but stalwart and his beliefs their leader refuses his people on the other hand are not willing to die to uphold his absolutist morals and aid the jedi in defending the village in the end they are successful but even so the lerman leader wonders as to the true price of sacrificing their beliefs in the lerman we are given a perspective that fundamentally contradicts the heroic image of the republic that has thus far been presented to us they don't see the republic and the jedi as the near universal good that they purport themselves to be but instead they're seen as being just as destructive and violent as the separatists the jedi protests that they're fighting for freedom but to the lerman liberty is not worth the cost of armed struggle in spite of the irrational extreme to which their pacifist philosophy is taken we know that there is a grain of truth in what the lerman leader said the republic and the jedi could hardly claim moral superiority when as we see an increasing frequency as the show goes on they commit many of the same atrocities as the separatists we show these different points of view that kind of compromise the jedi or show them in a way that we're not familiar with what menace have you brought to our village now jedi i thought the lerman were a really good way to start introducing this theme and it really puts ayla sakura on the spot it really puts ahsoka on the spot they think they're fighting on the side of good and here they have to meet a character and they have to come be confronted by the idea that well maybe you're not the extremist pacifism of the lerman is contrasted later in the season during the ryloth arc the ark revolves around the republic trying to take back the separatist occupied planet of ryloth in the final stages of the invasion jedi master mace windu must ally with the twilight freedom fighters of cham syndulla to take the heavily fortified planetary capital the first two episodes of the ark center on the efforts of the republic but in the final episode it refocuses on the freedom fighters who've been fighting the separatists since their initial invasion this doesn't mean however that they're fans of the republic or that certain elements of the republic are necessarily fans of the freedom fighters you see champ syndulla was something of a radical reformer before the war and much like the lerman he saw through the propaganda of the republic unlike the lerman though he understood the need for violence in the pursuit of liberty syndulla isn't only seeking freedom from separatist occupation but freedom from all occupiers including the clone army i don't trust senator tarr his plans for our world after the war the republic will help you rebuild we won't abandon you your troops will stay for security for a while to keep the peace another armed occupation is not a free ryloth how long before i am fighting you master jedi despite their mutual mistrust the freedom fighters reluctantly agreed to join with the republic forces to defeat the separatists and against all odds they managed to take the capital the city celebrates but we in the audience know that syndulla's cryptic prediction will soon become reality aside from the freedom fighters the ark also properly introduces us to the human cost of the war villages are emptied of their inhabitants and the separatists use the twilights as human shields twice near the end of the siege the droids launch a scorched earth firebombing campaign of the twilight settlements before evacuating the planet in the end there is victory on ryloth but we are once again left to wonder at what cost this is a question that will continue to be posed for the rest of the clone wars one potential answer is provided in season 2 during the mandalore arc mandalore is introduced as a peaceful world with a violent past that chose to remain neutral in the war while still staying a part of the republic the peace however is threatened by a terrorist organization who want to return to the warrior ways of mandalore's past the death watch a bombing of the capital city of sandari prompts obi-wan kenobi and the duchess sateen to launch an investigation an investigation that proves their worst fears that the death watch are indeed a very real threat this in turn prompts the galactic senate to act and they vote to send her a public military occupation to subdue the perceived threat unbeknownst to the thousands of senators this played right into death watch's hands a republican military presence would make the mandalorian people see death watch not as conquerors but as liberators disaster is averted by mere inches as new evidence is brought to light that prevents the occupation at the last minute even so mandalore's troubles are far from over having won neutrality for her system sateen unintentionally alienated mandalore from the republic and thus closed off many trade routes vital for mandalore's survival with supplies in the system impossible to come by at a reasonable price or quantity large swaths of the population are forced to turn to the black market greed has a nasty tendency to self-perpetuate and the planet is quickly engulfed in a crisis of rampant bribery and corruption one thing leads to another and a customs official paid off by importers to turn a blind eye becomes a public health crisis after an investigation conducted by sateen and padme the crisis is resolved but it's clear that this is only one instance of a far larger problem a corrupt society inevitably creates a corrupt government with this in mind sateen petitions the jedi council to send one of their own to help root out what she suspects are corrupt government officials the council sends anakin's padawan ahsoka who works semi-undercover in mandalore's royal academy to educate the future leaders of the planet on the evils of corruption this is perhaps the most overt and poignant political statement in the entire show so pay close attention a leader sacrifices moral integrity for the sake of money or power entire star systems have collapsed into chaos a revolution because their greedy politicians got caught up in a cycle of bribery and blackmail while their people suffered does that mean most government officials are corrupt well no but the point is that temptation is always there and citizens must be vigilant so corruption can't take root the deadliest enemies of a society dwell within its borders and from these internal threats the people need to be protected but if you don't trust your leaders is in that treason it's every citizen's duty to challenge their leaders to keep them honest and hold them accountable if they're not how do you do that by exposing corrupt officials for what they are lasting change can only come from within a few of the cadets of the academy take ahsoka's words a bit too literally and uncover a black market deal with a cloaked government official it turns out that this official is in fact the prime minister and just before he's able to take full control of mandalore ahsoka and the cadets managed to arrest him the crisis on mandalore is resolved for now throughout the clone wars mandalore's slow fall from grace into corruption and decadence mirrors the events taking place in the republic corruption is a deadly poison to any democratic system and once it has taken hold over a society it is nearly impossible to purge mandalore serves as a microcosm of the republic and after having seen the toll that corruption was taken on mandalore we are soon made to consider how it is affecting the republic since the very start we've known that the galactic sen is overrun with corruption but how does that affect the people the answer is shown to us in the two-parter padme arc of season 3. as the war drags on and clone casualties mount a push is made by certain senators to fund the creation of additional clone troopers padme takes up the opposition to the bill arguing for humanitarianism when an influential senator planning to speak out against the bill is attacked padme is forced to speak in his place and in doing so she shows the republic for what it has become tecla is one of my aides like so many of the people that we tell ourselves we're here to serve tecla lives in a district that rarely has electricity and running water as a result of the war her children can now only bathe every two weeks and they have no light in which to read or study at night the republic has always funded these basic services but now there are those who would divert the money to the war with no thought for what the people need to survive if not for people like tecla and her children who are we fighting for my people your people all of our people this war is meant to save them from suffering not increase it i support our brave soldiers whether they come from the clone factories or from any of the thousands of systems loyal to the republic but if we continue to impoverish our people it is not on the battlefield where dooku will defeat us but in our own homes therefore it is our duty and our responsibility to preserve the lives of those around us by defeating this bill padme is the embodiment of what a politician should be a representative of the people someone less concerned with retaining their office than with the reason they were put there in the first place the bill to create additional clones is decisively defeated and padme's apparent path is made clear with her oratory skills political acumen and understanding of the people she is well on her way to the chancellorship or at least she should be unfortunately unbeknownst to all but a few the fate of the republic is already sealed and there will not be a new chancellor for now we must adhere to the principles of our democracy we must let the wheels of the senate [Music] turn if the original star wars trilogy was the triumph of good over evil and the prequels were the triumph of evil over good then the clone wars is when good and evil became blurred the season 3 episode the citadel introduces us to captain will of tarkin a military officer imprisoned alongside jedi knight evan peele by the separatists a strike team of clones led by obi-wan anakin and ahsoka break them out and in their escape tarkin shows us a new sign to the republic counter to the wisdom and spirituality of the jedi or the brotherhood and courage of the clones tarkin embodies the cold hard unfeeling utilitarianism that is inherent to every dictatorship in their escape he is found admiring the design of the citadel and lamenting that it doesn't belong to the republic concerningly anakin agrees in fact they seem to agree on quite a few things how much longer are we going to wander through this tunnel in the dark captain tarkin haven't you learned to trust me by now you may have earned my trust general skywalker but my faith in your comrades is still lacking you lack faith in the jedi i find their tactics ineffective the jedi code prevents them from going far enough to achieve victory to do whatever it takes to win the very reason why peacekeepers should not be leading a war have i offended you no i've also found that we sometimes fall short of victory because of our methods well i see we agree on something when their escape attempt fails the republic sends a fleet to rescue them and most of the group makes it out alive on coruscant tarkin parts with anakin singing his praises one last time though we know that tarkin is playing an angle he does make a point the role of the jedi's generals has fundamentally come into conflict with their role as peacekeepers and that is a self-contradiction that cannot hold forever the zigerian slaver arc of season 4 confronts anakin and the viewer with another uncomfortable notion the jedi have thus far primarily been shown as heroic valiant a source of good in the galaxy but that view is confronted by the zygerian queen mirage sintel rather than seeing heroism in anakin's commitment to the jedi order she instead sees it as a form of slavery at face value the idea seems ludicrous how could the jedi the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy be anything but heroes and yet think of all the times that the jedi have forsaken their values for political convenience shown apathy in place of compassion handed down arbitrary decisions from a literal ivory tower perhaps being tied to such an order truly is a twisted self-imposed kind of slavery things only deteriorate in season 4's obi-wan undercover arc fearing a separatist plot to kidnap the chancellor the jedi council fakes obi-wan's death and disguises him as a bounty hunter to infiltrate the plot as this is all taking place anakin and ahsoka are hot on their trail anakin believing that he had failed to save someone he cared about yet again embraces his inner darkness more and more meanwhile the oblivious council completely fails to address anakin's anguish when the plot is foiled and anakin learns that he has been lied to well let's just say he doesn't take it particularly well if i'd known what was going on i could have helped you too bad the council didn't trust me anakin it was my decision to keep the truth from you i knew if you were convinced i was dead dooku would believe it as well your decision look i know i did some questionable things but i did what i had to do i hope you can understand that you lied to me how many other lies have i been told by the council and how do you know that you even have the whole truth anakin's outrage is completely understandable for days he believed that his best friend and mentor had been killed only to discover that it was a poorly planned scheme by the jedi council with neglect like this is it really surprising how effortlessly palpatine is able to pull anakin's strings i have it from a reliable source that the fugitives were last headed towards nalhata you cannot deny your feelings anakin they are what make you special if you believe you can stop this plot against me i trust you thank you chancellor you won't regret this no i won't the arrogance and hypocrisy of the jedi is demonstrated to us one final time in the ahsoka arc of season five the ark begins with a bombing of the jedi temple and as word leaks out that the bomber may have been a jedi protests erupt on the steps of the temple these protests didn't just spring up out of nowhere rather they're the result of years of negligence by the emotionally detached jedi order when ahsoka goes to the republic military prison to meet with a supposed culprit the propagandized image of the republic is fully stripped away from us for the first time and instead we see what the republic is rapidly turning into a militarized police state from the waving banners to the imposing clone statues to the military being used as a police force this republic is beginning to look more and more like an empire when ahsoka is framed for killing the bomber she finds herself at the barrel end of this imperious force barely managing to escape she sets out to prove her innocence with the total disregard that the jedi and republic seem to have for their own people the desolated blade runner-esque appearance of the underworld comes as no surprise ahsoka is eventually captured and brought before the jedi council to make her case but no matter what she says their decision has already been made it's pretty clear that the council is far from certain of her guilt but in a purely political move to try and appease the senate they deliver a guilty verdict all the same after a hearing that lasts less than two minutes ahsoka is expelled from the jedi order and turned over to the military courts to stand trial [Music] the trial chamber is a stark reminder of the imperial aesthetic that we first saw in the prison gray walls illuminated only by fluorescent white lights red guards flanking palpatine clone troops at all corners and none other than tarkin now an admiral running the prosecution with a kangaroo court like this ahsoka is doomed or at least she would be if not for the valiant efforts of her master desperate to absolve his padawan anakin discovers that baris offi a jedi and ahsoka's long-time friend was the one who framed her for the bombing just as ahsoka's verdict is about to be read out anakin brings barris into the chamber and her confession is an indisputable affirmation of what the republic is turned into i did it because i have come to realize what many people in the republic have come to realize that the jedi are the ones responsible for this war that we've so lost our way that we have become villains in this conflict that we are the ones that should be put on trial all of us and my attack on the temple was an attack on what the jedi have become an army fighting for the dark side fallen from the light that we once held so dear this republic is failing it's only a matter of time although barriss's actions were certainly reprehensible she's absolutely right in every word she says the jedi the galaxy's peacekeepers had taken up the sword and in the fires of war they'd forgotten their purpose blinded by conflict they quite literally became an army fighting for the dark side even if none of them yet knew it and the new order that they had inadvertently helped to construct would soon come down upon them with malevolent force perhaps understanding this to a degree ahsoka rejects the council's offer to come back into the jedi order anakin chases after her desperately trying to convince her to stay the jedi order is your life you can't just throw it away like this ahsoka you are making a mistake maybe but i have to sort this out on my own without the council and without you [Music] i understand more than you realize i understand wanting to walk away from the order i know this isn't really a conversation between anakin and ahsoka so much as it is anakin talking to himself but unlike him ahsoka has the strength to do what he does not to walk away from the jedi order the ahsoka arc is the perfect combination of what the clone wars has shown us over and over again the arrogant hypocrisy of the jedi council blinded by conflict corrupted by politics and soon enough destroyed by their own ignorance this arc also serves to show us just how close the republic already is to becoming the empire everything is conducted through the military prisons policing courts the entire government turned into an autocratic police state we have the underlying symbolism of the big military institution which has grown up almost off screen while we were rooting for it in the form of all the clone soldiers that we like so much we see that they're really the weapon of power for a group of men who may not have the best intentions for the republican mind you yourselves said that you're peacekeepers not soldiers moving into the opening arc of season six the final stages of palpatine's plan are beginning to unfold the ark opens on anakin and his 501st legion engaged in a never-ending battle over the planet of ringo vinda one of many such drawn out battles that would come to be known as the outer rim sieges in the course of the battle a clone trooper by the name of top seems to snap somehow and kills one of his jedi generals none yet knew it but this was a premature execution of clone protocol 66 which identified all jedi as traitors to the republic and ordered their immediate execution most of you likely know where this is going but because the characters in our story don't we're about to discover it all over again from the most tragic angle possible the clones throughout the show the clones have been humanized and individualized to a degree that the films never even came close to over the course of five seasons of television we've gotten to see the bond between the clone troopers and their jedi generals the clones display a genuine sense of brotherhood and loyalty not only to one another but to the jedi under whom they serve one such clone is fives an arc trooper of the 501st and a close friend of tups five's escorts top to the cloning facilities on kamino where he is to be examined and the cause of his malfunction is to be determined stifled by the kaminoans five sets out to save tupp and discover the cause of his affliction on his own in the course of his investigation he discovers that all clone troopers are implanted from the earliest stages of development with behavioral modification ships which supposedly are meant to inhibit their aggression and make them more compliant to orders as fives conducts his covert investigation kamino becomes completely recontextualized for most of the show kamino has been looked upon somewhat warmly as the only place that the clones could reasonably call home but now we see kamino for what it really is a dystopian emotionless stark white hell the clones themselves are recontextualized too throughout the arc we see the kaminoan and coruscant guard not so much the jovial and uniquely human beings of the 501st but instead echoing the unthinking obedience of an imperial stormtrooper fives is granted an audience with palpatine and though the exact details of what he has told are left ambiguous we can infer most of it faced with a terrible truth fives is left to question the very existence of himself and his brothers as his mental state devolves further and further he calls anakin and his commanding officer captain rex to tell them of what he has learned i was framed because i know the truth the truth about a plot a massive deception by who well there's a sinister plot in the works against the jedi i have proof of it i can prove that everything that i know is true beyond the shadow of a doubt show me the evidence the evidence is in here it's it's in here it's in all of us every clone what is it organic chips built into our genetic code to make us do whatever someone wants he even killed the jedi it's all in here let's just get you some help first then we can review everything it'll be okay fives we'll sort this out oh you don't believe me but fives is in far deeper than he knows and as such he presents a liability a liability that palpatine cannot afford to leave [Music] unattended [Music] fives was perhaps the last chance that the jedi in the republic had its survival a glitch in the system that orchestrated the war which presented the unlikely opportunity at stopping all that was to come and his death is made all the more tragic for it this it's bigger than any of us than anything i could have imagined i never meant to i only wanted to do my duty [Music] finally [Music] [Music] don't go [Music] following shortly on the death of fives the clovis arc of season six is the last of the clone wars show's political arcs and puts palpatine yet another step closer to becoming an absolute dictator the ark centers on the neutral snow-capped banking world of scipio set to acquire relief 8 for refugees of the war padme becomes involved in unraveling a conspiracy within the intergalactic banking clan when corruption in the banking clan's leadership is exposed a man named rush clovis steps into the picture clovis had previously betrayed the republic but it now appeared as though he was prepared to turn over a new leaf with the affirmation of both the republic senate and the separatist parliament clovis takes his place at the head of the banking clan little does he know that he is a pawn of dooku and palpatine employing blackmail dooku forces clovis to raise the interest rate on the republic after which the separatists invade scipio this in turn prompts the republic to launch their own invasion to drive the separatists out in the end clovis is killed the republic controls scipio and palpatine takes total control over the banks it is with great humility that i take on this immense responsibility rest assured when the clone wars end i shall reinstate the banks as we once knew them but during these treacherous times we cannot in good conscience allow our money to fall under the manipulations of a madman like count dooku or separatist control again may there be prosperity and stability in all our republic lands may our people be free and safe long live the bank at this point the republic is on the brink their military is by now an imperial army in all but name the corruption that brought palpatine to power in the first place has taken over the entire government as senators openly engage in war profiteering concerned only with retaining their cushy positions in government the senate now serves only as a glorified fan club for palpatine incapable of doing anything more than sycophantically cheering as he rapidly assumes total control by now all of the pieces are in place for palpatine's complete takeover of the republic but for one the jedi essential to palpatine's plan is the downfall of the jedi order as they remain the last group who could and would oppose any formal imperial takeover and as the war moves into its final stage the jedi just begin to uncover the truth the season 6 episode the lost one traces the steps of long dead jedi master seifo diaz who ordered the creation of the clone army 10 years before the war the creation of the clones and the timing of their creation was always a subject of suspicion but was never given serious consideration until now a lengthy investigation leads anakin and obi-wan to the pike planet of obadia where they encounter dooku and discover that he is the man called taranis the very same man who enlisted jango fett to be the dna donor for the clones after a duel against anakin and obi-wan dooku manages to escape and the pair of jedi knights report their findings to the council if this was known public confidence in the war effort the jedi and the republic would vanish there would be mass chaos cover up this discovery we must no one not even the chancellor may know valiant men the clones have proven to be save my life and yours they have many times believe in them we must win the war swiftly we must before our enemies designs reach completion whatever they may be are you sure we are taking the right path the right path now the only path yes designed by the dark lord of the sith this web is for now play his game we must [Music] at this point the jedi know that the clone army was created by the sith and yet still they don't take action rather than continuing to investigate the jedi council instead moves to simply win the war because in their thousand years of supremacy the jedi prepared to fight the sith as they had done a millennium ago on the field of battle in an intergalactic war the clone war however while the jedi grew stagnant the sith had evolved their takeover would not be through conquest by an overwhelming army but instead it would come from within yoda the wisest and perhaps the wariest of them all knows at least to some extent what is coming the jedi and the republic are not taking the right path and they no longer can instead they are taking the only path left to them the path to annihilation the clone wars have all but destroyed the republic and the jedi order the jedi became too involved in the politics of the senate and soon enough politics was going to become involved in them before the war the senate was corrupt and the jedi were stagnating but the war turned the senate into a body of powerless sycophants and turned jedi peacekeepers into warriors as public opinion turned against both and their attention focused on defeating the separatists palpatine left unnoticed and unchecked accrued more and more power for himself until he became a dictator in all but name all that remained for him to do now was to perform the master stroke of his plan but first there was to be one last hurrah for the republic the revenge of the sith opens on the tail end of the outer rim sieges with a separatist invasion of coruscant anakin and obi-wan weaved through the colossal battle to rescue chancellor palpatine taken captive by the droid general grievous the pearland and grievous command ship the invisible hand and as they come upon the chancellor they're confronted one final time by count dooku obi-wan is quickly knocked unconscious but anakin perhaps tapping into some of his pent up frustration manages to overcome dooku goaded by palpatine who is revealing his sith identity more and more anakin beheads him the three then get captured have a brief skirmish with grievous and crashland the ship or at least half of it on coruscant as this all takes place halfway across the galaxy a parallel battle occurs the revived sith lord darth maul has conquered mandalore and the death watch are forced to ally with the republic to drive them out ahsoka tano briefly returned from exile leads the republic forces into battle the upper city of sundari is quickly secured but in the tunnels running beneath the city mauland is forces hide meanwhile back on coruscant events move at lightning speed anakin discovers that padme is pregnant with his child and this sends him into a downward spiral of emotional distress he begins having dreams or as he believes premonitions of padme's death in childbirth after having lost his mother lost his padawan and for a time believing that he lost his master anakin cannot afford to lose yet another person that he cares about exploiting his emotionally vulnerable state palpatine manipulates anakin pouring poison into his ear palpatine appoints anakin as his personal representative on the jedi council to be his eyes and ears the council exceeds but they refuse to grant anakin the rank of master shared by all other council members snubbing him once again the council then assigns him to spy on the chancellor the same mission that palpatine just assigned him but in reverse to say the least anakin is not pleased and when asked by palpatine he confesses once more finding anakin in a vulnerable position palpatine seduces him with the story of his sith master darth plagueis who had supposedly found a way to cheat death anakin paralyzed with fear for padme's life finds this prospect quite appealing as palpatine assumes even more executive power padme and her allies in the senate once some of palpatine's strongest supporters now head up a desperate opposition the delegation of 2000 this scene was not in the theatrical release of the film but as it's still canon and very much relevant role film [Music] now that he has control of the jedi council the chancellor has appointed governors to oversee all star systems in the republic when did this happen oh that decree was posted this morning do you think he'll dismantle the senate why bother as a practical matter of the senate no longer exists the constitution isn't shreds amendment after amendment we cannot let a thousand years of democracy disappear without a fight what are you suggesting suggesting i apologize i don't mean to sound like a separatist we are not separatists trying to leave the republic we are loyalists trying to preserve democracy in the republic i can't believe it has come to this chancellor palpatine is one of my oldest advisors he served as my ambassador when i was queen senator i fear you underestimate the amount of corruption that has taken hold in the senate the chancellor has played to the senate as well they know where the power lies and they will do whatever it takes to share in it and we cannot continue debating about this any longer we have decided to do what we can to stop it senator montmarthma and i are putting together an organization say no more senator i understand at this point some things are better left unsaid agreed and so we will not discuss this with anyone without everyone in this group agree that means those closest to you even family no one can be told agreed the members of the delegation know very well the trap that palpatine has laid as the war winds down the fervor instilled in many who would have otherwise been skeptical dissipates as well but now it's much too late having used the senators as instruments of power palpatine is ready and willing to cast them aside such is the way of all autocrats the jedi council dispatches yoda to deal with a separatist invasion on the wookie planet of kashyyyk and sends obi-wan to defeat grievous on the planet budapow on mandalore maul rallies his troops for one final battle and in the chaos he gets to talk to ahsoka alone as palpatine's former apprentice maul is wise to at least a part of his plan and in a deranged but calculated fashion he tells ahsoka what is coming he offers her to join him and after seriously considering it's even being ready to accept it she asks a crucial question what do you want with anakin skywalker he is the key to everything to bring balance to the force to destroy he has long been groomed for his role as my master's new apprentice you lie [Music] i know anakin your vision is flawed i see the paddle one needs one last lesson [Music] maul's forces are routed and at the conclusion of their duel maul himself is defeated and captured displaying an omniscient terror that is about to be justified you're all going to burn we're all going to die you don't know what they're doing [Music] we'll take it from here commander [Music] anakin goes to palpatine to report that obi-wan has engaged general grievous and it is at this moment that palpatine chooses to reveal the truth you're the sith lord i know what's been troubling you listen to me don't continue to be a pawn of the jedi council ever since i've known you you've been searching for a life greater than that of an ordinary jedi a life of significance of conscience are you going to kill me i would certainly like to i know you i can feel your anger it gives you focus makes you stronger i'm going to turn you over to the jedi council as obi-wan defeats grievous anakin relays his findings to the council and mae swindu along with three other jedi masters goes to confront palpatine one final time the fatal flaw of the jedi is revealed to us even having found out that their entire view of the clone wars is skewed the jedi still believe that this fight will go just like it did 1000 years ago but of course it doesn't the four jedi masters whip out their lightsabers and within just 20 seconds three of them go down leaving only windu despite all odds windu manages to get palpatine down and at that moment the emotionally conflicted anakin rushes in torn between the jedi order and what he believes is the only chance he has to save his wife anakin must make the ultimate choice just as it seems that he might choose wisely doubt creeps in why should he choose the jedi order whose values and beliefs had long been forsaken who had broken his trust who had slighted him over and over again over a chance at saving the one he loves and so he makes his choice [Music] the end of the republic is at hand [Music] having accepted the tutelage of his new sith master anakin now rechristened as darth vader marshes his 501st legion to the jedi temple caught off guard the jedi at the temple are barely able to put up a defense and between the unmatched power of vader and the strength and numbers of the 501st they are massacred to a man including the many younglings in the temple as this happens palpatine sends out a message to the millions of clone troopers scattered around the galaxy a simple directive consisting of just three words three words that would change the galaxy forever execute order 66. yes lord sidious in a heartbeat the clones would serve alongside the jedi for years who had come to trust them respect them fight side by side with them day in and day out turned and opened fire within just a few minutes nearly the entirety of the jedi order is wiped out [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] um of the 10 000 jedi knights who once protected the galaxy only 100 remain among them obi-wan narrowly avoids being killed and escapes udapau to rendezvous with senator bail organa a prominent member of the delegation of 2000. there he finds yoda who also managed to survive and together they head to coruscant where palpatine is called an emergency session of the senate meanwhile vader is sent to the volcanic planet of mustafar to eliminate the remaining separatist leadership with the jedi order out of his way and the senate in the palm of his hand palpatine now holds all the guards and with nothing and no one left to stop him he delivers the death blow to the [Music] republic [Applause] [Music] [Applause] in order to ensure the security and continuing stability the republic will be reorganized into the first galactic empire [Applause] [Music] as palpatine proudly announces the end of democracy the end of the republic and the rise of his own absolute dictatorship senators fill the chamber with a standing ovation this is how liberty dies not through conquest by military force or a violent coup but ushered in by the thunderous applause of the masses not from without but only ever from within all dictators or least all long-lasting ones arise among the shouts and cheers of the people and as palpatine makes his promises of peace and stability we get to see what happens to those whom he previously promised peace to the war is over lord sidious promised us peace [Music] the remainder of the film is primarily focused on the final confrontation between anakin and his old master when padme discovers what anakin has done she rushes to mustafar to meet with him and obi-wan stows away on board padme tearfully begs anakin to turn away from the dark side to run away and have their child in peace but anakin consumed by his hunger for power consumed by vader turns on her after trying to kill his wife he crosses blades with obi-wan which eventually results in his defeat vader severely injured tries to crawl away from the lava which soon lights his body on fire while obi-wan laments has turned to evil you were my brother anakin [Music] i loved you in spite of his injuries vader survives if barely rescued from mustafar he has equipped an atar black suit that keeps him alive as darth vader rises from the operating table a heartbroken padme gives birth to twins after which she dies of ambiguous causes meanwhile ahsoka manages to survive order 66 and removes her friend to captain rex's inhibitor chip the two of them along with maul narrowly escape and go into hiding yoda and obi-wan go into exile as well with obi-wan splitting up the twins for their own safety despite the darkness that has engulfed the galaxy there remains hope for a better tomorrow and on this note the film comes to an end episode 3 is by far the darkest star wars film it marks the final transition from republic to empire the end of democracy the eradication of the jedi order and the fall of anakin skywalker it is the culmination of everything we have discussed in this video yet as we have seen in extensive detail this transition was a long time coming by the time palpatine declared the galactic empire all of the pieces for it were already there from the military acting as a police force to the corrupt courts to the increasingly powerless senate the republic became the empire long before the names changed if attack of the clones depicted the rise of an autocrat within a nominally democratic system then revenge of the sith depicts that autocrat assuming total control abolishing the republic that constrained him and becoming an absolute dictator as all autocrats are bound to do it is in my humble but very controversial opinion the best star wars film ever made not for its phenomenal score excellent choreography in action groundbreaking technological advances or criminally underrated writing but for the story it tells the story of all democracies turned tyrannical subverted from within and toppled to the tumultuous applause of the people a story emulating the greek tragedies of old a story of a hero who was manipulated by a siren of evil into destroying the guardians of peace before trying to kill his wife and crossing blades with his brother a hero born into slavery and freed only to be forced back into subservience to the one who promised him salvation it is a masterpiece by the end of the film palpatine reigns supreme as the police state that began to take shape during the clone wars is fully realized those who would dare to speak out against the empire are few and far between as the last loose ends of the republic are tied up a spark of hope is maintained by those bold few who stand up to the empire but for now it seems that all is lost the republic that stood for one thousand years has gone and the dark times are upon us at the start of this video i mentioned the backlash that the star wars prequels received for their politics back in the day various people have justified this backlash in various ways over the years ranging from prequel politics being boring i have never known the plot of this movie until now as far as the plot goes i am only just now piecing it together after having watched this movie for 20 years to them being pointless his evil scheme is he really wants queen amidala to sign a paper to them just being too complicated okay i don't get it i however have an alternative theory i believe that the reason so many people hated prequel politics was how much they resemble the politics of our real world it's something i've avoided explicitly stating up to this point but the politics of star wars are heavily inspired by the political struggles of the modern day star wars like all fantasy is a form of escapism for many people to be reminded of the political quagmire of the real world was understandably jarring for audiences back in 1999 who were expecting a swashbuckling adventure of the style seen in the original trilogy star wars is obviously quite operatic and fantastical but when you strip away the advanced technology and aliens and magic what's left is a political situation not too dissimilar from our own a corrupt and entropic political establishment that seems increasingly not to care for its own people letting vital institutions and infrastructure crumble while they spend hours and days bickering over meaningless minutia offering no real solutions to the problems ailing the populace eventually the people get fed up with the status quo and elect a populist who makes extravagant promises to fix everything this is of course a con every populist without exemption is seeking more power for himself ostensibly to help the people who elected him the promise of populism is the promise of action in a political system where it seems that no action is ever taken and thus the ultimate irony of the star wars prequels is that the republic and the jedi deserve to fall after a millennium of peace and prosperity complacency had taken hold and the institutions meant to serve the people began to serve only themselves meanwhile the jedi order became stagnant and dogmatic failing to adapt to the changing times and losing sight of their purpose palpatine therefore is the ultimate populist hijacking the political system and taking ever more power for himself finally after the institutions that guided the republic had been sufficiently weakened palpatine struck while the iron was hot and turned himself into an absolute dictator but he didn't do this all of his own sheer brilliance the republic as portrayed in the phantom menace was already halfway into the grave all palpatine had to do was exploit the broken systems contained within it under palpatine the republic turned into an empire long before anybody called it that and by the end of the clone wars palpatine was a dictator in all but name indeed this is a sentiment echoed over and over again throughout star wars have you ever considered that we may be on the wrong side what do you mean what if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists and the republic has become the very evil we've been fighting to destroy with your help the jedi can stop sidious before it's too late too late for what the republic before it already has and you just can't see it there is no justice no law no order except for the one that will replace it the time of the jedi has passed they cannot defeat sidious i want to restore the order restore the jedi order oh you poor fool it's over jedi fell long before the purge it was stifled by tradition deafened by our past glories blinded by endless war maybe but it's never over malachos we stand here now the chance to learn to rebuild from our mistakes jedi learn there's no future for them how can you not see that the republic was doomed long before it came to its official end and in many ways it ended the day that the clone wars began the entire republic rallied behind palpatine allowing him ever more executive power and cheering as he stripped them of their liberties ultimately they would cheer the republic into its grave in the aftermath a scattered few carry the torch of liberty in defiance of the empire and eventually that torch would burn bright once more but that's a story for another day for now let us guard our liberty jealously and rather than relinquishing our republic let us work to perfect it let us beware of the cheap temptations of populism of the quick fix it offers for it is a lie and will bring nothing but pain democracy and liberty are precious and they have cost too much struggle too much suffering to be given up for the cheap price of rhetoric let us heed george lucas's prophetic warning and maybe just maybe should our republic survive we may all go forth into a bright future [Music] hello there everyone and congratulations on making it to the end of this video i'll be honest i was not expecting this thing to get to almost 80 minutes i set out to write it as like a small 15 minute thing to be released on may 4th and yet here we are at the end of july this has been far and away the longest video i've ever created and though yeah it's taken me four months i can honestly say it's the most fun i've ever had creating a video so you can expect me to do this kind of thing again if that interests you and you enjoyed this video please consider leaving a comment subscribing to the channel and sharing this with your friends if you want to keep up with what i'm doing you can go to all my social media links in the description by which i mean all two of them i have a twitter account where i mostly just talk about politics and i also have a discord server linked in the description though to be fair that isn't really social media other than that i also stream semi-regularly on this channel mostly gaming but also sometimes some other fun stuff so you can watch out for that while i'm here i'd like to thank and credit two channels who i very heavily drew from for this video artur or parks harmon and so uncivilized artur makes media analysis videos many of them about star wars and because i've never done anything of this type or length before i drew a lot of stuff from his videos in terms of style so i can only recommend his content in the strongest of terms so uncivilized makes much shorter but nonetheless very interesting analysis videos of star wars which were the primary inspiration for this video before it became an hour long even so i did draw several things from his videos at times quite directly so once again i would strongly recommend going to check out his content the both of them will be linked in the description now lastly i'm going to just lay out a very basic plan for the rest of the year in terms of content the next video after this one is going to be a mini video which should be out in the next few weeks or so i wrote it a long time ago but never actually got around to making it so really i just need to rewrite it slightly and edit it together after that i'll be embarking on another large project hopefully not as big as this one but definitely on the longer side of things with any luck that'll be out sometime during the fall and for the remaining two or three months of the year i'll have one or two more mini videos along with hopefully another longer and more in-depth video but we'll see what happens by then with all that being said thank you for watching may the force be with you and until next time goodbye [Applause]

Channel: Arken the Amerikan

Views: 418,280

Rating: 4.9365754 out of 5

Keywords: #StarWars, #Prequels, #CloneWars, #TheCloneWars, #PrequelTrilogy, #TheBadBatch, #VideoEssay, #Palpatine, #Lucasfilm

Id: -TSqjRgh2ZY

Length: 78min 54sec (4734 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 25 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/stealth_png]

i actually love the prequels and clonewars because of the politics and stuff. its just such a good tool for worldbuilding but people didnt recognize that in 2000

[u/Jacobhero101]

Oh man, so much good content 😭

[u/Deep_Tip3060]

Cool gonna try to watch this with my friend to get him more into politics

[u/HoodedHero007]

Main criticism of the video is that the creator holds liberal democracy as the highest ideal. It’s sad when being anti-dictatorship is where we need to set the bar at times.