How Liberty Dies: The Politics of Star Wars

[@alexanderrahl7034]

The saddest, and most realistic part about the delegation of 2000, was that line "suggesting? Forgive me, I don't mean to sound like a seperatist." Followed by "we are not separatists! We just want to preserve democracy in the republic." In that moment, they failed to get that the separatists were much like them Palpatine had successfully turned his opposition into boogeymen. Anyone against him, was a separatist.

[@CaptainBones222]

Holy cow, that's so true. I never realized this.

[@jordanread5829]

Even Anakin accuses Padme of 'sounding like a separatist' at some point in Revenge of the Sith.

[@The_True_Mx_Pink]

Which is, interestingly enough, exactly what happened towards marxism.

[@occam7382]

@@The_True_Mx_Pink, I mean, Marxism isn't exactly the best ideology, but damn, if that isn't true.

[@The_True_Mx_Pink]

@@occam7382 Sorry I have ADHD and am a radical marxist, so I ended up rambling quite a bit more than I intended to, but I think I said some real shit anyway so I'm keeping it. It's the best we've discovered so far. Leninism/Stalinism, or in other words, fancy totalitarianistic authoritarianism, the ideology most "marxist" nations use(d), is most definitely wretched and I do agree and recommend that you beat the snot out of the USSR for their political ineptitude. I mean seriously. A huge facet of communism is the removal of classes, which includes the government class. The only reason it should exist would be to further advance socialism, instate anarchism and syndicalism, or deal with a significant enough crisis, to which it would then immediately disband upon accomplishing that goal. Leninism was essentially just, "Hey, what if we keep the government that has no permanent, thoroughly maintained, and relatively untouchable constitutional limitations to prevent evergrowing systemic corruption and social injustice without a goal to guide it, wouldn't that be fun?" and then Stalinism came in later and said, "Hey, what if we took advantage of all that and become fascists, wouldn't that be fun?" and then it collapsed 6 decades later because people didn't like fascists and refused to trade with them, which meant they suffered economically, which lead to desperate peoples, which lead to crippled morality, which lead to even further political corruption, which weakened the power they held, which finally caused them to dissolve. And then we threw capitalism onto them in a few months and then acted surprised when they grew into a fascist plutocratic oligarchy even though that's literally what happened to the US since capitalism is an economic system that requires infinite targets to maintain infinite growth, so when it doesn't have any or can't maintain enough, it has to target inward, which is often seen through the most oppressed peoples such as prisoners, minorities, and the homeless/general poor, as a result of the fact that unmonitored and unfiltered actions would lead the cruelest of the cruel to do cruel things that would allow them to continue growing more ever greater power and facing less and less competition, often seen through the removal of social welfare programs, removal of worker rights, and a lassez-faire economy, inspiring infighting and new ways to remove basic human rights, which inspires a new generation of doomerists within the people they rule over so the 99 workers don't beat the snot out of the 1 who takes over half of the total production. Which is also a big reason why marxism is so despised throughout the world, as it takes the power the 1% maintain through anti-democratic means and distributes it to the people, which would not only destroy their current power, but would also very likely end up destroying all future attempts to regain that power, and it also makes a very good target for capitalism as it continues to evergrow and will continue to grow until all forms of media mentioning marxism stop being public-use. Thank god we don't have state-wide book censoring. Isn't that right, FLORIDA. Jesus Christ, it's a miracle it's taken this long for people to start looking back towards marxism, the steps towards fascism have been being taken for decades and were not concealed whatsoever. I am very tired, but I am very willing to answer any genuine questions in the morning. My final messages before I head off are: Christianity and adjacent are imperialist propaganda, Reaganism is the second worst form of an economy, apathetic objectivism always leads to conservatism, equality cannot exist without equality, the idea that humanity is inherently evil is fascist propaganda, remember that signs of national failure should lead to radicalization rather than despair, and hopelessness is the ultimate goal of fascists aiming to stop the revolution of the proletariat.

[@kyro-jaxxsonofkosmos23]

The genius of Palpatine, is not that he created the fall of the old repubic, but that he took advantge of it.

[@alexkhaid]

honestly, that sums it up really well

[@wingedbluj1674]

The dominoes were already set up... he just knocked them over

[@erenche]

Just like hitler..

[@davids8127]

I cannot unsee now how much Yoda was responsible for this. As the oldest master he has a big part of allowing the Jedi order's demise. Windu and Qui gon has their instincts in the right place but yoda just constantly making passive decisions which supports the success of the Sith.

[@alexkhaid]

@@davids8127 The thing is that Yoda became used to peace, his entire long life the Republic was at peace. And when all hell broke loose he didn't know what to do and fled to his cave of solitude.

[@memoryfoam2285]

As Admiral Adama said, 'there's a reason you keep the police and the military separate. The police is meant to serve and protect the people, and the military is meant to defend against the enemies of the state. When the military becomes both, the enemies of the state tend to become the people.'

[@brethilnen]

Oh I like that quote

[@dickiewongtk]

I thought the police IS an armed apparatus of the state?

[@memoryfoam2285]

@Wong Tik Ki it is, and in reality the police are often responsible for horrific brutality against the people.

[@pixoljef7830]

@@memoryfoam2285 no they aren't, a few cases don't make police as a whole bad. stop with this left bs about police, a society cannot function without a form of police idk why yall are so illogical

[@memoryfoam2285]

@Pixol Jef some form of police is required yes, but not the current form. Last year there were 11 days when a cop didn't kill someone in America. And a good chunk of those people were innocent. It is statistically NOT just a few bad ones, the institution itself is corrupt and designed to be so.

[@Scriabin_fan]

I can’t believe people actually complained about the politics of Star Wars. It’s literally the best part of the entire franchise.

[@wait_in_gold_ON_SPOTIFY]

Because most for it is in done in very dry, boring scenes of people walking down hallways talking

[@Fenrir214]

TBH, there are people who just don't care about politics, or even if they do they have such as set in stone mindstate of what is right that they do not even attempt to understand it if it is different.

[@necrosteel5013]

When they say politics, they meant propaganda more than anything. It's not about even being overt It's about lacking nuances.

[@grandevirtude9830]

I agree, it's the best part and it's like watching a fantastical version of an historic documentary.

[@blueray222]

It's easy for your typical viewer to see a flaw in the execution of an idea, and interpret that as the idea itself being undeserving, which is very case in point for the pushback against "politics" in Star Wars being unwanted after the Prequel trilogy.

[@matthewy2j]

Interestingly enough, in the ROTS novelization, Mace and the Jedi go to arrest Palpatine on charges for being a Sith. Not for being a war criminal, a traitor, or a dictator. Palpatine ironically retorts that being a Sith was not illegal under Republic law (in which he is technically correct), and that he is protected by the freedom of religion laws. Meaning the Jedi even bungled Palpatine's arrest since he uses this recording as evidence that they wanted to arrest him based on religious persecution. "You're a Sith Lord!" "Am I? Even if true, that's hardly a crime. My philosophical outlook is a personal matter. In fact-the last time I read the Constitution, anyway-we have very strict laws against this type of persecution. So I ask you again: what is my alleged crime?"

[@Cyberium]

That's a false logic from Palpatine, but a convincing one. Being a Nazi is a political outlook, but during WW2 it would mean the person is unconditionally charged as a criminal, even if today's law would not automatically condemn him. Being a Sith is no more a "philosophical outlook" than Nazi being merely a political outlook when either holds the pinnacle of power within a (supposedly) democratic world, especially since Dooku (a Sith separatist) is related to Palpatine, Jedi/Republic can still arrest Palpatine for investigation base on that tie alone, since "Always two there are". Yes, people can be arrested base on suspicious criminal activity.

[@luke-alex]

@@Cyberium People can be arrested for all sorts of (sometimes spurious) reasons; it all depends on what arrest powers the people doing the arresting actually have been given in law. Being a Nazi is-in the context of WW2-membership of the NSDAP, so a lot more than just a political outlook (legally speaking). There were plenty of people in allied countries with politics pretty similar to the Nazis, but they would only be at risk of arrest if they were Nazi sympathizers in the sense of having some allegiance to the NSDAP or the Nazi German state.

[@Cyberium]

@@luke-alex My point exactly. Palpatine's claim of "philosophical" innocence was moot because the Republic was fighting the separatists at the time, a movement founded by a known Sith, him also being a Sith as the leader of Republic warrants enough threat, therefore could be arrested for that relationship alone.

[@PeevedLatias]

@@Cyberium While that's true, you could make the argument that the CIS was not fighting under ideals of the Sith "religion" and that Dooku just *happened* to be a Sith, much like Palpatine. For instance, if America went to war with the UK, you would not say that it's suspect that the leader of the UK is of the same religion as the leader of the USA.

[@matthewy2j]

@@PeevedLatias It also doesn't help, as per Knights of the Old Republic 2, we understand from dialogue that the average person doesn't understand the philisophical difference between Jedi and Sith. Which is why they refer to the events of Knights of the Old Republic 1 as the "Jedi Civil War". They think Sith are just "Evil Jedi".

[@officialFredDurstfanclub]

I really like how Lucas depicted the rise of the Empire. Not through some big coup or Revolution but through years of meticulous planning, political meddling and strategy, all from the inside

[@samschiller3813]

You’ve found the biggest divider between the Star Wars prequels and the Roman transition. The people that pushed the Roman Republic into the empire were not all-knowing foxes in a cabal, but individuals who believed they were the only ones who could save the republic. The only one who was a true mastermind was Octavian Augustus but it’s unfair to juxtapose him and Palpatine

[@KaiHung-wv3ul]

@@samschiller3813 Papatine was the combination of all the greatest politicians in the Late Rome Republic, with Caesar's populism, Cicero's ability to control the senate, and Octavian's political acumen.

[@savagetv6460]

​@@samschiller3813 the star wars republic isn't meant to be an allegory to one specific republic, it's basically meant to be all of them in some way or another. The Roman republic collapsed thanks to a century of poor handling of the class divide

[@samschiller3813]

@@savagetv6460 But it arose as the empire with a prestige that no one in those days would dare threaten. In truth, the Roman state wouldnt'y really be threatened until the 200's

[@samschiller3813]

@@KaiHung-wv3ul Idk though the historical tradition treats each of those men as tragic in one way or another. Cicero's naive idealism, Caesar Julius' faith in his personality cult, or Octavian Augustus' willingness to trust his spouse

[@rainershea3880]

I once talked to a hardcore Star Wars nerd, and he went on a whole rant about how Jar Jar is responsible for the downfall of the Republic. He was right.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

I'd like to see a breakdown of that. Disregarding Sith Lord theories, what we have is someone well-intended but ill-informed. An everyman caught between the speeches of their friends and the propaganda mill of the same side that suddenly was entrusted to make an enormous decision. You can make a lot of parallels about his role past the first film.

[@reubenmanzo2054]

The Republic was already on a downwards trend. Jar Jar's action simply twisted the knife that was already in its back.

[@Salsmachev]

It's only true in the most facile sense. The Republic was brought down by Liberal naïveté in the face of fascism. Jar Jar represents a kind of childish innocence/ignorance that is also present in the Jedi (peacekeeping philosophers who have become police and generals), Padmé (a progressive politician who has no real solution to the bad faith tactics of fascists), the clones (who believe war is something noble), and probably others.

[@Qardo]

Really. I dislike people who seem to always throw Jar Jar under the bus. When he was manipulated into his actions and though Palpatine was his friend. Palpatine still the mastermind for the downfall of the Republic. Along with so many in the Senate also aided in this downfall. Jar Jar was just a pawn. Yet people still think he is the soul person to blame.

[@Sez___]

People underestimate just how bad of a position he was in. Padme was kinda thrown to the side because of assassination attempts. We was the rep from naboo. The now supreme chancellor was from his planet and is saying it would be courageous for someone to suggest the emergency powers. He tries helping padme and his planet and everyone but Shiv made it so he would be alone and forced into that position. Let's not forget though, everyone else supported it. That is a bigger problem... Now we have an unelected governor of New York grant herself emergency powers also pulling for authoritarian leaning ideas. We are so much closer to this than people think

[@officernealy]

This video 2 year later is still a masterpiece. It makes me wish for an epilogue of sorts because seeing how the "thunderous applause" dies down and the Empire gradually gives up the facade of a "safe and securer society" as shown in The Bad Batch, Rebels, & Andor is fascinating. Palpatine's coup de grâce to the Clone army, the tools he so callously used, to replace them with stormtroopers is particularly diabolical.

[@moisescortes4899]

I love the way that is portrayed in the books as well, for example in the book of "Leia princess of Alderaan" Leia shows evidence of the empire actually doing illegal stuff, (since usually they hide behind their new laws and technically never do anything illegal), to Mon Mothma for her to present to the senate, and she explains to Leia how by that point everyone already knows that the empire is cruel and sometimes even evil but they just can't do anything about it because they dedicated so much of their time to the empire and now it has so many resources and power that they don't see a point in fighting it, and the worst part is that later in the book of "Inferno Squad" the empire imprisoned all of the former senators after the destruction of the death star and interrogated them to see if they were connected to the rebellion, the ones that were found to be allies of the rebellion were killed in the comic Star Wars Annual (2015), pretty cool how consistant the storyline of the empire slowly not caring for their image anymore is throughout the saga, going from making people want to be a part of the new empire, to people being afraid of not being a part of the empire. btw english is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes

[@officernealy]

@@moisescortes4899 I understood you perfectly and you've made me curious about checking these stories out. :)

[@theseekerofancienttruth3873]

It was Even Worse in Legends. Just look up the Dark Trooper Program... it was an Early Warning for the Horrors of "Operation Shadow Hand," and the Abominations unleashed from the Alchemy Labs on Byss.

[@SkidMan_Jurej]

​@@moisescortes4899"going from making people want to be part of the new empire to making people afraid of not being part of the empire" So basically "if you're not with us, you're against us"

[@macgyver42563]

@SkidMan_Jurej If you are not *with* me, then you are my enemy!

[@ojisankusai]

The most fantastical thing about Star Wars is that they had a democracy that lasted 1000 years.

[@LegioXXI]

To be fair, its "just" a democratic galactic union, the local governments can still be every type they want (see Naboo being a monarchy).

[@pokegod99]

@@LegioXXI Do you see a thousand year old United Nations which is what the Republic is for the most part. Shit peacekeeping force(Jedi) World Bank(Banking Clans) International Trade Regulations( Trade Union) and a forum for disputes. I don't see the U.N. lasting that long.

[@vhfgamer]

Yeah. Ours hasn't even lasted 300 years yet and already emperor biden is destroying it.

[@oppdropper1312]

@@vhfgamer Yeah bro, one sleepy guy is entirely responsible for a system he practically has no control over while overlooking the house and the senate. I'd say stay in school, but I bet whatever bumfuck state education you got tells you the south never lost and the civil rights movement did everything oppressed people wanted.

[@vhfgamer]

@@oppdropper1312 Nope. The south definitely lost. The Republican party of Lincoln saw to that. In 2024 we're going to stop your attempts to undo the civil rights movement by throwing your party of the confederacy out into the cold, including your queen piglosi and king beijing biden. Now go snort some cheese out of a carpet like hunter biden.

[@carbodude5414]

If Palpatine has taught us anything is that people can't be forced into surrendering their liberty but they can sure as hell be persuaded into giving it up bit by bit if their safety is at stake

[@wordforger]

Yep. All you need is a "them" to fight. Then you can ask all you want "in the name of defending our way of life." If a "them" can't be found, all you have to do is manufacture one.

[@wordforger]

Yep. All you need is a "them" to fight. Then you can ask all you want "in the name of defending our way of life." If a "them" can't be found, all you have to do is manufacture one.

[@rodgerthat6287]

@@wordforgervery true

[@georgewillow112]

Yep, this is also how blacks got enslaved in the USA and became a huge slave force driving the country's economy. Bit by bit, the whites took away their rights and freedom until they had nothing left.

[@MLife1000]

💯

[@deinotumiwa7049]

Imagine a 'House of Cards' style series for Star Wars called 'The Senate' with Palpatine as the main character

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

I would pay a lot of money that I probably don't have for that. I have a lot of ideas for Star Wars, but I never thought of that. That would be so fucking awesome.

[@MrGrimjaw]

Their is going be a Palatine series

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

Yeah I brought this up to some friends of mine and a couple of them mentioned the Acolyte series. Very hyped for that now.

[@123GOHANZ]

I’d so watch that

[@starwarfan8342]

Some people equate the two, but I see Palpatine as a better character, and (unironically) an actually better person, or at least a more personally honest person. Palpatine does the things he does because he's a genuine believer in the Dark side of the Force, just as the jedi are believers in the Light. Yes, he's a mendacious, narcissistic sociopath with a God complex who'd kill people for no other reason than that it's fun, but he's a true Sith first. Frank, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have any personal core or true values that he holds deep down. Palpatine does, it's just that those values are horrible. But at least he has them.

[@b.p.emma.]

watching this video has singlehandedly turned me into a starwars fan. i was gripped from start to finish and watching the scene where palpatine smiles and screams “POWER” while killing windu genuinely frightened me. im shocked thank you so much

[@solo_edits1984]

Welcome to the family!

[@KYLE1654-v7m]

Welcome fellow Fan. 😊❤

[@S1mpSlayer]

Windu was probably even more shocked than you were

[@derekhollars8985]

UNLIMITED POWEEEEEEERRRRRRRR

[@bigyoshi5170]

Mace Windu was also…shocked! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[@44xtallyikmusic97]

"Democracies aren't overthrown, they're given away" - George Lucas.

[@michaelstark8720]

@@TheConservativeCrusader Do you have some brain malfunction? If military makes a coup, it can only stay in power if peoples don't do anything. if peoples are willing to fight, then it all depends how firm they are against military coup

[@vindicare9636]

@@michaelstark8720 Also depends how far the milllitary is willing to go in a coup

[@leiflech2513]

This video really makes me think about the downfall of the Weimar Repulic

[@cashwat210]

“Two weeks to flatten to curve” “We’re all in this together” 18 months later…

[@robertsimpson8292]

I think Iran and lot of Latin American countries would like to say something to that sentiment

[@jacobj297]

Man Darth Maul screaming “we’re all going to die- you don’t know what you’re doing.” Chills. What a character and character development.

[@O1OO1O1]

Especially when you learn where he came from.

[@hastekulvaati9681]

“What a character and character development…” He shows up, is mean and dies. Shakespeare eat your heart out.

[@jacobj297]

@@hastekulvaati9681 It’s kind of like a cosmic gumbo.

[@1lamafarmer]

​@@hastekulvaati9681 Is this a joke/reference I don't get? Cause if not, it's got to be the most egregiously abrupt summation of a narrative character arc I think I've ever encountered.

[@spartanwar1185]

It definitely made it easier to accept that this dude miraculously cheated death twice and came back from utter madness Poor dude had me rooting for him since he crawled out of his state of madness and sought to build himself a better future He worked for, suffered for and deserved a happier ending than what he got

[@Joe2033]

"Are you going to kill me?" "Yes." *Written and Directed by George Lucas*

[@s0uverains95]

*star wars theme starts playing*

[@rarescevei8268]

Actually, if you look at Palpatine's hand, you can see that his hand is in the same position as it was when he drew it againet Windu and his fellow Jedi who tried to arrest him. He was actually prepared to draw his saber.

[@Joe2033]

@@rarescevei8268 Never noticed that before. That's interesting.

[@Sovereign-kh4ng]

This story has one core message that flies over people's head. "NEVER LET PRIVATE COMPANIES HAVE POLITICAL POWER".

[@slavicbeats9998]

Say it louder for the people in the back! Star Wars is an inherently marxist story, even if people don't like anything associated with Marx and communist theory. George Lucas himself said that in the OT he intended the Empire to be the US and the Rebels to be the Vietcong. And in the prequels, it's even more on the nose. Corporations like the Banking Clan or the Trade Federation having seats in the senate? The simple fact that the droid armies of the separatists were sponsored by the Trade Federation and the Techno Union? The Kaminoans that we saw as friends and allies to the Republic implementing inhibitor chips without the knowledge of the Republic for money? The Clone Wars alone shows us the greed and hunger for power that these corporations have and today, in 2024, it's awfully close to reality. I haven't even started with marxist international relations theory (Republic expanionsim, the laisse-faire attitude concerning corruption and slavery only to name a few of the points). And Andor only furthers that point. Star Wars is a marxist story and a cautionary tale, warning us of the dire consequences of giving single individuals and corporations the power necessary to shape the world to their will. Because they absolutely will, in every single case.

[@cosmictreason2242]

Or governments to collude with private companies. It's the F word. Today it's euphemistically called "public private partnerships"

[@themecha47]

the restrained venom behind "We must let the wheels of the senate... turn..." Is easily one of palpatines best moments

[@yogurt8284]

Watching this made me realize how awfully close the transition of Rome from republic to empire is to StarWars.

[@_Fornad]

Almost as if it was based on it or something

[@truegamer_007]

@@_Fornad Well, it's based on a number of Empires.

[@thatsaboat2882]

In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Roman Empire, for a safe and secure society.

[@carlosmedina1281]

Funnily enough, Augustus maintained the illusion of the Republic during his rule.

[@FlymanMS]

@@carlosmedina1281 he was just a good ruler.

[@thatpitter]

"The reason people hated prequel politics is how much they resemble the politics of the real world." It's scary just how accurate that statement is.

[@markstuart9545]

I think it made them uncomfortable more than they didn’t like it. I think that was a carry on emotion.

[@reubenmorris487]

You mean our entertainment is a mere analog of real life??!!

[@davefoss3316]

The Empire, - Controlling the Media & Big Tech, Censored all speech against the Empire, treated other people like second citizens, had no moral compass or ethics, cheated to rig elections, using it's military against it's own people...... Yeah, I think I know which American political party they represent.

[@DaftPunkSkittle]

@@davefoss3316 oh and The Republicans clapping along pointlessly (to Emperor Trump or otherwise he'll send a mob against them and threatening their reelection ) alienating your own ppl due to where their parents came from or what race they are, Latinos (the innocent Separatists) scapegoating said race (the innocent Separatists) denying/omitting factual information like global warming and vaccines against Corona Virus (Like the corrupt senate under Sidious control and the corrupt Jedi order) oh yes I see the Republicans

[@carloscruzhuanca239]

@@DaftPunkSkittle you and the other guy don't see the wider picture, both parties are the two heads of the same monster, the monster wants people tearing apart each other, so no one will challenge him

[@chrismoiser6477]

I think it's a nice touch that Palpatines nameless Twilek advisor/supporter gets gradually more pompous and grand in appearance between the films. It's easy to imagine he sensed where the power lay early on and decided he was going to ride Palpatines coat tails as far as he could.

[@ZKP314]

Mas Amedda Also, I’m pretty sure he’s actually a Torguta (Ashoka’s species)

[@sambridgers9543]

​@@ZKP314It's a Chagrian.

[@gamerman782]

He actually knew who Palpatine truly was.

[@brettlucas5564]

There is a saying I heard recently about Ceasars civil wars in Rome. It was a contemplative statment about how Ceasar was able to seize so much power. It says "Caesar pushed against the political system of Rome and saw nothing pushing back". I think that sums up how Palpatine was able to seize power. The cracks in the Republic were already there, he just made the final hammer swing.

[@freewyvern707]

Though with Caesar, there was a lot more pushing back. Pompey and the Senate did fight a civil war against him, the Senate did position itself to fight against him in the future (they did this by surrendering power to kept themselves alive as an institute), and the conspirators obviously killed him. Caesar was really just another Sullus. A showcase that the Senate could be bullied by a military dictator, but ultimately both didn't actually convince the senate. In both cases, the Senate remained an obstacle to them, and no amount of Golden Chairs was going to change that for Caesar. And that was why Augustus was different. He wasn't a military man, but a political man. The political loopholes he utilised to destroy the Senate itself, and the veneer of a Senate he left gave him so unrivaled power that the very concept of "Emperor" derives from the title he gave himself.

[@ohnononowhydidi344]

@@freewyvern707 Augustus' title while living is princeps or "first man." It was historians who called him emperor.

[@freewyvern707]

@@ohnononowhydidi344 Augustus title was Augustus, as well as Princeps Civitatis. As well as Imperator. All have primary evidence of how he was named and styled. The former title was what became the primary imperial title, even until the 19th century. And obviously, the title has become synonymous with his name while Emperor. The latter, for clarity, is where the term "Prince" comes from. The title "Caesar" (which was Augustus' adopted name) became utilised for heirs to thr Empire, and is where titles for Emperor like "Kaiser" and "Tsar" derrive from. This term only appeared after the fall of Jullio-Claudiam dynasty however, so is unconnected from Augutus apart from using his name. "Emperor" as a term in English derives from the title "Imperator", which was military title utilised by Roman Emperors (and initially family members) starting with Augustus.

[@ohnononowhydidi344]

@@freewyvern707 very interesting! So Augustus is both his name and his title?

[@DrippyWaffler]

I guess life rhymes too cos that's the same with Trump

[@TheObicobiHD]

Padme is underrated. Some people have yet to realize how important she was, the biggest adversary/foil to Palpatines plan

[@danielepadrini6731]

basically the only one actually

[@Drowsyspace128]

And also pretty much the one that started it

[@lemonade_011]

Yesssss

[@despaceto1152]

Indeed. She was the one to continue softening Anakin's heart to the point of killing Vader and the Emperor.

[@GrasshopperKelly]

Padmeé*

[@razuer2920]

“Son you need to stop watching Star Wars and learn about something useful like politics” “I am”

[@9krio]

“Its NOT A FAZE MOM!!!”

[@Nero-ox5tw]

It's a nice introduction for kids

[@paulmerritt8593]

Yet people do not see it happening right before their eyes today.

[@nicolaslatorre810]

@@paulmerritt8593 48:19

[@gelipterzg]

@@paulmerritt8593 i doubt a single person in my country is blind to it...

[@andyb1653]

The scene between Anakin and Ashoka when the latter is leaving the Order might be the only time in my life that a cartoon brought a tear to my eye. What a f*cking fantastic TV show. They really don't make 'em like they used to. When Anakin says "I understand wanting to leave walk away", you **feel** it. Then, having been primed by that, Ashoka's "....I know" is a goddamn gutpunch. On top of it all, when viewed in retrospect, you realize how much this moment contributed to Anakin's ultimate fall... MAN it's powerful stuff.

[@scottb3034]

Except it didn't. The show told something not at all evident in Episode III and that's its big issue. It tries to make an impact and mean something but ultimately none of it does because it was made after the movie and the movie made no considerations for a show. That's why Ahsoka is meaningless, Maul returning is meaningless, the various Mandalore arcs, etc. They play no part and mean nothing to the narrative of the films, any attempt to reconcile the films and show is just a futile endeavor in your head. Anakin was so in love with being a Jedi and wanting to be a Jedi that he did everything in his power to remain one until he couldn't anymore and he believed resolutely in their cause until he had to dilute himself the drown the pain....aka nothing at all like his conversation to ahsoka.

[@dennischristopher9952]

​@@scottb3034starwarz2wokeforyou?

[@Undeadhorrer]

You are very incorrect. @@scottb3034

[@scottb3034]

@@Undeadhorrer Explain otherwise your comment was pointless. The show did what it could to fit around the movie, made zero impact and had no meaning to the film. as for anakin wanting to be a Jedi... it was apparent in his words and actions. He only stopped because he chose padme and decided he was irredeemable.

[@EbonyManta]

@@scottb3034 So basically, if a film doesn't explicitly reference tie-in material that doesn't exist yet, the tie-in material is worthless? That's the only point I can see in your comment, and without explanation it doesn't really make sense. I'm surprised you even watched the prequels in the first place if that's how you feel about additional material.

[@onlycorndog6322]

Palpatine's manipulation was so masterful that, by the time Order 66 came down, he barely had to lie at all. Practically everything he said in his senate speech was entirely true and I think that's one of the most tragic parts of the story.

[@samwilsoncaptainamerica233]

I think the most tragic part is that the Separatist were right. The fact that the Jedi order and Republic had become so corrupt they didn't realize they were the very evil they were meant to destroy was tragic.

[@Molten-Throne]

@@samwilsoncaptainamerica233 right in some ways, wrong in others of course. Wish it could have been shown better in the movies but I agree with you. The cis should have been a little more sympathetic, because you’re right, they had some very valid points and critiques of the republic and it’s corruption. But they also were in no way perfect, believing in freedom to oppress, to enslave, to enact violence on those weaker then themselves, and the belief that might is right. But your point does have validity

[@vampman87]

A point worth mentioning is that Mace Windu considered that the Jedi flat-out overthrow Palpatine and take control of the Senate themselves. Yoda was horrified at the idea and talked him down into attempting to simply expose and arrest Sheeve, but it seemed like Mace was SUPER CLOSE to actually doing his original idea if Anakin hadn't intervened and allowed Palpatine to kill him. If Mace had succeeded in killing Palpatine, basically the Jedi would've turned into the monsters that Palpatine claimed they were.

[@generalalduin9548]

Ironically the Seperatists fought for the same evil.

[@talltroll7092]

@@vampman87 Arguably, Mace was right. The Senate had degenerated to a state where it is questionable if it could be reformed; it needed to be destroyed, and something better put in its' place. whether the Jedi could actually have achieved that is a bit open to question, though

[@Tareltonlives]

Even as a kid, I liked the politics in the prequels as they justified the conflict. I was getting into history at that point in my life, and noticed how much maneuvering and strategy and deception played into the big events in history. The politics explained what what actually going on: why the bad guys attacked, why the Republic didn't do anything, why Sidious was bossing around the bad guys while helping the good guys, why Padme had to abandon her moral stance to save her planet, why the Jedi were marginalized, etc. It was only later than I realized it reflected the inherent flaws of democracy and representative government and the rise of dictators in past and present. They're smart movies, smarter than a lot of people realize.

[@Tareltonlives]

There IS politics in the original trilogy, but it's only in the very first film. There is a Senate, but it's nominal, and the Empire is getting rid of it, and the rebels are fighting the empire to get the Republic back. People are so fixated on Vader stepping in and looking badass they ignore his talk where he explains how to manipulate the Senate, which is preventing unopposed fascism. Politics is why the Death Star exists. Politics is why Rogue One works: there's different rebellions and different factions of villains.

[@toastytoast9800]

if you are interested in history, politics is necessary, otherwise you just get a list of events without context

[@matt1975ification]

L

[@jj_verona]

@@matt1975ification cope harder, nerd

[@SirMatthew]

When I was a kid I didn't catch on to any of it. I was just there for the lasers lmao. Probably why I liked TLJ when I saw it in theaters before realizing it was mediocre at best. I'm glad I watched this video, lest I go another decade without knowing.

[@iainballas]

To this day, Maul's "You're all going to die! You're all going to burn! You don't know what you're doing!" gives me chills when I watch it in a netflix binge. The sheer terror, you can see it in Maul's eyes that he'd rather drop to his death than witness the person he hates above ALL others, his old master, succeed. Maul had a miserable, bitter life. He was a miserable, bitter person, and went utterly insane towards the end. With his attitude and determination, one can only imagine what kind of jedi he'd have made. But there, in those moments, the voice actor really portrayed someone *literally* at the end of their rope.

[@isaiahgeorge906]

Netflix binge? Pretty sure when season 7 first came out, and even before that, the show was removed from netflix and long since put only on Disney+

[@klidthelid8361]

I think the pure terror in his voice is from him knowing exactly where he was going to get send to if captured, straight to palpatine (probably gonna get tortured until he dies, and then revived, and then tortured again)

[@cosmicerror7789]

I also like that at the end of his life Maul seemed almost relieved. Both that he didn't have to fight anymore and that there was someone who might be able to make Palpatine fall.

[@iainballas]

@@isaiahgeorge906 I still use "Netflix" as shorthand for "streaming", even though other services have been around long enough I don't have a good excuse anymore, lol.

[@artofluck3641]

@@isaiahgeorge906 Just go with the main plot don’t get caught up on side quests. I mean that in all aspects of life.

[@Mildcat743]

Tarkin in the Clone Wars was the thing that, as a kid, finally mare me realize that the Republic was doomed, because who we see on screen in Clone Wars is exactly the same as the man we saw in A New Hope. He's not a young idealistic officer who was broken by the war, he's already a cold, calculating man who puts his victory over all else.

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

He was that way since he was a child. If you read the comics, you’ll know that Tarkin was basically forced to fend for himself by his parents at a young age; thrown off into the forests and grasslands of his homeworld to fight for survival. That baptism by beasts turned him into the brutal, calculating, and Darwinistic man we know him as. To him, whoever can’t defend themselves is not a real person and only deserves to be beaten into line and kept there by fear. He is a cold, hard, calculating utilitarian and the wielder of the Empire’s instruments of policing. He was the man who orchestrated the entire Tarkin Doctrine under which the Death Star and Imperial Star Destroyers were built with. The whole alpha and omega of his ideology was “fear will keep them in line, fear of this battle station.” he believed his battle station was impenetrable and unstoppable, and his hubris would cost him his life.

[@alexanderlyons4807]

There is one line, used by two people, in the same movie, both directed at the same person. "He is too dangerous to be kept alive" Palpatine to Anakin before Dooku's death, Mace Windu to Anakin before his own. First a Sith Lord, then a Jedi Master. Perfect parallels. I feel like this line isn't discussed enough as the perfect way to sum up the Jedi and Sith as both sides of the same coin.

[@DerAua]

This explains the way the sequels went.

[@Tahkaullus01]

Honestly I think this gets overanalysed.

[@maxacorn]

it's a pretty telling line. to me, it showed anakin that, despite all the dogma and teachings, the jedi and the sith really aren't that different at all. just another way that the jedi failed anakin.

[@reubenmanzo2054]

After Dooku's death, not before. But otherwise, you're correct.

[@justr6982]

Of course, Windu was right

[@Cherrypie626]

The ONE minor thing I would add, is why it was so easy for the public to turn against the Jedi. Little clips in The Clone Wars show how Palpatine would always praise the Jedi, while adding some doubt by saying “I know some you think the Jedi are murderous, BUT!…” in his speeches to the public. Those little digs at the Jedi would put that seed into the minds of the public. The Martinez sisters also showed how the public couldn’t have cared less for the Jedi’s ways and didn’t care for them anyway. That’s why, I think, it was so easy for people to believe that the Jedi DID turn against the republic. That and everything else that was said, how the Jedi got way too involved in the Senate and politics.

[@warlordofbritannia]

I love that kind of stuff where he’s ostensibly praising the Jedi while implicitly and subtlety actually undermining them. It’s such a common, often unconscious way of thinking-when a person is promoted as an exemplary individual of their particular demographic (depending on who’s making the contrast, of course) there’s the implicit impression that the vast majority of said individuals are incapable…say, for example, a woman is adulated in the media for breaking into a male-dominated field. No matter how complimentary the intent, there’s the underlying assumption that this woman is self-evidently exceptional and so the overwhelming majority of women are either incapable or unwilling to achieve the same. What Palpatine does is essentially normalize that impression in the collective mindset of the galaxy, essentially softening up for Order 66 and anti-Jedi propaganda. As that ingenious mind of several generations put it “You may not have noticed; but your brain did”

[@brokensky2378]

I think it's actually the opposite when it comes to involvement though. The Jedi were too far above and too reliant on the favor of the Chancellor, making them vulnerable and unable to engage with politics on the ground. Frankly, a lot of the Jedi can be pretty charismatic when they need to be, and winning the hearts and minds game is important. A few Jedi Senators would have been pretty useful in realizing what Palpatine was doing and slowing him down.

[@Cherrypie626]

@@brokensky2378 I think that would have worked if they were always involved that way. The biggest problem in the Clone Wars era is that they were never involved like that.

[@bekfasttime7001]

Also, for the vast majority of the common folk, they’ve probably never seen a jedi or at least interacted with a Jedi. In a republic of trillions of life forms, there were only 10,000 Jedi. If they had heard of Jedi, they likely knew of them as just this weird radical religious order or “space wizards” of some kind. By the time of the clone wars they might’ve even seen them as the generals and leaders in the war, which aided the belief that they were murderous warriors, not peacekeepers. Many probably couldn’t give less of a shit if they were killed off or not.

[@klooger28]

@@bekfasttime7001 I think the population of the republic must be in the quadrillions, coruscant alone has a population of 3 trillion, and there are tens of thousands of inhabited planets out there minimum, as stated by dooku referring to how many systems might join their cause.

[@wwmandalore]

I've NEVER understood how people could find the politics of Star Wars difficult. I saw Episode 1 when I was 8, and while I didn't understand all of the nuances of what was going on, I did grasp what was going on.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

Similar story here, my parents showed me Star Wars when I was 5 years old and the basic story always made sense to me. Obviously I had no clue what politics was, but it didn't really bother 5-year old me and it only made me appreciate Star Wars more as I got older.

[@kub5615]

For a very long time in my life I belived that the senate was not a thing on Earth

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

I remember my uncle telling me something or other about the way the legislative system worked back in 2012 or so, I would've been around 8 years old at the time, and I straight up thought it was about Star Wars.

[@wwmandalore]

@@kub5615 sometimes, I wish it wasn't.

[@francois-mariearouet9379]

Those who hate the politics in the prequels are either just looking for a reason to hate something or just too stupid to understand them.

[@cheshirecat7957]

Padme’s line: So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause. Man that line hit me when I saw it for the first time. And it still does. EVERY time.😢

[@chaserivera1623]

What’s sad is that if Anakin never made the choice to stop Mace Windu, he would have been promoted to Master for stopping Sidious, Padme would survive and become Chancellor, and the war would end.

[@AndrewBrownK]

bro that's wild

[@brunoventura3]

I always imagine a dangerous consequence if Windu killed Palpatine. The Jedi Council would have made a coup d'etat against the democratically elected Chancellor by killing him and taking control of the Senate, just like Windu talked before with Ki Adi and Yoda. How would the public and the Senate itself react? Would they just accept it? The Jedi's popularity was already at low levels, they would be seen as tyrants, and the Republic could fall into a civil war.

[@Euruzilys]

@@brunoventura3 It seems as if the Republic was really over before the name changed. It was doomed to fail by that point no matter what.

[@Issaacson]

I think the reason for his sudden change was to show how the dark side can take over a Force user or Jedi easily if they really wanted to abuse that power. And with all the the images of him losing Padme he wanted to save her. Although I always felt in the revenge of the Sith it was comical how Anakin turned so quickly in that scene. That part always irked me.

[@Euruzilys]

@@Issaacson Might have worked better in a TV series format. With movie things have to move fast.

[@jamestkirk9165]

You know, even if Palpatine could’ve saved Padme he probably wouldn’t have. She would’ve been too much of a threat to his power.

[@RandoGrunt]

Incidentally Padme did a great deal that would wind up leading to Palpatine's destruction, namely being a critical player in laying the groundwork that would rise to the Rebellion. Even in the CGI show a speech of hers (temporary) delayed Palpatine's plans that even he admitted credit where credit was due and spoke to his vizor how simply the smallest thing could have the biggest ripples.

[@jerm70]

Palpatine took Padme's life force away and gave it to Anakin. Which is why Anakin breathes when Padme dies. The final subversive act. Destroy Anakin entirely.

[@TheArrowedKnee]

@@jerm70 This is just a theory though, don't think this has ever been confirmed by any "authority", George Lucas or Disney.

[@thomasdeguzman1149]

@@jerm70 The thing is, Palpatine probably didn't expect Anakin to lose to Obi-Wan. Best case scenario for Palpatine would have been for Anakin to have won, or at least got out of his fight with Obi-Wan without any injuries, which would have made him the ideal poster boy hero that ended the war that the masses would have looked up to. Instead, he became a cyborg who no one in the public eye knew the real identity of and pretty much came out of no where. And from a combat perspective, Darth Vader pretty much relied on the force to keep him going, but imagine if he was actually physically healthy on top of that with no life support machine to rely on? Luke would have had a much more difficult fight against him.

[@xanderfulton3186]

I’ve never understood that line of reasoning though. Surely Padme was by far the easiest way to control Anakin and by extension vader

[@tillerplayzgames1335]

George Lucas was truly a visionary. The addition of The Imperial March as the camera pans over the clone army, genuinely gives me chills every time. Just knowing what was created in that moment is truly terrifying.

[@michaellassila6614]

I've always liked how perfectly the clones serve as an example of the hypocrisy of the Republic. They are an army of men born to fight and die for people who don't care about them. They have next to no rights, are not paid, cannot leave and can be brainwashed at any time with a code phrase. They are essentially a slave army in service of a nominally anti-slavery democracy.

[@pd28cat]

technically that was john williams

[@Themehsofproduction]

Fascism thats Whats horrifying

[@jacobrog1622]

​@@Themehsofproductionyou're horrifying

[@Themehsofproduction]

@@jacobrog1622 defending nazis hmm??? How typical of people on the internet

[@LGus-gr9wo]

Been a while, but a even more darker thing I just realized about Fives's death. The Coruscant Guard troopers who were sent to arrest him: their weapons were deliberately set to kill, not stun. Sidious leaves no loose ends, he made sure Fives would not be allowed to slip away a third time.

[@ethrsag735]

I still find it egregiously hilarious that while Rex did his best to resist the chip, Cody's first thought after being contacted by Palpatine, which was written in some novelization or note; was "Really? You couldn't have called before I gave Kenobi back his laser sword?"

[@more-reasons6655]

I imagine Kanobi and Cody was a very professional relationship while we've seen Asohka and Rex grow very close, but to help their case Asohka also wasnt a jedi at that point so as a Gen 1 clone it may have taken a while to take over, so plenty of reasons really

[@prince-solomon]

What control chips? Is this some animated CLONE WARS stuff? For years it was made clear in books and stuff that they simply followed orders, no chips or anything, just professional soldiers obeying orders.

[@ethrsag735]

@@prince-solomon In an attempt to centralize all the lore and events Disney cut out the expanded universe which technically included the novelization of the films. So when Georgie Boy sold off what he and others had built Disney said the only things considered to be Canon were the films and the newest Clone War series as their starting point. The bio control chips were the new answer for why it was so easy for the Clones to turn on their Jedi friends and officers when O66 came down.

[@JP-rf8rr]

That was written before the whole "chip" idea. The clones were supposed to be indoctrinated soldiers with the bodies of 20 year olds but the mental experience of 10 year olds. They were like the Hitler youth, taught obsessive dogmatic loyalty to the state since childhood. It explains how cody wasn't "resisting" foriegn control because the action came entirely within.

[@lukescrew1981]

The chips were a dumb ideia

[@d3335]

I used Padme’s speech during a class that focused on poverty and the reason why people are often impoverished. My classmates laughed at me, but later on understood why I chose Padme’s speech.

[@preciousotoakhia9789]

Sorry about that dude what happened after

[@d3335]

@@preciousotoakhia9789 nothing. they thought it was silly to use clone wars stuff. I made them realize how wrong they were.

[@preciousotoakhia9789]

@@d3335 that is cool👍

[@darthbigred22]

I mean Padme ain't broke she can pay her more...typical leftist politician. Talk a good game but actually be the cause of authoritarianism

[@knightmare5097]

@@darthbigred22 You clearly didn’t listen to Padme’s speech nor even watch the video

[@Krauserarm]

That line from Palpatine about letting the wheels of the senate turn shows how patient he truly was. If the cards didn’t fall the way they did, he would have waited another 10 years-20 years for his ultimate victory.

[@Baldwin-iv445]

And even then he probably would've had Anakin under his thumb, and if Dark empire is too be believed then he likely would've returned even if he died from old age.

[@HolyknightVader999]

Or if the right people lived, his plan would have all fallen to pieces, and he'd wound up on the receiving end of a beheading via lightsaber.

[@82dorrin]

@@HolyknightVader999 If Qui-Gon had lived, Anakin would have never turned.

[@HolyknightVader999]

@@82dorrin Indeed.

[@rickblaine9670]

I love how the conclusion of the saga doesn’t explicitly show us the Republic being reinstated and perfected without the flaws that brought to its fall. Because, well, in order to do that, Lucas would have had to solve the problem of the perfect society. Something that really couldn’t be asked of him, since humanity itself as a whole hasn’t yet solved that problem. But Lucas did give us a hint, one that echoes the words of many great philosophers before him: in order for society to be good and to work well, it has to be made and brought forward by good PEOPLE. In order to defeat the evil within the systems that we create, we must first defeat the evil within ourselves. And politicians should guide us towards that goal. In fact, the ideal politician, as Plato once stated, is the one whose main job is precisely not to administer the state, but *to make his citizens into better human beings,* so that society can be better as a consequence. Notice how Palpatine is the exact opposite of that, since, as a spiritual corrupter first and foremost, his main goal is to make anyone he meets into a worse person than he/she was before.

[@austen98]

I like the direction they were going with the politics of the new republic in the years ABY. You can see the complicated machinations that intertwine themselves after a takeover of that magnitude. You can't just supplant everyone with new people who walk a different way and it shows. Even if the leadership positions are filled with former rebellion high rankers and the normal rank and file that came before with their agendas intact, you see the intricate politics being played just like in the old republic and the empire before that. The sequels never really covered any of that and it would've added a needed side story that most Star Wars movies had in various capacities. Although I agree with your take on the ideal politician, the sad thing is that most get into it for their own gains and agendas, whether it be personal or on behalf of other interest groups. Very few do it for the old adage of "being of service" to others and fewer still make a difference, if at all, to the citizenry they purport to represent and serve. Take former British PM Boris Johnson. He started his career as a columnist at a British paper and only became a politician in the later half of his career. He is now mired in political controversies during his time as PM and recently resigned from Parliament. By far the biggest accusation being levelled at him is his agenda regarding the Brexit referendum. He used to be a good man but politics turned him.

[@rickblaine9670]

@@austen98 Yes. Fittingly, another point that the aforementioned Plato made is that no ideal can truly come to be in the world as we know it. We do have to try and get as close to perfection as we can, but to fully complete such a task is impossible. Ideas and their “copies” in the material world simply belong in two different realities. Still though, we can surely do better than we are right now, even if the real world is all we have to work on😅

[@pancakes8670]

His idea for a Sequel Trilogy would have been about the New Republic struggling to build itself. Destroying a Democracy is one thing, building one is another story. However the through line would have been that the Rebel Alliance believed in its cause and were committed to making it work. There was at the very least hope that the citizens of the Galaxy deserved better and could do better. I think it's rather inspiring that while we don't have all the answers yet, people will always try to build what is good for each other.

[@ddshiranui]

​@@austen98 Keep in mind, the paper Johnson wrote for was an arch-conservative sensationalist rag that made much of its money selling agitation, which he excelled in as a columnist there (e.g. he wrote many of the infamous so-called "Euromyths"). Given the racism and homophobia in his early articles, I'm not sure if he ever was or wasn't a "good man", but his corruption certainly did not set in only when he became a politician. In fact, considering the scandals that already mired his journalistic career (making up quotes and straight up inventing stories), you could argue he just switched jobs when he noticed he could profit more selling his lies from the halls of parliament rather than an editor's office. Which kind of just plays into your argument in a different way, I suppose. Although I would say plenty of people try to enter politics out of ideals, it's just that they might not get very far telling the truth -- that's the fault of the voters, who don't bother checking a candidate's background and/or just prefer simple answers to complex problems, falling prey to populism. As far as Star Wars is concerned, I'm still miffed that Disney axed the old canon, including cancelling ongoing series. It was especially fascinating to see the setting develop decades or even centuries after the Rebellion, going so far as to end up with the New Republic merging with the Imperial Remnant and an Empress working side by side with a Jedi Master -- both having reformed their respective camps in ways that'd enable them to cooperate for the common good. Politics always played an important role for the setting as it's this that sets the groundwork for all the fascinating adventures we get to watch or read about.

[@DarthCheese]

I love how Maul knew exactly what was going to happen, yet he couldn't do anything about it. To the Republic, he was just another bad guy that needed to be put down. The same goes for the Separatist Alliance. Yes they were just pawns of a bigger plan, but their ideals can easily be understood. Despite all of the signs pointing to Palpatine being the villain, the Republic dismissed them because they got too arrogant.

[@izzy1356]

Adding onto that last part, it's especially tragic when you realize all the key figures in the Republic who knew something was wrong (Padmè, Fives, Ahsoka, Baress, and Satine) were the ones nobody in the Council really paid attention to besides Anakin and barely Obi-Wan. They not only ignored the obvious signs, they even ignored *verbatim warnings* too.

[@Сайтамен]

Maul could say directly "Yo, chancellor is the Sith lord".

[@Сайтамен]

@PeachCrusher69 Even if you don't believe it, you will check it.

[@Сайтамен]

@PeachCrusher69 Dooku said that the Sith Lord is influencing the Senate, not who he was exactly. There are hundreds of senators and he can just puppeteer one of them without being one. By the end of the Clone Wars Chancellor was getting more and more power, everything worked in his favour, and he was very close to Anakin, so that's already suspicious. Plus if both Maul and Dooku tell the same thing, maybe you should check it. Of course, it's not like they know that the clone army has some connection to the Sith...wait...well, at least they can't see the future, if only Yoda knew that Jedi were soon going to fall...oh...

[@scottwerner279]

One of the best part in the entire franchise is when Maul is caught for the last time in the Clone Wars. He just goes nuts. He can't/won't ally with the jedi and he has no place among the Sith, so he's reduced to a screaming mess.

[@milo_thatch_incarnate]

This is by far one of the best KZbin comments sections I’ve had the privilege of reading through in a long time. It seems by and large to be the home of that wonderful minority of people who dearly love their fictional worlds and characters in true nerd fashion… but who are also realistic and intellectual, and have deep, well thought out theories and explanations for the political, religious, philosophical, and psychological reflections and implications of said fiction. I LOVE it. _These are my people._

[@markstuart9545]

I second this. Thank you 🙏

[@chrisstowell484]

Back at ya! May the Force Be With You!

[@thomasjones4570]

Thats because he deletes negative posts.

[@finnland5513]

18:37 when Ashoka mentions that ‘we’re fighting for freedom’ it reminds me of something. In the Christmas Day truce of ww1, 2 officers, from the German and British side respectively met and talked with each other. The British soldier told the German that they were fighting for freedom but the German soldier exclaimed back “but we’re fighting for freedom.” This perfectly sums up the clone wars

[@isaiahgeorge906]

That's war for you. No side in war is truly white or truly black. There's always some murky grey mixed into the horrendous existence that is war. Not just WW1, but the same could be said for WW2, and I always shake my head when some people say the average soldier of Japan or Germany were purely in the wrong, as it shows they don't fully comprehend what caused just those two countries alone to think of another large-scale conflict, as well as the others.

[@markbergin8821]

​@@isaiahgeorge906 hold up, no. Don't compare the clone wars to WW2, the Nazis/Axis were definitely "the bad guys" and the aggressors. Just because soldiers are told they're fighting for freedom doesn't mean they ARE. In hindsight, we know the "right side" won, it's not like both sides had a point here.

[@hellothere1216]

@@markbergin8821 while yes, the "good guys" won WW2, the point brought up was about the average soldiers of the war. The average soldier of WW2 on either side was in no way evil and not representative of the evil of their government, as is the case in most wars

[@Notlilithsbitch]

@@hellothere1216 you’re actually really wrong about that lol, you may want to look into how the National Socialist party of Germany came to power. The Weimar Republic wasn’t some authoritarian country until 1933 it was a Republic

[@nobblkpraetorian5623]

@@markbergin8821 Even WW2 wasn't as black as white as we like to think. Take the Soviet Union for example.

[@percyj220]

I believe the reason people hated them *is* because they didn't understand them. Palpatines plan wouldn't have succeeded if people had realized what was going on

[@klausvonfischerundfallbeil1290]

Just like in reality

[@NeonBeeCat]

Project 2025 reminds me a lot of the palpatine story... Yeesh

[@Jessica-wo6px]

That's the point of the whole PT. Everybody's blindness and ignorance to Palpatine's schemes and planning led to this. When people don't speak up and they turn a blind eye when something is wrong, it will turn out to be a disaster and innocents will pay the price.

[@veemo8605]

If someone called him out, he would be labelled a communist and disregarded entirely.

[@kimjiro4591]

I love how the fandom collectively realizes the true value of the prequels years later.

[@janhensel7241]

Well, nowadays there is always a stinkier fish!

[@49er16]

Don't kid yourself the prequels are bad films. It's just that Disney made even worse Star Wars content so fans were looking for a measuring stick to compare the to.

[@melancholymaids3032]

prequels on their own had clunky dialogue awkward characters and a somewhat confusing plot. it takes the additions of the clone wars, rebels, bad batch, and rogue one to make the span from episode 1 to before episode 4 what it is. a lot of exposition, lore and a heaping helping of character development simply couldn’t be fit into the 7ish hours you get from the prequel trilogy (although let’s fair a lot of it didn’t exist at the time). looking back at it all, it is, as maul would say, brilliant

[@donn.4766]

@@49er16 the prequels, however flawed, are still good movies. Its about world building and the prequels did that. A lot of the people who hate the prequels was because it didnt capture the magic like the originals for them because most were kids when it came out. Also, if u look back, the original had some hilariously corny dialogue as well. “But i was going into Toshi station to pick up some power converters!!” 🤦🏻‍♂️ talk about whiney dialogue, luke whined harder than anyone lol

[@keelobrown4991]

The prequels were always good, no matter what a bunch of whiny man babies say.

[@ssudzy3]

The older I get, and the more I understand politics, the more I like the prequels. I feel they’re under appreciated and the politics actually add more explanation and depth than anything, they don’t hinder the story, they add to it. It’s awesome.

[@CHRB-nn6qp]

exactly! i've always found it weird that the prequels were about the rise of the empire from the republic and people were confused that there was an overarching political intrigue plot.

[@ehrenthompson7891]

True, the prequels are good.

[@DevonCosmos]

To our credit, we live at a time where we have more material to go on. Isolated, the prequels are less intuitive than they are with the context clues provided by the Clone Wars. It's arguable that the Clone Wars series saved the prequels' narrative cohesion, or at the very least make the trilogy all the easier to peruse for understanding.

[@gilbatzri]

@@DevonCosmos Well you have what 30-40h of material set between films 2 & 3, it's great retrospectively.

[@bhka6423]

The prequels are basically a fictional explanation for the things that happen in the real world. The clones thought that they were fighting for a good thing but in reality they were just used by someone who is more powerful. Just like in the real world. In clone wars you could also see how corrupt the politicians are. Many of them wanted a war because they benefit from it. The Caminoans wanted to sell more clones because the war gave them money. In the end the senate decided to increase the numbers of the clones. Star Wars, especially the prequels are very deep, but many people don’t see it

[@dencocreations1701]

You can’t have War, without politics, the prequels are just another look at what goes into War.

[@MikeJones-qn1gz]

That’s the if the big problems with the sequels, there is no motivation for either side other than “we are bad or we are good” even the OG movies (which Disney tried to mimic) there were reasons for the civil war and motivations behind both factions. The empire preached order above all else and safety through security, the rebels saw the empire for its corruption and crimes and each rebel had their reasons for fighting the empire.

[@curranlakhani]

"war is just the continuation of politics by other means"

[@LyreozMC]

@@MikeJones-qn1gz Yes, we even see these politics come into play when they're talking about dissolving the imperial senate, it's absurd how quickly some people will say that Star Wars shouldn't be political when it always has been.

[@ElPolloLoco7689]

Politics is war without bloodshed. War is politics with bloodshed. -Mao Zedong

[@orange_turtle3412]

Pike. Why tf does the first order exist? What are their motives? Its never really explained that well. The empire, on the other hand, has an entire arc. Its a fallen democracy corrupted by power-hungry politicians into a tyrannical dictatorship. The rebellion had a reason to exist because they were fighting against tyranny and oppression on a galaxy-wide scale. The first order is kinda just there.

[@vb_blokeboi7251]

At an hour deep into this video, two things are abundantly clear. Disney Star Wars has lacked the Machiavellian flare, and the music of Star Wars is possibly the most integral element to the success of the entire franchise.

[@DogeickBateman]

The amount of internal backstabbing, manipulations, treachery and intricate alliances in the post-Endor Imperial Remnant alone is more deep and profound than the entire Disney Star Wars trilogy.

[@Mr._Anderpson]

@@DogeickBateman We could always raise the bar a bit. After all, the Star Wars Christmas Special is more deep & profound than the Darth Disney movies.

[@user-nm1lx8qb3u]

@@Mr._Anderpson Darth disney. HAH! I see what you did there.😏👉👉

[@tinobemellow]

Star Wars really wouldn't be the same with different music. Even a soundtrack composed by the likes of Hans Zimmer or Howard Shore would pale in comparison to the gorgeous symphony made by John Williams. If you played the Star Wars soundtrack from end to end, you could almost feel the tone of the story without even watching a single scene. I think you could go back in time to the late 1700s and make an opera based on the story of Star Wars, and the music would fit perfectly without any alteration, and later be commended alongside the compositions of Beethoven and Mozart.

[@MasonMapes]

Well stated.

[@ThePlasmicAlchemist]

It's a really cool irony to note that Palpatine lost in Episode VI the same way the Jedi lost in Episode III; he became stagnant and jaded, thinking he could crush the rebellion the same way he destroyed the Jedi. The Rebels evolved when the Empire didn't, and Luke's pure heart proved to everyone that the Jedi can also evolve into good people. ...Well, *almost* everyone. Palpatine looked unconvinced. His loss, I guess.

[@onemoreminute0543]

Exactly what I've thought

[@wayward5219]

Ironic

[@reubenmanzo2054]

Going by nomenclature definitions, they weren't actually a rebellion, so much as a resistance.

[@MeesdeFilmliefhebber]

This essay about the political arc of Star Wars is truly a masterpiece in of itself. I felt like I was watching a separate, tragic and very tense movie sometimes because of the culmination of events in all of its intricacies. It is haunting how much this reflects our own history and current political landscape in several countries, and makes its message about standing up to corruption and preserve our hard-won democracy till the bitter end so very important. You should be proud of this great work!

[@bobbycecere1037]

The only thing missing from palpatine's grand scheme, if we are making an app comparison to modern day, is the lack of propaganda. Because of how powerful our corporate press is and the fact that they work in conjunction with our security State, Most Americans don't even see where the corruption is. They believe whatever the corporate press, who literally works for the government, tells them. That is the real reason why, even someone like you won't be able to prevent corruption from happening, you won't even be able to identify it.

[@christopherbravo1813]

@@bobbycecere1037 oh, propaganda was in fact used. we just didn't see it in the prequels.

[@bobbycecere1037]

@@christopherbravo1813 yeah, propaganda is common during wartime....... We got to see a little bit of it during the rebels animated series. When they were on Lothal, if you looked around you can see posters and banners describing the empire as liberators.

[@kattybratt1353]

i rewatch this video a lot, not only because i really enjoy the politics and the moral greys of star wars pre-disney, but also because it is genuinely really well made

[@michaeltorres1263]

I don't even know how many times I've seen this now. It's so good.

[@Arowrath]

I've been thinking a lot lately about Anakin and Padme's conversation in AOTC where Anakin basically says "the system doesn't work. Someone should make the politicians work for the people" and how dangerously close that sounds to the way most of my friends talk about politics.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

I didn't really pay it any attention when rewatching AOTC for this video, but it really caught my eye a while after I uploaded this. It really is just Anakin saying outright that he wants a dictator. That's not foreshadowing, that's just a straight up confession.

[@Arowrath]

​@@ArkenTheAmerikan Right? His worldview is flawed from the start, we just don't realize it because he's operating within the bounds of the Jedi at first.

[@brandonbonas2761]

​​​@@Arowrath i wouldn't say flawed more like tragic. The system has failed so badly that ppl no longer believe in the republic and think a dictator will solve the problem. If Democracy fails it isn't surprising that ppl turn to authoritarianism.

[@Aaronblkgt]

To just think this is happening in real life is scary bc it is

[@AJ0223]

Based

[@somedipshtinthecomments2507]

I love how the librarian in the Tyrannus deleted scene is just like: "Bet you'll never guess what this guy's doing these days! Get this: Arch-treason! Weird, huh? Probably something going on there...WEEEELL anyway."

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

Reminds me of a quote from the old Jango Fett game from 2002: "Jango, if you're playing this message, I'm probably dead. Weird, isn't it?"

[@M0butu]

guess they cut it for a reason...

[@khymaaren]

Just a very good example of Lucas' inept writing style and direction. If only Carrie Fisher had doctored the scripts like she did with the OT screenplays.

[@WingManFang1]

When Fives said “The Nightmares are finally over” all the clones realized what he was talking about because even his executioner had those same nightmares and it would sow seeds of doubt for all of them. That really was one of the hardest hitting deaths.

[@sebastianpinoalipaz5935]

When Palpatine said "I love democracy", I don't think he was lying, he loved it, because it was a system he could play against its own flaws, to him the whole plan was a game, and he loved it

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

"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" My dude, that was literally the perfect way to end this documentary.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

At the end of a tale of darkness, there's always gotta be a little light.

[@Sardaukar_]

It's also completely, utterly missing the context of the original movie. It is painful to see someone whose politics supported American imperialism in the 20th century trying to say America was once good.

[@crownedclown49]

Found you and true that

[@olegc.7877]

It is too late. The Republic you know has already been destroyed from the inside. We all are just going through the motions till the shooting starts.

[@zollen123]

We defeated Darth Trump, we won't be so lucky next time.

[@thedimers]

“The Jedi Order’s problem is Yoda. No being can wield that kind of power for centuries without becoming complacent at best or corrupt at worst. He has no idea that it’s overtaken him; he no longer sees all the little cumulative evils that the Republic tolerates and fosters, from slavery to endless wars, and he never asks, “Why are we not acting to stop this?” Live alongside corruption for too long, and you no longer notice the stench. The Jedi cannot help the slaves of Tatooine, but they can help the slavemasters.” -- Count Dooku

[@elgusaniiiodeljuego6823]

So what should yoda have done? Take over the senate by force? Yoda played his part. The politicians didn’t.

[@xcjsmith5310]

@@elgusaniiiodeljuego6823 true, but there is always way to counter the corruption. If everyone followed your ideas, then nothing is changed, that is why revolution occurred. For example, French Revolution, if nothing really happen, country like Malaysia, Lebanon and Venezuela will happen. Pure corruption and destruction of a nation in term of economy and social. Revolution by force is always the way

[@DmoneyS44]

@@elgusaniiiodeljuego6823 yoda could have liberated those slaves through force, yes. You can make any excuse you want but if he really wanted to, he had the power to do so. Instead he did not. You tell me whose side the jedi were on over that question

[@husky3g]

At the end of the Clone Wars animated series, Yoda admits this to himself and with wisdom from Force-derived beings from another planet, they teach him how to commune via the Force after death and tell him he is to wait for another Skywalker on Dagobah. He spends the episode facing things he's been mistaken about in his life and it's a really revealing episode. It's possibly the only Star Wars lore that delves into Yoda in a somewhat deep manner.

[@alenasenie6928]

@@DmoneyS44 He could, once, but what about the next generation, and the next one, the only way to truly liberate them and dot be all his life doing nothing but fight slave owners is to help extend the reach of a stable political system, so one by one new planets are added, until the outer rim becomes reachable, the only way to help from the outside is to build a system that will end up helping at some point, it is useless for people now, but it is the way to make real lasting change, he obviously failed, but it is how you can archive maximum benefit, what matters if one slave master is slain and all their slaves liberated, without a strong system in place they just will be replaced by another one, there is this thing, shown in avatar, specifically how season 3 and 4 are connected, an anarchist removes the one in power, leaving a power vacuum and the established order in chaos, then that leaves just one natural consequence, one power even more extreme taking it all for themselves, instead of an apathetic dictator you get one extremist that will kill you, instead of a slave master that doesn't mistreats their slaves you get one that does it, after all, if they fear retaliation they are less likely to seek or accept help. We have seen in our own history how this kind of deals end up, is never good.

[@williebori]

Back in 2005, Lucas saw ROTS as a mirror of the politics of that time. During that time 9/11 was still recent and the Federal Government had expanded its power through legislation like the Patriot Act. We saw many of our freedoms disappear.

[@pansagi]

And it seems as if we keep trading the little freedoms we have for the rhetoric of politicians. And nothing radicalizes me more than watching the US fall further away from democracy towards authoritarianism.

[@dylantennant6594]

Try being a Canadian. I see the centre of the democracy falling into authoritarianism and hate. I see a Rome falling in flames. And in place, my country has a week leader who can’t keep us safe or free. What does that make my country? The Germans of this new Rome?

[@ryanfreeman5083]

@@pansagi The US isn't and was never a democracy, its a Republic, or at least, it used to be. You are correct, whatever you want to say, democracy or republic, you are right, we are heading towards authoritarianism all the same.

[@pansagi]

@@ryanfreeman5083 i just want to point out that a constitutional republic is still a democracy. I really don’t like when people try to say the equivalent of oh sand isn’t silicon it’s silicon dioxide you’re technically right but at that point it’s just semantics

[@danno6995]

@@ryanfreeman5083 a republic is a form of government while democracy is a system of governance thus democratic republics can exist which America is

[@Namenotaken]

The fives arc is summarized in one quote “ the truth is insanity in a world of lies”

[@redjacobus]

This really makes you appreciate clone wars even more. Having the courage to explore and relate complex political and philosophical themes for a young audience, all while keeping each message in a 22 min cartoon network time slot.

[@atraxisdarkstar]

The Clone Wars also did so much heavy lifting in making the character decisions in Revenge of the Sith make more sense. Just going straight from Attack of the Clones to Revenge of the Sith, Anakin's dark turn and paranoia seem very sudden and forced, even despite this struggles in AotC.

[@bend7726]

The siege of mandalore arc in the clone wars perfectly tied in the cartoon series with episode 3 thus completing the story it's been trying to tell for years. I thought this was genius

[@michaelstark8720]

@@atraxisdarkstar You have no clue what you're talking about. Anakin's turn fit perfectly only in movies while Clone wars are lore destroyer and character destroyer and addind Ahsoka that never should existed. I would rather cut my hand than than see that show

[@briankeys5941]

no, no NO. REWATCH IT. the prequels and the clone wars were 90% TRASH, Jesus we even get a Darth jar jar. anybody can take a series, back when even bad tv was better than current media, and pick out a cohesive narrative OUT OF 5+ seasons and make an hour KZbin video essay by gluing it to the severely awful prequels with yes, a SEMI-cohesive narrative. However, executed SO BADLY, a cartoon had to go back and basically retcon and rebuild said narrative. Also, it shows how out of touch this channel is, too call out REDLETTERMEDIA (Mr. Plinket CHARACTER) for not understanding a childs POV of politics and war. i KNOW bc i watched all this happen in real time

[@redjacobus]

@@briankeys5941 ok

[@diamondowl9321]

I felt like dropping this in here: I explained the Clone Wars to my dad this way: “It’s basically a mass murder plot played out in extreme slow motion, but most of the time you forget about that because hey, it’s a fun adventure show for kids! You get so caught up in the thrill and the missions that you don’t always realize or think about the way the true plot is being played out. It’s obvious when you focus on it because of course you know what’s going to happen, but you’re not always thinking about it” And that’s kind of the whole point.

[@luisaguilar7997]

That’s wonderful, that’s exactly what happens to the characters, even the council after having learned of the origin of the clones cannot unbusy itself enough to figure out what to do, ultimately they do nothing and their passivity literally backfires

[@hamizanyunos1502]

One issue that is not emphasized enough in the prequels how much power private corporations have in the Star Wars Universe, it seems that the Galactic Republic has fully allowed private militaries to operate with no limitations or restrictions.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

I sorta tried to touch on that but yeah, it didn't really fit itself in particularly well.

[@hamizanyunos1502]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan Ok I think it speaks volume to how people focus on Jedi and Sith but neglects the wider political themes of Star Wars especially in relation to war and economic power. Overall this is a great video it is also important to note that in the days before end of Roman Republic, wealth inequality flourished heavily which lead to massive instability and infighting among elite classes that is exploited by Julius Ceasar and later Augustus Ceasar to establish the Roman Empire. We can see this happen especially in Star Wars with the hyper-wealthy Separatists and Galactic Republic both using their massive wealth and resources to bully smaller and independent worlds but other than that are driven to civil war that is exploited by the Sith to seize absolute power.

[@hamizanyunos1502]

@Lord Dustin Yeah I agree, there has been many sovereignty and legality issues of member worlds being violated or manipulated by corporate lobbies such as the invasion of Naboo by Trade Federation which leads to large debates and discussion within the Galactic Senate about how to deal with the ramifications.

[@kylevolbrecht9255]

Look up the East India company and how many ships, sailors and soldiers they had vs the British army at the height of their power. Now consider that the Republic has *no* army at all. It is totally unsurprising to me that a government (Galactic Republic) without an army essentially delegated all security to the corporate interests themselves. And no surprise either that they tried to rebel. I wouldn't be surprised if the CIS was based on the crown corporations of the colonial era and I would bet that George Lucas has mentioned them as an inspiration in some interview or another.

[@bobbycecere1037]

Which mirrors today's situation respecting the United States of America. Our bureaucracies do the same thing. They allow private corporations to do whatever they want all the time.

[@GryffDavid]

I've watched this video through like 3 times. Not just listening in the background, but actively sitting and watching. And every single time I do I end up going, "Holy balls this is a great video."

[@RetroRecounts]

*Mace gets hand cut off and murdered* Narrator: "The end of the Republic... is at hand" Brilliant 👏

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

I swear to you that pun was unintentional but I love it now.

[@isaiahgeorge906]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan Even six months later of this comment, I don't believe you. That was far too coincidental to not be an intentional pun, even with the possibility of maybe your mind just thinking of the pun while doing it without you realizing it

[@snowgrave2475]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan oh come on. You know how Lucas hates hands, how could it NOT be ununtentional? Don't forget, 'this is getting out of hand, now there are two of them!'

[@FirstLast-cg2nk]

If the prequels are the story of how liberty dies, then the Original Trilogy is the story of how dictatorships die. By the time of A New Hope, the Empire has become a monolithic leviathan, with an enormous and powerful military. However, it has lost the ability to exhibit power through anything other than the barrel of a gun. However, that very violence that is the heart of their power is what causes the Rebels to grow larger, stronger, and more powerful. Moreover, due to its massive size, it struggles to defeat any foe that will not face it in an open battle. Much like the Republic, the Empire's downfall was assured well before the death of Palpatine. This obsession with overwhelming power is best demonstrated with the Death Star. Yes, it is a huge, powerful planet killer. However, it is slow, it can only be in one place at a time, and is useless without a clear target to attack. And what if the Rebels were headquartered on Coruscant? Would Palpatine blow himself up, or the most important planet in his empire, just to get rid of the Rebels? Palpatine had assumed that with such an overwhelming weapon at his command, the Rebels would fold. Instead, they were emboldened. Even if there wasn't a weak point that could be exploited, there were a million ways of infiltrating and destroying the Death Star from within. After all, a massive, moon-sized space station would need regular shipments of food and supplies, as well as cycling in and out personnel. How hard would it be to just sneak a sufficiently large bomb into a food shipment and detonate it once it was in the Death Star? Much like the Empire itself, the Death Star seemed massive and intimidating, but it was in truth a massive target, just waiting for someone to figure out a way to destroy it. Like the Empire, the Death Star was only capable of violence, and violence, or just the threat of violence, will always be the wellspring of rebellion. In the movie War Machine, Brad Pitt's character explains a simple concept while discussing counter-insurgency, or COIN. The idea is simple: 10-2=20. In the act of crushing two insurgents, you end up, through your heavy-handed and indiscriminate violence, inspiring more people to join that insurgency. By using overwhelming violence, you are basically helping the recruiting efforts of the very force you try to stop. This is the point that Palpatine is at, that every effort he makes to try and destroy the Rebels instead serves to strengthen them. Anyway, feel free to use all of that if you do a follow-up on the original trilogy.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

I am definitely doing a video on the Dark Times and Galactic Civil War someday in the far future, and those are all things I plan to go over when I do.

[@professorhaystacks6606]

Hmmm, well the second Death Star was a honeypot for the Rebellion (and more importantly from Palpatine's point of view, the remaining Jedi). But the first... yeah why did he sign off on that? The resources that went into it could have financed multiple fleets. And as impressive as blowing apart a planet is, glassing the surface is much cheaper and just as effective.

[@FirstLast-cg2nk]

@@professorhaystacks6606 There's various reasons in the lore and expanded universe novels, but the main reason basically boils down to wanting to terrify the galaxy into absolute obedience and Palpatine believing that the Death Star was the key to doing so. You actually see this a lot with dictators: An obsession with "Wonder Weapons", a new, shiny weapon that they're convinced will win them everything they want or need. If you think I'm joking, try looking up Wunderwaffe on wikipedia, which will give you a nice little list of Hitler's various pet projects in WW 2 when things started going south for him. The list is not a short one. The point is, dictators often get this idea in their heads that all they need is the right weapon, and it'll make all of their problems go away. As said above, the Empire lost the ability to express power through anything other than the barrel of a gun, so all Palpatine could come up with to solve the problem of the growing rebellion was to make a new kind of gun. He wouldn't do anything about the political, social, economic, and logistical problems that kept fomenting rebellion within the Empire, nope, he just commissioned a bigger, scarier gun to shoot at the people rebelling, while ignoring the problems that cause the rebellions to happen in the first place. However, as mentioned above, killing rebels only results in an increase in rebels, and using excessive violence needlessly only results in an exponential increase in the number of rebels. By using the Death Star on a peaceful, unresisting world, a world he already ruled, all Palpatine did was make widespread rebellion certain. After all, if Alderan could be wiped out for no reason at all than just to showcase how powerful the weapon was, then no world was safe. If obedience was no protection against annhiliation, then the only sane response was to rebel. You don't put an end to widespread rebellions by murdering everyone who rebels. You end widespread rebellions by addressing the problems that cause people to rebel in the first place. However, if those problems are inherent in the system of governance, such as, say, a tyrannical dictatorship more intent on oppressing the people, exercising violence and making examples than actually fixing problems, well, the rebellion can only grow until it topples said dictatorship.

[@KopperNeoman]

Originally, the Death Star would have been used to fight the Yuzaan Vong. They had a monstrous capital ship and Force immunity. A huge gun is exactly what you need tor that. In fact, before the Force corrupted him, that was Palpatine's whole motivation. He sold his soul to the devil and in doing so lost his motivation, true to how Sith are portrayed in KOTOR.

[@FirstLast-cg2nk]

@@KopperNeoman Right. The problem is that so far, the Yuzaan Vong have not appeared in any of the "major" canon. I mean, yeah, there's novels out there, but since Disney the All-Devourer has consumed the Star Wars franchise, there's no way to tell if the novels are canon anymore. However, I don't have a problem with that in this respect: Giving Palpatine a justifable reason for wanting a planet-destroyer takes away that connection he has with Real World dictators. As I mentioned in another comment, dictators tend to have an obsession with Wonder Weapons that they think will win them everything. This has never happened and instead is a major drain of finances, resources, and manpower. A sinkhole to pour money down without any hope of getting it back. It's an exercise in wasting money. Barring exactly one example in history, there has never been a case where a new weapon developed during wartime actually did anything to stop the war, and even then, when the A-Bomb was completed, Japan was already negotiating terms of surrender with the USA and dropping the nukes just forced Japan to concede faster to far less favorable terms. And on the subject of nukes, I suppose that brings me to something I've been playing with for a while, something that ties in intimately with the previously discussed uselessness of the Death Star: The Death Star Paradox. I've coined the term to describe uber-powerful superweapons that just aren't useful, and the more powerful the weapon, the more useless it actually is. The nuke is one of those. Why? Well, historically, war is an exercise intended to win the victor new territory, new resources, and new taxpayers. Your army goes in, wins enough victories to get the other guy to surrender, you take over, and now you have all the things you were fighting for. Nukes run counter to that purpose: Launching a nuke renders the target territory radioactive and unliveable, so you get no territory; it irradiates anything within the region, meaning you get no resources; and it kills large numbers of people and radiation becomes a plague upon the land, so you get no new tax payers. Nukes are an "ultimate" weapon that runs counter to everything war stood for, and in the end it only made it so that major world powers can no longer fight against each other and are forced to negotiate. Likewise, the Death Star has the same problem: It destroys territory, resources, and lives in mass numbers, giving nothing back in return. Worse, instead of using it against an outside threat, Palpatine used it against his own worlds, and in doing so he diminished his own holdings. A resource rich and prosperous world, reduced to rubble. No more resources, no more recruits for the army, and no more taxpayers means that every shot fired was a net loss for the Empire. Like nukes, the Death Star is a weapon that runs counter to the purpose of war, even when it *isn't* being used in profoundly stupid ways. And if the Yuzaan Vong do exist in canon, then this actually makes Palpatine *dumber* than before. After all, he kept their existence a secret instead of making it well-known. Why is that a bad idea? Well, nothing has ever helped failing empires and other nation-states pull themselves back from the brink of collapse quite like an external threat. People will put up with a lot more hardship if they know that it is for the sake of dealing with an existential threat. "Oh, you're starving? Well, we'll do what we can, but we need as much food as possible to feed our boys on the front line, so you'll just have to put up with it." Many dictatorships have to invent threats and scapegoats to keep people from blaming the dictator for the sorry state of affairs. Meanwhile, Palpatine was written a blank check in the form of the Yuzaan Vong, but never bothered to cash it. With widespread knowledge of the Yuzaan Vong, the rebels would have had a lot more difficulty finding recruits. After all, if the rebels were struggling to overthrow Palpatine, then what could they do against the YV? It would be the ultimate way to take the teeth from the rebels. "Okay, which would you prefer, an oppresive regime that robs people of their freedom, or outright annihilation by an extremely powerful invading army?" If the rebels could be accused of weakening the Empire on the eve of a potential exitential threat to everyone in the galaxy, it would make the rebels look like that bad guys an the Empire look like the good guys. Sorry, kinda went on a tangent, but you get the point. Anyway, the point is that even with the explanations of questionable canon, we see more and more that Palpatine is far less capable of ruling an empre than he is of overthrowing a republic. Again, something he shares with real world dictatorships.

[@AndreNitroX]

I have always been fascinated by the “fictional” politics of star wars that really add depth to this universe. This entire video is so compelling, as you cover all the different movies and shows.

[@legoferrari14]

Honestly the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy walked so that House of Cards and the early seasons of Game of Thrones could run. Bob Iger in his autobiography straight-up confirms that the sequel trilogy was all nostalgia-bait, stating that he wanted something that is quote un-quote "Quintessentially Star Wars," instead of seeing through George Lucas's vision with his story treatments to avoid backlash from the parroters of Mr. Plinkett and RLM. The decision to shy away from any political aspects of the Sequel Trilogy universe, forcing fans to delve into expanded material to obtain more context on the world-building and stakes, not helped by J.J. Abrams' "Mystery Box Storytelling" techniques, especially in a time where the political drama genre had gone mainstream had seriously hurt Star Wars as a brand.

[@AndreNitroX]

@@legoferrari14 Very well said. star wars is a very compelling political drama when it is done well. might be the reason why i got into game of thrones. I feel the use of politics in this fictional universe really adds alot of depth and worldbuilding. which is why the disney trilogy is so hollow, there is no consequences or depth in peoples actions, we dont know what will become of the galaxy after the war is won, atleast in return of the jedi, we knew there were individuals that would restart the republic and then the books filled that in as well.

[@Sakhmeov]

Kreia did nothing wrong.

[@AndreNitroX]

@@Sakhmeov she was right from a certain point of view

[@Sakhmeov]

@@AndreNitroX From my point of view the _Jedi_ are evil!

[@glamourweaver]

A bit I hated in Force Awakens was the description of the war as this recurring cycle of a struggle between good and evil, when the BEST THING about the prequels was rejecting that narrative, and presenting the war ITSELF as the evil.

[@malcolm4737]

That's because JJ Abrams' understanding of Star Wars has never evolved from "le good Resistance fights against le evil Empire". He isn't interested in exploring the root cause of evil, the reasons why Republic has fallen, how charismatic leaders use fear and uncertainty to manipulate people - he just wants to have a story where good guys on X-wings make a big scary station go boom-boom, because he is fundamentally unable to engage with this franchise on the level beyond the most surface one.

[@glamourweaver]

@@malcolm4737 I don’t know how much of that was him, and how much was Disney having a mission statement to make the sequels as nostalgia bait for the Original Trilogy.

[@malcolm4737]

@@glamourweaver We can only guess, but I recommend Nerdonimous' two-part essay "Star Wars: The Apocrypha". He makes a very convincing case that yes, it was in fact JJ's idea to have a not-so-soft reboot of a series. He did say "You can't have Star Wars without a cantina", so even if it was Disney's plan all along, then they've found a perfect guy for a job.

[@lthefifteenth661]

This video single handedly made me binge through all of Clone Wars, over the last three weeks. I regret nothing and still have chills at the quiet ending of the final episode.

[@lthefifteenth661]

Follow up. Just binged Rebels now. You did this to me, man. 😂

[@theyellowmonkey1487]

@@lthefifteenth661 I ve watched almost everything star wars but rebels and watching ashoka I thought, why not? AND IT S SO GOOOD

[@kaiserreichempireofohio834]

Probably one of the best videos on the subject. Wars stand on the backbone of politics, Star Wars is built on the concept of War. Its only natural Star Wars explores its own world politics. Its saddening how much the Galactic Republic resembles the US. I pray our country can stop any more Palpatines from trying or succeeding to take over. Keep up the great work Arken!

[@kaiserreichempireofohio834]

Also somewhat unrelated but a galaxy spread state is almost gareenteed to be unstable lol.

[@thewingedhussar4188]

@@kaiserreichempireofohio834 I find your lack of faith disturbing.

[@robertogurrola7465]

Eh, Star Wars is 1:1 with the Weimar republic and Nazi Germay for nearly all its main messages. The US resembles star wars purely because the modern US is making the same political mistakes the Germans made. The very mistakes the founding fathers warned about

[@bobbycecere1037]

Never going to happen. The idea that a strong man takes over the US government and steers the country towards fascism is a retarded myth. The real danger is in bureaucracy and the security state taking control of everything. Which, of course they are in fact already doing. Our powers are far too decentralized. What you are worried about is already happening, you just don't know how to see it. When fascism arrives in the United States, it'll be under the system we already have. There will not be a central figure to blame.

[@robertogurrola7465]

@@bobbycecere1037 eh that's debatable as one person cod be at the culmination of all that you said by chance or by purpose. Once a knowledgeable enough person is in the right place at the right time they can use all that centralized power to help themself. But otherwise it's more likely a group would work to do this over a period of time in an attempt to skew thing towards their interests for their long term success. Which you can argue is happening. Either way it's not unlikely for either 1 person or one group to take over, just requires dedications and a strong understanding. But in all honesty How many people would even want to attempt that on their own

[@aahillakhani399]

"Stifled by tradition, deafened by our past glories, blinded by endless war."

[@anon9060]

Basically Bush Era presidency, which was when these movies were being released. But besides that, I'm personally not a fan of the allegory because the cultural deterioration of the United States had been gone on long before the Bush administration even ascended to office.

[@robertpatter5509]

@@anon9060 the US ended in the 1790's during the Whiskey Rebellion. That was the final end. The militia used to fight in 1776 was used against its own people in the 1790's. Some say the Civil War was the official end , but I think the Whiskey Rebellion was that. All the people who thought the militia would be used for ill were correct. And thus the beginning of the end. What can you expect? The Founders were booted from England for Heresy after all. So a nation founded on Heresy would eventually fall. Freemasonry and all that. The Founders were the Oligarchs of their day. And George Washington wast really this honorable and decent soldier. But that's a story for another day..

[@MM-vs2et]

@@anon9060 Well, there was Reagan for one

[@jghifiversveiws8729]

@@MM-vs2et All 20th-21st century president's are culpable to be honest.

[@requiem5151]

The Republic in Star Wars is a clear allegory of the political establishment throughout the west, not only USA. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble but that clear establishment is perpetuated mostly by the Democrats. They are the top 1 party for anyone looking to be a puppet president while the real "black suit" guys run the USA in the shadows. It's very evident with Biden, even more than it was with Obama that the real people running the USA are not elected by the people and that has probably been the case since a very long time ago. While most republicans are pro-establishment aswell, you'll never find anyone willing to tear down the establishment in the Democrats, they would gladly silence them or keep them from ever reaching a contender position for president. The Democratic party has the clear sympton of any other pro-establishment party throughout the West, they hold "Democracy" like a dogma, anyone who criticizes it is a facist or any other buzzword they find. In reality, this are only buzzwords to prevent anyone from destroying the establishment that fills their pockets in the name of "Democracy"... Pretty pathetic how no one seems to realize this.

[@SPIRE_FAN]

This is a masterclass video. Whenever people (including myself) tell others about how The Darth Plagueis Novel and Clone Wars Shows further elaborate and demonstrate the revelation of how well crafted the Prequels were with its politics, this is the exact video I will link now.

[@tsukuyomimagi9968]

"Those who trade liberty for safety deserve neither." - Benjamin Franklin I hope George Lucas himself sees this wonderfully articulated video. On top of that, it is a perfect rebuttal to the Red Letter Media review. To me, Sheev Palpatine is the contemporary Iago. It is such a shame what was done to him in the Sequel Trilogy.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

Iago is pretty paltry praise for a character like Palpatine. Iago managed to drive a couple apart through his deception, sure, but Palpatine divided and conquered an entire galaxy. I really don't know who you could compare him to in terms of classical literature.

[@tsukuyomimagi9968]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan Fair enough. I thought it was high praise as I trying to say that someone like Palpatine was written on the same tier as Shakespeare. But you are right about Iago. I guess the likes of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler would be a much more apt comparison. My mistake.

[@ender72a75]

Ironically it's what Anakin end up doing in Revenge of The Sith trading his freedom to Palpatine for Padme's safety

[@alejandrovallejo4330]

Well society and laws are litterally trades of liberty for safety so that cuote is not really very accurate, wherever there is law and order there is a limitation of absolute liberty 🤷🏻‍♂️. Also absolute liberty brings by itself limitatiions to the liberty of others, because if someone is allowed to do everything they please then they will inevitably prevent someone else from exercising those same and other freedoms. It's not about not trading them, it's about knowing where the limit is, that's the difficult part.

[@alejandrovallejo4330]

@@tombombadil8709 If you are gonna respond understand the argument first instead of just hurrying up to gaslight. I didn’t say those are laws against liberty, not even close, I said that any law trades some liberty for security to some extent. Laws by definition limit and define the things you can and can’t do, ergo, they take away some liberty in trade of the better good.

[@henryparks1671]

In the conclusion, the conversation between Cal Kestis and Taron Malicos is reconrexualized brilliantly. I never considered that he could’ve spoken truth, thank you for this video.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

I intend to do a whole video on Fallen Order eventually, it has some really interesting themes around trauma and personal growth, and although I think Cal is actually in the right with being able to learn from the past, Taron does make a legitimate point about the decay of the Jedi Order.

[@froze200]

Sry, what does reconrexualized means? I am no english native speaker, and the dictonary and google doesn´t know it XD

[@henryparks1671]

@@froze200 oh shoot, I spelled it wrong I meant Recontexualized with a t! Just allowing a moment to be viewed with new perspective and new context

[@froze200]

@@henryparks1671 Ah great, thank you! Have a nice day.

[@mathisb2889]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan Cal is one of my favourite Star Wars characters : )

[@clonesolar]

Yoda: "our army was made by a sith lord, we're not doing anything." Palpatine: "Ha, got em. Execute order 66."

[@shadowfort1985]

Yoda realized that order 66 needed to happen for the Jedi to become the Jedi again

[@legoman7041]

@@shadowfort1985 Talk about the long con

[@Kaiserboo1871]

@@legoman7041 Acceptable losses they were.

[@koopanique]

I agree, but at the same time, what could the Jedi do upon hearing of this news? Confront Palpatine? They did eventually, but even that was not enough. Stop fighting the war? It would only have brought upon a catastrophic Separatist victory. As Yoda said, the Jedi were trapped in a web, with no real options.

[@clonesolar]

@@koopanique They couldn't do anything, Yoda knew the Jedi were corrupt and needed to be purged. He didn't want that though.

[@JosephTovar-h6c]

no line in star wars sent chills down my spine quite like "you're all going to burn; we are all going to die!" god bless sam witwer

[@lawrencium2626]

for me it was - those credits won't do you any good, without a chai-ai-ain co-o-od-de.

[@torifin755]

if you notice closely, Commander fox even takes off his helmet and sees what the hell he just did, with pure resent. he shot his own brother in arms, figurtively and literally. and his entire squad does too. its little details like that that humanize the clones even more than they have to

[@seoul08]

Definitely agree, but fox is the only one who we don’t see remove his helmet. He’s not seen in the shot where all the clones stand around fives.

[@Japaneseanimeguy]

From what I've gathered it weighed heavily on all the Clone Trooper Commanders. They had developed a rapport and at times friendship with their Jedi Generals, but then with a single call they shoot these friends and allies that they were literally fighting alongside just minutes or hours ago. They didn't fully understand why they did what they did and were just left traumatized, before the new Emperor gave out an execution order for the clones and a stopping of production with an excuse of preventing such a sudden and unwarranted betrayal. Once you are the guy in charge you can't have your soldiers shooting their commanding officers.

[@Tenems941]

Really sucks for them, they probably never imagined they would need to kill one of their own. Someone they grew up with, and in a galaxy so immense somehow one of the very few people that can understand.

[@micahwright5901]

Fives was dead either way. He would’ve definitely died under “mysterious circumstances” in prison, he was a loose end. Palpatine made sure he was gone.

[@craigtucker309]

*notice closely * bro the whole shot was on it we were supposed to see it.

[@joedoe920]

One of the reasons I love the prequels, there are several comparisons between politics in Star Wars and American politics. From the dysfunction of the senate or the inability to act quickly and decisively. Politics in Star Wars, for me, showed a warning to America that, even if the institutions of democracy are thought to be sound they can easily be brought down in a heartbeat.

[@thewingedhussar4188]

I believe January 6th 2021 proved that easily. When the mob of Trump people, claiming to be for democracy. Tried to kill the house and senate, for a single man they thought was all for them. When in reality, Trump didn't care about them and in fact used them as pawns to threaten our country. An the fact Trump didn't get arrested, is only more evidence on how corrupt things have gotten. Lincoln forgave the CSA soldiers because the war was over and enough blood had been spilled. Trump has no reason to be walking around free. An those who still see themselves a pro trump, can't be called Americans. Nor have the right to still claim to be about freedom and rights.

[@robertogurrola7465]

@@thewingedhussar4188 well that's not biased at all. We could also say after the tyrannical use of the govt to enforce online censorship against citizens questioning the legitimacy of the elections, it was the people's right to go and protest. Quit being subjective and look at both sides. Also notice how not politician died, meaning your whole stated motivation isn't even accurate especially given that Trump said not to do what they did. Funny how you've also ignored the decades worth of constitutional ignorance and rights removed yet think this one incident is the proof that the US is being taken over. They might not have been right but they certainly aren't the ones taking over the country.

[@robertogurrola7465]

They compare to the US in that the Star Wars is 1:1 with the Weimar Republics turn to Nazi Germany for most it's messages. The US is following the same rhythm as the Weimar Republic. The very rhythm the founding fathers warned against. TCW displays this superficially and in many ways contradicts the films messages. I fear that, as well as Disney's current messaging,, will dilute the narrative to the point where people won't see the actual real life threats the films discuss.

[@bobbycecere1037]

@@thewingedhussar4188 nobody tried to kill the house and senate you fruitcake

[@bobbycecere1037]

What exactly do you mean by taken down? What we see happening in the US Senate is a byproduct of politics, nothing more. Democrats and Republicans choose not to work with each other on purpose. Usually it's because they are playing into a narrative, whichever way the press they control is spinning the issue to the public. It's almost never because of actual principle.

[@gracechica14]

Dude, your montage of Order 66 was masterful. Loved seeing all the different Star Wars stories together in one tragic event

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

That montage was legitimately sad to edit; John Williams is a genius.

[@toobeastly32]

Ikr I was honestly getting sad watching it which is crazy because I don’t get sad much

[@ehrenthompson7891]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan well done sir but 😢

[@Doctor_Straing_Strange]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan it was sad to see too, I felt cold run down my spine in the last moments with Ahsoka

[@brianjohnson5272]

You want to see tragic in starwars? Endure Kenobi!

[@therealronniej]

I feel like the creation of the Empire has always been a warning against the rise of fascism. I also think that your observation about Prequel hate being due to our modern day politics is 100% true. This is the best Star Wars video on KZbin. 🙏

[@mikelitten7489]

You’re 100% correct. Just remember, in Star Wars and in real life, the ones accusing others of being fascists are almost always the fascists.

[@6666Imperator]

well the "re-rise" I guess because fascism is much older than the Star Wars movies and you can see a bit of Caesar in Palpatine's power take over as well but I agree this video is great

[@bjornolfactory9363]

What ever name or label you want to put on it. Tyranny is what you should be worried about. Because those who are so quick to accuse others are usually the ones guilty of the very thing they are accusing others for.

[@xantishayde-walker4593]

​@@bjornolfactory9363 I think this coincides with your statement about accusing your enemies of what you do. Hitler apparently had a set of rules he abided by to get control of the general population of Germany during his rise to power. See if this sounds familiar. His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it. Sound familiar? Sounds like the Democrat way to me. The funny thing is, they call their enemies Nazis. Sad really, that so many people buy their drivel.

[@WeDeserveBetterNow]

@@mikelitten7489 Unless a non-fascist correctly points out an actual fascist as being a fascist. In that case, the non-fascist is still a non-fascist, and the fascist is indeed a fascist.

[@topiheimola69]

Holy shit I can’t even begin to explain how important the music is to Star Wars. Just hearing some of the music instantly brings tears to my eyes...

[@RedBlitzen]

Have you seen the KZbin channel Sideways? He analyzes music, including Star Wars.

[@john_ipu8721]

it's cool , but why cry tho ? do you reflect on past life experiences where you're the fallen Hero ? The fallen beacon that could have brightly shined towards the future. But the inevitable knows no compromises bringing utter darkness for the rest of your days

[@O1OO1O1]

John Williams. :) When Spielberg went to him to score Schinlder's List, he told him he won't score it, it needs a better musician. Spielberg told him, "I know, but they're all dead." :)

[@topiheimola69]

@@john_ipu8721 I don't cry but my eyes do get kind of wet. The music is simply incredible.

[@trollzland1337]

ngl the music with padme's speech about using the war funds to pay for the "people we're fighting for" had me paying full attention to every word she said

[@LethalDragon1]

I am in the very small minority that think the prequel trilogy was the best trilogy, precisely because of the politics... You did an excellent job of breaking down the subtlety of it all. I hope one day to live in a society where people desire this sort of thing, instead of see it as an obstacle. The solution to stale, repetitive, and unoriginal art is the almost religious dedication to appreciating good work when it appears. As long as we keep doing this, the Disney empire cannot win.

[@blackfang101]

At first i was too young to understand, but it was my favorite part because of the lightshow and the beautiful scenes. When i grew up, it changed into being my favorite due to the lines you have to read between and the parallels that can be drawn to reality. I was always interested in politics purely as a "thing that is fun to know something about" and watching those movies and the clone wars was definitely a show about getting it. Understanding that there is no good and evil, only various shades of gray. I have never supported any of the wars against the "terrorists" in the middle-east, every single time i watch someone put together a group of compelling reasons to invade this or that country it just feels too flimsy. I said the day we started the "no-fly zone" in libya that it was a massive mistake, even worse than actually going in like the other occasions, but in we went, and i still remember the "Ohh we are so sorry, we meant to hit a military target but oops, we blew up a hospital by mistake" Like yeh, couldn't have used google maps to figure out where the hospital (or other important infrastructure) was so you didn't fire at it? It doesn't take a genius to see that either every step of the intelligence ladder failed that day, or there was a compelling reason to accidentally bomb it. That is basically all of politics, i have heard time and time again, promises and pledges to do a thing that always falls short or gets completely misdirected from its original purpose. Now, being a leader in an organization i know why it can be problematic to do these things, but if i really wanted to i could've fixed every single issue and achieved what i really want to, but honestly, i am not paid to do that much so i leave them be until they cause a disaster. Now imagine if i was a politician, its really easy to push through the things you really want, but there are other considerations like if this cause you to offend a bunch of people who will stop at nothing to deal with you it can make life really unpleasant, and i do not have any cause i care enough about to fix to that extent in this organization. Its why disasters always grease the gears, the politicians have the power to make the change, but they don't due to accountability towards their peers. The rest of the masses have that power also, but again don't because of accountability to their peers. We could fix just about everything wrong with the world today with just a few people in the right positions but its not going to happen. A strong willed politician is a career-less one, a weak willed one has a strong career simply because their peers won't be as peeved with them.

[@kx7500]

What are your personal general political beliefs?

[@blackfang101]

@@kx7500 if you mean mine, i believe in freedom of speech and expression combined with less government control over these avenues. Otherwise i want more government intervention in private lives outside of that, more social welfare, more taxes for the rich, more equality, more life in general. I don't want to be punished for not having rich parents, i hate being punished for not knowing the right people, my ideal state is a social meritocracy without human involvement in any way when it comes to choosing who does what. They can be involved in what needs to be done, but they can't choose their anti-vax cousin to head the government's mandated 100% vaccination targets. It's an ideal that humanity can never reach, we are too selfish and greedy to allow such a thing to come to pass, and even if someone did, plenty would make sure it wouldn't work out of spite if nothing else. Humans are way too flawed for a good future, so we have to thank whoever possible if we can get even the smallest victory for common sense, because it will definitely be low on the list of anyone with the power to do something about it, otherwise it would've been done already.

[@kx7500]

@@blackfang101 I think one of the big flaws in our system is it makes decent people such as yourself think that the ills of human society are innate to humanity, when in reality its the anti-human system we live under that the vast majority have no control over preserving itself by deflecting blame that is the issue. Humans are beautiful and compassionate and rational, you don’t hear about that but decentralized activist groups are holding society together almost “single” handedly, a better world is possible and people aren’t the problem, even bad people, different kinds of moral people are just adaptations people make to their shitty environment. That’s why you get massive scapegoats such as race and sex and ultimately leading into fascism, it’s all a way to preserve the power in society. A meritocracy is possible and it’s a much more natural state of being than anything we have now.

[@alphagamer9505]

I agree, I always like the prequels, specially as I got older

[@RealPiccks]

within just a few minutes, nearly the entirety of the jedi order was wiped out... that line plus all the beloved jedi dying and anakins dark deeps playing in the background sent chills down my spine

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

Easily my favorite part of the video. Tbh, cried just a tiny bit while making it. John Williams is a legend.

[@RealPiccks]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan he really is tho

[@qwertyiuwg4uwtwthn]

"*deeds" - 🤓

[@oscarosullivan4513]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan ​I think the prequel trilogy and the clone wars show are based on the history of Rome.

[@oscarosullivan4513]

In the original trilogy Yoda comes off full of regrets

[@drparadox7833]

59:05 Notice Palpatine's fingers twitching. He was ready to draw his lightsaber right there. Amazing Acting by Ian McDiarmid.

[@BennysGamingAttic]

Holy shit I've never noticed that before!

[@dirtyjohnathan5612]

I have always appreciated how when dooku bests obiwan in their dual he has the opportunity to cut one of his limbs but doesn’t. I’ve always liked to think it’s due to his respect he still has for Quigon. He also states he thinks highly of obiwan due to the way Quigon expressed himself about him.

[@user-nm1lx8qb3u]

So then why did he cut off anakins arm?

[@runescapeowns8734]

@@user-nm1lx8qb3u because Anakin's a soyboy

[@kermeinchara4328]

@@user-nm1lx8qb3umeh qui gons grandson is worthless to the son

[@plmokm33]

@@user-nm1lx8qb3u Because he has literally no relation to Dooku since he left the order before Quigon found Anakin.

[@CG-yq2xy]

The interesting thing about Quigon (according to the books which I think are canon, tbh Star Wars canon is almost as convoluted as Marvel by now) was that, long before the Phantom menace, he had long ideologically departed from the sclerotic, rigid mind view of the traditional Jedi order. While not seen outright as a heretic by the order, he was unorthodox enough to cause great discomfort to the traditionalist council of the Jedi. And that was because, as explained in the video, he saw all of the problems that the order possessed from the ideological stagnation, the investiture into micro-political hearsay, to their belief that the Sith would come back in grand form like the glory days of old. Quigon saw that the order needed to be reformed from the bottom up to face the problems of the modern Galaxy (or old in our case, you know a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...) which while more subtle, proved to be more sinister. There was a theory circulating many years ago that stated that if Quigon had lived and trained Anakin to the level of a knight, said Anakin would have been more well rounded and stable and would have been able to defeat his inner demons, bring balance to the force, and lead the Jedi into a new renaissance. I personally like to think that Quigon's death also killed the last genuine internal force that the Jedi order had to reform and better themselves to face the Sith, which by then had long evolved beyond the traditional tenants of old. Or at least that's my take idk.

[@wolfgang7812]

" A corrupt society inevitably creates a corrupt government" this statement has a real life importance to it as well.

[@Toix]

Yes, and with constant lack of moral indicators and transparency it will eventually lead to reality, to add those with the government can take advantage of their assigned affairs if the society simply doesn't care enough-clear as daylight in this world.

[@ContemplativeCat]

Another way of putting it is, "Politics is downstream from culture" (Andrew Breitbart).

[@gussampson5029]

The People always get the government they deserve. I realized years ago that our politicians and bureaucrats are only as corrupt, immoral and self-serving as the population in general is.

[@xxcoopcoopxx]

It only has importance for a Monolith society that is not America. America is horizontal. House of Reps > Senate > President > Supreme Court = Bill becomes Law. Monolithic societies like Russia, China, Great Britain; laws are made at the top and do not go through four different representation before becoming a law. You're misinformed.

[@xxcoopcoopxx]

@@gussampson5029 You are corrupt and self serving. That's why the politicians do what they do, to communicate to you.

[@commanderwyro4204]

"the power you give me, i will lay down when this crisis has abated" man hearing that line in 2021 is just... scary

[@firstnamelastname489]

And what do you know? Lots of politicians are trying to keep their 'emergency powers'.

[@commanderwyro4204]

@@firstnamelastname489 its terrifying. i was pretty young when these star wars movies came out so didnt know much about all that political stuff. but as i get older palpatines push towards total power using only politics is scary

[@Taco-pd4ce]

A weak government is a strong country

[@arezdracul8650]

Imagine Trump as Palpatine, I am sure it’s what he wanted!

[@commanderwyro4204]

@@arezdracul8650 not the most perceptive person huh lol

[@lunavarion]

This truly proves how much of a masterpiece Lucas created. The man is a storycrafting genius. You can't deny this, regardless of what one may argue about execution. Likewise, good sir, this video is a masterpiece. Excellent job! This video is now officially among my favorites.

[@Domkhxiii]

One of my favourite lines from a movie is in the third one. "So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause."

[@Gigachad-mc5qz]

I always look at canada and the russian sanctions for this

[@AiluridaeAureus]

It's a striking line, but it means absolutely nothing coming from Padme, a royal from a planet-ruling autocratic family. Same whenever Bail says something or other about democracy. Like bitch please, you're royalty. You wouldn't know a functioning democracy if it shit on your doorstep and called it Congress.

[@bri-manhunter2654]

Same!!

[@dawoifee]

I always Imagine the Systems of the seperatists to be those least likely to support Palpatine anyways, so they were manipulated to leave so Palpatine has less opposition during the war and can increase his power step by step.

[@jordanread5829]

Most of the separatists did generally believe that the republic was corrupt. However they did not know that the new government they had joined was also corrupt to the core. Onderon is one such planet. And their senator, Mina Bonteri tried to push for peace between the separatists and the republic after talking with Padme in secret. She was killed because of it and her death led to the creation of a rebel cell with her son being a key member of its leadership after he found out that Dooku was behind her death.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

Yeah, they were also largely alien factions that were typically mistreated by human republic leadership.

[@Tyler_W]

@@jordanread5829 correct, what the true believers didn't realize is that they were lambs being led to slaughter by controlled opposition.

[@MrRawrCEO]

From what I read they were just as eager to support Palpatine as the Republic was (though his Sith persona specifically). Palpatine essentially played both sides so that it didn't matter who lost, he'd still win.

[@weaver8874]

dawoifee I like where your heads at but you missed the mark. The war was fought against the separatists… to say that they left so Palpatine could have less opposition during the war doesn’t make any sense because there wouldn’t be a war if they didn’t leave. Secondly the Seperatists weren’t at all manipulated into leaving. Infact Palpatine is the one who secretly funded them so he could have an excuse to ramp up the military budget. The Seperatist leaders were in on Palpatines scheme but the individual systems very much believed in the Seperatist cause and fought to be independent from the corrupt Republic.

[@bluemio7349]

Damn this video is a masterpiece. I never thought I'd watch a 1h15min video explaining Star Wars politics, but somewhere between the amazing storytelling spanning all Star Wars media and the meta-levels, connecting the Star Wars universe to our world, I was enthralled by it and could not stop watching. Now that it's over, I can't help but feel "empty" as in having watched a fantastic movie that was thought provoking and knowing that this is the "end" of it. Seriously, I am truly moved by your video Arken (perhaps due to how rampant populism is at the moment and how dire the situation for many democracies is nowadays) but nontheless thanks to this amazing piece of art you've created. Thank you for the amazing, multiple plot overarching meta-analysis of the death of liberty. It was a fantastic watch.

[@ehrenthompson7891]

It was well done, timely and prophetic

[@brutalmadness9099]

I was captivated as well and cannot help but to see the parallels of this to what my country is currently facing. If the system is corrupt from within , it is really difficult to remedy it.

[@oli1428]

Just look at Canada right now. These tyrants are showing their true colours and are not hiding it anymore.

[@wknight5595]

You could equate the Jedi rebels beating the democrats. The Facts: (1) The progressive democrats are the party of Slavery, KKK, Jim Crow segregation, Japanese interment camps and the trail of tears. (2) LBJ remained a racist and used the n-word until his death. President LBJ said quote "I'll have those (N-words) voting democrat for the next 100 years" after he passed his Great society welfare bill. (3) The democrat Senate even elected a KKK grand dragon Robert Byrd to Senate majority leader in 1987... Biden, Clinton's, Obama, etc. all recently celebrated him at his funeral. (4) Racist Democrats blocked the first attempt to ratify the 13th Amendment in 1863. (5) Racist Democrats unanimously voted against the 14th Amendment giving former slaves citizenship. (6) Racist Democrats unanimously voted against the 15th Amendment giving former slaves the right to vote. (7) Racist Democrats held the longest filibuster in U.S Senate history to block the civil rights act 1957 and only passed because of republicans. The racist in the democrat party voted against it. Propaganda though the left controlled media and education have been covering up their past and the truth for decades. Only two of the nearly 200 racist Dixiecrats became republicans completely debunking the BS "changed sides" narrative pushed by liberal academics. The real racist are and always were the progressive democrats, and the black progressive leaders today are just getting rich off race baiting, similar to the African blacks that gathered and sold the slaves to America and the rest of the world.

[@cmcbunch]

Watch legend of the galactic heroes. Star Wars is space opera politics on easy mode. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is much more advanced. It strips away almost all of the cartoony side of star wars that the normies enjoy and gets to the point. I will warn you it is long, its old (late 80s) and its japanese. I think you can still find it on Hi dive.

[@Kmarksman]

The politics in the clone wars show was really hard to stomach as a kid, but once you get older it makes so much more sense on why it was integral to the rest of star wars. We have to thank Dave Filoni for that because no one else could've done it better.

[@alexanderthered5603]

"His evil scheme is he really wants Queen Amidala to sign a paper." Yes, Chris, that's how politics work. That's how dictators rise from democracy. My goodness what an idiotic statement he made.

[@cadenfinch4813]

Who's chris?

[@alexanderthered5603]

@@cadenfinch4813 Chris Stuckmann, thr guy giving that quote.

[@Goldfire345]

@@alexanderthered5603 it's honestly amazing just now much power a simple signature has in this world when it comes to ownership or rights.

[@ForbiddenFollyFollower]

All the dictatorships that formed in the 20th century including the Nazi party were voted in through democracy with Mussolini as the sole exception.

[@hastekulvaati9681]

@@ForbiddenFollyFollower scores of 20th century dictators took power without being voted in through democracy.

[@rainmanslim4611]

How did we go from this, to "somehow palpatine returned"?

[@isodifbrakiul6387]

Consider that the first pawns of Sidious were the megacorporations with such vast powers they easily influenced law and even had some quasi-governmental powers. Now ask yourself, who bought Star Wars?

[@enjoyerofgoodcontent1236]

Disney.

[@gregbors8364]

Why wouldn’t the scriptwriting be that lazy when they knew it was going to make a billion dollars anyway? They could have put out a turd on a plate, called it “Star Wars,” and the obsessive fan base would still have eaten it up.

[@livingforchrist31]

Once I delved into the Expanded Universe books (now known as Legends) I realized how amazing the Star Wars series is at conveying the dangers and terrible power of political machinations and corruption. Remains one of my favorite series ever. Even where people criticize the first movie: "Who wants to watch a Star Wars movie about tax disputes?" And I'm like "Don't you see?! He's making his opening move to take over the Republic!"

[@more-reasons6655]

I remember thinking the same when people started complaining about how episode 1 even ties in to the originals, but seem to forget the mega power move that palpatine plays by having someone invade his home planet and he knows the republic will do nothing to help. Then from that gets the sympathy vote to become chancellor

[@gampie13]

read the book "plagueis" then rewatch the the prequal trillogy, damn how much that puts the viewing experiance into a awsome perspective

[@scotth8408]

I find I can enjoy the prequels much more when I focus on Palapitine instead of Anakin. If we look at it as the manipulations of a mastermind its easier to enjoy the movies. This can be done with other series as well, instead of focusing on the protaginist, you focus on the antagnoist and the movie/show makes it much better. A perfect example of this is the TV series Smallville, its a horrible telling of Superman, but an incredible telling of Lex Luthor. Ignore Anakin and focus on how Palapitine maniplates everyone for his goals. Though I will admit there are many points where a bit of common sense from the Jedi would have had significant setbacks to Palapitines plans, you can sometimes feel some of the jedi characters feel un-jedi-like in order to make the story go the way it does.

[@christianweibrecht6555]

Imagine being a self serving senator who allowed the republic to decay, choosed to serve the empire, then defected to the new republic

[@kingorange7739]

We don’t have to imagine it. We are seeing it first hand

[@eduardmart1237]

Just a usual politician))

[@captain_rewind]

Not me feeling literal chills seeing your superb editing of all the jedi deaths including the Bad Batch and Fallen Order.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

Including Bad Batch clips in this video was actually a pretty last-minute thing, since the first season was wrapping just as I was finishing up this video. Very glad I waited. Editing that sequence together honestly made me simultaneously very sad and very proud of myself.

[@charliesteel350]

The political side of Star Wars is too often overlooked and rarely done justice. Thank you for making this incredible video and passionately demonstrating the genius that is the politics of Star Wars.

[@gregbors8364]

Meh. The first two movies (“Episodes 4 and 5”) were good, but even by “Return,” the franchise had become a vehicle to sell toys. There is nothing “deep” about “Star Wars.” That’s why all the political speechifying in the prequels just made them boring.

[@DemonicRemption]

@@gregbors8364 Prior to seeing The Phantom Menace in theaters I was started watching a quaint little anime on Toonami called "Gundam Wing." I blame that series slow pace and political themes for why I enjoy the prequels so much even if the political talks within the galactic senate flew over my head until I was like 14 or so. The way I see it the political aspects of the prequels are gonna seem boring to people who aren't into political dramas.

[@jamestolbert1856]

I always loved Star Wars for the action and characters and worlds but I overlooked the politics. Thank you for this vieso

[@undercoverjesus9352]

No babe, not tonight, the youtube algorithm just blessed me with a 1 and a half hour long analyzation of star wars politics.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

Please give your girlfriend the attention she so clearly needs. My silly video can wait.

[@sambridgers9543]

​@@ArkenTheAmerikanYep. Cuddles first!

[@matttrevers2552]

The Fives story arc in The Clone Wars is some magnificent storytelling. Without needing to be told, the audience understands what is at stake while the characters remain in the dark. The audience is able to appreciate the true significance of the story unfolding, and just how close the opportunity was to avert what ultimately happened. We want Fives to succeed while knowing that he won't. At the same time, Palpatine's true mastery at political manipulation is revealed. Incredible stuff.

[@collegebro85]

None of the Clones had their own personality or motivation to make their own decisions…Palpatine would never have allowed that and not once in Ep II or III did a clone trooper say anything but “yes sir, right away” 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@rantey8306]

@@collegebro85 in the movies* The clones in the movies did not need to play a role greater than being soldiers, there wasn’t time. Clone Wars expanded on it showing that they DID have personalities, and for the most part would still follow orders.

[@ntfoperative9432]

@@collegebro85 so you're basing this whole thing on their short appearance in both movies that barely reaches about 40 minutes in footage total

[@nightthrasher24]

​@@collegebro85 Commander Cody had some personality in some of his scenes in RoTS

[@French_Bread-k2f]

This is honestly the best KZbin video about Star Wars ever. I make it a point to watch it once every year. It’s so amazing that you have a talent for video making.