The Politics of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Explained

Patreon: / thecomicexperience
Don't understand the politics from The Phantom Menace? Let us help you with that...
Narrated and Animated by Robert Angelli

[@StarWarsAudioComics]

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[@JUDEPOPPGamingb23ra]

Have you made more videos like this?

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

As someone who loves the EU/now Legends sadly, I've got to say this was very well done! Way better explained and accurate than most other self-proclaimed "lore" channels.

[@palbez8593]

Ottoman claims have been denied by the talibans (as they have been denied by the rebuplicans before the fall of Kabul) : The airport of Kabul will be under Afghans/talibans control; they did not negotiated with ottoman; the islamic republic of Afghanistan, and after them thé talibans regime did not five or grant them any permit, this is why they fled. MEE (an ottoman propaganda agency) claims have been debunked.

[@johnnygyro2295]

This was informative and hilarious! Any chance we can get more videos like this? Since Darth Bane showed up at the beginning, a video about his life and legacy would be cool...

[@kenopyowo]

this felt like an over simplified video

[@JDarach]

"Naboo has two natural resources. Plasma energy and angsty young political science majors" best line in the video

[@stvbrsn]

Oh yeah? Well, I’ll bet you a very specific amount of an obscure foreign currency that it’s not!

[@johnr797]

@@stvbrsn credits *will* do fine

[@sjh199]

@@johnr797 No they won’t

[@johnr797]

@@sjh199 credits *WILL* do fine

[@sjh199]

@@johnr797 no they *won’ta*

[@beardguy6320]

It would be funny as shit to see Plagueis and Palpatine getting fucking WASTED while Maul is working his ass of to fight Qui Gon and Obi Wan.

[@johnnygyro2295]

Palpatine: *calling Maul after killing Plagueis* "Hey Maul, *hic*, guess what? Plagueis is dead, you're officially a Sith Lord!" Maul: *Gets bisected by Obi-Wan and proceeds to fall down the reactor shaft* Palpatine: "Maul? Maul?! Well... Shit."

[@NikkyElso]

It's a real Papa Palpatine move

[@yezki8]

Adultswim should made this sketch

[@kf8113]

would be doubly funny if it turned out palpatine just killed plagueis in a drunken speeder accident and made up the story of a clever assassination to save face

[@yokaiou5848]

Chug Chug Chug!

[@zaragozrex]

Oh no, I'm not brave enough for politics.

[@raissasuwardhono]

Me? I love democracy! I love the politics in Star Wars. Especially the one in The Clone Wars show. There’s stuff about interests and bills, corruption and all. So fun

[@Master-Bait]

it's more of a puppet show than politics difference being it that former has less puppet masters than actual politics, Palpatine runs the whole show

[@alfredforbessealy524]

lmao just spotted a fellow r/prequelmemes member in the wild

[@devinthierault]

Two drinks later "ANAKIN THE CHANCELLOR IS EVIL MY ALLEGIANCE IS TO THE REPUBLICAN TO DEMOCRACY!" -ratio tile kenobi

[@johnr797]

@@devinthierault if you're not with me, then you're my enemy -Allah Gold

[@starlighter93]

- That plant was a gift. - Pizza delivery! - Step 8: Get Plagueis absolutely wasted. I love these bits. :D

[@themole4369]

Loved how the pizza delivery guy was Philip J Fry.

[@professormedia6851]

@@themole4369 Now we just need to see how Nixon's head would handle this situation, let the crossovers continue.

[@guccifer764]

To be fair, getting Plagueis plastered was actually Palpatine’s plan.

[@arthinugami]

They really should make a house of cards style series off of this.

[@XiaoLynn]

I would totally love it! Like some series of Sheev rasing the power in Senate.

[@miniaturejayhawk8702]

It would be like the clone wars all over again. 😂😂😂

[@dplocksmith91]

THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING ALL THIS TIME! They need to cancel Kathleen Kennedy's weak-ass show and replace it with a House of Cards style show about Plagueis and Sidious!

[@vdmur7952]

honestly

[@demi-femme4821]

Think the Padme episodes of TCW, but with more complexity.

[@user-ft3jq5vi2l]

When you're such a good manipulator even the stuff you didn't plan ends up benefiting you

[@phantomkryptid2549]

Even the best laid plans can go awry, and circumstances can change. When dealing with military or economic matters, it’a pretty much a guaranteed fact that you likely won’t be able to execute a plan perfectly, even someone as skilled as Palpatine can only observe as ground level events change the plans. The best plans are adaptable.

[@rafaelfarias4359]

@@phantomkryptid2549 there is another factor - the Force. Many coincidences that altered the plan, and benefited him were events manipulated by exceptional circumstances - such as the discovery of the Chosen One. He really had to improvise when two things he planned didn't happened as he foresaw: His apprentice dying, and he discovering a impressionable young boy that was far too talented for his own good.

[@rafaelfarias4359]

His core plan and objectives were so solid that the partial failure of the Trade Federation plot was worked to his benefit.

[@theendersmirk5851]

@@rafaelfarias4359 Reminder, the Force wanted all present Jedi and Sith of the time dead because they kept disobeying it, and thus let Palpatine make the Empire, purely for Luke to eventually end up getting Palpatine killed (except apparently the sequels decided Palpatine was really, really good at cheating death. I don't approve if you couldn't guess).

[@laisphinto6372]

He didn't plan everything but he sure as hell knows how to turn events to his benefit

[@ricosavage3182]

Even as a kid I liked the politics of the prequels, there were none in the OT cuz emperor palpating wiped out the senate during episode 4

[@theemperor1379]

The politics in OT was like any other Dictatorship. Nepotism of course. The more you kissed ass, the higher you would go.

[@benjijacobs2049]

Star Wars is probably what made me be a huge political dork

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

About 80% of this is only explained in EU(Legends) material. The Phantom Menace didn't actually bother giving sufficient background information.

[@ericbennett376]

I'm your 500th like

[@deka5047]

post endor "ot" politics was really cool, warlords and junk

[@maverickay5807]

Call me weird but this video sums up my love for star wars. Jedi, Sith, and a whole lot of politics.

[@jakeswierdfriend7204]

Hell yeah dude

[@hopelessent.1700]

I actually began to love the ideas of all these things at an older age so yea. Now Star Wars should explore this. Fr it’s really great setup for shows/movies

[@robertogurrola7465]

@@raissasuwardhono eh, TCW did everything the EU did but worse at the end of the day

[@Isometrix116]

@@robertogurrola7465 some of the EU* There was a lot of terrible shit from the EU. But yeah, TCW was worse than the best of the EU

[@XMysticHerox]

I always found it weird that people disliked the politics of the prequels. That was basically the only good part imo apart from the action scenes.

[@mustafakhan6308]

I never hated starwars politics like other people, but this made me laugh so hard, imagine me learning real world politics, starwars politics is just better

[@travisbickle4360]

Star wars poltics is based on Hitlers rise to power and US citizens trading their rights for peace and security in post 9/11 world

[@lolzilla9317]

Mustafa Khan you're an idiot if you believe star wars politics is "better" than real world politics. The wars and conflicts you see in star wars are directly based on real world conflicts. You're either too young or too selfishly stupid to make such an arrogantly foolish statement like that

[@Notlilithsbitch]

George Lucas was a genius for taking inspiration from real historical governments

[@spaceforce5058]

The best part no one can be salty because it is fictional

[@fisyr]

I don't know why people complain so much about politics in the Phantom Menace. If anything, I think it had the most well thought out politics out of all Star Wars movies. Basically it's about what would happen if Amazon had its own private army of robots and its board members had a permanent seat in the congress. The movie did a good job of showing how incredibly corrupt the Galactic Republic was and ultimately why it ended up becoming a fascist-like regime.

[@IronShocker77]

It's all explained outside of the big screen, unfortunately. Instead on focusing on politics, the movie spends time on the Boonta Eve Pod Race Special. It's a nice segment (i love Sebulba's engine sound), but adds little to the story.

[@romualdcaffeserre6230]

@@IronShocker77 lmao, people legit complained because too much was explained on screen actually.

[@LucyWest370]

In my opinion their just boring. Big grey room in which the senate talks about the senate to the senate.

[@davidsonfrith3362]

@@IronShocker77 It is, but the movie still explained that there was a powerful Trade Federation with a private army objecting to the taxation of trade routes. People claimed they didn't understand what that means, but it honestly seems pretty straightforward.

[@laisphinto6372]

@@IronShocker77 you can get it also from the movies alone, people were just "reee no politics" so they should shut the hell up they got the sequels no politics in universe only out universe.

[@ThreeProphets]

This was exactly what I needed to figure out why the Federation blocked communications from Naboo. The Senate was meant to know about the blockade, but not the invasion. Not until the Queen signed the agreement to legalize it. The miracle here is that Valorum was still ousted as Chancellor in spite of Qui-Gon reporting the invasion

[@rafaelfarias4359]

Because ol' Palps talked young Padmé into calling a vote of no confidence upon Valorun, since he had little power to do anything to help Naboo, and was held up by the bureaucrats keeping him at bay with those accusations of corruption. She straight-up backstabbed her ally for the sake of Naboo.

[@Geesaroni]

It's easy, between the title crawl and the halfway point in the movie, Valorum just straight-up forgets he was the one to send the Jedi in the first place. Clearly so senile he shouldn't be in charge of anything.

[@crusader2112]

@@Geesaroni It also says he sent two Jedi secretly and that there’s rumors of corruption with the chancellor. So if the chancellor brought them as witnesses, then that would confirm the shadiness and corruption to the whole senate. Again, this is all in the opening crawl by the way.

[@557deadpool]

.......all of this was literally explained in the movie. Even as a kid I was able to understand this. Comments like this makes me wonder if people even paid attention to the damn movie

[@crusader2112]

@@557deadpool I completely agree, I think this applies to many of the typical prequel “criticisms” that if they paid attention a lot of it would be cleared up. Not all the problems, but a decent amount of them.

[@patrickfrost9405]

You skipped the part where Palpatine is given a baby and he's just like "I guess this is mine now." And that's Darth Maul's backstory.

[@princeoffools1058]

Maul’s backstory is messed up on so many levels

[@MattMelon519]

​@@princeoffools1058You mean when Maul is like 8 years old and being slowly lowered into a vat of acid, expected to Houdini his way out of his chains while Sidious distracts him by telling him his opinion on how awful the Jedi are? In a Scholastic book targeted towards elementary-age children? Yeah

[@princeoffools1058]

@@MattMelon519 that was like the least of palpatine's sins after the assassin school massacre.

[@wedoaliltrollin1580]

@@MattMelon519bro that book was so fkn good😂I reread so many times in middle school

[@imnotusingmyrealname4566]

​@@wedoaliltrollin1580which book??

[@wmadd7181]

Two dislikes. This is getting out of hand! Now there are two of them!

[@johannesseyfried7933]

Twenty two in fact. Do we need to bomb Korriban again?

[@thedrunkmenace2250]

I want droidikas here at once!

[@CelloMaster2000]

Oh my god I use that same pfp on my insta so I got super confused when i saw this comment cuz I thought I accidentally watched this video again and commented on it lol

[@waltuh2.3bviews3secondsago3]

*65 dislikes* We were on the verge of greatness, we were this close

[@vacuoussaturn]

*Execute Order 66.*

[@gryphonbotha1880]

I died when Palpatine suggested taxing the Free Trade Zones and Valorum went along with it.

[@briansheehan5256]

"Hego learns all he can from Tenebrous. Then one day he decides to accidentally drop an entire cave on his master." 😂

[@palbez8593]

Stop ottoman lies : Ottoman claims have been denied by the talibans (as they have been denied by the rebuplicans before the fall of Kabul) : The airport of Kabul will be under Afghans/talibans control; they did not negotiated with ottoman; the islamic republic of Afghanistan, and after them thé talibans regime did not five or grant them any permit, this is why they fled. MEE (an ottoman propaganda agency) claims have been debunked.

[@makutas-v261]

@@palbez8593 RETVRN CONSTANTINOPLE.

[@Redactedredacted5837]

@@palbez8593 This is a Star Wars video.

[@wazirtahfiz3087]

@@palbez8593 dude ottoman empire already dead

[@aarushlal3702]

@@palbez8593 rebuplicans

[@dalekbumps]

Prequel critics complain that the films were too 'political', but honestly I think they weren't political enough. George Lucas should have included this contextual information in the movie, then maybe general audiences would have understood the plot a bit more.

[@Geesaroni]

They could have gone either way and been better movies. If you're looking for an action-adventure like the OT, the prequels don't respect your time, with tons and tons of time spent on characters dully discussing things in front of greenscreens. A New Hope used politics to set the stakes to the conflict without bogging down in meaningless detail, and they did it in five minutes of screentime instead of an hour. If you're looking for a political thriller where 'taxation of trade routes' is an actually meaningful phrase, the prequels don't respect your intelligence, pushing over interesting dilemmas on their way to get more fart jokes and podracing and shootbangs. In the end it doesn't seem like the Republic is corrupt so much as that everyone in it is a moron waiting for their turn to get outsmarted by Palpatine. The EU (specifically James Luceno here, NOT George Lucas; he didn't put that contextual information in the movie because that information didn't exist when he wrote it) takes a pretty lousy framework and makes a good novel by actually respecting the reader's intelligence and giving details that matter.

[@IvanKinkle]

But… he did. Especially in TCW.

[@Geesaroni]

@@IvanKinkle Look at the writing credits for TCW. George Lucas isn't in there anywhere.

[@darlig.ulv.bakhjerne]

@@IvanKinkle The whole 'the prequels are explained by TCW' argument is stupid. you shouldn't have to watch seven seasons of an animated spinoff to understand the plot of a live action movie that was released nearly a decade prior. Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of Clone Wars episodes are predictable, repetitive and poorly paced, especially the early ones.

[@lordraiden7397]

@@Geesaroni 90% of the things that was in clone wars was green lit and reviewed with George Lucas.

[@stthbldt3594]

I absolutely love this! I'm always looking for more ways to explain how intellectually dense The Phantom Menace truly is...

[@connerclark3678]

Scott Humboldt It’s so dense, every single image has so many things going on...

[@theemperor1379]

Idr. It's so good and complex! I love it.

[@archiejohnson6711]

It's so dense. Every single image has so many things going on.

[@cts006]

@@archiejohnson6711 It's like poetry.

[@jayzeew7133]

@@cts006 jar jar is the key to all this

[@savagepanda8458]

7:19 To clarify, this sequence of events is a bit different, according to the Plagueis novel. The assassination attempt that actually hurt Plagueis was orchestrated by a rival senator who Plagueis had previously screwed over. Palpatine then tracked down the senator and brutality murdered him, along with everyone else present. King Veruna’s assassination attempt didn’t come until later. Plagueis waited a little while before going after Veruna himself, where he slowly drained the life out of him as part of his experiments with Midichlorians.

[@lordnoland149]

I was going to comment the same

[@bacondorito]

Indeed, Pax Teem

[@jsamue12]

didnt they also try to cover up the failed assassination by dropping a literal nuke on him afterwards?

[@justinsmolik2834]

ah. i see you're a fan of the EU as well

[@jondixon9094]

@@jsamue12 the nuke part was the wildest shit. Book is fucking fantastic too. Just finished it.

[@AngryRG]

Please do more of these! I'm begging you!!!!!!

[@Daniel_Lancelin]

This entire video is basically just the stuff my kid brain tuned out when I watched the prequel movies 15 years ago lol.

[@Ladondorf]

Not actually. Most of this stuff is Expanded Universe lore and isn't actually in the movie itself.

[@LucyWest370]

@@Ladondorf WRITING 100

[@fatcat1]

Expanded universe that is no longer canon

[@abeddoughan7192]

@@fatcat1 its the logical explanation for the movie tho even if its not canon its still what George Lucas intended it to be

[@mborok]

@@fatcat1 I don’t let Disney tell me what is and isn’t canon.

[@SlashBolt]

This was very cool- we all knew Palpatine had a knack for complicated, nuanced plans from the Clone Wars, but this video laid out how he used what comparatively little political clout he had to set up the conditions to start the Clone Wars in the first place. I hope this legends material makes it into canon!

[@jazsm5385]

Don't forget that he was a Sith after all. A Force user. A DARK SIDE user. He didn't need political cloud when he could just fool people with the Force

[@BroadwayRonMexico]

Don't need political clout to do big things when you have the force and connections that give you a good look into the workings of the corporate sphere

[@reidparker1848]

Legends is the real canon anyway.

[@phantomkrieger2744]

Well until Disney finds something else to fill in the blanks for the 30 some odd years leading up to the phantom menace i still see books Plagueis and cloak of deception as canon. I mean James luceno made multiple direct references to both Plagueis and cloak of deception alongside a few other legends material in his canon Tarkin novel which essentially canonizes characters like 11-4D (Plagueis’s personal droid), and the Eriadu incident with the trade federation. The only major retcon for Plagueis that I known of is from tales of the Jedi which speeds up dooku’s knowledge of sideous to happen before rather than after the phantom menace

[@WoofWoofWolffe]

This has aged quite well!

[@pyeitme508]

Yep 😁👍

[@benzehunteer7411]

Indeed

[@danjudex2475]

Honestly: Alex Jones (yes *that* one) did a great breakdown of the entire prequel trilogy. And it was so fascinating because he was effectively right.

[@ShadeStormXD]

what do i need to look up to find this?

[@ed3545]

@@ShadeStormXD "Alex Jones explains prequel trilogy" got me to the video.

[@1993Redemption]

He tends to be right most of the time, while sounding completely insane.

[@danjudex2475]

@@1993Redemption My favorite quote about AJ is: "He is 50% right, 100% of the time."

[@logicaldude3611]

I remember that! It was a fascinating video. The prequels are essentially a giant conspiracy taking place on a galactic level, so it's natural Alex would understand it very clearly.

[@drantoswyrick396]

If any of you are wondering this story is from the Legends novels Darth Plagueis and Cloak of Deception by James Luceno. Both are referenced in the Canon Tarkin novel (also by Luceno) so in the broad strokes at least this is Canon too.

[@reidparker1848]

No one likes the sequels. Their is no "Legends", just the EU

[@biofriik]

The amount of people bitching about the politics in TPM is insane. I've seen 10 year-olds watch this film and explain the motives of each faction or prominent politician and if a 10 year-old manages to display an understanding of this film's plot, then it's mind-boggling how "professional film critics" complain that the politics in this film is incomprehensible. Seriously, it is NOT that complicated.

[@klaykid117]

Alex Jones explained it perfectly. (Probably because George based it on a lot of what he thought was happening at the time)

[@gryphonbotha1880]

Section Ratio General!

[@biofriik]

@@gryphonbotha1880 Everybody is good!

[@LucyWest370]

@@gryphonbotha1880 whats botha

[@gryphonbotha1880]

@@LucyWest370 It's one letter away from "Bothan". As in, "Many Bothans died to bring us this information."

[@puppygon399]

this was very fun, entertaining and easy to watch. I love it and the beginning of Phantom Menace is a lot more coherent now!

[@burtan2000]

Agreed but now i'm pissed they never showed us Plageus., Why ? He was there with ol palpy right until the end. I've read that the novel covering his death is pretty good.

[@Coldstreamer17]

Being a political science minor and history major, I love the background politics of Star Wars..

[@Nikprosta]

I've read Darth Plagueis, I have little understanding of politics, so I must of missed out on alot apparently, unless this was from another novel in the same time zone, Cloak of Deception? Btw great video, you explained alot, I like how much effort you made into it and how easy you made it all sound.

[@robertangelli8843]

Yes, the majority of the content came from Cloak of Deception. It's definitely one of my favorite Star Wars novels. I'm glad you liked the video! :)

[@HypervoxelRBX]

Politics is easy

[@saitamaonepunch4140]

It's real right doesn't come from the comics

[@marcuswanha9723]

There's a little within Darth Plagueis. Such as the working with the Federation and taxing of the space lines and the multiple assassinations. Getting Padame as Queen etc

[@Nihoolious]

A big portion of the schemeing and politics in the Plagueis book has to do with setting up the the Clone Wars and how to destroy the Jedi from within. Much less to do with whats discussed in the video.

[@smittyprime04]

It's amazing how swift and sly Palpatines plan was as he planned all of this and controls both sides

[@SoundblasterYT]

Ooh it's you!

[@burtan2000]

It's immensly complex and difficult to do in a universe with only millions like GoT. To do it in a universe with untold trillions of sentient beings and millions of cultures and an unimagineable amount of wealth, capital, military forces, etc. And there were the humans, breeding like rabbits until they make up most of the jedi, and much of everything that matters. Bc they were willing to do any job. Some humans were anyway.

[@mljesus7743]

*republic opens free trade zones, causing the rise of the federation* Later: *the republic revokes the free trade zones to stop the federation, causing the civil war* “Wait a minute… How did this happen we’re smarter than this!”

[@dhk7986]

Hold on. This whole operation was your idea.

[@Malkiore1]

lmao "That plant was a gift"

[@ballroomscott]

I'm pretty sure this is all Legends now. But I imagine a lot of the key points will be put back in eventually.

[@trla6505]

Damm really.?

[@dango6266]

@@trla6505 well, as long as it doesn't break anything canon, I consider it canon.

[@finesseandstyle]

Who cares. Disney can fuck right off, this is good stuff

[@thegoodfather1177]

The vast majority is confirmed by the movies, the rest just makes sense

[@elcalabozodelandroide2]

Well , it didn't.

[@brandonbonett6416]

Imagine if there was an Oversimplified-esque channel that summarized Star Wars politics and wars. This is perhaps the closest thing we have to that dream.

[@Nihoolious]

I come back to this video every couple years and one of my main takeaways everytime is how good your Nute Gunray impression is

[@miloelite]

3:59 “The Federation is basically space Comcast.” Man, that really hit home.

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

"Now, the interesting thing about Muuns is that they pretty much controlled all of the banks in the galaxy, and every single one of them was obsessed with money." Damn, and here I thought Toydarians were supposed to be the demeaning Jewish stereotype in Star Wars.

[@thatrandomeliteultra1158]

Yup same thing and I'm Jewish

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

So I am lol, that's why I made the joke.

[@thatrandomeliteultra1158]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan rascism or inclusion?

[@ArkenTheAmerikan]

Um... inclusion, obviously?

[@thatrandomeliteultra1158]

@@ArkenTheAmerikan I feel so welcomed

[@PK-Radio]

Alright is nobody gonna talk about how turmoil has engulfed the galactic republic? I MEAN the taxation of trade routes to outlining star systems is in dispute. Obviously hoping to resolve the problem with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy trede faderation has stopped all shipments to the small planet of Naboo.

[@zapdragon23]

but what about the droid attack on the wookies?

[@threeofakind9933]

7:33 Palpatine doesn't kill Veruna, Plageius himself visits him in exile and Veruna is "mysteriously" found dead the next morning. Palpatine goes after another senator who planned an assassination, Pax Teem.

[@DeathMessenger1988]

Can we all just agree that Tarsus Valorum was a complete idiot? Has complete demilitarization ever worked for ANYONE in history? Come on, I'll wait.

[@romualdcaffeserre6230]

The demilitarisation was not complete. The jedi were still there, and the Judicial Department had some decent firepower. Plus, most planet still had the possibility to defend themselves with their own military forces. And if something goes really wrong and you need to make the blaster talk, the filthy rich republic can hire a shiton of mercenary and create legions of robots. There are some examples of governement disbanding their army in real history as well. If your country is peacefull, unified and protected from foreigners by some sweet geographic barriers, the need to pay taxes for a bunch of proffessional soldier who train continuously for a war that will never come becomes questionable. Go check out the history of japan

[@DeathMessenger1988]

​@@romualdcaffeserre6230 1 - The Jedi, already pretty dogmatic and morally myopic, became the "gunboat diplomacy stick" of the Senate. While they claim to be guardians of peace and justice, Windu pretty much admits that they only care about maintaining the Republic alive because "Civilization = Peace" in their minds. The Jedi only settle revolts and disputes, they don't really offer any long-term solutions, because much like every religious nutjob, democrat/communist fanatic and arrogant oligarch, they think that silence and submission is the same as peace and stability. All the Jedi did was silencing anyone who spoke against the corrupt Republic and the decadent "peace" they installed, which is EXACTLY what Darth Bane and his successors wanted. THAT is why few people cried in protest when Order 66 came. For all their talk of being guardians of peace and protecting the people, most of the galaxy hated the Jedi. They weren't as bad as the Samurai in Real Life, but they were still completely divorced from the common folk's reality and struggles beyond "we must defend the Republic and its illusion of democracy". 2 - As far as I've read, the Judicial Department is as effective at settling anything in the galaxy as the UN is in Real Life. As shown in Naboo, each planet depended on their own token militia and praying for the Jedi's aid. Those terrorists Palpatine used to cause problem? Go search "Stark Hyperspace War" and see how THAT went for the Republic in general. That and Naboo is precisely why the Separatists came to be in the first place. The fact that some corporation could suddenly build their own Droid Army and Fleet, blockade a planet and then start a war is PRECISELY why very few opposed Palpatine when he declared the Empire. 3 - Oh, I know PLENTY about Japan's history, but clearly you don't. Japan only truly demilitarized completely after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, because they LOST the war (after enacting so many war crimes even the Sith would gawk in shock) and essentially became a client country of USA (until recently, since they've started training an army again, mainly because of North Korea's craziness, I think). Someone (some say Thomas Jefferson, but some disagree) once said "the price of peace is eternal vigilance". And the failure to understand THAT notion is why people like the Jedi are always fucking up. Having a gun close by isn't to start a war needlessly, it so you can defend yourself when someone INEVITABLY tries attacking you. To sum things up: "Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times." -Those Who Remain by G. Michael Hopf "I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical." - Thomas Jefferson And literally any quote of Kreia/Darth Traya about the Republic, civilization and humans in general. Peace is a Lie pal, as the Sith says, and that's a unfortunate fundamental truth of the universe. There's no such thing as "permanent peace" where everyone can melt down all guns and go Steven Universe or Hakuna Matata. Blind idealism, optimism and pacifism is always the path to downfall and, inevitably, more war and hatred.

[@atari947]

The remilitarization is a large part of what allowed for the empire to rise in the first place. And 1000 years peace is good enough if theres only 40 years of complete chaos at yhe end until going back to the status. quo

[@DeathMessenger1988]

@@atari947 You're wrong. Having an army didn't turn the Republic into the Empire. Being a corrupt state that thrives on taking advantage of the Outer Rim worlds did. And the Jedi allowed it. The Sith only helped along. If tou think there was chaos only at the end, you REALLY didn't read on old EU lore.

[@atari947]

@@DeathMessenger1988 i meant the 40 years after endor.

[@thegrandwizard1700]

George Lucas: Star Wars is for kids. The Phantom Menace: The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.

[@JohnDoe-nf6yk]

Kids are not as dumb as you think they are

[@mms1938]

@@JohnDoe-nf6yk so freaking true when I was 12 I knew about my countries politics.

[@zk2399]

@@JohnDoe-nf6yk kids are becoming dumb because our culture teaches them to be

[@Resi1ience]

@@mms1938 This is a _little_ more complicated than real life politics.

[@ntfoperative9432]

And when I watched this at twelve I understood this

[@JUDEPOPPGamingb23ra]

So Nute Gunray became ViceRoy of the trade federation because Palpatine ordered him a pizza. That should be Cannon 😂 Also, I love how he didn't order the pizza yet he still pays for it and intends on eating it 😂😂😂 Edit: TBF he did pay for it

[@highgroundproductions8590]

Palpatine has always been pitting the good and bad guys against each other

[@JeremyWilliamson]

OMG this was freakin HILARIOUS!!! WE need to do more like this, and totally keep them within canon guidelines!!! hahaha LOVE IT!!!

[@justdirt]

So many people complain about the politics of the prequels, but politics are the best part of the movies for me. Lucas can't write dialog to save his life, but he knows how to write politics. "So this is how liberty dies? With thunderous applause." In terms of narrative depth and complexity, the prequels stand above either of the other trilogies.

[@DarkAlphaWerewolf]

Man I freaking love this video! Legends too! This does a neat job condensing the info! Nicely done!

[@retropirate1]

hey please do one for the clone Wars about the seperatist movement

[@aboubakr1527]

At the end yoda says he’s already had an apprentice that turned to the dark side instead of his old master turned to the dark side

[@robertangelli8843]

Qui-Gon's former apprentice, Xanatos, went to the Dark side in Legends. Qui-Gon's just surrounded by the Dark side, it's a wonder how Obi-Wan ever avoided it. :)

[@aboubakr1527]

ohhhhh alright, makes a bit more sense, thanks for telling me

[@demi-femme4821]

@@robertangelli8843 Obi just rolled a nat 20 and so the Force made him one of the best Jedi around.

[@charliebean9089]

@@robertangelli8843 I think he tapped into it when he fought Darth Maul, but that was it.

[@TheAsj97]

@@robertangelli8843 Because people learn from their mistakes, the Qui-Gon that teached Obi-Wan was a far better master than the one who teached Xanatos.

[@yahlibar6832]

Great video, always loved the politics of star wars, ads a lot of realism and depth to the world and characters and gives very strong and interesting motivations that actually make a lot of sense.

[@maxhydekyle2425]

I had no idea Newt became the Trade Federation leader just by sheer luck (in his mind at least.) That makes sense. He's terribly incompetent.

[@animatheanimationarchive7577]

James Luceno is the only guy that can make Star Wars politics make sense.

[@alexgaelsotorodriguez3870]

He has an incredible aptitude for worldbuilding

[@jayhernandez5508]

As a SW nerd, this was more informative than I thought it'd be. Nice work

[@kyrudo]

This is both amazing and infuriating. If episode 1 was all about this. All about Palpatine’a rise and galatic politics, It wouldve been an amazing first movie. Imagine getting the rug pulled under you that our young ambitious hero was going to be the dark lord Sicidous all along? Beutiful…

[@kairin5333]

Thanks, wanna start to get into star wars and want to watch everything in chronological order. Your vid is just what i needed before Ep1

[@Vi0ar]

This video is pure brilliance, how is this not have a million views? It’s literally leagues above most SW content…

[@redactedinformation1938]

The fact you included the Thought Bomb and how it even killed Hoth was epic

[@ASOC4]

oh well, now I wish there were more pre-prequels (made by George of course) covering all this... thank you for this video, added a lot more context! and that ending was gold :D

[@jsmith108]

You have a real talent for condensing a lot of information into a simple form

[@olddoggo6769]

Someone tell Star Wars Theory this is how you make funny Star Wars content that is informative

[@mrboost4186]

What don't you like about Star Wars Theory?

[@olddoggo6769]

@@mrboost4186 love theory but when he tries to be funny it’s incredibly cringy

[@TheOldBlackShuckyDog]

@@olddoggo6769 fair

[@thx1138thecrane]

The Ruuson Reformations didn't go exactly like that, and I'm pretty sure that by the time a Jedi was elected Chansellor to the Republic, the Senate was practically begging for their help, especially when the Jedi Lords and Ladies and the systems they were ruling outside the republic were actually fairing better than the Republic Systems themselves.

[@BlueAmpharos]

A Star Wars analysis video that's under an hour... no under 15 minutes long!? Finally something that I can watch after coming home from work without losing sleep!

[@curtisgagnon2871]

Love the nod to the Bane novel at the beginning. Farfalla's lightsaber has always been my favorite.

[@johnnygyro2295]

Was Farfalla the Jedi who met the first Valorum?

[@chrissonofpear1384]

@@johnnygyro2295 I think so, as he was one of the few senior masters to survive the last battle on Ruusan.

[@nick-314]

I like how these universes have factions that are just absolute evil, and then they have the heroes (who probably end up being flawed but whatever) but the publics like "nah take your fighting out of here!". Im sure the good guys would probably oblige, but y'all aint going to be safe from the evil dudes that come back every 5 years lol

[@batshineman174]

This was awesome! Is there any chance you could do more of these explaining the politics of Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars, and/or Revenger of the Sith?

[@MetalMouth909]

So much legends trivia resurfacing in my brain now. Thank you for your recap, it was hilarious

[@reidparker1848]

Sequels? What sequels? I think you just meant the EU

[@anoon-]

Palpatine was such a sneaky bastard. Lucas was such a genius. He accurately depicted the politics and knew everything is based on economics and classes.

[@traviscrum5860]

I didn't expect so much of this to be from the Darth Plagueis book. Or that it would be so funny. I like that Lord Hoth was in the intro too

[@psychonautmaddy7409]

Thank you for making this. I don't hate Phantom Menace, but it's really hard to understand what's going on since I suck at political speak xD

[@jaigeyedpunk9523]

I absolutely love this! Do you possibly have a video explaining what was the politics behind declaring the clone wars?

[@abelsm6270]

"that plant was a gift" lmao

[@FHT1883]

in the novel Sidious actually killed or threatened to kill (I don't remeber it exactly) some rare paradise birds that Gunray had

[@pacoramon9468]

I will take politics over "somehow Palpatine has returned"

[@bobusan_duuuugnut-oh]

Geez, didn't know how large a web Palpatine weaved just to set up TPM

[@TheWorldofSammy]

I need more of this, This is the greatest thing in all of youtube and I need more. please think about making it again it would be amazing.

[@adamhenrywalker]

“A little girl could garner more sympathy in the Senate than some old dude” Shit he’s right

[@seanholland6132]

I just want to appreciate that succession of Sith lords was ACCURATE to what we know today from Legends. Bravo.

[@AJJr-hc5lz]

Dude do more of these. It's genius. I genuinely enjoy the animation and the fact that it doesn't take itself so serious like most star wars political analysis tend to do

[@masonicmantis3214]

Ah so much interesting lore and detail full of interesting characters Disney: let's just pretend you didn't see that

[@orboakin8074]

Thanks so much for making this. As a relatively newcomer to Star Wars lore ( I mainly know only the movies and the Clone Wars show as a kid in Nigeria) I always got frustrated whenever I heard people say that politics and world building don't belong in Star Wars. Glad to see those people proven wrong with retrospect. Also, I really like how you used so many references to the Darth Bane trilogy. I have only read Path of Destruction but this makes me even more excited to read all the "Legends" novels I bought after getting disappointed with the disney sequels and wanting to revisit more of good Star Wars lore.

[@chunkymilk1288]

This video is massively underrated. Here before 1 million views.

[@blornblad4381]

Dude, that was awesome. We need a whole series of these.

[@paul-ky5xw]

how can this masterpiece only have few views

[@Argenswiss]

I actually quite enjoy SW politics, Palpatine's plan was brilliant

[@henryyancey1117]

this is really well made. your palpatine and gunray impressions are most impressive

[@DIEGhostfish]

Technically in Legends he wasn't Sheev. He was just Palpatine, having thrown off his first name to spite the dad who picked it for him.

[@FHT1883]

I think he's totally named after his dad, like Damask ironically

[@EllieMiller510]

Finally, after watching a 12 minute video I finally get the plot of movies that people praise for some reason

[@williamwebb580]

Hopefully one day, we’ll get one for the sequels that explains why everybody suddenly became an idiot immediately after episode 6.

[@zk2399]

@@williamwebb580 hopefully not, hopefully everyone forgets about the sequels and disney remakes those with actual competent writers in charge.

[@professoruber613]

This was fantastic. I would love to see more videos like this for the other movies. Good work!

[@liaml.e.5964]

Please make more of these! This was amazing

[@SensuixShinobu7]

btw great video .you should do more of these. makes me wish the plagieus novel was a fucking movie. like it should be instead of han solo, which I still plan to see anyway.

[@maxizzda8011]

I love that at 0:17 the jedi and sith characters are based on Lord Hoth, Lord Farfalla, Lord Kaan and Lord Kopecz

[@TheSpaceCommunist]

Palpatine never actually wanted to take the title of Dark Lord from Plagueis, he just didn’t want that stunted slime in his sight again.

[@biggestnerdalive8476]

I need more of these

[@Trey_816]

In a way, the prequels are a story about an arrogant religion getting its hands on the messiah... and accidentally handing him over to the devil.

[@mahmoudsalaheddine8358]

I remember that from somewhere…

[@Trey_816]

@@mahmoudsalaheddine8358 A video essay by So Uncivilized.

[@mahmoudsalaheddine8358]

@@Trey_816 i knew it

[@eggbacon7897]

You got to make more videos like this! This was amazing!

[@binkyboy448]

I love how Yoda's brow is always smiling.

[@demi-femme4821]

I like how Orn Free Taa is drawn in for just one scene in the Senate.

[@kellstars2211]

That plant was a gift 🥲

[@TheAidanodian]

I was a Star Wars nerd when I was a kid and now that I’ve grown up I’m a bit of a politics nerd so this vid is perfect.

[@vyashtuijnman6417]

The Nemoidians are the Middle Eastern oil sheikhs of Star Wars

[@InsidiousOne]

And the Muuns are... You know

[@brandonlyon730]

More like the British East Indian trade company. They even had there own private army.

[@ryanbarrie9143]

Thanks for summarizing the Darth Plagueis by James Luceno

[@JamesTheKoopaTroopa]

"That plant was a gift," 🤣