WHEN An Imperial Soldier Defects... is Important

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When you defect from the empire before the Battle of Yavin, you're sending a very different message than if you defect after the Battle of Endor. Today I want to take a look at the history of the Galactic Empire, and talk about the unique challenges imperial defectors faced during different eras of the Galactic Civil War.
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[@GenerationTech]

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[@theanathema3062]

I am actually in the process of making a short fan story of an imperial captain from Corellia that convinces the rest of his crew to defect after the destruction of the first Death Star. He had been disenfranchised by the unnecessary cruelty in the outer rim for years, but it he could somewhat see where it came from. But when Alderaan was destroyed, he, and much of his crew lost it. Alderaan was a compliant and rich imperial world. It was the center of art and culture from across the galaxy. Sure the princess was a bit lenient to the rebels in the senate, but her people were completely innocent and patriotic imperials. Alderaan was In the Core Worlds. It showed him that the empire didn’t even care about their own countrymen, that they didn’t matter, even being Core worlders but they were still too scared to defect, the rebellion stood no chance now with that super weapon going to destroy their main base. Then, when the death star fell, and all the competent imperial commanders in it, they saw that the rebellion could win, and took the opportunity.

[@Hess_bricks]

Bro how did you forget the guy from squadrons who became an admiral

[@Prophetofthe8thLegion]

I think a much more interesting question then "When" would you defect is "Would" you defect. How many of us can honestly say we would forsake the comfort of simply doing what we are told and following orders or even risk punishment and death for what is "right" only from a certain point of view?

[@Hess_bricks]

@@Prophetofthe8thLegion I wouldn't defect for sure

[@Prophetofthe8thLegion]

@@Hess_bricks Long Live The Empire!

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

"It turns out the Empire doesn't take too kindly to desertion." "No kidding." -- Gregor and Echo

[@mreggs3731]

what about Cut, the Empire didn't hunt him down, did they?

[@TherealSoggyCan]

​@@mreggs3731because they didnt know about him, not even the republic knows, if the republic knows he fled geonosis, Cut wont live past the first year of the clone wars

[@isaackim7675]

It really was too little to late for Crosshair to turn against the Empire when he realized the truth. And look where that got him now

[@neofulcrum5013]

His brothers did try to warn him that he’d only ever be a number to the empire

[@chancedudley1606]

In his defense there are Imperials who had done worse and still defected successfully. He just wasn’t lucky

[@Dash_Rendar2050]

Not sure Crosshair’s actions would be considered a defection per say I think he was just tired of being looked down on as someone who was expendable after the service he gave to the republic and for the loyalty, until he shot his CO that is, that he gave to the empire.

[@GGBlaster]

I’m not sure I’d say he realized a truth. I think he just found that the Empire’s treatment of his brothers was ultimately at odds with his love for them. He was cold and callous to everyone, but deep down he did care about his fellow clones. Were he a lone soldier, he might have not defected, or might have taken far longer to finally defect. He held a simple life view: he’s a soldier, and all he is meant to do is take orders. But that was when he had the security of his entire clone family. As that security slowly eroded away, so too did his confidence in his decision to stay with the Empire.

[@Onyx1527]

My favorite part about that scene is just how his voice is full of hatred for the new CO’s.

[@kfeltenberger]

Watching this, I am reminded by perhaps one of the best quotes to come out of Battlestar Galactica (2003)...Commander William Adama : There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

This seems to get brought up a lot.

[@grindcoreninja6527]

In the States law enforcement is there to protect capital and the owner class, the Supreme Court even ruled they are not obligated to "serve and protect".

[@kfeltenberger]

@@grindcoreninja6527 I guess you're one of those "defund the police" idiots.

[@AceDan-gc9po]

And in most cases the army turns on the government because there people too

[@Mishkola]

police are just a branch of the military tasked with keeping the livestock profitable

[@etazeta674]

4:30 I love how detonating the fuel cells would obviously cause a suicidal chain reaction and Gregor just YOLO'S it with no hesitation

[@eddapultstab2078]

At that point, it was either die by explosions or die by the droids.

[@zulicurah9414]

@@eddapultstab2078 dudes lucky Commando Armour is built like a tank.

[@eddapultstab2078]

@@zulicurah9414 and the force was with him that time

[@keigoftw]

Fact is that the brain damage from this and the proceeding explosion probably saved his life, and I don't mean just surviving to old age. The Bad Batch pretty definitively proved that the chips needed as much uniformity as possible to work on so many people. Brain Damage, severs old pathways in the brain. Over time, it 'repairs' itself, but not by mending the old pathways: it creates new ones. All of that head trauma prevented the chips from working properly on Gregor, and he likely *never* actually lost himself for any period of time. Don't get me wrong, rebuilding after a disabling incident frankly kind of sucks & living in a world that isn't built for your brain is exhausting. But every so often? Works in your favor in a lot of little weird ways. Gregor is an example of a man living his best life, and I love it!

[@Sc0ts]

I definitely would've defected after Alderan or more precisely the destruction of the Death Star, not out of disgust but out of the realization that the Rebels could actually win against the Empire so I wouldn't be as afraid. I'm definitely someone weak to the Tarkin Doctrine, I like being alive

[@dungeonguy88]

I imagine that was true for a lot of Imperial defectors. Anyone that wasn't a fanatic or morally dead inside wouldn't be able to pretend that the Empire wasn't the villain anymore, after the destruction of Alderaan. And then you follow that up with the Rebels proving the Empire could be fought, by destroying the Death Star and it gives you hope. It was arguably the single worst possible outcome for the Tarkin Doctrine. Instead of enforcing obedience through fear, it inspired rebellion through anger.

[@graveyardshift6691]

Why do you think Episode 5 was such a jaw dropper? The Death Star wasn't made public until after it'd destruction and due to the Imperial Control of the Holonet, they actually blamed the Rebels for the destruction of Alderran and painted the destruction of the Death Star as an Imperial victory of a Rebel superweapon. With likes of Saul Gurilla actually committing terrorism, this wasn't a hard sell to the Imperial Populace. Palpatine was always constantly pulling stunts like he did with the unveiling of the Stormtrooper and Order 66 spinning the Jedi as traitors. Following the Battle of Yavin, the Empire ramped up its efforts to combat the insurgency and was ACTUALLY WINNING. Even with Palpatine's death, the Empire remained relatively intact and the Rebellon spent YEARS rebranding itself as the New Republic and slowly taking back Republic territory. This also included combating Imperial Propaganda and misinformation. While the tragedy of Alderaan was a real thing, the exact culprits could never be properly put forward until long after the New Republic established itself. Those that knew the truth were already Rebels or leaning toward rebellion to begin with. If you were part of the empire, you wouldn't have defected.

[@dungeonguy88]

@@graveyardshift6691 Eh, most sources seem to suggest that the Empire destroyed Alderaan was common knowledge, or at least widely accepted. The Empire did attempt a propaganda effort to spin things. But that mostly fell flat. Which wasn't helped by the Empire criminalizing all of the surviving Alderaan peoples that weren't planetside when it was destroyed.

[@billshell6222]

I’d probably defect around that time or try to be assigned to thrawn if this is the legends version of events where the vong show up and damn near obliterate the galaxy even though legends continuity has some issues it’s preferable to just repeating the same thing that happens in the prequels or the OG trilogy

[@danielkeel9265]

Well said, sir!

[@marielawrence468]

“CAPTUN HOWZA” I’m dying 💀😭5:38

[@The_Lucent_Archangel]

Howdy stranger.

[@boulderthebolder6165]

HAUZA

[@estherclawson6876]

The Google translate is funny too.

[@Mr-Rinn]

In the Alphabet Squadron books (which I strongly recommend) it has one of the defectors who balked at Operation Cinder who scorns anyone who defected after her. Because if they DIDN’T balk at Cinder then they’re just doing it to save their own backsides.

[@joma-lt2nk]

I thought it turned out she didn't defect till after cinder when her commander forced her to

[@Mr-Rinn]

@@joma-lt2nk Well yes, I was trying to avoid spoilers, but the point stands.

[@riddell26]

Alphabet Squadron is such a stupid name

[@seawind930]

I mean why not? She didn't balk at Alderaan being blown up so it's not like she's much different.

[@Mr-Rinn]

@@riddell26 yes and no. It’s because each member of the squadron uses a different fighter, A-Wing, B-Wing, U-Wing, X-Wing and Y-Wing, hence Alphabet Squadron.

[@ailius1520]

0:54 Did you guys hear that?!? He said "porpoises". Not "purposes". Also, he didn't introduce himself as Alan even though that's the usual intro. THE DOLPHINS HAVE TAKEN OVER!!!! That's not Alan!! That's an impostor!!

[@lesinge8868]

Amogus

[@ailius1520]

@@lesinge8868 Right. I needed to calm down and think. This is even worse, because dolphins aren't known to shape-shift. They would've have to make an alliance with the mimic octopi (yes that's a real animal).

[@DustinManke]

As soon as he said it I rewound it and was like waht

[@jacob4920]

I would believe you more readily, if he had signed off this episode by saying: "So long, and thanks for all the fish."

[@starwrasfan1]

So I wasn't the only one who noticed that.

[@aliteral_watermelonz3940]

Assuming I was a regular Imperial Citizen with no negative feelings towards the empire, i would defect after Alderaan

[@bigredwolf6]

Can you really defect if you’re just an average citizen? It’s not like you held any special allegiance to the Empire.

[@TERMICOBRA]

"An adversary is more hurt by desertion than by slaughter." - Vegetius

[@timmcclymont3527]

Quotes like these are why I loved the original Rome total war

[@raspiankiado]

​@@timmcclymont3527Oh. I thought Vegetius was Vegeta's dad.

[@Shitbird3249]

@@raspiankiadosame

[@KingZolem]

​@@raspiankiado No Vegeta's dad was Vegeta, King of Planet Vegeta. The ruling dynasty was not very humble.

[@seawind930]

Vegeta whole planet was blown up so of course he took more damage from slaughter

[@The_Lucent_Archangel]

One wonders if Tarkin would have faced consequences for taking it upon himself to destroy a historic Core World, given how much animus it created for the Empire, had he not perished in the battle. Vader was demoted and punished by Palpatine for failing to protect the Death Star. I imagine that as defectors piled up thanks in part to the destruction of Alderaan that Palpatine would have been no more kind to the Moff. His strategy in defending the station was also at fault for its destruction, but since he was dead Vader took the brunt of the Emperor's anger.

[@Kubinda12345]

Palpatine and Tarkin knew each other a long time. But Palpatine would sacrifice him without a heartbeat because while Tarkin may have thought himself to be irreplaceable, he was just another cog in the machine similarly to admiral Rampart. Even Vader could be replaced. The only who couldn't be replaced was Palpatine and it's no wonder that the Empire collapsed within a year after his death. Even in Legends it immediately fragmented itself.

[@The_Lucent_Archangel]

@@Kubinda12345 Palpatine made several efforts to replace Vader. It's laughable that people think it was a matter of testing or "training" him. He quite literally tried to have him killed many times but only resorted to doing it himself when Vader ultimately betrayed him personally. Even though I don't care for Exegol / Sith Eternal / much of the recent comics/series/sequels material I wouldn't put it past the Emperor to have at least given thought to growing himself a replacement for Vader. My main point though was, I do imagine Tarkin would not have fared well following the destruction of DS 1 had he survived. His actions probably struck the greatest single chord in turning people against the regime. What a boon to the Rebels when it came to courting defectors: If the Empire is willing to destroy one of the foundational worlds in the Core, whose home is safe?

[@jacob4920]

The consequences would have been minimal, I think. Because, assuming Tarkin survived would also be assuming that the Death Star was not destroyed, and thus was successful in destroying the Alliance headquarters on Yavin 4. Which would have completely beheaded the Rebellion (with the exception of Mon Mothma, who was offworld at the time). This would have seriously set back the Rebel Alliance, and probably scattered it, without leadership. At that point, the emperor could have used Alderaan, and its' destruction, as an object lesson for the rest of the galaxy. Either shape up, or be wiped out like Alderaan. With the Death Star still being in existence, millions would have been too frightened to openly rebel anymore. And thus, Palpatine would have forgiven Tarkin, as the Death Star was originally Tarkin's idea to begin with.

[@rippera45]

It's never explicitly stated that Palpatine didn't give him the OK to destroy Alderaan. In Legends, Palpatine DID reprimand Tarkin for it before his death. But in canon, we don't know for sure whether Tarkin made the decision himself, or if he asked the Emperor's permission. In any case, I would say Tarkin would definitely be punished of he'd survived, as his "Tarkin Doctrine" of ruling by fear had clearly failed.

[@tharivol123]

@@rippera45 I'm not so sure about that last part. If Palps felt that the Tarkin Doctrine failed, then why go forward with DS2, the sith destroyer fleet in the new movies, or even the Super Star Destroyer construction. I think if, had it happened, Tarkin survived and the DS1 was still destroyed (such as him escaping during the battle as aide suggested), he would have been reprimanded for fleeing and not knowing about the design flaw. But that would have been it.

[@geoffreymowbray6789]

Defectors and deserters could be endangering their families. In World War 2 after the massive surrenders of Soviet troops in 1941 Stalin had Soviet soldiers instructed that if they surrendered their families could be subject to punishment. After that date numbers of Soviet troops taken prisoner decreased greatly,

[@Forscythe80]

Knowing my family I don’t see how that’s a threat to me. Lol

[@Venom3254]

Well Stalin was a murderous psychopath, so it's no surprise.

[@BillChryslerSr]

Especially defectors, a friend of mine from the war left the IRA and I heard guys talking about torturing where he was out of his brother. I told them not to, but I don’t now if they listened to me. I never saw my friend again, cause I didn’t ‘defect’ I ‘legally’ deserted in 1996, when I got tired of the violence.

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

In Stalin's defense, the Nazis did literally want to eradicate their entire nation. Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Yakuts, Jews, all of them. I don't think the Soviet Union could have afforded any desertion.

[@anotherfriendlyshikikan6960]

And casualties increased greatly.

[@Reoh0z]

The Military is trained to fight the enemy, when you deploy them against civilians they become the enemy.

[@BrickMenyce]

Do you mean the civilians or the military. Like we invaded Irag so are we the enemy or do you mean Iraq’s civilians?

[@realmario979]

​@Brick Menyce I guess "civilians" in this case are your own people

[@bigredwolf6]

@@BrickMenyceImperial Military fighting separatist hold outs = Good guy status Imperial military oppressing and enslaving imperial citizens = bad guy status

[@samueldimmock694]

@@BrickMenyce Depends what your perspective is. To the military, the civilians become the enemy. To the civilians, the military becomes the enemy. That's how warfare generally works.

[@toportime]

As a Veteran of the USMC, that is not true. We were trained that civilians are non combatants no matter where they are from, but any that attack are the enemy.

[@Treepuncher1211]

0:54 The Dolphins got him, he's trying to signal to us

[@StarWarsFanatic]

I love how you do videos on stuff no one else talks about. I’m trying to do more of that.

[@abeautifuldayful]

I love yours and his videos more than all the others. You both have great insights others don't talk about.

[@StarWarsFanatic]

@@abeautifuldayful thank you so much! That means a lot

[@vikingsword3485]

I would have defected after I saw the clones retirement plan. I would see that as a major red flag that I would be used and discarded in the same manner.

[@tomcopple7633]

In the case of Crosshair, I would say that a big thing to would be the care of troops. Crosshair being a bit more authoritarian and "law and order," could have found a place in the Empire for a while. If you weren't causing trouble, then the Empire wouldn't send him to put anyone down. But that type of thinking really works best with Thrawn or Tarkin (I am not saying Tarkin would have treated them properly, but I think he would have treated them like soldiers proper). With Admiral Rampart scoffing at clone loyalty and the lieutenant that Crosshair shot, the Empire basically created an environment that encouraged defection in my opinion.

[@bored8321]

When to defect? When the money and benefits run out

[@BarzaRomanov]

"If I had but one bullet and were faced by both an enemy and a traitor, I would let the traitor have it"

[@jamesbrice3267]

Technically the same person.

[@pluto5988]

Massive defecations were common after the destruction of the first death star which was the empires greatest restroom, now due to clogged toilets imperial defections happen everywhere even on the battlefield!

[@ballisticm0use72]

Defections? Defecations are definitely something different

[@jonvancil5547]

​@@ballisticm0use72😂😂😂😂

[@Darkstar321]

For me, my defection would be Alderaan. That's when you can no longer hide the truth of what happened, your empire just destroyed a habitable planet for the sake of hunting down some rebels. Before that point the Rebels would have likely seemed like a political push, and depending on where I was in the galaxy, I might not have known about a large portion of the Empire's crimes. But Alderaan was a breaking point for a reason. There was a reason a few rebels turned into an entire New Republic after the annihilation of a planet.

[@thomasstuart2936]

The Sith reliance on hate and fear always prove to be it's undoing.

[@chrislaurent1137]

Wedge Antilles is what I can think of when it comes to Imperial defection. Not a good thing for your side when your former pilots share intel of your tactics in space combat to your opposition; just saying

[@Morbidity100]

This question is like “what point would you defect from Nazi Germany?”

[@richardgaldos6901]

Not really, Nazi Germany fought a war against foreign powers. As such it had a very large potion of the military that completely opposed the Nazis and hated Hitler, but they fought for Germany to defend it from foreign nations. The Empire was fighting a civil war against its own people. So people who opposed the Nazis couldnt really defect because they would be siding against their people to destroy their country. But people in the Empire could easily defect because they would be joining their "own" people.

[@Wehrmacht_Greift_An]

Never.

[@TANKTheImmortal]

For me personally I feel like I would’ve been very attracted to the imperial military at first, a chance to see the galaxy and fight and go on adventures. But once the Death Star obliterated a planet I think that would be over the line for me and push me to defect. I believe in meeting fire with overwhelming fire, not meeting millions of non combatants with it. I meet aggression with more aggression, not innocents with aggression. At that point I’d probably run off to some shady spaceport, buy myself a ship, and become a smuggler instead, to see the galaxy on my own terms and make credits doing it.

[@cesar6004]

“Know adventure! Serve your Empire!”

[@tristynbishop6158]

What Imperial defectors do you think had the most impact to the war?

[@yordanberov8678]

Galen Erso. The Rebellion is alive because of him

[@Spud1189]

Galen, Kallus and Han I think.

[@Anonyomus_commenter]

Galen, Han, Wedge, Kallus

[@SaberKnight18]

Galen, Kallus, Wedge, Han, and you could make a case for sabine

[@Spud1189]

@@SaberKnight18 Didn’t think of Sabine. Good observation.

[@loganswalk8621]

After the clone wars I'd likely be on board understanding somewhat that in a post war galaxy a firmer hand would be needed to get the galaxy under control but as the time goes on and crime against sentients increases doubts about empire would certainly arise but I'd likely see the rebels as the separatists 2.0 believing they're the ones in the wrong but after Alderaan I'd be completely disillusioned with the empire seeing the destruction of a entire planet without warning as barbaric and I'd defect first chance I get with any info I can get.

[@CameronKiesser]

I would be a Stormtrooper falling off a building on Coruscant 'Kratos style'.

[@DustinManke]

I would love to see obi wan and Cody to reunite at some point. It would be poetic if somehow Cody sacrifices himself for obi wan or to protect Luke.

[@theshadowdoctor5500]

If i learned anything from star wars squadrons is that i'm a brutally effective Tie-Pilot that was named a Flight Baron

[@zerrierslizer1]

that scene when Crosshair finally decides enough is enough is so friggin awersome! when it happened, i shouted "YES! FINALLY!!" too bad it was too little to late as isaac said.

[@brightlord-ov7cm]

When senator palpatine turned into emperor palpatine is when i would've defected. Being American and having an amendment against such types would be pretty much the exact incentive i would need to do so.

[@jacob4920]

I'm surprised at the lack of mention of Cara Dune, from "The Mandalorian." She was from Alderaan. And, based on her response to the imperial pilot who gloated about the Death Star blowing up her home world, she was still quite triggered by the memory. She hated imperials so much that whenever Din Drajin wanted her help, she would always refuse to help... right up until the moment that Din told her "imperials were involved." Then, she would change her choice in a second, and almost seem EAGER to help Din in whatever crisis he and Grogu were wrapped up in.

[@GoranXII]

Did Cara ever serve in the Imperial military? If not, she's not a defector.

[@ImInSpainWithoutTheS]

@@GoranXII She was a shock trooper iirc, that's why she had that tattoo on her right arm

[@GoranXII]

@@ImInSpainWithoutTheS Shock troopers were a New Republic thing, not an Imperial one.

[@pian-0g445]

@@GoranXIIbut they existed in the imperial era as well. Literally stormtrooper shock troopers have been canon in both EU and Disney.

[@GoranXII]

@@pian-0g445 Yes, but Cara Duna _was never an Imperial_ , because she was a _New Republic_ shock trooper.

[@Nodim1er]

At almost each and every one of your analysis videos I'm taken aback by how good your content is. Thanks Alan.

[@sir_captainmorgan]

Before watching, I feel like Alderaan was a major breaking point for a lot of the empire, and hardened or was just ignored

[@sonicgen20]

Some defect when forced to kill innocent civilians, some when ordered to attack their own homeworlds, most when the very thing they stood for starts blowing up entire worlds, and some simply saw the writing on the wall that the rebellion was winning and just wanted to get off this sinking ship to join the winning side.

[@MutheiM_Marz]

Iden and Del they were immediately flying X-Wing after defected. Lando said "Should be easy for special forces" I mean..a special forces from Imperial Academy defecting is a big deal.

[@Guildelin]

Id like to think id defect early but i think blowing up Alderaan would have likely been the tipping point for me.

[@elessar60]

I really enjoy your videos. The writing and in depth analysis is always well done! Thanks!

[@SidorovichGaming]

Allan: "When would you defect?" *I wouldn't. Glory to the Empire.*

[@sorenweber5684]

Only in Death does Duty end!

[@kylebrady969]

Hm, yis, 40k reference

[@philipdavis744]

I wanna see Cody and obi wan meet each other again after order 66

[@jbturof]

LOL love your nod to Total Recall "Howsa" 😄

[@lerneanlion]

Now that you brought this topic up. It made me wonder why some people are still loyal to the Empire even after its fall. After all, some people moved on to live as part of the Third Republic. And while I know that the Republic is flawed and very awful, the Empire is just as bad if not worse. So why they remained loyal to a regime that is obviously worse than their enemy? At least, Mon Mothma's reign seemed to be good as long as she remained in power. Also, I wondered what Mon Mothma's daughter life was like when her mother became the Chancellor of the Third Republic.

[@graveyardshift6691]

The Republic was demilitarized to the point that the only defense they could muster against any kind of invasion was the local PDF. Pirate attacks were common and syndicates like the Trade Federation started getting bold and capturing systems to exploit. The Republic was basically powerless to do anything except wag their fingers and tell off the bad guys to stop being bad. Jedi intervention was rare and reserved for only the most dire of cases... or those well connected. Palpatine wasn't lying when he said The Empire was going to bring peace and prosperity to the Galaxy. While many of the Separatist planets may have been honest about going it alone, they were not above using force to get the Republic to 'respect' their decision and the Clone Wars were used by a lot of systems to settle old grudges and rivalries. With a militant Empire, the people could actually relax and stop having to fear pirates, syndicates, and insurgents because the boys in White backed by an imposing Navy stood ready to do violence on their behalf. With the Republic, you were on your own. With the Empire, so long as you were obedient to the whims of the Emperor, the Imperial War Machine was on your side. And no one wanted to be staring down the barrel of a loaded Star Destroyer. Imperial Citizens traded their freedom for security. And for many trillions of individuals, it was actually a good trade. When the New Republic came to power, many were uncertain if they would get the same stability and security they had under the Empire. Thrawn basically proved the Empire could still deliver and that the New Republic was not prepared to take on the responsibilities of the Empire... until he was defeated. But the fact he brought the New Republic to its knees was enough to convince many to side with the Imperial Remnant. "The best lies are the ones told with a grain of truth." The only lie the Empire told its citizens was that they could be free. The rest of its promises? Order? Stability? Protection? The Empire delivered on.

[@Reaper08]

Thousands of Germans remained loyal to the old Nazi regime after its downfall. In most cases it's because that was the only way of life they ever knew or they were absolute fanatics.

[@woodyhorton8537]

People are easily fooled or great at ignoring things that's not happening to them. We get screwed in our world constantly but people still just go with it and see brainwashed to think it's the only way

[@thesupertransformer1]

My loyalty is to the Empire ❤

[@CloverCreates]

My loyalty is to the republic, to DEMOCRACY!

[@DoremiFasolatido1979]

Well...tough luck for you. Also...if some version of the GE manages to figure out that it's a "hologram" on the inside of a supermassive black hole (probably Sag A), and learns how to leave it using their bullshit tech to generate a bubble that allows their bullshit tech to keep working even out here in reality, and they come invade Earth because it's all there is... You're not gonna like what happens to you.

[@motherteresa8418]

There's a question royalty in balancing a droid arm or a human army. Droids can be reprogrammed like the Clones wars episode and in rogue one. Why didn't that happen more often. Capture separatist or empiral droids and reprogram them even put back together broken droids to work for you. The Rebels captured an empiral Astromec so chipper could take his place.. and the empiral Astromec was already in their favor after 2 minutes

[@dungeonguy88]

Quite a few groups did re-purpose old battledroids. There would be two main factors though, I think: 1) The Empire made the existence and manufacture of battledroids illegal...Though technically the Empire skirted around their own rule by classifying their own battle droids as "security droids" when it suited them. But this still meant that battledroids would be hard to amass without it drawing attention. 2) Wide swaths of the galaxy had been ravaged by the Droid Army. Trying to create a new Droid Army, even for a good cause, would be bad optics for any groups trying to oppose the Empire. And optics tend to be really important for insurgency groups.

[@EmpressLuna_GT]

Thanks for making content after 10+ years!

[@target_507]

I have a question that might make a good video topic; do you think the jedi order would've eventually destroyed itself even without order 66? You're always talking about how the jedi lost their way but do you think it was to the point that the order would've fallen at some point or another had order 66 not taken place?

[@acat6145]

The Order might have fallen into civil war if it wasn’t for the purge but that’s just speculation

[@dungeonguy88]

Eh, I personally doubt it. Most of the issues the Jedi were facing at the time were direct results of Palpatine's scheming. Forcing them to take sides in the Clone Wars, dragging them into politics, making them have to sacrifice their principles to save as many lives as possible, bowing to pressure to allow Ahsoka to be tried under a military tribunal...That was Palpatine's scheming time and again. Without that, the Jedi would have probably been able to course correct; many Jedi were aware that they were being dragged away from their principles and didn't like it. Indeed, without Palpatine, there probably wouldn't have been a problem to begin with. They had thrived for a thousand years before hand.

[@target_507]

@@dungeonguy88 very true, I believe without sith intervention as a whole the Jedi would’ve thrived, however I’m more curious if Palpatine even needed order 66 to get rid of the Jedi, or if just allowing the jedi to continue fighting in the clone wars would’ve eventually done them in

[@dungeonguy88]

@@target_507 That's a fair point. The Clone Wars had taken a massive toll on the numbers of the Jedi. And the general morale and cohesion of the Jedi Order.

[@aaronaukema1284]

@@target_507 I think he needed the Order more for a PR move than getting rid of the Jedi. He was able to get the Republic propaganda arms to recognize only two Jedi, Anakin and Obi-wan, while really praising the admiralty and certain clones as heroes. Now, the Jedi wouldn't care, but the idea would be to keep the Jedi as invisible as possible, and then say that the order was corrupt and committed treason, and the brave and loyal Clone army saved the Republic...err, Empire.

[@VelaiciaCreator]

The total recall references were a hoot. Nice subtle addition.

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

I think the moment the Empire blew up Yavin 4, I'd be like "What the actual hell?"

[@MikeBison_]

What about Tycho Celchu??? He defected after Alderaan’s destruction too, and went on to be one of the core members of Rouge Squadron!

[@slammo69]

Shoot it's another generation tech and it's ya boy?? Bet ima watch

[@dredless]

10:10 notice that a lot of senate pods are empty

[@xxDARTHPAPIxx]

Will start calling you Professor!

[@BillChryslerSr]

I was wondering… when Padme is taken captive in Thrawn Alliances, she thinks to herself that Anakin will at least have som émondeuse on him. But how would he have money, being a Jedi and all. Do Jedi get paid salaries?

[@Planag7]

I believe that they had a stipend given to them to support operations, but apparently there was an episode where Aniken threw a shit ton of money and people wanting people to do it he had requested. I don’t think they’re taught on the importance of money

[@Dendricklystable]

They're a government agency so they're presumably funded by the republic taxpayer

[@BillChryslerSr]

@@Planag7 yeah

[@TheJediCaptain]

I would love to see The Bad Batch introduce Kal Skirata and Walon Vau...and the child if Darman and Etain Tar-Mukan.

[@kamerondonaldson5976]

they're breaking the timeline here.. how could the empire have possibly been that terminally unstable before cassio tagge noticed and before the emperor dismantled the imperial senate? the empire seemed like it was fully functional before the battle of yavin with very little sign of defectors to the rebellion... luke's friends such as biggs and wedge were the exception, not the rule.

[@dungeonguy88]

A New Hope showed very little of the Empire at the time though. And even then it showed that there was a massive, organized rebellion working against the Empire at the time. Considering that the Rebels had an organized military, the implication is that some of their early members would have had to hail from the pre-existing military in the galaxy. The Empire. I think the important thing to remember is that...Palpatine was a terrible ruler. He practically encouraged corruption and infighting, because it kept those below him from uniting against him.

[@richardgaldos6901]

Mate literally 60% of the Pathfinders to serve on Scarif for the Rebellion were Imperial defectors. The Rebellion had massive ammounts of defections to the Rebellion with almost its entire upper command staff at one point being either Imperial defectors or Republic Clone War veterans. Its a key reason why the Rebellion from the start always operated like a conventional military, because it contained so many defectors. And its ranks swore with defectors after Yavin. Thats one reason why the Rebellion was so strong, because it was constantly getting well trainned soldiers to join the ranks that knew the plans and strategy of the enemy and would turn it against them.

[@kamerondonaldson5976]

and yet the entire rebellion was somehow so small that it was all present and ready to be wiped out by the second death star at endor...

[@richardgaldos6901]

@@kamerondonaldson5976 Actually not correct. There were elements of the Rebel fleet not at Endor. A lot of elements actually. But thats a retcon, though it existed in both Legends and Disney Canon so thats a thing, usually these units were too busy fighting on planets around the galaxy that they couldnt afford to be redeployed. And even so, ya the Rebellion was small compared to the Empire, but that doesnt change the fact that the Rebellion had massive numbers of defectors, and that the large ratio or defectors to civilian recruits was in the earliest stagest.

[@aaronaukema1284]

@@kamerondonaldson5976 You are trusting Palps to have interpreted his Force-vision accurately. He was insanely proud, and thus could have misinterpreted what he saw.

[@ScarFIce]

Best Star Wars ch on YT easy

[@MM22966]

I'll always remember one of the vignette stories from the old West End sourcebooks. I think it was the Rebel Alliance one. An Imperial attack had just cleaned out a Rebel base. Wrecked corridors, bodies everywhere. The Imperials had settled in to clean up any intel to be found, etc. This middle-aged Imperial officer was wandering the corridors, and he was sick of it. He knew his duty, he'd believed in the Empire, set his professional career around doing things like this, but he enough to know these people had died for something and they'd killed them all to stop it. He ends up in the power room for the base, and he hears a noise. He pulls out his blaster to go check. It's a teenage girl, a Rebel, and she's doing her level best to try and push the base reactor to overload. They stand frozen. He knows he supposed to capture her, shoot, her, call for backup, SOMETHING. But he looks into her eyes, and whispers "Hurry up". He calls an alert, and hustles the girl out in the ensuing panic to evacuate, just before the base turns into a massive fireball. They fly off in a speeder, and he realizes he's joined the Rebellion.

[@johnparish6566]

Never thought about Jan Dodonna was the General Robert E. Lee of Star Wars

[@graydanerasmussen4071]

My D6 character, currently known as "Dax", enrolled in the Grand Army of the Republic's Academy, and before she was through, Palpatine took over. As soon as she took up her first post, she saw how the new Empire actually operated! She also found out she was force sensitive, a condition punished by... -disappearing and never being heard from again, so she faked her death and ran.

[@dlombana161]

See you at the party Wrick-er!

[@wildwaters8348]

I just noticed the motorcycle helmet in the background and I'll steal that idea for mine lol

[@valentinchappa6702]

I think after the dissolving of the Senate, that's enough for me to defect/leave. I don't even know if imperial senators were elected or not, but a power check like the Senate stops the emperor from absolute control.

[@qu1ll380]

Have you done a video over Titan squadron?

[@danielkeel9265]

For me, probably be too afraid to break away before there was something to run to! Then, the first chance that presented.

[@Wixey2]

The way you say Hauzer was making me laugh so much

[@tdofducksplays]

I also think of Legends/forces unleashed, General Kota where his entire crew was recruited from the populace. Entire venator defected.

[@Droopy_McCool5517]

In the nicest and most respectful way, you remind me of the groundhog from Winnie the Pooh

[@VestedUTuber]

I probably wouldn't actually fully defect - that's not my style. Instead, I'd play a long con, working my way up the ranks and into a position of significant influence within the Imperial military structure. Ideally I'd push for Grand Admiral. I'd keep contact with the Rebels minimal, just enough to them to know I'm on their side in as cryptic a way as possible, and for me to know which rebel cells are playing by the rules and which ones are acting against the interests of the greater Rebellion like Saw's Partisans. And I'd use these rogue cells to solidify my apparent loyalty to the Empire, while also eliminating problem elements within the Rebellion. I'd also start working on reorganizing the structure of the forces under my command, putting officers loyal to _me_ first and foremost in commanding positions while giving the ones I can't trust out-of-the-way jobs, or even getting them transferred out. I'd also start trying to plant seeds of doubt among important officials within the Empire, in ways that wouldn't tip my hand to them. Thrawn and Vader would be the top priorities for that. But it'd have to be subtle. To Thrawn, occasional casual comments about the expansionist nature of the Empire and how they haven't had the best track record with respecting treaties, phrased to sound like a simple minor values clash and nothing serious, would likely make him start to consider whether he can trust the Empire to keep his people safe. For Vader, I'd attempt to appeal to his hatred of slavery, letting him know he has an ally on that front - but of course I'd have to tread very carefully in order to avoid setting him off and ending up with a crushed windpipe. However, this is a "know when to fold" type of deal, and if things start to get even remotely dangerous here I'd hold off on any more attempts. If I can get the Empire's greatest tactician and the Emperor's right-hand man on my side, that would be an incredible benefit. But if I encounter anything other than smooth sailing in doing so, I'm not going to force it. I'd also attempt occasional sabotage, but only if I can believeably pin it on an empire-loyal officer. My ultimate goal here would be to continue weakening elements within the Empire not loyal to me, while also subtly assisting the Rebels in ways that give me plausible deniability. I would continue to act as an extreme deep cover agent acting mostly independently from the Rebellion, subtlety manipulating things while everything else plays out normally. Ideally, I'd want to be in a position where I'd be put in command of something REALLY important, like the Imperial fleet at the Battle of Endor, with my own loyal officers involved as much as possible. And that's when I'd show my hand. To use the Battle of Endor as an example, I'd include a Conqueror-class in the fleet, and I'd use it to overload the shields protecting the Death Star II with its own smaller Concave Dish Compound Beam Superlaser. At that point I'd have as many of the Star Destroyers with captains and crews loyal to me as I can break formation and join up with the rebel fleet. If I don't get that opportunity, I'd continue my long con, even into the remnant era. Depending on how things end up (Legends or Canon timeline, or an altered timeline due to my manipulations), I'd either align myself with the Empire of the Hand or "join up" with the First Order. If I end up with the First Order, I'd continue as usual, but my job would end up being so much easier seeing as apparently General Armitage "Dimwit" Hux was able to do so. However, instead of trying to take down the First Order, I'd be working more on trying to reshape the organization into something completely ineffective at its intended purpose, while still keeping it strong enough to turn it against the Final Order and the Sith Cult. Imagine the farce of a battle at the end of TRoS, but when Palpatine starts doing his whole force storm thing, suddenly a bunch of Resurgent-class Battlecruisers show up, their kyber-enhanced shields absorbing the energy of Palpatine's Force Storm, before immediately opening fire on the smaller Xyston-class Star Destroyers, TIE/fos and TIE Barons tying up the swarms of TIE Daggers while TIE Silencers and TIE/sfs make their attack runs against the axial superlasers. And of course, I'd still try to have a Conqueror-class Star Destroyer in my fleet to thin the enemy lines by one-shotting enemy Xystons, or even see if I can sneak a shot at Exogol itself. Massive superweapons like the Death Star might be impractical but people really underestimate the usefulness of a smaller ship-mounted superlaser, especially one that's sensibly designed. If I end up with the Empire of the Hand, my goal is actually going to change a bit. You see, the main issue with Thrawn was that he was massively invested in bringing back the Galactic Empire, he actually wasn't that bad otherwise. If I could somehow convince him to focus on uniting the Imperial Remnants and ignore the New Republic, that's a win in my book. If not, then I'd have to topple him, and I'd do it the same way I planned to do it with the Galactic Empire itself. Of course, my ploys during the Galactic Empire's reign might actually pay off in the best way, and I've got Thrawn and Vader on my side. This would likely avoid both the First Order _and_ the events of the Thrawn Trilogy from occurring after Palpatine's fall. I'm honestly not sure what I'd do beyond this point but it's possible I might actually end up being in a position to take the throne, seeing as Vader has no intention to actually rule (based on various media, when Vader said he wanted to "rule the galaxy as father and son" with Luke, I'm pretty sure he intended to put Luke on the throne) and Thrawn most likely would be more interested in remaining in a military position. And I admit I would take that opportunity, specifically with the intents of enacting major reforms and reestablish democratic processes within the Galactic Empire including an elected executive council as a supplementary executive office to the position of Emperor (or Imperator, as I'd rename the position, since the resulting structure would actually be somewhat resembling the Roman Empire under Julius Caesar), while also maintaining the more decentralized structure of the Galactic Empire but with checks and balances to prevent abuses of power. I would want to step down at that point, but chances are I probably wouldn't as it'd be very difficult to find a successor that wouldn't completely fuck everything up. ...that is unless Leia is willing to take the throne and become the second Imperator?

[@tickticktickBOOOOM]

Unless something personal happened, like to some on the list, I doubt I'd jump ship or go over the hill before Alderaan, and maybe not after if I had a lot to lose. When it's just your life at stake, youz pays your moneys, youz takes your chances. When it's your families lives, you get a lot more risk averse. The Republic was so dysfunctional even before Palpatine started undermining it that if it wasn't for Tarkin's brain fart fitting so well with the Sith worldview and Palpatine's sadism it might have been generations before you saw widespread uprisings. Palpatine's motto may as well have been that Caligula quote, 'Let them hate so long as they fear.' As it was, the closer to the core the less likely you were to see the dark side (ahem) of the Empire. People don't revolt when their lives are improving. The double whammy of the Death Star destroying Alderaan then being destroyed itself immediately after, simultaneously showing the Empire was both an existential threat and not an invulnerable one, dramatically increased the hate towards the regime and lowered the fear of it. Destroying Alderaan guaranteed widespread insurrection against the Empire. Losing the Death Star allowed it to escalate to open warfare.

[@bugs7253]

“This video will have many different porpoises 🐬” 🤣

[@spyguy8002]

Honestly these videos are great you have really enlightened me about how awful the empire is and how it ties into the real world keep it up Alan!

[@Licher_]

Still sad we didn't get atleast a squad of rebel clones shouting "FOR THE NEW REPUBLIC!" during one of the many ground battles.

[@jimmysmith2249]

It really depends on the level of awareness the individual has and the comfort they enjoy within the system, along with the ethicalness of the person in question. I am sure there is an equasion one could create with those variables, but I am not smart (or sober) enough to develop it.

[@j.s.c.4355]

You had some live action film clips I didn’t recognize. I thought I’d seen every live action film. Edit: Oh! I bet those were video game clips!

[@motherteresa8418]

What about Slick or the clone left to after attack of clones

[@CloneScavengerVulpin8389]

As much as the empire tried to control the rebel threat they couldn't even control the amount of defections they came back to bite them.

[@ukmediawarrior]

Crix Madine doesn't get enough love I don't think, lol. His history is pretty sweet. He formed the Storm Commandos from the Stormtrooper legions in reaction to the guerrilla war the Rebellion was waging against the Empire. Basically fighting fire with fire. After the destruction of Alderaan he defected to the Rebellion where he formed the Special Operations units for them.

[@shanehudson3995]

Darksaber gave him a bad end.

[@Aeros589]

Imperial Uniforms are stylish. I ain't giving that up. No defection.

[@user-fh6mc9du5n]

When I had Rogue Squadron on the Gamecube, I loved it when, as part of the game's story a member of the 128th interceptor called Lt. Kasan Moor defects and you learn that she'd been trying to do so following the Death Star's destruction of Alderraan.

[@user-fh6mc9du5n]

This is a correction. I meant to write N64, not Gamecube. I briefly owned Rogue Leader on the Gamecube and couldn't even finish the Death Star level due to the fact I never knew when to fire the torpedoes. I either fired them too early, or I'd run out of time and get a game over message.

[@WaterLockser]

It truly was one of the Empires biggest blunders, Its bad enough dealing we numorous untrained fighters swarming you but when you make some of your best and sometimes elite fighters like Iden Versio defect you effectively hand over valuable assests to your enemy

[@matthewjay660]

"New speeder smell." Ha!

[@citizen_grub4171]

A lot of the defections can be pretty easily summed up as: "I never expected the leopards eating faces to eat _my_ face."

[@rinokumera5907]

Ofc

[@brentpieczynski]

What is Da Porr-pose of 'his Hid-E-O? From that first minute explained, strangely termed introduction.

[@just-there]

0:56 porpoises which are related to the enemy, dolphins

[@doctor152]

could you please make a video about all the star war movies and series

[@HibHab69]

The MILISECOND the Death Star blows up or maybe when Alderan got nuked. That is often marked as the TWO biggest moments the galaxy as a whole woke up.

[@roycehuepers4325]

Think it would depend for me. If i was on a mission like siege of Mandalor, unless i was right there next to Rex, probably keep being in it until i saw something akin to the sacking of the temple. Maybe similar situation to Gregor or Howzer

[@dragonweyr44]

We know the Bad Batch had defective inhibitor chips that made it so that they didn't follow Order 66 but how many other clones had faulty chips and didn't follow the Order?

[@werewolfjedi38]

Being an empire player in x wing, i will assume my position as a pilot officer on my usual pick, a decimator. As a ship with hyper drive ability i think my defection would happen after the explosion of alderon. I'd ideally find anyone else like minded at my local station, get them all on my ship, load up the tie fighter trio i could get attached to my airlocks siting that something didnt feel right today and id need some support craft. And then hyper space towards the outer rim.

[@captain0080]

If i'm not an AT-AT driver/assistant driver within my first two years of service you better believe i'm quitting.

[@greylotus1]

Any recommendations of the best replica sabers for sparring?

[@GenerationTech]

just make sure to get the cheaper rgb blades, they can take a hit better

[@PrinceofPwnage]

Ayyy l, i still remember saving Crux Madeen from Corellia right before the Capitol Building for blown up.

[@LoLotov]

Dude I was like "he said defecated instead of defected, FINE" then you said porpoises and I got the Bit.

[@alexanderkidonakis9185]

It’s weird that the battle of yavin started a new calendar year. Ya it was important to an extent but idk if other events weren’t equally as dire.

[@combatmedic32]

For the Empire

[@luisemoralesfalcon4716]

Hmm, a concept explored in SW Squadrons.

[@theprinceelector745]

Empire to the end