Why Conquering Coruscant is Strategically Difficult

Coruscant has always been the heart of the republic and its always been a target for those who want to harm the galaxy. Yet very few armies have successfully been able to conquer the planet. We take a look at the strategic difficulties of invading the Ecumenopolis.
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[@ewok40k]

Conquering Coruscant: Difficult. Palpatine: maybe take over from within?

[@frankg2790]

Palpatine: I love democracy

[@MayaMachina-n8s]

Who would win? One extra thicc and stronk shield Or one wrinkly and completely trustworthy boi?

[@jamesfra1311]

UNLIMITED POWAAAR!

[@thebrutusmars]

James Fra Unlimited rice pu- Damnit, wrong wrinkly old dude!

[@silverfoxdelta290]

its really easy, actually. ya just have to take all the control points in the jedi temple and hold them for 20 seconds, and or kill all the enemies.

[@thisemptyworm4677]

damn jedi guards

[@silverfoxdelta290]

@@thisemptyworm4677 oh no, not knightfall. where the damn jedi knights literally fall from the ceeling

[@thisemptyworm4677]

Silver Fox Delta spawn kill!

[@CHRF-55457]

@@silverfoxdelta290 lol.

[@trashchief6496]

Or just capture all of the command posts.

[@jackzarazun5007]

In canon the sith empire conquered corouscant for a longer period of time. The tarkin novel states that the jedi temple was built over an allready existing sith temple.

[@TalyTea]

Or in non canon (Canon to me) Darth Malgus and his invasion of Coruscant that left the jedi temple laid to rubble and most senators dead.

[@johnrandolph1989]

Don't forget about General Purple Hair's solution for destroying anything city sized. Hyperspace Ramming, the true peanut strategy.

[@mattd2026]

Which begs the question. What's worse, living under an evil empire or under an incompetent new republic?

[@johnrandolph1989]

@@mattd2026 between the two, I'd rather take my chances in the care of Tusken Raider camp.

[@heybeter9505]

MattD hmmmm, is die in the hands of a pirate since the new republic can’t protect jack shit, and the empire will kill me unless I give them a reason to kill me, ngl, I’d take my chances with the empire, the new republic after the fall of the empire couldn’t manage jack, and since the new republic didn’t have the Jedi to do the peace keeping, the new republic had to rely on its heavy constricted militias which almost got fucked by the conflict between the criminal syndicates before the force awakens

[@heybeter9505]

I swear if the new republic decides to demilitarize AGAIN, after the events of the rise of skywalker, I will literally support any imperial remnant

[@johnrandolph1989]

@@heybeter9505 Amen to that.

[@HolyknightVader999]

The Vong managed to do it, and the CIS had the numbers to do it. I don't think it's impossible. Heck, if Malak was involved, he'd just bomb the city-world to Kingdom Come.

[@josh-kg1rb]

The vong won as the new republic wasnt ready for a vong invasion if they invaded during the empire when they had death star and the ssd they would have beeen destroyed by the empire

[@joevenespineli6389]

@@josh-kg1rb the new republic was also slow in their response to the initial invasion of the vong.

[@gravytube4099]

If the CIS had attacked coruscant at the peak of their power the republic wouldve been screwed, there would be a dozen battle droids for EVERY citizen on coruscant, it would just be completely ridiculous

[@aikidodude05]

@@gravytube4099 there is no reason to try and seize coruscant you just need to seize the supply worlds and you can starve it out without having to deal with the headache of trying to hold the citywide planet.

[@gravytube4099]

@@aikidodude05 i didnt mean it as they would ever need to, just if they REALLY had a good reason to go all out, but yea, its way better to just starve it out, even if all 6 major hyperlanes go right through it

[@rashiqspencer6925]

Coruscant: can't be conquered Darth Malgus: hold my lightsaber

[@TalyTea]

The old republic needs a movie series. Theres so much history there. Im sick of the skywalker era. They are making it stale.

[@shaydowsith348]

@@TalyTea As much as the old republic needs a series, they need to keep Kennedy far, far, far away from it.

[@Darthwgamer]

@@shaydowsith348 Indeed

[@falloutfan1452]

“A group of sith warriors managed to sneak into the Jedi temple” Shows ship ramming straight through a wall.

[@wickedcow1]

yeah man they were just so quite entering which is weird because the doors were suppose to be locked

[@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human]

For a Sith, that's pretty subtle.

[@vadfarkas14]

If I'm not mistaken. The entry point where the ship crashed into the temple is the same that Anakin/Vader along with the 501st used to enter and massacare the people inside. Intresting that in RoTS we see those giant pilars before the doors and during sith attack those weren't there. My theory is that the Jedi installed those massive pilars after this incident to prevent a fking ship yeeting itself into the inner halls of the temple.

[@generaldurchbruchmuller]

What Series lr game is this scene?

[@vadfarkas14]

@@generaldurchbruchmuller It's a trailer for Star Wars The Old Republic. Bioware's SW mmo.

[@wyattbarr2583]

The only reason the separatists were able to attack Coruscant was because they knew Commander Thorn wasn’t alive to defend it

[@connorschultz380]

And because there head of state was telling the other sides heads of military what to do

[@CT-Jesse-nv2wi]

Fox is piece of shit

[@patchworkfellow]

CT-5597 Jesse truer words have never been spoken...

[@ceaton7107]

@@CT-Jesse-nv2wi fox gets a lot of unnecessary hate

[@herodaresfire4512]

The Manarai Mountains were the one place on Coruscant that wasn't covered by the city. And Coruscant did have a planetary shield. Thrawn took advantage of that by releasing cloaks meteors around Coruscant, making them unable to lower the shields, effectively removing Coruscant from the war.

[@devandevan1403]

It wasn’t just coruscant that blew us away in the prequels, but the planet designs in general. Kamino, kashik, mustafar, utapaou, etc. (I may have spelt them wrong)

[@casbot71]

What are the logistics of Corescant? How much supplies were needed to be shipped in to keep it running, and how the hell did it have a breathable atmosphere with no plant life left to produce oxygen - did they have planet wide life support systems?

[@mtsen771]

Yes. At this point, the whole planet was basically sustained by various weather and atmospheric systems for clearing pollution, puryfing air and keeping the climate sane and stable for the whole globe.

[@mondaysinsanity8193]

A shit ton and yes

[@nickcher7071]

I guess at that point Coruscant can effectively be called an enormous semi-artificial space station with atmosphere, rather then "habitable planet" in its traditional meaning. It completely relies on giant clusterfuck of various life support systems throughout the whole surface, and if they once happen to fail for a considerable amount of time - planet will quickly become a poisoned and desolated mechanical wasteland, where no one could survive without at least some kind of isolation suit

[@mondaysinsanity8193]

@@nickcher7071 welll in legends they actually discovered ancient fuckoff thrusters on coruscants surface apparently put there by one of the super ancient galactic civilizations

[@casbot71]

You missed one: The way to take back Corescant is via Mad Max modded Chicken Walkers, being led by Finn.

[@11Survivor]

@Prince Otter Channel2 fake battlefront?

[@Crossbones6732]

Prince Otter Channel2 what the hell are you on about? Original poster is talking Duel of the Fates (the original name for Episode 9, not the Darth Maul fight song) concept art.

[@RKNGL]

Many of the things you described would actually make it simpler to attack Coruscant. 1. Lack of Defenses and easily accessible. 2. Complete lack of stability or control by the local government over most of the planet. Meaning factions could easily collaborate invaders and would be generally unlikely to assist the government. 3. The economic aspect neglects the fact that it means the planet can be used to force a battle with enemy fleets as the Planet's defense is a nesscessity. The planets overpopulation and over-reliance on trade would be it wouldn't likely last long in a siege.

[@adamanderson3042]

The CIS were actually mainly successful because Palpatine gave the CIS secret hyperspace lanes that weren't protected by the Republic. If he didn't do that then nothing would've happened, they wouldn't have been capable of getting past the blockades throughout the interior/core.

[@derekclinton9438]

Why doesn't Coruscant have it's own shipyard surrounding it (like Kuat and Mon Cala)?

[@TheLordUrban]

Derek Clinton It has many smaller shipyards.

[@kallandas]

So to conquer Coruscant, you have to take it without actually attacking it. Military assault is pointless unless you just want to kill everything, and blow it off.

[@AzraelThanatos]

Legends Coruscant did have shields, multiple layers of them...it was a major plotpoint in several books. You also had the Golan stations defending it that predated the Clone Wars, and could match or surpass Star Destroyers in firepower. A good chunk of the planets moon was also military at different points.

[@justsomewitcherwithalongsw4233]

It’s ironic how the Coruscanti got some payback from the original Mandalorians, the Taung, through Jango and his Clones via Order 66 and the Galactic Empire’s up rising. They say grudges can last a long time.

[@Ryan-vl2nn]

Coruscant is still hands down the coolest element that came out of the prequel films.

[@jermf35]

All of your videos and content are very good. But this one is shoulders above the rest. Just because this planet has a long history and you did a very good job of delving into the history of this planet at different times this was a very fun watch. Mostly after seeing the last movie which I did not plan to see because they listened to too many people online Downing at but then my son told me he seen it and love it so I went and seen it with a friend because we're both starward Star Wars nerds Marvel nerds anything comic book pretty much nerds/fans about it. And this video was awesome

[@GrimgoreIronhide]

Never forget the true weakness of a planet like this. The capitol of the galactic empire from the Foundation Trilogy also thought it was invincible for the same reason. Once the empire fell apart and they were no longer able to import food or the countless other supplies they needed, the city almost litteraly devoured itself. A few decades later the children of the survivors were getting rich.... By carving up the countless skyscrapers and selling the steel as scrap.

[@aaronsanborn4291]

Coruscant is a MOUT nightmare. You have an entire planet covered in a miles deep city

[@johngervais230]

Well, you see... Imagine trying to take a city. But the city is an entire planet.

[@jayb3033]

A couple questions I have about Corsecant for any Star Wars gurus that can tell me, the 5,000 levels of Corsecant, were they all built underground and how did beings get down there? What kind of an elevator system did they have to get people there? How many miles or km deep were all 5,000 levels to the bottom? How tall were the cities tallest skyscrapers, how many miles or km did they extend upwards into the sky?

[@superomegaprimemk2]

Invaders "We come to take over this puny planet!" Coruscant "Oh, really now, good luck, see you on Tuesday!"

[@ajsollecito4236]

What happened to lakes / oceans / rivers on Coruscant?

[@11Survivor]

*Gone.* *Vanished.* *Reduced to atoms.*

[@michaelmoses8745]

Probably integrated into the water supply.

[@zachschmitt3654]

I wish we could have seen a The Clone Wars version of the invasion of coruscant like the battle done in the 2003 mini series, but I don’t think we will see it in season 7

[@alexanderchristopher6237]

The battle of Coruscant already entered the time of Revenge of the Sith. I don’t think they’ll want to replay the entire movie, or even parts of the film, in animated format.

[@adrian424587]

Love the content

[@pontificateyourlife4536]

Sweet, definitely an interesting history of Trantor!

[@chengzhou8711]

1. 200+ levels to snuff out resistance 2. Jedi Temple (except post clonewars) 3. Elite Detachment of Shock troopers and other police littered along key political areas 4. Elite Detachment of Senate Commandos (if applicable) 5. Home fleet and orbital defense installations (when applicable) 6. Military bases on-planet

[@jayburn00]

You left out how rogue squadron took it over.

[@wabba2344]

Did I just see the greybeards?

[@coldkillquik1577]

Ikr so random

[@cnlbenmc]

May I perhaps introduce Holy Terra from The 40K universe; an Ecumenopolis that is the Home of an entire Battlefleet to defend it and the Moon is literally known as Fortress Luna.

[@luisemoralesfalcon4716]

The Afthermath novels did a really good job to show us what happened in Curscant after Episode 6, seems the Empire never could have take care of the lower levels like Mass Amedda wanted and it costed them a lot h--, the Rebellion could have established an operational base in the lower levels and Palpatine would have never known then again, according to a theory Palps may have wanted such thung in the first place.

[@TheHonoredMadman]

I wanna see Naboo again too it's criminally underused

[@williambacon2284]

Great job as always, Allen. Or is it Alan? Or allan?

[@daltonevans3412]

It's obvious it's really alien. Think about it, he is always going on about his humanity first message and aliens are scum, he is obviously compensating for his shame of being an alien himself, i think it's quite clear he is a clawdite posing as a human. I mean, even his fake name "allan" is basically rubbing it in our faces that he's an alien.

[@lordextinction8322]

Seriously enough of desert worlds Can we please go somewhere like Coruscant, or Naboo, or even Felucia in the next Star Wars show or movie please

[@zynthio]

I've not had the chance to play the star wars rpg yet. I just know that if I ever play or run it I could play entire campaigns just in coruscant. It's like waterdeep but on steroids and planet wide. A city built on levels upon levels of city upon levels of ancient civilization. One day i'll get the chance

[@TheTruthIsGonnaHurt]

Emperor: Burn the Galaxy! Officer: What about Coruscant? Emperor: Are you crazy Jeff?!? Get out!!

[@anxietywave8735]

A planetary shield wouldn't kill trade and commerce on Coruscant, rather it would help regulate it. All you need is more than 1 shield... much more than 1 shield gate. I'd say somewhere over 15,000 should suffice.

[@RealSasquatchWatch]

another great vid thanks alan

[@reger3145]

I personally would love to see more stories about the unknown regions rather than just the parts we know already or even explore minor places that have had little told about them. Or better yet do a sith saga so people can see the full story (inc. all “legends” Sith Lords) from ajunta pall all the way to papa palpy or even darth krayt.

[@scott3017]

Conquering Coruscant would be simple. All you need is space superiority. If you control the space lanes, with an embargo Coruscant will collapse on itself and will be forced to surrender. No need for a ground assault.

[@suiker1421]

Love these vids💯 keep going on youtube for other vids but i just cant scroll past your vids💯👍😂

[@schizophreniagaming1187]

damn, now there goes my Saturday plans

[@danielsaltvick]

I've got a question that I hope someone could answer. How does coruscant sustain life? On our planet plants make oxygen using photosynthesis to help sustain an atmosphere animals can breath. But a planet like coruscant that is thousands of layers deep and a city that covers the planet. It seems to me that coruscant would be Mars in a matter of years with all the pollution.

[@thebanditman5663]

RAT WARFARE... Dense urban combat is absolutely hell for everyone involved, ask the Germans how Stalingrad went, then make that an entire planet.

[@willis32]

Mfw early Coruscant is literally a warhammer 40k hive world

[@harmen2456]

Yes and no, 40k Hive worlds are made out of between one and dozens of individual hives with little more then blasted and poisoned bare earth, smog and railways between them. Individually far, far, more densely populated then even Coruscant but they rarely cover the entire planet. Truly old and wealthy Admech forgeworlds are far more likely to do this as are things like Holy Terra, I don't even think Ophelia IV (the capitol world of the Ecclesiarchy/church) covers the entire planet.

[@willis32]

@@harmen2456 Thanks

[@maggiethepug9149]

an old republic show would be great

[@TalyTea]

The Sith Empire did it easily, spearheaded by Dark Council member Darth Angral, and only a sith Lord at the time Lord Malgus. Not only did they successfully break through Coruscants defense fleet but they reduced the Jedi Temple to rubble, forcing the jedi to retreat back to Tython, they bombed the senate building, they killed the Supreme Chancellor of the time, and executed republic senators one by one. They held onto Coruscant for two days, destroying stuff and killing important republic figures until the Republic was forced to sue for peace. Thats canon to me, fite me.

[@desroth]

No one would be stupid enough to destroy, let alone damage, Coruscant *CIS, Vong, First Order, and the Sith Empire would like to know your location*

[@pianowitz]

Coruscant did once have a planetary shield during the Yuuzhan Vong saga

[@Khornecussion]

The fact you'd have to conquer it level by level by level considering there's literally thousands of slums full of Force knows what, rancor in the sewers, fight pits and beastmasters, small cartels... you'd be fighting multiple wars from the natives for disturbing the balance of their ecosystem.

[@scotthellier7576]

Allen seems like a cool guy

[@alfieingrouille1528]

theres a question if coruscant was the capital of the new republic instead of hosnian prime would the first order still have used starkiller base to destroy the new republic or not?

[@Bennahr_Fett]

2:19 lol Greybeards

[@ps1mrbean838]

Wedge Antilles: Hold my beer

[@wilmagregg3131]

its basically a uber hive world using warhammer 40k terms it would be a absolute nightmare to take over from anyone really basically 30 thousand planet wide levels of industry built atop industry

[@guitarbass22]

Coruscant was the capital of the New Republic in Legends. Lol. I suspect Disney changed it only so when the First Order blew it up it wasn’t a blow to the entire fan base. The deep history that this planet has in the Star Wars galaxy would take multiple video series to flesh out, but it’s something this channel may want to consider.

[@Orto-jj2di]

Coruscant won't be conquered? Me: Tell that to Separatists, Yuuzhan Wong, Imperials. Guess I know now why it took 3 year war to penetrate the defenses

[@solkaz4175]

You could lay siege or blockade Coruscant and they should be at the negotiating table relatively quickly. Most of the population, likely cannot be sustained with out imports. For added measure, bombarding hyper drive factories, shipyards, data banks, communications centers, reactors and star ports from orbit would limit retaliation. Eventually citizens will be forced fight each other for resources and cannibalize the planet. After a some time, its possible they will not have enough resources to maintain their current level of technology and regress as what they knew became useless. This would, effectively end the paradigm that the galaxy is ruled form Coruscant so that the capital opposing forces would take over that role. Everyone else in the galaxy will hate you, if they found out you did this, but if you are space Mongolians you probably don't care and are likely invading them already.

[@meeperdudeify]

is that Empire Today in the background?

[@AvianSavara]

Time to wake up, time to waaaake up ♪

[@JazonCalderon]

Coruscant vs Holy Terra. Which would win?

[@Nusma]

What would happen though if Coruscant was just destroyed, let's say because one of the commanders of these new planet destroying star destroyers from Rise Of Skywalker went nuts? How would it impact the rest of the galaxy?

[@PakornThaipituk]

Hive cities in warhammer 40k are not too bad when thinking about lower level of Coruscent.

[@CepheusTalks]

Imperium of Man: laughs in exterminatus

[@mapleflag6518]

2:18 what are the greybeards doing here?

[@ryanarteaga7505]

Where did you get all this information

[@snapsterlp1877]

The Vong managed to take Coruscant...

[@MaxGadgetZ]

simple. shock trooper

[@ET-vj4vz]

I hear the lower levels were ruled by ruthless dolphins...the true dark power of Coruscant

[@RaggedClawsSilentSea]

Not to mention that the vast majority of the population wouldn't take kindly to getting invaded

[@heliossky3525]

@1:27 Coruscant was not destroyed by SKB...

[@anarky3585]

Zhell together strong.

[@darthsectivus]

One word the sacking of Corcusant

[@shaydowsith348]

Whereas it is established in "disney" canon that the New Republic did not establish their government on Coruscant, in Legends it did.

[@christiandonnelly1658]

Thought coruscant had a deployable 🛡

[@nathanfracasse6645]

what if leia was on alderann when they blew it up (sorry for bad spelling)

[@michaelfrontera8147]

What if Leia grew up on Tattooine instead of Luke

[@alexturlais8558]

Thats basically the sequels, Leia would be like Rey

[@chloe_gospinny]

Is destroying coruscant difficult? Well I have a solution! Missiles! But with hyperdrives Just hyperspace ram a planet-sized city!

[@KingQwertzlbrmpf]

Conquering coruscant is difficult if you are thinking of doing an actual invasion simply because it's urban warfare on a planetary scale. And urban warfare is about the worst case scenario you can imagine. However, why would you want to get yourself into this situation at all? All you really need to do is to lay siege to the planet. A planet that is almost entirely urbanized has an incredibly high population that requires feeding. It's almost impossible for the planet to sustain it's population all by itself, it is entirely dependant on external food deliveries. Cut that off and the planet will quickly either submit or descend into anarchy with bands of marauders fighting over the last remaining foodstuff. That is not to say that laying siege to coruscant is an easy task, but it's about a million times easier than trying to invade it with pretty much any form of a ground force. You'd need something on the scale of a tyranid invasion or a massive orc waagh from Warhammer 40k to pull a ground invasion off.

[@mardy3732]

Man Disney really disrespected the prequels in their triology. They thought they'd appeal more to the fans by emulating the 'feel' of the ot, as opposed to building on the lore. And look where we are now.

[@UGNAvalon]

“Why Conquering Coruscant is Difficult” 1) Its place as a center of commerce means it lacked a defense grid. 2) A small group of Sith commandos took down the defenses from within. Wait, what??

[@connorschultz380]

Did, you watch the video?

[@UGNAvalon]

@@connorschultz380 Sorry for the late reply. Yes, i did, but i found it so strange how a video titled "why conquering it is so difficult" would begin by giving reasons for why it _Would_ be easily conquered (^1), and a situation of when it _Was_ easily conquered (^2). :/ The rest of the vid, however, did a great of explaining valid reasons for why conquering Coruscant would be / was so difficult.

[@c013s14w]

"Deserts, once youve seen one youve seen them all" hope his middle school geogrophy teacher isnt subd lol

[@thane1448]

I wonder how much money Disney would take to for the Star Wars IP ownership, so long as the new party would open source the IP so that anyone, including Disney, could make anything they wanted for it and it would simply be a matter of competition to determine who made the best stuff and would allow for all sorts of niche desires like my goofy desire to infiltrate the real Death Star. They bought it for 5 billion. I bet with Mark Zuckerberg pulling in 50 billion a year and Elon Musk and the well off types that have supported Star Citizen, I have to wonder if it would be a fairly achievable goal.

[@superduperdave]

Courscant is basically planet Vegeta if the tuffles won the war.

[@LordXerus]

What do Coruscantis eat if they don’t have any arable farm land? Trade from off-world I suppose. But isn’t that a glaring weakness?

[@darth_nihilus_]

Yes it is but on Coruscant were massive farms like built like the farms which will be built on Mars but 1.000.000 times the size.

[@vbucci6894]

Where is the Vong?

[@Khornecussion]

"Coruscant is hard to conquer. " Ahem... *I AM THE SENATE!!!*

[@shaydowsith348]

In that case, it was conquered from within, not from without.

[@spartanwar1185]

You really gotta ask yourself though Do you really need to capture ALL of Coruscant? The enemy also probably only holds the surface and first few layers And unless you're trying to control everything you really don't need to do more than sweep aside any enemy forces and take their place Though i do wonder What kind of people reside on the lowest possible levels? I imagine it's the physical star wars equivalent to the dark web Dark, quiet and very discrete Oh and also full of very twisted people who would infact be fitting of the title "Monster" Why aren't there more siths down there? (or maybe there are and we just don't know of them yet, i wouldn't be surprised if coruscant was good at hiding even powerful force sensitives due to the sheer population numbers)

[@Volume_Halome]

Imagine any urban warfare, on scale of the entire planet.

[@littlehoover429]

Imperium of man: just another Monday

[@andresdiaz2578]

coruscant "the venice of the galaxy."

[@julianusvictor327]

Good job in the sequels the new republic kept their entire fleet in very close orbit to one planet for some reason lmao

[@robert23456789]

all it will take to take the city is 1 billion robo units with 600 million hervey gunner robo units and a lot of air support also every sith lord you got to hold the jedi at bey

[@shaydowsith348]

Unfortunately by the time of Palpatine you only had 2 Sith (rule of two and all that)

[@pooppoop6546]

Let's see: minefields, Golan platforms, planetary based turbo lasers and shields, urban areas and a garunteed defense fleet and garrison Pretty good in my book

[@papasult11]

so the hyperspeed lanes are like Rome? all roads leads to Rome? Like that?

[@KakashiHatake-fq9iv]

Zhell

[@catsareamazing3616]

Its the America of starwars