Why did the Imperial Army Just Disappear?

[@GenerationTech]

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[@treyhollingshead9102]

Seeing your face without that sexy beard just brought me back in time like 5 years ❤🎉

[@BeyondtheRailz]

What ever happened to the Resistance and First Order after the Rise Of Skywalker? Are there still remnants of the Order and sympathetic people lingering?

[@Mysmero425]

I love Ezra’s light saber

[@lick3227]

Hey dude, got the source for the thumbnail artwork ? At least the name of the variant of storm trooper ?

[@nightgirlgaming1985]

I was really glad that we got to see some of it in Andor. Showed that the Empire was actually made up of humans and not just faceless beings

[@chuckbuck5002]

@Homer What did you want them to look like ?

[@thechroniclegamer4285]

@Homer the lines that have *always* been on that armor piece since Episode 5? Sure buddy

[@imppro]

@Homer fam they’ve always had those armor designs

[@GenerationTech]

@Homer that's actually how they've always looked since like the 90s comics

[@LanternsLight]

Plus their armor looks awesome.

[@eternalemperor2334]

I love the Imperial Army way more than Stormtroopers. Uniform and functionality wise. They should just make the regular enemy, soldiers. Then the elite forces Stormtroopers like it should have been.

[@wordlesslfiddling]

Yeah I love the look of the army trooper the simplified officers uniform with a little bit of armor and the officers cap make it look like something that could actually be worn Heck even their guns appear to be more practical with a strap and grip compared to the stormtrooper rifle

[@BOOTYMANTHAGOAT]

The problem is rebels attacked things that were important aka needed the elite troopers

[@dungeonguy88]

@@BOOTYMANTHAGOAT Well, the Stormtroopers were more trained for fanatical loyalty and discipline, than pure skill and battle competence. But when you have an Empire that banks on keeping order by ordering massacres anytime someone gets out of line...Then you kind of need Stormtroopers that will pull the trigger no matter what, when ordered to.

[@BOOTYMANTHAGOAT]

@@dungeonguy88 Stormtroopers are actually VERY well trained and intelligent. In the books and comics they are very good. The movies and the shows do them bad on purpose because, well, plot.

[@neofulcrum5013]

@@BOOTYMANTHAGOATnot by much. Some were skilled but more often than not they were still getting bodied. I mean one guy cut through dozens of them without getting scratched and he wasn’t even a “good guy”.

[@christophernemeth421]

Having Stormtroopers stationed on every Imperial Warship made it very hard for the crews of those ships to defect to to the rebellion.

[@thebighurt2495]

Fair enough

[@jamesricker3997]

All the Stormtroopers on the Death Star answered to the Emperor and his representative,(Vader) not Tarkin. Just in case Tarkin got any funny ideas

[@NostalgicClips01]

25000 star destroyers, dozens of super star destroyers and millions of support vessels the Galatic Empire dissapeared because of plot armour. The Rebels never stood a chance against the Galactic Empire, if there was no plot armour the Executor would have single handedly annihilated the whole rebel fleet and instead of 30 star destroyers being at Endor there would have been hundreds if not thousands.

[@christophernemeth421]

@@NostalgicClips01 in my head canon the Emperor didn't intend to wipe of the rebellion, which is why there was such a small fleet at Endor . He planned on destroying a significant portion of their fleet while allowing the rest to escape. He needed an enemy to justify the never ending military expansion

[@NostalgicClips01]

@christophernemeth421 Darth Sidious had nothing to justify to anyone after the dissolution of the Senate. I get what your saying the Empire needed an enemy but his goal was to completely destroy the rebellion then and there. The portrayal of the Executor at endor is just stupid, the super star destroyer had enough fire power to wipe out the whole rebel fleet by itself. Thousands of heavy turbo laser placements yet we never see it fire a single shot. Piett ya fool.

[@Mikalent]

The non-cannon answer: it was cheaper to use stormtroopers during filming and prevented people from realizing it was the same 10 extras.

[@NinjaMan47]

One aspect I'd love to see expanded upon is how the downgrading and ultimate elimination of the Imperial Army could have been a huge boon to the Rebellion. Millions of soldiers forcibly discharged and left bitter over their situation could easily turn against the Empire and bring with them military training but (more importantly) crucial intelligence on the Empire. Essentially, by ejecting soldiers the Empire saw as unreliable they only pushed many into the arms of the Rebellion.

[@spacepiratee215]

the US did that in Iraq, they disbanded the whole Iraqi army and police forces as well

[@techelitesareadisease8816]

@@spacepiratee215 Yup, a massive blunder. One of the largest militaries in the world suddenly didn't exist, with no real replacement - wow, how surprising that a lot of these very disgruntled, military trained people decide to join up with whatever radical Islamist group is recruiting nearby

[@tinman3586]

This whole premise is stupid.

[@StateOfTheMind11225]

​@@tinman3586it sounds stupid but it happened before in our reality, when the Russians disbanded their army in fear of an uprising over serfdom, they were practically defenseless with only the Tsar's Guard, many Russian soldiers as a result joined the Reds and the rise of communist sentiment sprung up from disbanded soldiers.

[@aurum-anadeus4875]

well as the other commenter pointed out. the USA literally did that in Iraq, so i don't think it is that stupid a premise.@@tinman3586

[@trainknut]

Fun fact: Marines stationed on old time warships(the guys wearing the red uniforms in Pirates of the Caribbean) were actually _Army_ personnel that were specially trained in amphibious operations. Typically they were used to protect the captain, and to a lesser extent, the crew... Hence why they hired out of the Army and not the Navy, because they wanted people who were A: less likely to join forces with potential mutineers, and B: had more experience with small arms and hand to hand combat.(which is important if you're boarding a ship; or raiding a village for supplies) I believe the Stormtroopers are somewhat a mix of these old-style marines, and the modern day USMC - which acts as a self-organized sub-branch of the Navy. We know through Rebels that cadets simply join directly into the corps to train to be stormtroopers, but organizationally it seems they're more used like old school marines - foot soldiers who are used as guards and a quick reaction force for all Imperial warships. As well as personal bodyguards for high ranking personnel.

[@twiddlerat9920]

Really reminds me of the mutiny of William Bligh, he had requested marines because he was suspicious of his crew

[@Captain_Insano_nomercy]

As a marine corps vet it definitely seems like they model our older history and truthfully I prefer that more than what we have now. I really wish they would shrink the USMC and have it be more elite and closer to it's history of being a QRF for the navy

[@trainknut]

@@Captain_Insano_nomercy To be honest the modern day USMC has really just become a smaller and more elite version of the Army... They're less a specialized QRF for the navy, and more just... soldiers with a different uniform who get really mad if you call them soldiers. Other marine forces around the world, notably the Royal Marines Commando(who are the ancestors of the modern day USMC) do still carry on this tradition of being ship guards and a QRF for the Navy, and are therefore typically either Navy(such as Russian MSV) or Army(such as the UK's RMC) personnel. We still call them "marines" out of respect for the role they fill, but this is more in the way you'd call somebody a Ranger or a Paratrooper; it's a specialty within a branch rather than a whole branch in and of itself. To be totally honest, US marines are a bit of an anomaly, and if we're being real ... they're a bit redundant. Setting aside skill, and the pride of certain overcompetitive marine boots, there's really nothing the modern Marines do that couldn't be accomplished with Army shock forces. (like ranger/air assault battalions) This isn't to disrespect the skill or the accomplishments of the marines themselves, more just a question of what role does the USMC actually serve on a larger scale?

[@Captain_Insano_nomercy]

@@trainknut well I am a marine so you don't have to tell me a lot of those things, I've seen it firsthand. Though I mostly agree I would point put that we routinely outclassed army artillery units (when the army still used arty) when I was in the corps. We are better pure fighters, however that isn't what the military is about anymore, it's about politics and paperwork, so the USMC will likely die out one day soon

[@trainknut]

@@Captain_Insano_nomercy the point is, there doesn’t need to be a whole separate branch that does what the army does but better… when you could just train your army units better.

[@ryanlaurie8733]

I really wish that the Imperial army would get more attention. Stormstroopers being overused has two main issues: I doesn't really make sense for them to be everywhere all the time... and it cheapens them overall. Imagine if they only showed up rarely and actually... were dangerous? Instead of getting punked of by everyone and their mother. If Imperial Army was more common they could take the "mook" position without making the Stormtroopers a joke.

[@kevinmcmillin870]

The people working on these shows and movies genuinely don’t care bro. They’re there to meet quotas and do their job in the film industry. There’s no passion, just money and merchandise

[@ryanlaurie8733]

@@kevinmcmillin870I mean you aren't wrong, I was just stating what I wish would happen lol

[@iiiiii5772]

@@ryanlaurie8733 Unfortunately wishes don't get answered very often...fucking Disney

[@travis51killer01]

Kinda like in andor that the stormtroopers showed only in the last chapters?

[@maxencebrumelot-dumontier5578]

@@travis51killer01 Yes exactly. That's why I love Andor, we can see the point of view of the average citizen, and it makes the imperials seem really dangerous.

[@dogloversrule8476]

Alan, you didn’t mention the fact that every time we see Imperial forces in the original trilogy, the troops are either part of the 501st Legion or they’re part of the Death Star’s garrison. In both cases, Stormtroopers made up a majority if not all of the force.

[@MichaelK1710]

501st in original trilogy?

[@dogloversrule8476]

@@MichaelK1710 not by name, but yes it is. It’s the 501st that boards the Tantavive IV in Episode 4. They also assault Echo Base on Hoth & and are the garrison on Endor.

[@gopr3117]

@@dogloversrule8476so the infamous 501st got schooled by teddy bears....

[@dogloversrule8476]

@@gopr3117 yes, they did. It definitely wasn’t their finest hour

[@dripsnake44]

@@dogloversrule8476Tbf, all of the clones that were experienced and elite were gone by that time. They were far from the legendary unit in the Clone Wars at this point.

[@Golden-Monarch-One]

There were a growing number of whistleblowers among the Imperial Army units, not to mention P-O-R-D as seen in Andor that may have also arrested Imperial Army soldiers who were seen as somewhat more sympathetic to non-Imperials than say Stormtroopers.

[@thebighurt2495]

The whole point of the Stormies was to be Enforcers more than actual Soldiers, really.

[@lerneanlion]

To Alan and the crew of Generation Tech: What happened to the Chiss Ascendancy after the Galactic Empire collapsed and the Third Republic rose to power? Did the Republic establish diplomatic relations with the Ascendancy? Did the Republic even aware of the Ascendancy's existence like at all? And most importantly, why the Chiss Ascendancy did nothing about the First Order?

[@kingofhearts3185]

Also curious

[@TheRevan1337]

The chiss did nothing about the first order because the sequel-era writers probably didn't know they exist or didn't care. The expanded universe is what you are looking for when it comes to answers

[@graveyardshift6691]

The Ascendancy persisted during the Dark Age of the Republic following the Fourth Great Schism. While the Old Republic was aware of the Ascendancy, all knowledge of them was 'lost' during the Fall of the Old Republic. The Chiss however have always been strong Xenophobes and so locked up their borders and remained an unknown during the days of the High Republic. They continue to remain an unknown until Thrawn made himself public enemy number one of the New Republic and the face of the Imperial Remanent. It wasn't until the events of Outbound Flight that the New Republic and Luke's Jedi order 'rediscovered' the Ascendancy and put it back on the map. The New Republic and Luke Skywalker actually had to negotiate for the return of Outbound Flight since they violated Ascendancy space and the Chiss reacted by seizing everything and holding it. They don't like when people show up inside their space uninvited. The Ascendancy eventually returned Outbound Flight and continued negotiations brought them back into the awareness of Galactic Affairs. They remained sovereign apart from the Republic but cordial to Republic Members. They played part in the Yuuzaan Vong war developing the bio weapons used against them and were central to the Dark Nest Crisis afterwards. Because Outbound Flight was Decannonized and Thrawn never became the Face of the Empire, the Ascendancy was never rediscovered and since they are both isolationist and non-expationist, (they don't actually expand unless their resource capacity requires it and their 28 worlds are pretty stable.) it is unlikely anybody found them or bothered them so they remained hidden and forgotten. Unless something is a direct threat to the Ascendancy, they pretty much just let the galaxy pass them by.

[@lerneanlion]

@@graveyardshift6691 Consindering the First Order's nature, they should be viewed as a threat by the Chiss Ascendancy. Plus, we never know the exact location of Exogol anyway. However, we know that Dromund Kaas was defenitely not near the Ascendancy like at all.

[@graveyardshift6691]

@@lerneanlion The First Order was another CIS cover for Palpatine. We know this because he was puppateering Snoke as a badly deformed Palpatine clone. Palpatine actually did favor Thrawn quite a bit allowing an 'Alien' to get so high in a human centric Empire. He never would have permitted the First Order to pose any kind of threat to the Ascendancy when he could just negotiate with them as the Sith Empire of Old did. Even if the First Order were to show up on the Ascendancy's doorstep, they were not so stupid as to disarm completely like the Disney New Republic was and would have responded in kind to any kind of threat the First Order posed. Consider the opening of Episode 8. If the first order tried that stunt in the Ascendancy, they wouldn't have been met with a lone X-wing. They would have been met with an equal size Cruiser telling them to turn around and go home or face the full fury of whatever House Phalanx was watching. Any attempt at any hostility would have resulted in the ship suddenly finding itself outnumbered and outgunned by equally sized ships instead of whatever pitiful force the 'Resistance' pulled out of their ass. They would have been absolutely merciless and even go so far as to backtrack to wipe all trace of the First Order making whatever force was out there as just 'lost in space'. The 'massive fleet' the First Order chased down the Resistance with would have been met with the full CEDF and whatever House Phalanxes were on standby. This is why the Chiss Ascendancy doesn't jive with Disney's New Republic. They would have single handedly nailed the First Order to the wall. But the key here is 'direct threat'. The Chiss don't care if their next door neighbor takes an orbital strike to the face. So long as you don't point the gun at them. The rest of the galaxy can burn as far as the Ascendancy is concerned but the second you threaten any one Chiss, the entire Ascendancy will come down on you. The First Order roaming around and blasting super weapons at the New Republic doesn't concern the Ascendancy. Until an Ascendancy Chiss is actually killed by the First Order or an Ascendancy Planet is raided meaning that Chiss Space is violated, they're a non-issue.

[@indianajones4321]

I always want to see more of the Imperial Army

[@brockgundich]

I really enjoy the variety in the army, I would loooove to have army units and skins in a potential battlefront 3

[@indianajones4321]

@@brockgundich same

[@TJDious]

So does your mom, how do you think you got here?

[@SashaTheDog]

Same, reason Nr.1 im cosplaying as one XD

[@CyberSonic-V3.0]

Same here, I think we need to see them more than stormtroopers.

[@asaschuemann9545]

I'm so glad someone made a video on this, as before Andor came out this dissonance between the lore saying the Imperial Army was bigger than the Stormtrooper Corps, yet Star Wars media portraying the opposite, really bugged me for a while. I think what you said makes sense, the Imperial Army was more like a conventional fighting force that we have in the real world, meanwhile, Stormtroopers were dystopian, faceless enforcers of a corrupt and despotic government, sorta like the Peacekeepers in the Hunger Games franchise.

[@Moose63845]

Think of it this way, a Star Destroyer or the Death Star would not have regular troops but the elite force on it to defend it and deploy in the event of a primary assault. Tatooine is a search party being sent to recover sensitive information, you send Special Forces for that not regular army. Hoth you have an assault on a known rebel base, for a direct coordinated attack against a top target you send Special Forces. Bespin you have the second in command with his elite troops joining him no regular army would be there. Endor you're talking about a coordinated ambush against rebels you're sending the best of the best to take them out.

[@angryscotsman93]

​@Moose63845 Very true, but Star Wars media has a habit of showing Stormtroopers doing incredibly mundane stuff at places with no strategic value, like patrolling random occupied cities and or guarding random power stations. That's line infantry kinda stuff, man. The Imperial Army should be more prominent in Star Wars media as a defensive force which holds down territory, with the Stormtroopers being shown as elite shock infantry who remain mobile as a response force.

[@garlixbread]

​@@Moose63845Movie wise yes but the shows didnt do it justice, in a remote mining outpost why would there be stormtroopers?

[@admiralkaede]

@@Moose63845 Tatooine Had storm troopers and that planet has absolutely nothing valuable on it

[@Moose63845]

@@admiralkaede the only reason tatooine had storm troopers is they were looking for the escape pod and the droids. They were dropped from the star destroyer because they were already there.

[@LitD]

In the original trilogy most of the security forces we see are actually naval troopers (the guys in black uniforms and those large helmets usually removing someone vader choked) Stormtroopers are usually seen doing more SWAT like missions.

[@antieverything1]

There are orders of magnitude more stormtroopers onscreen than Imperial Navy troopers. The naval personnel are the ones who actually operate the ships--the stormtroopers are the Imperial Army (or, in Legends, Stormtrooper Corps.) force on board the ship similarly to how British Navy ships used to have army troops on board or how all US Navy warships used to have Marine Detachments.

[@forrestpenrod2294]

I think Rebels more than any other story messed up by making Stormtrooper the main enemy grunt rather than army troopers. Imagine the ghost crew running rings around the Lothal Garrison and then Tarkin shows up with actual stormtroopers.

[@comradekenobi6908]

Yeah rebels feel quite cheap compared to Clone wars

[@notani3533]

That's actually a great idea, giving an escalation where at the beginning the crew won against corrupt and unmotivated Imperial garrison. And then the inquisition arrived with stormtrooper and forced the crew on constant game of hide and seek.

[@ReichLife]

Rebels good reputation is such a bizzare thing. For every good thing it did, 4 others were terrible.

[@liampender2359]

Thank-you, Generation Tech, for taking the time to make this video and do research on the Imperial Army. Plus the video has enlightened me on aspects of the Star Wars Universe that viewers rarely get to see on the "big screen" and are only referenced in comics. And the fact that this channel attributes things in Sar Wars or other franchisees to the real world, where we can learn from the mistakes of others and develop into better human beings.

[@KanaiIle]

One of my favorite parts of Solo was seeing the Imperial rmy in action. Their look is really fascinating and gives the universe much more depth. And Andor also did a great job at showing more rank and file troops, which ups the ante when the actual "elite" troops show up. Andor managed to make a single TIE fighter scary as hell - if more Star Wrs media like this, people might actually get excited whenever a Stormtrooper shows up as a "stuff gets serious" sign. Currently, even the elite Stromtroopers need and elite within the elite, like Darktroopers, to even feel like a bit of a threat. And then the Darktroopers get bodied by the dozens as well...

[@graveyardshift6691]

That's when they call in the Novatroopers.

[@shariqhasan6220]

Here is my headcanon: Stormtroopers are used to assault planets. They are deployed from star destroyers. Once the Empire has taken control of a planet, Imperial Army is deployed which protects the planet or to conduct ground war against rebel forces. Also sometimes Stormtroopers might be used to assist Imperial army troopers or to perform special ops.

[@rexlumontad5644]

0:02 Shaved Allen is so surreal to look at.

[@cryogenicheart2019]

I wonder what happened

[@admiralkaede]

thought no one bringing this up was weird lol

[@Agent_3141]

You know I'm kind of disappointed that the Imperial Army isn't in the Bad Batch. You'd think they'd appear along with the TK troopers. Or even in Jedi Survivor

[@GenerationTech]

Yea I would say that rebels was also guilty of really on using stormtroopers. I have a theory that having helmets cover faces decreases animation cost and adr for syncing dialogue

[@Agent_3141]

@@GenerationTech That's exactly it. That's why all the officers had their hats covering their faces. They're all the same model

[@admiralkaede]

@@GenerationTech i mean army troopers do have masks they can wear and IMO they look sick but yea that's highly likely the reason

[@emilianomartorell3587]

Because Lucasfilm has too many cooks in the kitchen and some of them don’t put a lot of effort into paying attention to canon and include only Stormtroopers because nostalgia and so they can make stupid jokes about them having bad aim. Filoni is a big offender when it comes to this

[@truesonsofmandalore]

​@@GenerationTech it's that plus the fact that it's considered less brutal to show faceless bad guys being blasted or sliced up than humanized troops with no helmet. Imagine rebels showing army troopers getting got by Kanan and Ezra and not faceless stormies. Wouldn't hit the same.

[@alphatyrant8677]

I’ve always treated the split in Star Wars between the two as the army being mostly for occupation, defense, and extended campaigns while the stormtroopers are as the name might imply a shock unit. They are seen the most because we more often see the rebels under assault. They’re basically marines for the imperial navy.

[@donovanchau3483]

Well the Stormtroopers are also more politicized so I’d say they’re more like the Waffen SS, the leader’s personal army rather than an army for the people

[@thebighurt2495]

@@donovanchau3483 Palp's was probably always planning on replacing the Army with the Stormie eventually anyways

[@TheAwesomeDarkNinja]

I sort of just headcanon that the army grew smaller once the rebellion grew bigger. They couldn't count on forces that weren't stormtroopers to fight civilian forces.

[@gatomontes6766]

also the fact that most of the time when we see Imp ground forces in Rebels, theyre in high risk garrisons or carrying out attacks on rebel bases which, for the most part, werent large enough to require a lengthy siege or large ground forces, but could usually be routed with a strong stormtrooper assault unit who were able to respond quickly due to the fact they were already stationed on navy vessels

[@lordMartiya]

I'm now wondering how many Imperial Army troopers joined the Rebellion after Alderaan.

[@nebiyuesayas5600]

The Imperial Army is hella cool and I hope we see more of them. This early Imperial Era is really bringing some unique stuff to SW.

[@kingbooomer9231]

I think the events we see in the Original Trilogy is a very unique situation where, although very pivotal to the narrative, completely fails to reflect the average situation of the Imperial military during the OT. The main reason I think so is purely the presence of Darth Vader, who not only charges at the frontline with stormtroopers but has ultimate prestige as Palpatine’s lieutenant which allows him to run around with Stormtroopers all the time. Tatooine’s search party was made up of desert stormtroopers because they were directly under Vader’s command and Endor was more or less filled with Stormtroopers because Vader was garrisoned there. I think if you remove Vader and put in a Colonel or Lieutenant General of the Imperial military, the composition would differ significantly.

[@tpeack]

also note that the army is most likely used for conquest, in the original trilogy the empire is seen investigating tatooine guarding a superweapon seiging a base on hoth occupying bespin protecting a shield on endor. wheras in solo they're activly invading mimban and trying to conquer it, really i feel like the army should be massivly important early on as they bolster the GAR ranks and just sweep through the galaxy, with troopers and the like occupying worlds while the bulk of the army is elsewhere. plus the rebels would never fight the army, it's too massive compared to them to straight up fight, better to attack military ships or occupied places rather than fight on the open field.

[@kingbooomer9231]

@@tpeack I fairly agree with this sentiment (except for Hoth) as Vader would be sent on special operations alongside his stormtroopers. I feel with Hoth though, there absolutely should’ve been a larger Imperial Army to completely cut off the Rebel force (they weren’t there because Plot). Although they were relatively stylized for conquest, I don’t think Palpatine would’ve just kept them around for nothing and should’ve been using them to stomp out the rebellion, which I feel further reinforces my point that Vader’s presence alone shifted our perception of the OT as Stormtroopers are (supposed to be) elite units within the Empire

[@kingbooomer9231]

again I generally agree with your analysis though

[@tpeack]

@@kingbooomer9231 true, though iirc hoth was a botched job on the empires part, after ozzil came out of hyperspace too close, originally the engagement wasn't supposed to happen. so even though the siege was quick it was supposed to be over in an instant.

[@AAhmou]

@@kingbooomer9231 Hoth was a special case. The mountainous terrain around the planetary shield's perimeter didn't favour large scale deployment.

[@LMTran]

I actually think the Imperial Army uniform looks cooler than the default Stormtrooper. Wish we saw more of them after that scene on Mimban

[@brettcarter5954]

Once I got to see the 501st do a charity event. I asked one of the guys (imperial officer) why he chose to wear the officer uniform instead of dress as a stormtrooper. He said its hard to see in the stormtrooper armor and they needed someone to keep them from bumbing into people and things. Still, everyone "likes" seeing the stormtroopers in part because they are so iconic.

[@TheDougditto]

As usual, your insights were spot on. Also, thank you for having the courage to speak about the Tiananmen Square massacre. Very bold, since the CeeCeePee want’s to bury that incident at all costs.

[@bryanmiller8604]

The 3T’s of The CCP, Tiananmen Square massacre, Tibet, & Taiwan. China’s three strike policy for doing financial business with foreign governments, & financial sectors. Of course you need only get one strike, & your out when it comes to China’s standpoint on the issue. After all, according to them, by mentioning any of the above, you are directly interfering with the operations of their internal operations of government. Especially seen as a usurper, & militant on a good day, & an outright terrorist on an average day to be silenced, & crushed by any means. China, is, & has been for some time, the face of the Galactic Empire’s ideal that Sheev Palpatine, had hoped to create during his time when he was only Chancellor of The Republic, & still plotting to overthrow the galaxy’s largest government body. China too, uses its shadow tactics, like the Sith Lord, to play multiple roles, & sides in how our world’s politics, & policies play out, & to manipulate outside governments to maintain China’s power, & overextend its influence for absolute power, & control.

[@Jin-1337]

Unfortunately the CCP aren't the only ones doing this. Some do it discreetly through the basis of democracy and capitalism while supporting colonialism and ethnic cleansing like the US. What they share in common is that the people in power are usually atheist and or agnostic in nature among other similarities.

[@weylins]

Stormtroopers fill the same role as the Waffen-SS.

[@Drrck11]

I'm a little surprised we never saw a younger Moff Gideon in the ISB during the Andor series.

[@TheLiamster]

Yeah, he should have been part of the Supervisor meeting with Major Partegaz

[@tpeack]

tbf andor is 5bby, we don't know when the night of a thousand tears is but it's in that window so he's probably already dealing with the mandalorians, like how the isb go out into the field to deal with their sectors, his is a bit more important than like firaxes.

[@SmokesKwazukii]

i think of Stormtroopers as more of a security force, secret police type military element with an expeditionary aspect to their capabilities. they are used to occupy

[@indianajones4321]

Could you please also do a video covering the different variants and specialized soldiers in the Imperial Army. Perhaps do a comparison between specialized soldiers with specialized stormtrooper variants. For example, the Imperial Army does seem to better grasp the concept of camouflage compared to the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps. Keep up the great work GT!

[@yxngwood6536]

This would be nice to see

[@SashaTheDog]

Theres an old comic where they first showed up, you pretty much had officers, regular grunts, engineers and sapper units in it. Wonder if theres now more of such comics.

[@channel-7848]

Stormtroopers are a rarity. There are millions or maybe billions of Imperial army soldiers in the galaxy. We’ve seen enough of them for a while.

[@Crimson-kt7fd]

Personally wouldn't mind seeing either a Imperial Trooper or Stormtrooper core type series where it goes into the mindset and average life of one of these two and how the mindset of the Stormtroopers effects their personal lives in and outside of the service.

[@Zelo_1]

To sum it up, the Imperial Army was a ressource to burn in the continuations of the Clone Wars, while the Stormtrooper Corps was more suitable to invoke fear, enforce control and and fight rebel cells, which is why the imperial army was phased out when the last separatist holdouts were defeated.

[@chalk3323]

This is my first time watching, and I wanted to say I really like your grounded approach to the lore and how you tie things back to real world examples. It really makes things clear and even more interesting, and kinda gives a glimpse into what the development process might've been. Anyway, lovely video!

[@user-Jay178]

The imperial army is cool, hope we see them more.

[@charlesjermyn5001]

And even simplier: look which planets appear in the original trilogy: Tatooine (outer-rim), Yavin 4, Dagobah and Hoth (unhabited), Bespin (free trade planet) and Endor (wilde); it's like saying you didn't see N-Y cops in Normandy during WW2... well, legit x)

[@chillguy9971]

Almost as if they keep adding new previously unseen Imperial factions for the sake of merchandising

[@Amoschp524]

I always felt the troops on Endor represented the type of mix a unit of the Imperial Army had, in the movie stormtroopers were about a third of the troops present with the rest being a mix of different troops.

[@azeria1]

What I don’t get is why thawn is doing what’s he’s doing in Disney cannon since he wasn’t really on the empires good side by the time of the rebels final at least going by the books since his chiss loyalty’s where getting in the way and I think his relationship with palps was pretty rocky as well before the rebels final

[@Arkancide]

Accepting Disney canon as canon is your first mistake. 'Legends' is where the good stories are at. And where good characters are stolen from to be mutated and downgraded in the hands of Disney.

[@juancr4713]

@@Arkancide i feel weird watching legends,it has many things that weren't on the movies (the first ones)

[@Arkancide]

@@juancr4713 Watching? No no, READING. Legends is what all the books have been relegated to. Read the Thrawn Trilogy, the X-Wing series, and even I, Jedi and the like and you'll be better off. That's a subjective statement of course.

[@W4kT3k]

A big mistake in universe is the over use of stormtroopers and the huge lack of use of the Imperial army/navy The stormtroopers became a joke, and the army/navy nearly none existent. Thankfully movies like Solo and shows like Andor did it right, I wish Rogue One used the Imperial Army/Navy troops, at Jedha and on Scarif.

[@AdmiralBlackstar]

Jedha yes, but Scarif was a top tier facility with a planetary shield. They wouldn't have just any redshirts guarding it.

[@conalkeaveney9314]

Jedha was a where Saw Guerrara was operating so the stormtroopers were necessary there, Scarif was a high security outpost so needed stormtroopers there too

[@screenmonkey]

I think the issue is that, the Imperial Army was huge, but were only really seen at the battle of Hoth, as that was the only large scale land engagement, and the other times, the OT Heroes were dealing with the personal forces of Dath Vader hence we saw more Storm Trooper. Endor was also an anomally, as that was the Death Star and the Emperor was there, needing the forces of the Storm Trooper Corps.

[@VengeanceN7]

I was really excited to see the mudtroopers and imperial army in Solo cuz it was great to have some new variety beyond of variation of stormtrooper. I would love to see if the empire had different-looking army units depending on the region of space they were in and locale kind of like Warhammer and its imperial guard but hopefully not as chaoticly managed.

[@Khornecussion]

Crazy enough, Imperial Army came off as " Much more competent " to me. Stormtroopers were inaccurate, incompetent, yet egotistical. The main issue was their tactics. Seeing that scene in Solo made me realize how bad it got.

[@kevinbee03]

Shaved Alan doesn’t exist, he can’t hurt you Shaved Alan:

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Thanks for this makes perfect sense! And to add that is why autocratic regimes have such a hard time holding on to good people morally or otherwise.

[@theangryMD]

it didn't disappear, it simply wasn't featured by any of the writers. the assumption is that it has always been there. the stormtroopers were always assumed to be like marines, given the naval centric nature of the imperial military.

[@EliteAcademyEA]

I was literally just asking myself this same question. Great timing.

[@overlordminigun6346]

The imperial army was forgotten because some forgot to do the imperial guard approach of giving all the relevant divisions a cool look and theme

[@comradekenobi6908]

Yeah imagine the clone wars type regiments units stuff but for the imperial army Although we do see some of that variation in some stormtrooper units such as 501st

[@WardenWolf]

One thing you failed to mention is that the obvious solution to preventing troopers from having too much of an attachment is to never station them on their home planet. Always station them somewhere else and rotate them occasionally. This will ensure their loyalty does not become overly compromised by being sympathetic to the locals.

[@donovanchau3483]

That’s why the PLA would end up deploying units from all over the country whom they knew would have no strong connections to the crowd they’d end up firing upon. And once the fighting sparked, I think any inkling of sympathy disappeared as the stories I’ve heard about both sides were incredibly brutal.

[@Kingrizz69]

I had an awesome graphic novel as a teen that was about an imperial scout trooper who is a pretty hardline imperial he was left on endor and had survived for a few weeks on his supplies but eventually needed to move on.. expecting the imperials to come and get him he eventually runs into a rebel trooper who is also lost in endor after the battle, it’s an awesome story.

[@MrMusicboy91]

So let’s settle this debate: if storm troopers are the best why do they always miss horrible when shooting? Is it: A.) plot armor for the protagonists B.) the force working in mysterious ways C.) the troopers didn’t really want to hit their targets like soldiers do irl (US Army study during vietnam found only 25% of soldiers shoot to kill) Or D.) some explanation you all may have? Let’s open this up and settle it!

[@christophersmith8848]

They're actually just a realistic level of accuracy in a gunfight, unfortunately, they're up against the protagonists who never miss

[@silver4831]

Stormtroopers arn't conscripted civilans though.

[@tr4480]

I have a minor theory that the link between the optics on the stormtrooper helmet and the sights on their blasters was never quite synced properly. Rigorous use and abuse of equipment or just a bit of poor quality in manufacturing for the sake of greed caused some problems. I lean toward (A) in that the plot armor was simply too strong for blasters. On most occasions, stormtroopers were hitting their targets quite well, so long as it was a background NPC extra: i.e. rebels on the Tantive IV, the Scarif battle and so on. (I think someone actually did a spoof vid where the stormtroopers aim was enhanced and all the main characters, Han, Leia, Luke all met very bloody ends. Naturally that'd make for a short movie indeed!) Also, in ANH, it was almost as if they were instructed not to shoot to kill. Remember the scene where Vader and Tarkin are chatting about letting them escape so they could find the hidden rebel base? Of course Disney has to take the stormtroopers and turn them into one dimensional cardboard cutouts with all the striking power of a limp spaghetti noodle, because reasons (poor script writing.) And we don't want the audience to sympathize with the bad guys right? Of course this doesnt explain the appeal of the characters of Tarkin, Veers, Needa, Ozzel, Piett, Palpatine, and Vader.(RIP James Earl Jones). Oh and of course Timothy Zahns's version of Thrawn. Also the OT were NEVER kids friendly movies unless you are a sick twisted nutcase that thinks cutting off limbs, shooting other characters, hacking them apart or setting them on fire is your idea of a kids friendly movie series.

[@bltbrickstudio4862]

The Star Wars stormtrooper was based off of the German Stürmtruppen, who were sent in before jägers or pioniere, just as the stormtroopers were sent in before the army. The empire is heavily based off of the Kaiserreich/German Empire and the Third Reich/Nazi Germany

[@asator0505]

i appreciate the ü but you dont need it here :D

[@walnzell9328]

In Legends, the ISB was the intelligence branch of COMPNOR, yes. But they also had their own stormtroopers. They weren't very common, but they existed. The stormtrooper corps can be easily labeled as the Empire's version of the Waffen-SS. The ISB's stormtoopers, however, I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps the Ordnungspolizei. The police force of Nazi Germany that had replaced normal local police with militarized fanatics. However, the regular stormtroopers seem to already fill this role. I guess the ISB's stormtroopers could be better characterized as the gustapo's personal SWAT officers.

[@briandowers851]

Your videos are getting deep. Any parallels you can draw between Star Wars and our world’s history are greatly enjoyable.

[@PickleRick65]

When you look at how the Stormtroopers were just Thrown at Everything, the Last place you would want to be is in the Stormtrooper Corps

[@donaldcissell7164]

I think that it should be noted that the PLA troops that did finally carry out the order to clear Tiananmen Square were from Outer Mongolia. The CCP was keenly aware that many reservists, troops and even officers were either part of, had joined, or were face to face with friends and family among the protesters. The CCP came to believe that the soldiers of the 38th would not carry out orders to clear the square…, especially if it meant using force to do so. This led to the 38th Combined Corps being ordered back to their barracks and their positions were simultaneously remanned by new troops from outside the Beijing area shortly before the massacre.

[@Lorem_ipsum2028]

I wish stormtroopers were more like andors stormtroopers, small or medium groups that are very deadly it would've been cool if the imperial officer outfits were the main military outfit and the storm/death troopers were the special boys that actually had meaning and would be seen as a danger

[@praporbarton3961]

Great to see you cover this topic, those few minutes in Solo might be my favourite depiction of battle in SW cinema

[@mixmix1487]

Great info, with the exception of the Marine Corp analogy. It would Inca f be quite the opposite. Marines are a self contained branch filled with special detachments. These make up the MAGTF, MSSG, etc. Yes, the require the Navy for transport (Marines being a department of them). I won’t bore with details, but this is also why they are called, “the presidents own, guard embassies and nuclear sites, Marine One Helicopter, MSG, etc. they are more “cultural” loyal to county based off lore and tradition. They would in fact be more of what Thrawn would have structured.

[@beachcomberbob3496]

About half way through I thought I'd jumped into a documentary about WW2 and the Nazi German forces structure. Just substitute the words Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS and Gestapo, and you pretty much have the same organisation.

[@hunterkiller1440]

No wonder I thought Starkiller clone looked so goofy when he was wielding two lightsabers together at the same time.

[@everythingsalright1121]

The short answer is that they're a lot more sci fi, spooky looking due to their soulless-ness, and recognizable. As well as the older movies hadnt exapanded the lore as much. The lore answer...well, the video explains that fairly well and ive seen some comments here chip in good theories

[@lingoistj1956]

I love Allen's analysis of Star Wars lore! He uses an understanding of history, politics, and sociology to explain the "human" element in the Star Wars universe. It makes it more relatable and interesting than just a "war in the stars".

[@nolancummings9590]

“Like the marine corps” shows Canadian Mechanized Infantry

[@Darth_Xionn]

They really need to explore the Imperial Army more in future stuff, maybe a full book series. They're very underused outside of Andor, and the brief Solo scenes.

[@cmyaj]

Ooo, a new Generation Tech video! Let's see what this one's aboOOOO GOOD HEAVENS - what'd you do with Alan?!?

[@justinjones7604]

I still don't understand why they got rid of clones. They more they literally programmable humans with no loyalty to a home world and year of combat experience from birth. Yea they cost more but all I see is plus with clones

[@a7x_nomadiceagle482]

So the stormtroopers were basically marines? Interesting

[@GaminSnake]

3:59 you’re welcome…. I was secretly eating and couldn’t skip

[@GoatGuitars6]

Thanks bro

[@walkadacracka348]

rip bro’s social credit score

[@connor9024]

Legends era galactic imperial era army logistics has got to be the deepest I’ve ever been down the Star Wars lore iceberg. This makes the infinite empire seem like the shallow end of a pool by comparison

[@novustalks7525]

I didn’t even know there was an imperial army beyond the stormtroopers

[@Thelordmagedon]

RIP to the Best Beard in the Star Wars KZbinr Community

[@luckywalker2419]

Did anyone else notice that his beard shifted around to the back of his head ?😂

[@GenerationTech]

🤣

[@MyelinProductions]

Another Great video! Thank You! Well Done. ~ Be Safe out there folks. ~ Peace & Health to Us All.

[@DavidHernandez-wz3vo]

You bring joy to my life and keep Star Wars in my heart. Thank you.

[@joshuaradick5679]

This reminds me of why Iran relies more on, and better equips, the Revolutionary Guard which is loyal to the Ayatollah instead of its own army.

[@GenerationTech]

They also own a ton of commercial and industrial entities. It’s a massive faction.

[@joshuaradick5679]

@@GenerationTech I guess that would be like the Storm Trooper corps owning Kuat Drive Yards or something

[@dylanrivera2244]

Before Yavin: sorry but only the best become stormtroopers After Yavin: alright now everyone gets to be a stormtrooper

[@GregPrice-ep2dk]

The problem with any fascist regime isn't the minority of "true believers" who support the system OR the minority of resisters/rebels, but the silent majority who are just trying to get by and therefore choose to remain silent.

[@lolmeme69_]

You said it best.

[@juancabardo21]

I guess maybe after the Empire realized the Rebels were a threat, they decided to deploy stormtroopers instead.

[@user_name_redacted]

Not sure if it's the case, but I always saw Stormtroopers as Naval Infantry as opposed to the army. They are always garrisoned on spacecraft or stations, and are kitted out in void suits with life support for ship and space fighting.

[@SamuelMcCloud]

The Chad Imperial Army vs The Virgin Storm Trooper core

[@owenlilly]

I would really love a movie set into the imperial army trooper perspective seeing trench charges and all these cool things

[@fdsajfldaskjf]

I was not prepared for beardless Allen.

[@foxtrotnine]

I don't know about you guys, but I just don't picture stormtroopers doing 30 mile marches with a 150 pound pack and digging foxholes.

[@mysteryneophyte]

I don’t even see how any lore still holds together at this point

[@АлексейМомот-щ7о]

It doesn't. Old lore is just overwritten by new lore.

[@raymondcoventry1221]

because whoever is in charge from day to day thinks stormtroopers = empire to the point where they are used as mall security guards. it's like they saw episode IV's temporary garrison in mos eisley and thought is was permanent, not just a detachment from Vader's ship

[@MajorCarvia]

Funny thing, in the alphabet squadron books, the imperial army is also shown in various remnant states after Endor

[@SenorUnbroken]

So because the army consisted of natives of said planet they were defended, they were a liability that palpatine didn’t want to deal with. That’s a good summary then right?

[@baneofbanes]

Basically.

[@comradekenobi6908]

There's also the armies send to conquer rebellious planets who are often not native to it

[@ComCommie]

Really fun video, it is interesting to see the tiananmen square thing being brought up however as they simply weren't ordered to fire against the protesters and from the entire event only a handful people died as opposed to the thousands that goes around often

[@NYG5]

Army soldiers need to be the standard enemy, split between field operating units and support/military police. Stormtroopers should not be doing mundane jobs like guarding nobody prisoners in a nobody planet, looking at you Rogue One. Stormtroopers are the armed wing of the Emperor's party, all volunteers. Highly politicized shock troops that would have their own heavy equipment, but by definition cannot be omnipresent in huge numbers. Imperial Navy troopers should be as common or more common than Stormtroopers. The Navy is also a heavily volunteer force that is the opposite of the Army, constantly moving across the galaxy and being a mix of its citizens. You should see them more involved as they handle galaxy wide logistics, and would be more detached from local populations. Both services handle the every day operations, but Stormtroopers could be relied on to ensure the latter adheres to the Emperor's orders, or by extension of the Emperor, the Moffs or other political agency. If the Emperor could make the entire military a naval and ground Stormtrooper organization, he would, but you just can't volunteer that many people for such a die hard organization to the same size as the traditional system, especially if abolishing the Army and Navy leads to galaxy wide revolt when systems recognize the centralization power grab.

[@poil8351]

personally i would rather be nabbed off the streets by a stormtrooper than an isb agent. better to die quickly in a blaze of glory than be tortured by some twisted psycho space gestapo agent who gets a kick using all sorts of sadistic methods.

[@PickleRick65]

Allen can't be a Fascist, he's never at any of the meetings...

[@Gabiman66]

really high quality video, enjoyed!

[@justincameron9661]

Legends Thrawn is the GOAT

[@paulbirkner2997]

8:47 "How to get the CCP to put a bounty on your head"

[@tyburrows7090]

always loved the Loyalty officer's concept of just how paranoid the whole system was. and that even the ranks were kept in line with fear.