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| 12 | FridgeLogic can be found on the [[Headscratchers/StarWarsTheCloneWars Headscratchers]] page. |
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| 14 | !!FridgeBrilliance |
| 15 | |
| 16 | * The Trade Federation, Banking Clan, and Techno Union are shown as pro-Separatist in the films and yet, they are constantly telling people that they're neutral in ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]''. However, Obi-Wan was the only person in the Republic around when the corporations declare their allegiance to Dooku back in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones''. Since the Senate only has [[YouHaveToBelieveMe Obi-Wan's word to go on]], Lott Dodd and the other [[MegaCorp senators representing]] [[OneNationUnderCopyright the different companies]] publicly disavowed their pro-Separatist leaders such as Gunray. This way, the corporations have PlausibleDeniability in order to [[PlayingBothSides play both sides]] while Nute Gunray, Wat Tambor and the other leaders who declared their support for Dooku remain in power as [[TheManBehindTheMan The Men Behind The Men]] with Lott Dodd and the others serving as {{Puppet King}}s. |
| 17 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E11LightsaberLost Lightsaber Lost]]", a common complaint is that Ahsoka doesn't just use the Force to disarm Cassie Cryar after the latter steals her lightsaber. Ahsoka is obviously in too much of a rush to slow down and think logically. Now, what was [[AnAesop the Aesop]] of this episode again? [[ShowDontTell That's right]]. |
| 18 | ** In a similar way, General Grievous gets away with fighting Jedi in lightsaber combat without being overpowered by Force abilities. Due to his reputation, the Jedi are too afraid, disgusted, or both to think straight. If Grievous ever fought a Jedi who can think straight in his presence, he'd lose quickly. A good couple examples are in "Grievous Intrigue": In order to enter the sealed bridge of the Star Destroyer ''Steadfast'', Grievous cuts a hole with his lightsaber and then a few seconds later violently pushed the cut-off piece inside without Jedi Master Eeth Koth, who was on the other side and would go on stating his open disgust for Grievous, using the Force to push the large piece of metal in Grievous' face (he wouldn't think to use the Force until much later, after the Clone Troopers with him had already been killed and he was locked in a duel with Grievous, and by doing that he simply exposed himself to Grievous' [=MagnaGuards=] electrocuting him); later during the operation to rescue Koth Obi-Wan ''makes almost the same error'' (almost: Grievous sped-up the boarding and didn't give him time to push the door in his face) and part of the reason it ends with Grievous on the run was that he had prepared his Clone Troopers better to face Grievous back-up and managed to fight him without [=MagnaGuards=]. |
| 19 | * Obi-Wan, upon seeing a hologram of Savage Opress in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E14WitchesOfTheMist Witches of the Mist]]", initially thinks he's looking at Darth Maul and says so. At first, it seems as if he thinks all Zabraks (Maul's species) look alike or that he was the only one of his kind, so it seems a pretty stupid thing for him to say. But later, we learn that [[spoiler:Savage is Maul's ''brother'']]. [[YMMV/StarWarsTheCloneWars Your mileage may vary]] concerning this RetCon and it may really bug you, but if there's [[spoiler:a family resemblance between Maul]] and Savage then Obi-Wan mistaking one for the other makes a lot more sense. There's also the possibility that it was a response driven by emotion rather than logic. He's obviously rattled, albeit in his usual [[TheStoic stoic]] way. Maybe the sight of a Zabrak killing Jedi instantly brought Darth Maul into his thoughts, knocking the rational part of his brain briefly off-kilter. Also, all holograms are blue in ''Star Wars'', which means that Obi-Wan couldn't see his skin color so that he couldn't have known that Savage's skin was yellow and brown instead of red and black like Maul's. This may further explain Obi-Wan's mistake. |
| 20 | ** Savage, unlike the Zabrak in the Jedi Council that Obi-Wan is familiar with, have the markings and skin tattoos that Maul had. The guy was bulkier than Maul sure, but there was a clear similarity beyond the murder and weapon. |
| 21 | * Why does Savage use a double-bladed lightsaber? Dooku must have given it to him, he trained him after all. Dooku is an absolute master of the second form of lightsaber combat, Makashi, a form that has a weakness to power attacks, something Savage could be devastating with. If you are to fight with a double-bladed lightsaber, you'll likely train in Form VI, Niman, or VII, Juyo, ones that do not utilize power attacks (and it's harder to do power attacks with a double-bladed weapon anyway). Dooku knew Savage could be a great threat, and weakened him from the beginning. |
| 22 | * Creator/SamWitwer: |
| 23 | ** A meta-version, as this happened during the production — the Son is the embodiment of the Dark Side of the Force, and Creator/SamWitwer was cast as him ''because'' he voiced Starkiller in ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', which was confirmed to Witwer as "Son is the Dark Side of the Force, so you might hear a little bit of Starkiller's voice in him". Witwer's response was that then you should hear elements of ''all'' of the different Dark Side characters, because in a sense, Son is all of those characters. |
| 24 | ** Additional meta brilliance, in the same game he also voiced [[ActingForTwo the Emperor]]. There really is more than one darksider in his voice. Indeed, at some points, Son's voice changes into Palpatine's. |
| 25 | ** And it gets even better now that he's also voicing [[spoiler:Darth Maul]]. |
| 26 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E22HostageCrisis Hostage Crisis]]", Cad Bane breaks into the Senate, takes a dozen senators hostage... all so he can free that whiny pile of crap Ziro the Hutt? That's it? But in season two, it all makes sense. Jabba hired Bane to get Ziro free. The whole point was to show what lengths Bane would go to in order to complete his mission. ''He broke into the Senate just to do some second rate job. HOLY. CRAP.'' That makes Sidious hiring him in season two all the more suspenseful. Since if that was what he went through to do Jabba's job, then what will he do to accomplish Sidious' ones? |
| 27 | * The Umbara arc and the clone troopers: |
| 28 | ** "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E10CarnageOfKrell Carnage of Krell]]" seems odd, since it is all about clone troopers disobeying orders in order to [[spoiler:kill the traitorous Jedi giving them]], especially since this is the 501[-[[superscript:st]]-], who would eventually raid the Jedi Temple. But Krell is exactly why they did it. Anakin is the Jedi they trust the most, and if he says the others have betrayed the Republic, Rex and the others would believe him. [[spoiler:And they were the only clone troopers to have fought Jedi before]]. It still is impressive irony. |
| 29 | ** It also demonstrates the inherent problem of Order 66 as a legal order. It's clear that the clone troopers would rather have Krell alive and put on trial to explain himself, rather than simply killing him at first sight like they will do to other Jedi. Rex, despite being given the authority to execute Krell and having [[HateSink every reason to do so]], can't pull the trigger and Krell mocks him for it. If this had been Order 66, the hesitation would be enough for the Jedi general to escape and the clone commander dead. This is all foreshadowing that Order 66 is not a normal order, but rather a secret biochip command code that overrides the clone troopers' free will and makes them openly attack Jedi on sight. |
| 30 | ** It also further demonstrates the lie about the control chips: "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS6E2Conspiracy Conspiracy]]" indicates that the Kaminoans believe the chips are a contingency for dealing with rogue Jedi. If that were truly the case, then the events of "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E10CarnageOfKrell Carnage of Krell]]" would have been the perfect situation for those chips to be activated... but they weren't (assuming the Kaminoans believe that the chips are supposed to activate automatically). |
| 31 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E10CarnageOfKrell Carnage of Krell]]", we see a transmission from a clone trooper in the field warning Rex's battalion about Umbaran soldiers capturing clone uniforms and weapons, leading Rex and Waxer's troops to open fire on each other, mistaking each other for Umbarans in disguise. It turns out that the intel was really a ploy by Krell to pit the clone troopers against each other, which brings up the question on how the clone trooper who made the original transmission came across the false information in the first place. It's possible the Umbarans really were planning to attack in disguise and Krell merely took advantage of the opportunity — but then again, being a Jedi and all, he could have used a mindtrick on a clone trooper and planted the misleading intel in his head so that the clones would assume it was coming from a reliable source. |
| 32 | ** It's said near the end that Krell had sabotaged the transmitter, so presumably he programmed a fake message. Notably, when the clone finishes speaking, Krell doesn't respond to him and simply shuts the transmission off. |
| 33 | * Krell tricking the clone trooper battalions into shooting each other, by saying that the enemy is wearing their uniforms, neatly summarizes the tragedy of the Clone Wars as whole. Both sides of the war got manipulated by Palpatine and by the time they realize the truth, it's already too late. |
| 34 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E13Monster Monster]]", Mother Talzin warns Count Dooku that men are "easy to acquire, harder to control". Fast-forward to the end of the next episode, and both Dooku and Ventress, who had taken Savage's loyalty for granted, manage to lose him, while Mother Talzin is the one Savage turns to when he feels that everybody else has betrayed him. As it turns out, it seems that the whole trilogy of episodes was a gambit by the old witch to "acquire" the most powerful of "her" Nightbrothers and ensuring that he only stays loyal to her. "Easy to acquire, harder to control" indeed. |
| 35 | ** It might seem odd that the Nightsisters would be willing to give some of their brothers to the Sith to train; they have little to gain from it, as they're quite powerful on their home planet. However, that's the point; their power is largely tied to Dathomir. Allowing some of their number to be trained as Sith allows them to have a wider reach in the galaxy and, presumably, some defense against external forces (not that it did much good in the end). |
| 36 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E1CloneCadets Clone Cadets]]", Shaak Ti remarks that Echo fails to adapt to the simulation training known as the Citadel. The Jedi fortune cookie for "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E18TheCitadel The Citadel]]" is "Adaptation is the key to survival." And guess who doesn't survive the episode after that? |
| 37 | ** Ironically, he ends up being the only member of Domino Squad to survive the Clone War. |
| 38 | * Vizsla vs Obi-Wan: |
| 39 | ** How exactly did Pre Vizsla, a non-Jedi with a Jedi weapon and barely a match for Ahsoka, manage to hold his own against Obi-Wan Kenobi? Well, Satine was watching them, and Obi-Wan is extremely averse to courses of actions that would make her despise him, use of lethal force among them. Hence why he let Vizsla take the offensive, dodging and blocking his blows until he could see an opportunity to disarm him or bring him down using only his fists. |
| 40 | ** In the EU, Obi-Wan is established as preferring Form III, which is all about defense and ''The Clone Wars'' seems to be tacitly following that bit of characterization since he tends to do more blocking and deflecting, and generally fights more defensively than Anakin or Ahsoka. So his "default setting" was to let Vizsla take the offensive... which is where a Mandalorian warrior is most at home. Ahsoka, trained by Anakin, is a much more offensive fighter and gave Vizsla a much harder time because he's used to being on the attack. |
| 41 | * Why did the writers give Darth Maul only a single-bladed lightsaber, when his non-canon counterpart in ''Old Wounds'' used a double-bladed lightsaber effectively, despite having the same kind of robotic legs? The DoubleWeapon, Maul's IconicItem, represents who he once was; the single blade, the remnant of his DoubleWeapon, represents ''what he's become''. In a way, the broken lightsaber is a metaphor for Maul himself. Both Maul and his lightsaber were cut in half by Obi-Wan. Both lost much of their potential. But both, when reactivated, are still fearsome killing machines. |
| 42 | * Why did Maul never rebuild his double-bladed lightsaber, or build a new one, or even order Savage to hand over his? His lightsaber is an extension of himself and neither will be whole until his vengeance against Obi-Wan is complete. |
| 43 | ** This is all but confirmed by [[spoiler:Season 7]] as well as [[spoiler:his appearance in ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]'', both of which have him using a double-bladed lightsaber again]]. |
| 44 | * How does Ahsoka, who had not been established as a mechanic before, suddenly have the skills to repair a shuttle during the Mortis arc after it was crashed when Anakin was standing right there? No idea about Anakin, but he might have been troubled by the entire series of events that Ahsoka had no memory of. Ahsoka, on the other hand, has the Republic's best mechanic as a teacher. Why wouldn't Anakin teach her mechanical skills, besides the fact that she may need them in the future? We saw a hint of this back in the Geonosis arc when Ahsoka mentioned offhand about being taught to hotwire a signal, so it is logical to conclude that Anakin tried to pass on his mechanical skills to his Padawan. And these skills could be useful in the war if she has to say, repair her starfighter in a pinch after a Vulture gets lucky or to hotwire an escape route for the clone troopers. |
| 45 | * In one of the trailers for the fifth season, there's a character who states "some citizens of the Republic do not believe the Jedi are what they used to be" to Ahsoka. Now, think back to "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E11LightsaberLost Lightsaber Lost]]", when Ahsoka was hanging from that holoboard. Although it was background noise, Palpatine's speech on it was essentially saying that the idea that the Jedi Order started the war for their own power was impossible and inconceivable... and who would benefit from that idea mulling in people's heads? That's right, Palpatine. ''The Clone Wars'' is not only setting up the Republic to fall to the Empire; they are setting up ''why'' so many people are willing to follow Palpatine into forging an Empire, and we see it piece by seemingly unconnected piece. |
| 46 | * Why would Maul consider Dooku a Sith pretender? Because Dooku was previously a Jedi before joining the Sith, as opposed to Maul, who was trained in the ways of the Dark Side from birth. |
| 47 | * In ''The Clone Wars''' [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsMovie pilot movie]] and early season one episodes, the vehicles on the Separatist side are colored blue, and the ones on the Republic side are red, white and green. As the series goes on, notice how the Republic starts getting bluer vehicles and even an entire blue division in the 501[-[[superscript:st]]-]. It's symbolic of the two sides being united under the surreptitious banner of evil. |
| 48 | * A small one, but when Maul is talking to Almec in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E15ShadesOfReason Shades of Reason]]", a Mandalorian tries to kill Savage by surprise... and misses. Another case of mook incompetence at first, but the Mandalorian directly went for the headshot because he knew that nothing else would be effective against Savage's armor, and he missed. That was smart. |
| 49 | * Final duels: |
| 50 | ** If you rewatch the duel between Savage Opress, Darth Maul and Darth Sidious, you'll realize that it's exactly the same as the battle between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Maul back in ''The Phantom Menace''. First it's a 2 vs 1 duel, until Maul is briefly pushed back from the fight, leaving Savage alone against Sidious, resulting in his death. The look on Maul's face is heartbreaking. Then, you realize that he finally understands the pain he caused Obi-Wan by killing his master and his former lover. |
| 51 | ** More irony than just that: in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E15ShadesOfReason Shades of Reason]]", Maul waltzes into the Mandalore throne room and usurps Vizsla from power. In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E16TheLawless The Lawless]]", Palpatine shows up and does the same thing. |
| 52 | ** And yet more irony: in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E1Revival Revival]]", Maul quotes the Rule of Two to Savage to assert his superiority. In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E16TheLawless The Lawless]]", Sidious quotes the same thing before [[ElectricTorture blasting him with lightning]]. |
| 53 | ** Why does Maul refrain from [[FightsLikeANormal using his Force powers or blaster bolt reflection]] against Vizsla during their duel? Because in addition to Mandalorians showing respect for skill at arms, his abilities with the Force never extended outside of the basic telekinetic pull and choke. He literally has to fight on their terms, hence why the duel is so evenly matched. |
| 54 | * What made Barriss lose faith in the Jedi? Remember in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E6WeaponsFactory Weapons Factory]]", when Ahsoka and Barriss were trapped in the Separatist tank under a ton of rubble, Anakin was doing whatever he could to save them, while Luminara didn't even bother. Barriss probably found out about this development and concluded that the Clone Wars have corrupted the Jedi. |
| 55 | * A lot of people wonder why Anakin, the Chosen One, is having a hard time against Barriss, even with his dual lightsabers and his strength, but then you realize that he's holding back because he needs her alive to save Ahsoka, and you can't exactly get a confession from a corpse. Additionally, raw power does not translate to skill. Anakin may be ''stronger'' than Barriss, but their levels of skill are clearly comparable. |
| 56 | * Anakin, Ahsoka, and ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'': |
| 57 | ** The added bit of FridgeBrilliance kicks in with "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E20TheWrongJedi The Wrong Jedi]]". Considering how fast the Council was to accuse Ahsoka and howl for her head on flimsy evidence without allowing her to defend herself, there’s little wonder Anakin wouldn't trust them as far as he could pitch them and why he had ''very'' good reason to believe they'd throw Padmé under a bus and jump to conclusions about Palpatine. And if they were willing to execute an innocent teenage girl, then what was he going to face for ''actually'' being guilty of violating the Order's brutal "no attachment" law? Furthermore, when she leaves the Order, there goes his MoralityPet and someone he could be honest with. He's stuck with Obi-Wan, who (he believes) very much bought into the dogma and who he could ''not'' be truthful with. Of course, the tragic irony is that Obi-Wan already knew about him and Padme, but Palpatine's been working on Anakin to get him not to trust anyone else. |
| 58 | ** The entire series' treatment of Anakin characterization-wise is a genius bit of re-contextualization of how he is in the Prequel Trilogy. ''The Clone Wars'' goes out of its way to present the better, more noble and genuinely cool side of Anakin, which can be brought out by his relationship with Ahsoka, who forces him to be more mature and (slightly) emotionally well rounded (compared to how creepy and borderline psychotic he would get in ''Revenge of the Sith''). But when he loses her, the one person that was having an honest-to-Force good effect on him psychologically (even Padmé couldn't do that!), he starts to regress back to his old temperament until ''Revenge of the Sith'', [[ForegoneConclusion and we all know what happened then]]. In conclusion, this troper now likes to think ''The Clone Wars'' was trying to reinterpret Anakin's portrayal in the Prequel Trilogy’s films as only ''one'' facet of who he is: the negative side brought out by the incredibly stressful events going on in those films, but ''The Clone Wars'' presents us the TRUE depiction of Anakin Skywalker. This also retroactively makes him a lot more sympathetic since it's now the equivalent of seeing only his really bad days when there's really so much more to this man. |
| 59 | * Anakin's tendency to crash anything he flies is this when one considers how out of universe [[http://www.livescience.com/10679-psychology-darth-vader-revealed.html Anakin Skywalker has been diagonosed with Borderline Personality Disorder]], which has as a symptom reckless driving. |
| 60 | ** His reputation as a great pilot is because no one can hit him because no one knows what the hell he's doing. |
| 61 | * Most fans might complain about Mama, since it implied Hutts had parents when the expanded universe says Hutts produce asexually. However, in one of the expanded ''Star Wars'' comics, it was established that some Hutts were known to take mates with each other, such as Gorga and Anachro. |
| 62 | ** Hutts are actually hermaphrodites, and can reproduce either on their own or with a mate. |
| 63 | * Mandalorian code and Death Watch: |
| 64 | ** Mandalorian fans have been known to comment that the Mandalorians are acting out of character in this series, a far cry from all the nobility that Karen Traviss has portrayed them as having. But Death Watch are terrorists. After all, when do Al-Qaeda or the IRA follow their creeds to their letter during bombings? Just like real life terrorist groups, the Death Watch is selectively choosing what parts of the Mandalorian code to follow. |
| 65 | ** In fact, the depiction of Death Watch in this series is actually pretty close to pre-Traviss depictions of Mandalorians in general from the ''Legends'' continuity. In ''Legends'', Mandalorians were established as repeated ''willing allies'' of the '''Sith''', literally deifying war, committing multiple acts of conquest, enslavement, murder of civilians, and even outright ''genocide'', and were pretty much ruthless killers for the sheer love of killing. When their empire was shattered by the Jedi stopping their campaigns of conquest, they became mercenaries purely for the opportunity to keep fighting and be paid for doing so. The vaunted Mandalorian code of honor that Traviss [[CreatorsPet loved to write about]] never existed until she created it, and was retconned into the greater ''Legends'' continuity — even then, it was something that came about only a decade or so before the Clone Wars broke out, and which was initially a small movement. |
| 66 | ** Even when Mandalorians have been depicted as ProudWarriorRaceGuys (as in the ''Knights of the Old Republic'' games), they still have a rather BlueAndOrangeMorality, with the idea front-and-center that violence and conflict are good things. And for every Mandalorian who wholeheartedly believed in the codes of honor, there were three who only paid lip service and five who didn't give a shit as long as they could pound someone's face in. |
| 67 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E20TheWrongJedi The Wrong Jedi]]", after Ahsoka has been cleared of the charges, Mace Windu tells her that the Council believes it was the will of the Force, for things to turn out like this. In the light of how they abandoned her earlier, this might sound as an incredibly rude attempt to shrug off their responsibility, but when you consider how much of the events depended on mere chance and coincidence, it's hard to disagree. It's almost as if the Force ''wanted'' Ahsoka to leave the Jedi Order, before [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Order 66 was issued]]. |
| 68 | * The Order 66 arc reveals that Order 66 isn't just an order, but a physical chip inside the head of every clone trooper that drives them against their will to murder Jedi. It's no wonder the clone troopers so gladly carried it out. |
| 69 | ** It's also an ''organic'' chip, a bit more complicated than a normal one... but also unaffected by the EMP grenades the clones use all the time to fight droids. |
| 70 | * Some have pointed out that Anakin gives Ahsoka far too much freedom, but when one recalls Anakin's own apprenticeship to Obi-Wan, this makes a lot of sense. Anakin didn't like his apprenticeship, so he is going the opposite way with his Padawan. |
| 71 | ** Smartly, this is also shown to work against him when Ahsoka gets a little too fast and loose with orders later on and he's forced to admit he let her out on too long of a leash. It requires him to recognize that restraint and obedience are sometimes necessary when other lives are at stake. This maturation and insight likely contributed substantially to allowing him to empathize and understand Obi-Wan's position and improving their friendship. |
| 72 | ** And it is also undoubtedly part of why Yoda and the Council gave him a Padawan, especially a headstrong Padawan in the first place. As any teacher in any galaxy could tell you, there's nothing like teaching to gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for the subject you're teaching. And there's nothing like raising a child yourself to make you understand all those seemingly ridiculous rules your parent(s) imposed on you. And once Ahsoka was Knighted, Anakin would've had to learn how to let go of someone who'd been in his life for years. Helping him get over his attachment. ''Brilliant.'' |
| 73 | * At the end of the Order 66 arc, after [[BitchInSheepsClothing Chancellor Palpatine]] is done talking, Yoda can be seen giving him a bit of a subtle side-eye. Given the Jedi Council is already suspicious of the Chancellor by the time ''Revenge of the Sith'' starts, the strange incident with the clone troopers may have been one of the factors that raised red flags. |
| 74 | * One of the few times Palpatine looks annoyed in the entire series is when Mandalore and its allied systems successfully remain neutral. Since he controls both the Republic and the Separatists, it doesn't matter which side wins any given battle — but if a powerful group stays out of the conflict, he can't control them. This is also why he went to fight Darth Maul personally. He needed Mandalore handled quickly and efficiently, and couldn't trust that either side would be able to manage it without disrupting his plans. |
| 75 | * Why did it take Barriss longer to be affected by the cold than the clone troopers while she was mind controlled by a Geonosian brain worm? In the ''Legends'' continuity, her race comes from a cold (and dry) planet, meaning her body is better suited to withstanding them than the baseline human clone troopers. |
| 76 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E22LethalTrackdown Lethal Trackdown]]", Plo Koon states that "We [The Jedi] ''are'' Justice." This seems like a statement to try and counter his opponent, or even to try and get them to help, but it eerily echoes a certain line that is featured in ''Revenge of the Sith'': "I ''am'' the Senate!" Given that it came out of Plo, Filoni's favorite character, it was likely an intentional hint that the Jedi are starting to fall, a theme that is explored in many later episodes as the Jedi do more and more questionable things. |
| 77 | * ''The Clone Wars'' as a whole, if you look at it, starts out with a fairly straightforward Republic = good, Separatists = bad layout. As time goes on, more and more shades of grey are added, as we learn that there are good and bad people on both sides, and that both sides are being manipulated by the same parties — exactly as the people fighting that war start to get changed by the conflict, frequently for the worse. As the true shape and direction of the war is revealed to the audience, so does the series get darker. In-universe, people become more cynical as the war seems to drag on without end. |
| 78 | * This is more FridgeBrilliance for ''Star Wars'' in general, but Captain Rex and other clone troopers are frequently fighting GunsAkimbo throughout the series. The reason is that most of the arguments against GunsAkimbo don't apply to ''Star Wars'' weapons. The decreased accuracy doesn't matter as much when blasters are notoriously inaccurate, and the awkwardness of reloading with two full hands is moot when you don't need to reload. |
| 79 | ** Also, clone troopers and bounty hunters are the most likely to be using GunsAkimbo. Why? Because the biggest draw of GunsAkimbo is that it's twice the amount of shots that a single gun would have, and clone troopers and bounty hunters are the most likely to face overwhelming numbers which need the firepower, i.e. legions of Separatist droids, or legions of law enforcement officers. |
| 80 | ** Finally, their template in Jango Fett used guns akimbo often in Film/AttackOfTheClones. |
| 81 | * When Ahsoka is accused of terrorism and goes on the lam to clear her name, she calls Barriss and chats. Barriss keeps her on the line. To ''stall''. That's an obvious possibility, but she doesn't stall because she's loyal to the Order, she stalls because she's the culprit. |
| 82 | ** Also, she says she has a "clue", and Ahsoka asks her how. Barriss vaguely says she "did some checking" and directs Ahsoka to an isolated location where she can be ambushed. Oh, and as Ahsoka points out, she doesn't even know what she's supposedly looking for. She'd be searching indefinitely, which is plenty of time for Barriss to sneak out. |
| 83 | ** When Ahsoka fights the mysterious stranger, not only is she wearing a different cloak, and outfit, but she doesn't say a single word and fights in a very utilitarian, defensive, and sneaky fashion. She even gives her position away by igniting her lightsabers too early, unlike Ventress' earlier successful ambush, where she only used the lightsabers for intimidation. She spends more time using her Force powers than her lightsabers, and when she does, she tends to use them singly, not in tandem, almost like she's not used to using two and doesn't think she can beat Ahsoka directly. Quite out of character, if Ahsoka had been paying attention instead of fighting for her life. |
| 84 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E17TheBox The Box]]", Cad Bane shoots a bounty hunter just for his hat. KickTheDog? Sure. But there's more to it than that — he establishes his credentials as a badass who shouldn't be messed with (an excellent thing to do when about to compete for his life), removes one of the competition, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and gets a nice hat, too]]. |
| 85 | * It's often said that the Separatists lost the war because they were sabotaged by Sidious, as otherwise their numerical superiority would have won them the war, but aside for that nobody can point any evidence... But we can see it in action in many episodes: |
| 86 | ** In the [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsMovie pilot movie]], a mere four [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/AV-7_Anti-vehicle_Artillery_Cannon AV-7 cannons]] mop the floor with a corps-level force, and they were already so infamous that [[OhCrap the mere mention of the cannons made the Separatist commander on Christophsis, Whorm Loathsom, realize his forces were toast]] without the [[DeflectorShields theatre shield in place]]. Why didn't the Separatist procure anything to match such a devastating weapon? Because Sidious was keeping them from doing so. |
| 87 | *** This is made worse by the fact the AT-TE walkers have a very similar weapon, with the AV-7 being merely the towed equivalent. The Separatists experienced the power of the Republic's artillery since the start, yet they never distributed to their troops anything to match. |
| 88 | *** And to make things even worse... the Separatists ''did'' have the ability to develop their own equivalent, the [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Defoliator Defoliator]], whose shells have the advantage of only hitting organic matters, thus preventing friendly fire. Aside for the prototype they only deploy it again ''once'', when Dooku sent Grievous against the Nightsisters. |
| 89 | *** Interestingly, the Separatists eventually ''do'' start employing tube artillery similar to the AV-7 to great effect on their AATs... Around the time of the Battle of Coruscant, when the Separatists were now too weakened to possibly win. But with this sudden increase in their effectiveness, more Jedi were sent to the frontlines, weakening Coruscant's defenses right before Sidious started his endgame (thus giving Grievous a better chance at "kidnapping" him) and putting them where the Clonetroopers could just shoot them in the back once Order 66 was issued. |
| 90 | ** At about the same time of the Battle of Christophsis, Dooku is trying to ally himself with the Hutt Clans. Since the series was made before Disney bought the franchise, it was canon that the worlds of the Tion Cluster hated and feared the Hutt for the many Hutt-Tionese wars before the Republic conquered the Hegemony, and especially [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/The_Devouring The Devouring]]... And as it happens, the core of the Separatist Alliance, including its capital of Raxus, is the Tionese Hegemony. No matter who Jabba allied himself with, the Separatists would be weakened either by the Hutts helping the Republic or the Tionese worlds turning on them in fear and disgust. |
| 91 | ** During the Malevolence arc, the Separatists have a new ship that can take on an entire fleet of Star Destroyers and could single-handedly win them the war. Who's the commander? Grievous, an accomplished ''ground force general''. The ''Malevolence'' is crippled by a single flight of Y-Wings and then destroyed in its first operative cruise, only a few ships destroyed to her name. |
| 92 | ** In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E10LairOfGrievous Lair of Grievous]]", the eponymous Separatist commander demands to know how Dooku and Sidious expect him to win the war when he has only droids. How many battles did not go his way because his droids were too stupid to properly execute his plans? And how many times did Dooku and Sidious refuse to give him the proper troops he asked for? |
| 93 | ** Also in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E10LairOfGrievous Lair of Grievous]]", Dooku decides to test his general... By letting Kit Fisto, a ''Jedi Master'', ambush him in his own home. Grievous drove Fisto away, but risked being killed and lost his castle, and had Fisto successfully captured or killed him, his loss would have been a devastating blow to the Separatists both in practical and morale terms. |
| 94 | *** In Legends we see that Grievous earned his job in a similar way: Dooku sent Asajj Ventress and Durge after him with orders to kill him, and gave him the job after he defeated them. Not only this has ''nothing'' to do with the strategic skills the supreme commander of a military needs, it put him at odds with Ventress and sabotaged both. Plus, it's implied that if they had succeeded one of them would have gotten the job... And they had ''none'' of Grievous' talent and experience. |
| 95 | ** The Mon Calamari arc is another occasion in which Dooku ensured the Confederacy would get screwed over no matter what happened: the easy and smart thing would have been to let the Confederacy be represented by [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Tikkes Tikkes]], a Quarren and the planet's representative in the Galactic Senate until his defection to the Separatist cause, but instead he sent Riff Tamson, whose tyrannical attitude and actions (including bringing troops from his own homeworld and trying to install himself as king), combined with Lee-Char [[TookALevelInBadass becoming the king he needed to be]], drove the Quarren to rejoin the Mon Cala against him; but had Tamson succeeded the Quarren on Mon Cala being enslaved by the Confederacy would have angered the ones who emigrated on Pammant, where they designed and built many Separatist ships including the ''Recusant''-class light destroyer (actually a Mon Cala design they stole), the ''Providence''-class cruiser (such as Grievous' final flagship ''Invisible Hand''), and the above-mentioned ''Malevolence''. |
| 96 | * While it's unclear in the canon, in the ''Legends'' continuity, the Nightsister coven worshiped the Son and the Daughter (calling them the fanged god and the winged goddess). The females represent the Son (the dark side), with their cunning, selfish ambition, their red and black color scheme, and their darker powers. The males represent the Daughter (the light side), with their more selfless, servile nature and their more muted, yellowish color scheme. But there’s one Nightbrother that subverts this: Maul. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to claim that Maul and Savage are supposed to ''be'' the Son and Daughter, exemplifying the SiblingYinYang trope. Maul, unlike other males, is red and black. His mother Talzin is also the Nightsister leader, and they are both selfish and ambitious. And both Maul and the Son are voiced by Sam Witwer. In contrast, his sibling Savage is goldish, loyal, honorable, and humble like the Daughter, as well as being the only one their darker counterpart actually cares for. With the deaths of Savage and the Daughter, their brothers are thrown out of balance (and the galaxy is plunged into darkness both times). Their last words refer to the difference of their natures. Even the camera angle used for their deaths is the same. |
| 97 | * Wilhuff Tarkin's appearances are a good example of the Republic's slow transformation into the Empire and the effect it has on its defenders: |
| 98 | ** By the ideals of the Republic, someone willing to [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Q%27anah_(pirate) throw a group of pirates in a sun to be cooked alive and broadcast their screams of horror and pain]] just to [[MakeAnExampleOfThem show other pirates what awaited them if they continued]] should have been kept away from commands, yet he was a captain serving under a Jedi Master, and later an admiral. |
| 99 | ** Tarkin at this point in time already believes in making examples through terrifying shows of excessive force to scare opponents into submissions, but [[EvenEvilHasStandards restrains himself to known and clear criminals and was visibly appalled when he realized one of the people he was about to turn into an example was proven innocent]]. [[Film/ANewHope Go about twenty years forward in time]], and he's become willing to make an example by [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up an entire planet]] without caring about the many innocent victims that would die in the process. |
| 100 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E12SlavesOfTheRepublic Slaves of the Republic]]", Obi-Wan and Anakin have serious trouble dealing with shock whips wielded by non-Force-sensitives, but when in the next episode Anakin tries to use one with Dooku, the Count defeats him with ease. There's two good reasons: first, whips are notoriously hard to use for a first timer, and Anakin is indeed a first timer; second, Dooku's lightsaber combat style is closer to fencing and better suited to the precise moves needed to counter a whip. On top of that, Dooku knew he could have to deal with avid whip users, so he may have trained to fight them. |
| 101 | * Why did the Republic recognize Sanjay Rash as the legitimate king of Onderon (thus preventing open support for the rebels out of political reasons) when it was clear he was an usurper? Because ''Mina Bonteri'', as the legitimate senator, had supported him (they both supported the Separatists), effectively legitimizing him in the eyes of the galaxy at large. |
| 102 | ** This would also explain Saw Gerrera's initial hostility toward Lux: [[SinsOfTheFather he's the son of the person who kept Rash in power]]. |
| 103 | ** Mina is also the likely reason Dooku did what he did to keep Onderon, and then suddenly abandoned it: Onderon had limited strategic value, but as the homeworld of one of the most influential Separatist Senators keeping it had an enormous ''political'' value, thus prompting him to send reinforcements once the initial garrison started having trouble... but the moment the rebels gained the upper hand said value disappeared, and he just recalled the droids to not waste them. |
| 104 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E8BoundForRescue Bound for Rescue]]", Obi-Wan's fleet is suddenly attacked and overwhelmed by Grievous' larger one right as they prepare to assault Hondo's base on Florrum. A ContrivedCoincidence? No: as shown in the next episode, ''Grievous was going to assault Florrum himself'', he just stumbled on Obi-Wan's fleet as they were both to go on the final leg of the voyage, and where Obi-Wan's fleet was geared for patrol and had to improvise the attack on Florrum, Grievous was ready for a full planetary assault and possibly occupation and had brought a much larger force. |
| 105 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E18TheJediWhoKnewTooMuch The Jedi Who Knew Too Much]]", the troopers chasing Ahsoka shoot to kill, even employing [[NoKillLikeOverkill a heavy laser turret]], until ordered otherwise by Anakin. Proof that the methods of TheEmpire are already appearing? Maybe... Or maybe the clones, knowing they're dealing with a Jedi they have all reason to presume hostile and having heard of what happened when the 501[-[[superscript:st]]-] Legion tried to arrest Pong Krell for treason, decided it was the less dangerous way to deal with her. |
| 106 | * Non-clone members of the Republic military almost always refer to the Jedi by the military ranks they hold in the GAR. That's because they're always seen in military circumstances, where their ranks as Jedi hold no value but their military ranks do. |
| 107 | ** Tarkin [[InsistentTerminology always refers to the Jedi by their military ranks]], but during Ahsoka's trial he calls her "former Padawan". That would be because the Jedi Council specifically stripped her of her rank within the GAR, thus she's not a commander anymore... and because it suits his goals more to underscore her former association with the Jedi rather than the one with the military. |
| 108 | * Sy Snootles was able to kill Ziro the Hutt with a blaster, which seems to conflict with both Canon and ''Legends'' stating that [[{{Kevlard}} Hutts' hides are thick enough to shrug off blaster fire]]. However, ''Jabba'' hired Sy to kill Ziro. As [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Hutts are known to plot against each other]] from time to time, it wouldn't be a stretch to believe that they made [[HandCannon blasters designed to kill one another]], and Jabba supplied Sy with one of those blasters for the job. The reason they wouldn't phase out standard blasters is an absurdly high power-consumption compared to even heavy blasters, making it AwesomeButImpractical outside of killing the species they were designed for and heavy armor. |
| 109 | * During the series, Grievous often singled out Obi-Wan Kenobi and tried to get rid of him. In ''Legends'', right after the Battle of Coruscant, it was stated that Obi-Wan, due to his mastery of the highly defensive Soresu, was the ''only'' Jedi who could engage Grievous in a lightsaber fight and win against him (that after Mace Windu had engaged him into a duel and was actually ''driven off''). Grievous had caught on to Obi-Wan training himself in the one lightsaber style that, if mastered, would allow a Jedi to defeat him in a duel, and wanted him dead before it actually happened. |
| 110 | * Meta: It being called the "Clone Wars" seems to be a NonIndicativeName of the actual war, other than the fact Yoda called it this at the end of ''Attack of the Clones''. But in another sense, it is a "clone" war on at least two fronts: |
| 111 | ** The war was fought by living soldiers, the clones, and droids, mass produced machines. The clones were mass produced as well and seen by many beings as simple robotic soldiers designed only to fight. Essentially both fighting forces are clones of each other. |
| 112 | ** The other more important reason is Palpatine/Sidious was running and controlled both sides of the war. Each army was his army; each victory was his victory. Much like with cloning making an identical copy of something, he orchestrated situations which doubled (i.e. cloned) his chance of victory no matter what occurred. |
| 113 | ** There's also a third, lesser reason: the rarely-seen non-clone forces of the Republic and non-droid forces of the Separatists were for the most part planetary security forces, all organized around the same model and effectively clones of each other, with variations depending on what funding and political will allowed and what regulation-breaking weapons they they could sneak under Republic surveillance. |
| 114 | * There's one change between the story reel and finalized versions of "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E1TheBadBatch The Bad Batch]]" that is very likely setup for later known events: in the unfinished version, Rex tells the Jedi about his theory that Echo might be alive at the opening briefing. In the final version, he keeps it to himself because, as he explains when he tells Cody about it, he's not sure they'd believe him and might think he's crazy. We already know that Rex finds out about the clones' control chips before the end of the war and has his removed, and it's clear that, in order to avoid being silenced like Fives and Kix, [[note]] Though this happens sometime after Anaxes [[/note]] he couldn't have told very many people about them, and he never got the chance to tell the Jedi. Given the change to this episode, it's quite likely that Rex refrained from going to the Jedi because he felt that they wouldn't believe what he had to say without incontrovertible evidence that he was telling the truth (and knowing that Anakin wouldn't believe a word against Palpatine without similarly hard proof). This change to the episode sets that up perfectly. |
| 115 | * Rex's BadLiar moment when he's trying to keep Obi-Wan out of the barracks while Anakin has a private conversation with Padmé in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E2ADistantEcho A Distant Echo]]" makes perfect sense if you consider that the episode has already made it obvious that he's dead-set on going to rescue Echo no matter what anyone says. He already tried to tell Anakin that there was no time for "that thing"; he clearly can't concentrate on coming up with a good excuse for what Anakin is allegedly doing in the barracks right now due to his worry for his friend, no matter that Obi-Wan's already figured it out. |
| 116 | * Most of the clones in this series have serial numbers starting with the letters CT. Cut Lawquane probably chose his name the same way [[Film/TheForceAwakens Finn]] did. |
| 117 | * Trench's attack on Anaxes is actually a XanatosGambit, as no matter how the campaign ended, the Separatists ''still'' benefited from it the moment Trench's force gained a foothold: |
| 118 | ** Given Anaxes' position in the Core and on the Perlemian Trade Route, that goes from Coruscant to the core of Separatist space in the Tion Cluster, its historical role as the invincible Defender of the Core that would stop any threat trying to get past it (as had already happened months earlier with the flotilla of ''Bulwark'' battlecruisers, that, built on Foerost in the Core, could have posed a threat to even Coruscant but was blasted into pieces by the combined forces of the pre-production ''Victory'' Star Destroyers and Anaxes' defense fleet) and rescuing the other Core Worlds if something attacked from another route, and ''current'' role as the headquarter of the First Sector Army ([[NonIndicativeName the combined army-navy force that defends the group of sectors around Coruscant]]), the Republic cannot afford to let it fall, so they would reinforce it with troops coming from both the other Core Worlds and, more importantly, the Outer Rim Sieges, giving the Separatists a better chance there. |
| 119 | ** Had Anaxes fallen anyway, not only the Republic capital would have been exposed to attack while the First Sector Army was in disarray after losing its headquarter, [[ShockingDefeatLegacy the loss of the invincible Defender of the Core would have crippled the morale of any Republic loyalist]]. This is why it's said that losing Anaxes to Trench would mean losing the war, [[NotHyperbole it would be exactly the most likely aftermath]]. |
| 120 | ** In the end, however, Trench died and the Republic gained the upper hand, allowing them to redeploy troops back to the Outer Rim as the Core Worlds forces grind down the Separatist forces still on Anaxes... And tying them down for [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith the impending Separatist attack on Coruscant itself]]. |
| 121 | * The Citadel and Clovis arcs are both ''the'' decisive events of the Clone Wars and the start of Palpatine's endgame: |
| 122 | ** Before they start, the Separatists have the advantage of sheer numbers thanks to an army of droids, [[WeHaveReserves manufactured and produced much faster and at lesser cost than the Republic can raise legions of either clone troopers or natural-born soldiers]]. [[VictoryByEndurance No matter how better the clones are than combat droids, eventually the Separatist droid armies]] ''[[VictoryByEndurance will]]'' [[VictoryByEndurance overrun the Republic]] or at least cause such losses that the Senate will sue for peace. |
| 123 | ** The reason for the Citadel arc is that Jedi Master Even Piell and Captain Wilhuff Tarkin have discovered data that would allow access to secret hyperspace routes that would allow either group to get to the core of enemy space by surprise and without being intercepted but have been captured, and must be freed before the Separatists can extract the information. The mission is mostly successful, as while Piell dies the data is recovered in full — thus allowing the Republic to strike at Separatist trade with near impunity, slowing the droid production down and forcing a larger portion of the Separatist Navy away from the frontline. |
| 124 | *** Had the Separatists obtained the information they could have launched an attack directly on Coruscant (this is openly stated), allowing Palpatine to stage his kidnapping much earlier and radicalize the Republic faster if not outright start the events that would allow him to issue Order 66. [[XanatosGambit Whatever happened, he would only benefit]]. |
| 125 | *** Tarkin's presence is not a coincidence: his military career started in the Outland Regions Security Force as a pirate hunter, with the whole reason for the ORSF's existence being that pirate attacks were crippling the trade in the Seswenna Sector and the nearby ones. He knows perfectly how devastating commerce raiding can be due having been at the receiving end of it during his early career. The whole mission may have even been his idea to begin with. |
| 126 | *** The success also gives Sidious a reason to promote Tarkin to admiral, thus putting another ally in the higher ranks of the Republic military and in place to help the transition to the Empire. |
| 127 | ** While droid production has been slowed by the commerce raiding, in the long term the Separatists still maintain the upper hand. Then Dooku manipulates Rush Clovis in a chain of events that allows Palpatine to nationalize the main branch of the [=InterGalactic=] Banking Clan — and deprive the Separatists of the loans that were supporting their war machine. That was the exact moment the Republic gained the upper hand, as now the Separatists would have ''immense'' trouble building new droids and the Republic could finally destroy them faster than they were manufactured, with the commerce raiding hastening the moment the Separatist industrial production would cease altogether. |
| 128 | ** Knowing that it was now only a matter of time before they lost the war, the Separatists would grow more desperate, with two results: on one hand, they would have to take a defensive posture, retreating on fortress worlds on which they concentrated their dwindling resources and forcing the Republic to come after them, starting the Outer Rim Sieges and dispersing the Jedi into vulnerable positions for the coming implementation of Order 66; on the other, the Separatist Senate would now authorize bolder strikes with the intent to shock the Republic into surrender before they could lose, leading to Trench's attack on Anaxes and Grievous' [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith attack on Coruscant]] — and these attacks not only radicalized the Republic to the point they would support Palpatine into ''anything'', the latter was also the start of the countdown to Order 66. |
| 129 | * Ursa Wren's initial reluctance to help the Rebellion in ''Rebels'' makes more sense when Season 7 shows that, not only was she part of the Nite Owls, but that she was seemingly high up the chain. She'd already been part of one resistance, and considering that their victory seems to have led to the Imperial occupation of Mandalore, so she likely has her doubts about linking up with yet another one. |
| 130 | * Darth Maul's survival actually explains why Sidious had Count Dooku killed by his own orders in front of him and would attempt the same to Darth Vader in ''Return of the Jedi''. He wanted to prevent another Maul incident and make sure they're dead. |
| 131 | * During the Siege of Mandalore arc, Ahsoka wants to tell Anakin something, but she never gets the chance to. What's does she say to him when she sees his face under Vader's helmet [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels fifteen years later]]? "I won't leave you. Not this time." |
| 132 | * While getting visions on Mortis, Obi-Wan saw a vision of his past in the form of Qui-Gon while Ahsoka got a vision of her future self. Given the fate of the Jedi in canon, one could call it rather symbolic with Obi-Wan, the quintessential Jedi, seeing only the past while a very different sort of fate let Ahsoka see the future. |
| 133 | * Ahsoka's response to Vader remarking that her wanting to avenge Anakin's 'death' is "not the Jedi way" being "I am no Jedi." gains a DoubleMeaning after it's been revealed in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E11Shattered Shattered]]" that she may have chosen to return to the Jedi after the end of the Clone Wars, implicitly because it would mean she could truly become a peacekeeper. So Ahsoka's retort isn't just "I am no Jedi (because they cast me out and I left, so I don't have to follow their rules).", but also "I am no Jedi (because you killed them all and stole my future).". |
| 134 | * Some might claim that Maul's return was pointless or didn't make any sense. However, while that will just be one of many such things in ''Star Wars'', it does potentially serve an interesting narrative purpose: it actually gives Anakin more reason to trust Sidious in ''Revenge of the Sith'' when he hints that the Dark Side can preserve life. Anakin would have already known Maul had survived ''being cut in half'', and thus it would not be hard for him to believe that the dark side could prevent death by childbirth (and that would be the case even if Anakin wasn't desperate and suffering from a lack of sleep as in canon). |
| 135 | * Nice touch at the end of "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E22Revenge Revenge]]", Obi-Wan initially holds Ventress' esoterically designed lightsaber backwards (pommel pointed towards himself). |
| 136 | * In ''Legends'', Ryloth is the headquarters of the Fourteenth Sector Army, [[NonIndicativeName the combined army-navy force that defends the group of sectors around it]]. This explains just why both the Republic and the Separatists were so intent on holding the planet: the Separatists had just chased one of the largest Republic formations out of their own headquarters, and the Republic had to retake it before ShockingDefeatLegacy settled in. |
| 137 | ** Also in ''Legends'', the 14th Sector Army has jurisdiction on a number of important locations: |
| 138 | *** Hypori, an important Separatist factory world and [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars the place Grievous announced his existence to the galaxy by wiping out a Republic Force trying to attack it with most of their Jedi]]. |
| 139 | *** Rothana, the Kuat-controlled shipyard world where the initial vehicles of the Grand Army of the Republic were designed and manufactured. |
| 140 | *** Geonosis is in this area of space, thus {{Foreshadowing}} the Separatists retaking it. |
| 141 | *** One of the routes to Kamino starts here. The Republic's problems here [[{{Foreshadowing}} anticipate the Separatist attack on the Clones' homeworld]]. |
| 142 | * When Dooku met Hondo, he didn't take the necessary precautions and got disarmed and captured. Knowing him it seems a strange slip... Except that Hondo's ship is made by Haor Chall Engineering, a CIS-aligned supplier. He likely mistook him for a Separatist-aligned mercenary or privateer, and thought that if they got weird ideas he could just point out he was their boss and offer a larger reward. |
| 143 | * Anakin being summoned back to Coruscant during the Battle of Umbara is a move on Palpatine's part to further drive a wedge in the Jedi's ability to fight the war. With Anakin absent, Pong Krell takes over and gets a good chunk of the 501st (and the 212th) killed, and the fact that he is also a Jedi (a fallen Jedi, but Jedi nonetheless) would no doubt result in public trust in the Jedi being eroded further...just as he plans. |
| 144 | * Palpatine's decision to fight Maul face-to-face on Mandalore during The Lawless is at least partially rooted in ensuring the Clone Wars aren't disrupted by Maul suddenly gaining the resources of an entire star system. He cannot openly order Republic forces to attack the planet at that time because Mandalore is neutral, and the Separatists would hardly see the point in picking a fight with a ProudWarriorRaceGuy civilization when they're already contending with the Republic. Either option means that Maul could get away and continue his work, and so Palpatine chooses to ''personally'' travel to Mandalore and deal with Maul himself, ensuring that Maul is actually removed from play and that the Clone Wars can continue without being disrupted by the new third-player on the field. |
| 145 | ** Plus, Maul and Savage have proven themselves dangerous enough that you'd need several Jedi to deal with them, and the Jedi are scattered all over. And if the Jedi managed to capture Maul, there's a remote possibility they could find out from him the true identity of Darth Sidious. Easier, better, and safer to do it himself. |
| 146 | * Kamino has a dedicated military force to protect it by the events of Season 6. Given that the planet has been the focus of several attacks by now, the Republic can hardly afford to keep shuffling other military units to protect it, and as such the Kamino Security Force is created with the express purpose to defend the planet, freeing up troops to fight in other campaigns. |
| 147 | * Shaak-Ti being assigned to oversee the training and production of clone troops on Kamino is a metaphor for the Jedi and their relationship with the clones. The Jedi, fully aware that the clones are considered by many (and sometimes even themselves) to be expendable in the defense of the Republic, purposefully assigned one of their most compassionate and patient members to help the clones discover and assert their humanity. Hence why the clones generally have a good working relationship with the Jedi once they're deployed--they've learned first-hand that the Jedi truly see them as equals. |
| 148 | * Why do Grievous and Obi-Wan confront each other so many times throughout the series? Because Palpatine, being in charge of both sides of the war, is deliberately setting them against each other in hopes that Grievous--an accomplished lightsaber duelist, will kill Obi-Wan, sending Anakin further down the Dark Side. The failure of Grievous to kill Obi-Wan as the war goes on works out as well, as it means that the duo become rivals and in the eyes of the Jedi Council, Obi-Wan becomes ''the'' expert on Grievous and his methods, enabling Palpatine to manipulate circumstances to ensure that Obi-Wan and Grievous don't necessarily have to be where ''Anakin'' is. As such, when Grievous is located on Utapau, Obi-Wan and ''only'' Obi-Wan is sent to confront him... Leaving Anakin isolated, just as Palpatine desires. |
| 149 | ** There's also another reason, one Grievous would have by himself: Grievous is an expert in ''all'' Jedi lightsaber styles and knows all their strengths and weakness, and he'd quickly realize that Obi-Wan is a master of Soresu, the ''only'' one that can actually pose a threat to him in a lightsaber duel (this being actually the reason Mace Windu gives Obi-Wan in Matt Stover's novelization of ''Revenge of the Sith'': he had tried to fight Grievous head-on with his incredibly powerful Vaapad and ''found himself overpowered'', but Soresu's parries are a perfect counter to Grievous' flurry of attacks). At least part of their encounters are Grievous trying to off Obi-Wan before his skills with Soresu become great enough he can defeat him in a straight fight... But it never happens, and when their final duel on Utapau Obi-Wan cuts off one of his hands with a parry [[OhCrap Grievous realizes his fear has materialized]]. |
| 150 | * Ahsoka's mission to capture Maul on Mandalore doesn't just take place at the same time as Obi-Wan's mission to deal with Grievous on Utapau; they directly parallel each other. |
| 151 | ** A Jedi is sent to deal with one of Sidious' minions [[note]] Ex-minion in Maul's case. [[/note]] -- and the minion in question is completely expendable, meaning that no matter who wins each duel, Sidious comes out ahead. |
| 152 | ** Both Jedi are very close to Anakin and can bring out his better side -- and by going on missions to faraway planets, they leave Anakin on Coruscant with Palpatine, vulnerable to the final phase of his temptations. |
| 153 | ** Both Jedi are now surrounded by clones -- who are programmed to obey Order 66. |
| 154 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E8TogetherAgain Together Again]]" Maul senses Ahsoka spying on his communication with the Pykes, but doesn't warn them. In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E10ThePhantomApprentice The Phantom Apprentice]]" Almec reveals Maul ''wanted'' to be found so he could kill Anakin... So Ahsoka being in position to do just that worked in his favor. |
| 155 | * The events of ''Blue Shadow Virus'' and ''Mystery of a Thousand Moons'' |
| 156 | ** Where would Vindi and the Separatists get a facility on Naboo on all planets to do the research? Palpatine, a native of the planet, who likely could 'lose' a few ships and facilities to ship in battle droids past a Naboo guard that would be ''very'' suspicious of any droid movements after the Trade Federation invasion. Why research reviving a dangerous plague virus on Naboo? Because if it was successfully used on the planet it would be a ''giant'' boon for Palpatine. Being the last Nabooian would give him a huge sympathy boost, and the shock of such a successful viral attack would give him a lot of leeway to crack down on the galaxy even faster. The Naboo being mostly known as humans, and Vindi being an alien, would also be a propaganda boon. |
| 157 | ** The virus leaking was likely an actual mistake: Palpatine gains a lot more from a successful infection than a stopped one. He can make something out of it, but nowhere near as much as a poisoned Naboo. Heck it wasn't likely even an attempt to get Anakin to fall faster via freaking out over an infected Ahsoka and Padme because he could end up stuck on Iego, a planet that is very much ''not'' useful for him to have his perfect apprentice stuck on. |
| 158 | * Remember when Luke faced the Dark Side in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''? Y'know, when Yoda told him "Your weapons...you will not need them." That's because in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS6E12Destiny Destiny]]", Yoda faced his own inner darkness and won the battle without his lightsaber. He wants to teach Luke the same lesson. |
| 159 | * When Yoda was getting visions in his own arc, he briefly witnesses a sight of Jedi fighting against the clones. While it apparently didn't give him a clear enough understanding that he could [[DoomedByCanon prevent it outright]], it may have still saved his life in the moment. While other Jedi would've felt their comrades dying through the Force, most wouldn't have even considered it being by the hands of the Clone Troopers who pledged their loyalty to them. Yoda, on the other hand, would've remembered his vision on Dagobah and put two and two together in the nick of time. |
| 160 | * Why did Anakin choose to [[GunsAkimbo dual-wield blasters]] during the Crystal Crisis arc when his lightsaber got confiscated? Because that's how [[NumberTwo Rex]] fights. |
| 161 | * There's another reason why the Council offered to promote Ahsoka to Jedi Knight and it's a pragmatic one. Barriss, the true culprit of the bombing at the Temple and the one who framed Ahsoka, was recently promoted to Jedi Knight prior to her turn to TheDarkSide. With Barriss exposed and incarcerated, the Jedi needed another Knight in her place and Ahsoka just so happened to be a Padawan when Barriss framed her. Of course, this likely only contributed to Ahsoka's decision to leave the Order. |
| 162 | |
| 163 | !!FridgeHorror |
| 164 | |
| 165 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E11PursuitOfPeace Pursuit of Peace]]", Padmé explains how, in addition to the war expenditures already existing, making 5 million new clone troopers would basically bankrupt the Republic, and that Padmé's assistant's children were unable to bathe or read by light in the evening despite living on Naboo, which was a relatively wealthy planet. Considering the massive military overspending that Palpatine did for the Star Destroyer fleet (each one individually worth more than the GDP of some star systems), the Super Star Destroyer fleet, the various superweapons... One shudders to think at how the Empire proceeded to pay for all this. |
| 166 | ** Or maybe THIS is the reason why clone production was so expensive? Palpatine may have purposefully misplaced parts of military funding in order to make war more exhausting for the Republic's economy and when his objective was made, used the stolen money to fund his new army. |
| 167 | ** Or simply the Republic's economy was still suffering the effects of the Separatists taking over multiple hyperlanes (the whole reason for Jabba's subplot in the pilot movie being that the Republic needed to bypass the blockade through Hutt space) and the Trade Federation, with its immense merchant fleet, covertly siding with the Separatists. |
| 168 | * It seems surprising at first that General Krell could simply leave his own troops in order to take over the 501[-[[superscript:st]]-]. Of course, considering what he's doing, one wonders if any of his troops were still ''alive'' by that point. |
| 169 | * After the Clovis arc, Palpatine took control of the [=InterGalactic=] Banking Clan. All the money the Republic ''and the Separatists'' borrowed to finance the war is now '''his'''. He also seized and nationalized the Techno Union, Trade Federation, and other groups that bankrolled the CIS. |
| 170 | * You know those adorable Jedi younglings that are introduced during the Young Jedi arc? Chances are most of them will be killed by Anakin/Vader by the time ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' rolls around.[[note]]At least Gungi is known to have survived Order 66.[[/note]] |
| 171 | * Palpatine has the list of every Force-sensitive child known to the Jedi. Imagine what's going to happen when Order 66 rolls around. |
| 172 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E8BoundForRescue Bound for Rescue]]", Hondo has captured Ahsoka and plans to sell her to someone who has a keen interest in Jedi. Particularly female Jedi. Okay, so that's already rape and pedophilia in one go. And then he says that the buyer doesn't care if the Jedi is alive or dead... [[{{Squick}} yeah]]. |
| 173 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS6E8TheDisappearedPart1 The]] [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS6E9TheDisappearedPart2 Disappeared]]" two-parter, Mother Talzin tried to have Queen Julia's life force stolen from her to make her magic stronger. She also says that she's not a "natural Force-user". And the harvested Living Force is shown to be the same shade of green as Nightsister magic (and the "water of life"). Going by that observation, you could easily assume that Nightsister magic is actually using the Force through means of stolen Living Force. [[AndIMustScream Now we may know where that screaming comes from when the magic is being used]]. |
| 174 | * Imagine what will happen to Queen Julia and her order of Force-sensitives when the Empire comes into power. Chances are they were all wiped out by the end of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''. Seems poor [[TheWoobie Jar Jar]] can't stop losing the people he cares about most. |
| 175 | * When Commander Fox and the Coruscant Guard clones set to stun, it's only when Anakin explicitly orders him to do so, otherwise they shoot lethal rounds and even pull out rocket launchers when in pursuit, [[spoiler:such as when chasing Ahsoka]]. Consider that most of the time Fox's men are assigned to police duties on Coruscant... and, as seen in the sixth season, Fox is in Palpatine's favor and is trusted to kill a fellow clone if necessary in spite of the danger of Order 66 being revealed to him. The Empire's iron fist was already coming into effect during the Clone Wars. |
| 176 | ** Another possible reason, at least in ''Legends'', is that ''Order 66 is publicly known'' (the fact it's enforced by a biochip, not so much) — thus, in the incident above, Fox and the Coruscant Guard may have decided to simply apply its directives against a Jedi that, as far as they knew, was acting against the interests of the Republic, as specified by Order 66. |
| 177 | * During the Zygerrian Slavers arc, the Jedi Council deliberately sends Anakin, feeling he needs to "confront" his past as a slave. Their method actually resembles a real behavior therapy called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding_(psychology) flooding]]. However, no matter how well intentioned, there are some key issues with their application. |
| 178 | ** First, flooding is risky. It can actually exasperate an individual's trauma if used carelessly. |
| 179 | ** Second, Zygerria was not a safe environment. The Council sent not only Anakin, but some of his closest loved ones into an uncontrollable and dangerous situation. And indeed, things go wrong. |
| 180 | ** Finally, Anakin ''did not consent'' to this. He was ordered into this situation, unaware of the Council's intentions. Because he could not give informed consent, the attempt is essentially unethical. |
| 181 | * There are two threats of rape during the Zygerrian Slavers arc. Atai Molec threatens Ahsoka, a minor, with rape by force. Miraj, although she tries a pretense of consent, tries to coerce Anakin into becoming her lover. |
| 182 | * It isn't until the events of the Mortis arc that Anakin comes to realize he's the Chosen One, previously believing it was a myth. Think about the implications of that. "Proof" of Anakin's status stems from the fact that he was immaculately conceived, per his mother's admission. Knowing Anakin's origins, it's easy to [[ChildByRape guess how he thought he was conceived]]. |
| 183 | * Given the reveal during the Order 66 arc about the clone troopers' control chips, what happened to Cut Lawquane? He deserted from the Republic army shortly after the First Battle of Geonosis, and there's no way he would know about the chips. It's ''possible'' that, since he'd left the army, he wasn't accounted for when the chips were activated, but given that there were thousands of clones in the army (it would be a hassle for Palpatine to contact them all individually, so an activation signal would be more convenient) and Order 66 reached Saleucami, he could have suffered a mental breakdown as a side-effect of the chip even without Jedi around... |
| 184 | ** He wouldn't want the Republic to know he deserted, so as long as he got rid of anything Palpatine might use to contact him, he was probably safe. And ''[[Literature/StarWarsAftermath Aftermath]]'' confirms he still got to live out the rest of his days in relative peace. |
| 185 | ** Ultimately rendered a non-issue by ''The Bad Batch''. Cut is shown perfectly OK along with his family. |
| 186 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS6E12Destiny Destiny]]", Yoda faces off against a shadowy Dark Side version of himself. At first, it seems cool to see what would happen if Yoda gave in to the dark side for the sake of speculation... but then, you remember that it's basically YODA AS A SITH LORD. Even Dooku and Sidious are both scared of what would happen if Yoda gave in to the dark side... and they are right. If Yoda DID give in to the Dark Side... then nothing could stop him. He would become more powerful than Palpatine and Dooku combined and he would have enough power to curbstomp the entire Jedi Order. The galaxy would be screwed beyond belief. Of course, it's just a what-if scenario, but still, this is the episode that showed us that it was nonetheless a very possible scenario. If Yoda hadn't been contacted by Qui-Gon, he would've likely ended up becoming his own dark reflection... |
| 187 | * When Savage wakes up in the Mandalorian tent, he immediately freaks out and destroys the droids surrounding him. While it's possible this is a reaction due to his aggressive nature and waking up in an unfamiliar place, it's also possible he was remembering [[KillTheOnesYouLove the last time]] he woke up on a table surrounded by people... |
| 188 | ** It also nicely doubles as Foreshadowing to [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith another Dark Sider who wakes up and immediately starts destroying all the medical droids around him]]. |
| 189 | * In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E20TheWrongJedi The Wrong Jedi]]", [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Tarkin is appalled at]] [[spoiler:having nearly got an innocent executed]]. After the end of the war he'll engage in the Antar Atrocity, in which he'll ''willingly'' do just that on a far larger scale [[MakeAnExampleOfThem to warn the Separatist Holdouts of what they were to expect if they didn't surrender]]. There's two possible explanations, and neither is good: |
| 190 | ** The Jedi's apparent betrayal of the Republic, and the sudden lack of the galaxy's premier peacekeepers, made Tarkin decide that [[NecessarilyEvil acts of enormous violence from the government's forces will be necessary to restore and maintain peace]] by [[ScareEmStraight terrifying any evildoer and potential evildoer into following the law]]. |
| 191 | ** He was just faking being appalled at what he had almost done in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E20TheWrongJedi The Wrong Jedi]]"... and still fooled almost everyone until he could engage freely in his particular brand of "peacekeeping". |
| 192 | * At the end of "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E3OnTheWingsOfKeeradaks On the Wings of Keeradaks]]", Anakin, Rex and the Bad Batch successfully defend the Poletec village from the Techno Union's forces, with the rest of them retreating back to Purkoll. Unfortunately, it is shown that Poletecs are a primitive species armed only with spears and crab-claw weapons, RockBeatsLaser is [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome not in effect]] during the battle, and a lot of them get killed during said battle, only getting by with the help of a Jedi, an experienced clone captain, a crippled ARC trooper, and four superhuman clones. The Techno Union is also still on Skako Minor at the end of the episode, so what's not to say that they retaliated against the Poletecs a second time for aiding the Republic, this time with no help from Jedi or Republic forces? Not helping matters was that the unfinished reels showed that they casually kidnap Poletecs to [[TestedOnHumans test their products on]]. And by the time of ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsDoctorAphra Doctor Aphra]]'', the planet's air is a lot less breathable for non-Skakoans (whereas in the Bad Batch arc, humans seem to be able to handle Skako Minor's atmosphere just fine while Skakoans are wearing pressure suits, suggesting Skako Minor is not the latter species' original homeworld despite being NamedAfterTheirPlanet). |
| 193 | * The black-robed Jedi with green skin that Rafa describes in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E7DangerousDebt Dangerous Debt]]" is most certainly Luminara Unduli. While she was indeed a dedicated Jedi, if somewhat distant, to learn that she is responsible for Rafa and Trace's parents' deaths and also left them orphaned for years paints a very dark picture about her character. Not only that, just how many missions like this did Luminara take and callously brush off the resulting deaths as necessary sacrifices? |
| 194 | ** Another thing to point out is that Barriss was always with her. Just imagine what she had seen. Any one or all of these events could potentially be the reason why she turned to the DarkSide. |
| 195 | ** Related to ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]'', when we first saw Luminara, she looked absolutely in despair before willingly facing her execution. Could it be that she underwent a HeroicBSOD after losing the Jedi Order? Or is it because of the Order's fall, all the actions that she had taken were now AllForNothing? Luminara probably remembered how she essentially abandoned Barriss and tossed aside Rafa and Trace, and all that guilt finally caused her to be DrivenToSuicide. |
| 196 | * Ahsoka's denial about Vader being the same as Anakin (along with the absolute horror of seeing Anakin's face under Vader's mask during the events of ''Rebels'') takes on a whole new meaning in ''The Clone Wars''; Maul had told her that this was exactly what was gonna happen, and she had the chance to change it. It was there that she realized she doomed the entire galaxy because she didn't trust Maul. |
| 197 | * Boil and Waxxer befriend a child on Ryloth, with the slightly racist Boil being the first to approach her. Cut adopts a family. Despite their modifications and conditioning, the clones are still humans who, as shown with Jango, want children. Given Order 66 and the way they were used and discarded after the war, and with no skills outside of war, it's likely most of them didn't have any. |
| 198 | * Crossing over with FridgeSadness when you realise the Lurmen from Season One will essentially have [[YouCantGoHomeAgain lost their original homeworld]]. The reason? Their original homeworld was ''[[CrapsackWorld Mygeeto]]'', a planet that was ravaged by one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the Clone Wars and will likely never recover. |
| 199 | * Elsewhere on this site, tropers have commented about how part of Palpatine’s hidden agenda behind the war was to discredit the Jedi as warmongers. A careful look at the war and its participants reveals another part of his agenda. Consider that the Separatists are mainly non-human, and war is generally an effective way to engender hate and bigotry toward the other side. This is reinforced by some of the gratuitously villainous acts of prominent Separatist figures such as Count Dooku, General Grievous, and Asajj Ventress. Thus, it becomes obvious that Palpatine is subtly teaching the humans of the Republic to hate non-humans. |
| 200 |
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