The Clone Wars and the Rise of the Empire
by Andrew Liptak, June 17, 2003

 

Although Episode III has yet to be released, it is becoming more and more apparent that the Clone Wars are a key factor in the rise of the Empire that would dominate the galaxy. Until recently, little was known about the 'prequel' era, or, The Phantom Menace, ATTACK OF THE CLONES, Cloak of Deception, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunters and the rest of the works that make up this era in the Star Wars universe. However, these portions of the Star Wars history have been released. Now, we know that between The Phantom Menace and A New Hope, the Empire will rise, Anakin Skywalker will fall and the Jedi will be destroyed.

With the release of ATTACK OF THE CLONES, we saw that the Clone Wars have begun. More interestingly, we see ships that resemble Star Destroyers, Clone Troopers that resemble Storm Troopers and Jango Fett, the Father/Template of the fan favorite Boba Fett. Things are starting to draw to a close.

The Holonet News is possibly one of the best resources available to most fans at the moment. Beginning as a web page and composed by Pablo Hidalgo and Paul Ens, this in-universe newspaper, or holonews paper, provides a week by week view of the politics and events right before the events of the ATTACK OF THE CLONES and has started moving into the Clone Wars, highlighting battles and skirmishes that have had little notice in the books, games or comics. Several things have appeared in HoloNet News and in short stories that seem to be clues towards the rise of the Empire, or at least, precursors to motives.

From these sources, there is increasing evidence that the Clone Wars might have been engineered to ensure the rise of the Empire several years later, with Palpatine at it's head.

 

Hatred towards the Jedi

In DARK FORCE RISING, book two of Timothy Zahn's THRAWN TRILOGY, the cloned Jedi, Joruus C'baoth, stated: "They hated us-- all the lesser beings did. Hated us for our power, and our knowledge, and our wisdom. Hated us for our maturity."

Complications that appear to be related to this appear in several Holonet news pages. In one story, a Jedi task force had been sent to help a city that was destroyed by a groundquake. There, they found a child with force potential, and believing that the child's parents had died, they took it. Normally, the Jedi require parental consent before a child is taken into the Jedi order. Several weeks later, the parent appeared, wanting her daughter back. Early training had already begun, and it was now dangerous for the child to be returned. This sparked a heated media debate over whether the Jedi should have taken the child or not.

This appears to be one of possibly many events that would eventually spark a distrust for the Jedi Order. Along with the articles in HNN, there were several 'interviews' with citizens. Many thought that the Jedi had overstepped their bounds.

 

Tensions between the Jedi and Senate

In Zahn's recent Star Wars Insider short story, HERO'S CALL, the Republic finds a possible source for clones to help with the war effort. As the Clone Wars progressed, it seems as though the methods that the Republic are using to fight the war are becoming increasingly different from that of the Jedi's. It is possible that the events in SHATTERPOINT by Matthew Stover may have effected this. In SHATTERPOINT, Mace Windu realizes that in order for the Jedi to win the war, they would have to abandon all that they have worked for. In Hero's Call, it was mentioned that the Jedi Council and the Supreme Chancellor's office were becoming increasingly at odds, putting the Jedi Council at a political and public disadvantage.

 

The Power of the Supreme Chancellor

At the end of ATTACK OF THE CLONES, the senate had finally realized that the threat of the Separatists was real and that war was coming. In a senate session, Representative Jar Jar Binks suggested that the senate give the Supreme Chancellor 'Emergency Powers' to end the war, which he gets.

A year later, it seems that similar bills have followed, most notably, Senate Directive 3591, which authorizes the Chancellor the ability to commandeer any resources that he feels necessary to end the war.

Together, it seems as if the war is a convenient action for Chancellor Palpatine to remain in office. Palpatine's Aide, Kinman Doriana, is a double agent, working both for the Republic and the Separatists with Palpatine and Sidious. This would allow Palpatine to ensure that the Republic's efforts are hampered somewhat by the Separatist army, which seems to be operating exceptionally well in battles that were supposed to remain classified, such as the operation on Cartao and even possibly on Pengalan.

There is already sufficient evidence in history to show that a leader given power is often a mistake. With Chancellor Palpatine wielding unlimited power, he is able to cement his leadership and also change the government to react against the Separatist threat. In A New Hope, the Senate is dissolved. The Separatist threat would then move to the Jedi Threat, leading to the Jedi Purge, and afterwards, the Empire would remain in place to prevent corruption from large numbers of senators. It would also establish that alien races cannot get along and are thus not able to rule, resulting in the practice of anti-alien Semitism that was later employed by the Empire.

Thus, the Clone Wars were fought to bring the Empire, the fall of the Jedi, and the domination of the Sith to fruition.

---