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The end of Attack of the Clones is the true downfall of the Republic, not the revenge of the Sith

Theo

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Summary

  • At the end of Attack of the Clones, Palpatine had uncontrolled power and was already preparing the ground for his empire years before Revenge of the Sith.
  • The Jedi were blinded by the dark side, which led to their downfall during the Clone Wars.
  • Anakin’s affection for Padmé in “Attack of the Clones” was the beginning of his path to the dark side, sealed by his secret marriage.


attack of the Clone warriors is the true downfall of the Republic in the war of stars Canon. While Revenge of the Sith could be the last film of the prequel trilogy, so much has already been lost by the end of Episode II. As such, Revenge of the Sith is more like the official rise of the Empire, although the Republic had already fallen when the Clone Wars ended in the late attack of the Clone warriors.

Like in the war of stars Prequels, corruption was rampant in the Republic and the Jedi Order was extremely compromised due to its pride and hubris. However, these flaws existed long before the events of The Revenge of the Sith. In many ways, attack of the Clone warriors is the true downfall of the Republic, based on the end of the second prequel film and the preparations for the war of stars Timeline.


Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn from “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker from “Star Wars: A New Hope”, Daisy Ridley as Rey from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

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Palpatine has become emperor in every way but not in name

Emergency powers ensure uncontrolled authority

First of all, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) is already emperor in all but name at the end attack of the Clone warriors. After manipulating the largely corrupt Republic Senate into granting him emergency powers, Palpatine exploited the Republic’s fears to authorize the use of a clone army against the Separatist Alliance, a group of worlds that had chosen to defect from the Republic while attempting to establish a new galactic order with their own droid armies. Thus, Palpatine’s emergency powers gave him virtually unlimited authority during the Clone Wars, meaning that the power of galactic democracy was quite weakened.


Likewise, the Clone Army itself was created through a secret conspiracy between Palpatine and Count Dooku, Palpatine’s secret Sith apprentice who was also the leader of the Separatist Alliance. The end of attack of the Clone warriors was the masterstroke that essentially helped to guarantee Palpatine’s complete control over the galaxy in Attack of the Clone warriors. Even though the official beginning of his empire would not take place for several years, Palpatine had already become the most powerful being in the galaxy when Episode II End.

The shroud of the dark side has blinded the Jedi

Unable to predict the future

Yoda and Mace Windu in Attack of the Clones


attack of the Clone warriors also confirms that the Jedi Order’s ability to foresee the future has been severely compromised by the dark side of the Force and Palpatine’s growing power. Along with the revelation that Count Dooku has become a Dark Lord of the Sith and is leading the Separatist movement, Master Yoda’s dark declaration at the end of the film that “the shroud of the dark side has fallen” is incredibly poignant. It’s the first real sign that while the Jedi understand that dark forces are gathering against them, they have also greatly compromised themselves.

There is a key scene where both Yoda and Mace Windu discuss how the Order’s ability to use the Force is getting weaker. However, Yoda decides to keep the truth from the Senate, believing that more enemies than the Sith would rise against them if they revealed their weaknesses. Therefore, the pride of the Jedi Order is clear to see: they decide to stay on guard and continue to operate as before, despite knowing that the Sith have returned and that the dark side is growing stronger with the start of the Clone Wars.


Anakin Skywalker’s fate is sealed with his marriage to Padmé

Guided by his obstinacy and fears

Anakin Padmé's wedding in the movie

Additionally, Anakin’s secret marriage to Padmé Amidala was the true beginning of his downfall. Having already lost his mother and given in to the dark side by killing the Sand People who had kidnapped her, attack of the Clone warriors Anakin forms new bonds that ultimately determine his actions during the Clone Wars. Anakin has a secret wife, which makes it all the easier for Palpatine to seduce him to the dark side by Revenge of the Sith.


Palpatine manipulated and exploited Anakin’s fear of losing his wife and future children, promising the Chosen One the power to save those he loved from death. Revenge of the Sith. As such, One can imagine that it would have been much more difficult to convert Anakin if he had kept his emotions under control and resisted an attachment to Padmé attack of the Clone warriorsInstead, Skywalker and Amidala’s marriage at the end of Episode II was the beginning of the end of Anakin’s Jedi path and announced his final turn to the dark side as Darth Vader.

The Clone Wars are the ultimate Jedi trap

The Jedi Order lost the moment it led troops into battle


It is also worth noting that the Clone Wars themselves were the ultimate Jedi trap. As Matthew Stover’s novelization for Revenge of the SithIt is confirmed that from the moment the Jedi decided to intervene in the conflict at the end of Attack of the Clones, the Clone Wars were the perfect means to bring about their downfall:

The Clone Wars were, from the beginning, and always were, the revenge of the Sith.

They were irresistible lures. They took place in remote locations, on planets that primarily belonged to “someone else.” They were fought by expendable proxies. And they were designed as win-win situations.

The Clone Wars – the perfect Jedi trap.

The Jedi lost because of the fight.

The Clone Wars, carefully planned by Palpatine, fulfilled all the requirements for the destruction of the JediSimply by agreeing to fight, the Jedi Order has lost its direction, regardless of the outcome.


After all, the Jedi Order had no idea that they were serving the will of a Sith Lord until it was far too late. The cards were stacked from the start, with Palpatine controlling both sides while also having Order 66 ready when the time came to wipe out the Jedi for good. So it all started with the Jedi agreeing to lead the Republic’s clone armies in the first place, as seen at the end of attack of the Clone warriors.

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