| Clone Wars | ||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||
| CIS | Jedi Order | Galactic Republic/Galactic Empire
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| Commanders and leaders | ||||||
| Palpatine (as Darth Sidious, secret leader) Count Dooku (official leader) General Grievous Nute Gunray |
Yoda Mace Windu Obi Wan Kenobi Bail Organa (supporter) Padme Amidala (supporter) |
Palpatine Darth Vader |
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The Clone Wars are a series of fictional intragalactic battles in George Lucas's science fiction saga Star Wars. The conflict is first mentioned in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), but no details are given (except for the implication of clones being involved), and the wars themselves are not featured until the series' fifth and sixth films, Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005), the second and third episodes of the six-part Star Wars film series. The 2D animated microseries Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003–2005) and 3D CGI animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–present), chronicle some of the war's major campaigns. Additional events and stories are detailed in a multimedia campaign consisting of Star Wars literature and video games. Many of the events featured have parallels in history, politics, and mythology from which Lucas and other writers drew inspiration.
The Clone Wars began when thousands of star systems seceded from the Galactic Republic to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS). The first battle occurs on the CIS planet Geonosis where the Republic's new clone army, led by Jedi generals, combats the Separatists' battle droids. War quickly spreads across the galaxy and eventually reaches the Republic's capital planet, Coruscant. The Clone Wars end shortly after the Great Jedi Purge with the Separatist Massacre on Mustafar and the establishment of the Galactic Empire. The events causing the war and those leading to its conclusion are orchestrated by the Republic's chief executive, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who uses the Clone Wars to manipulate the Republic's "Galactic Senate" into granting him emergency powers which he then uses to turn the Republic into his dictatorship the Galactic Empire.[1]
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The beginnings of the war are first portrayed in the 1999 film The Phantom Menace as the Trade Federation invades the planet of Naboo, causing Naboo's Senator Palpatine to win the sympathy vote to become Supreme Chancellor. However, the real tension begins with the Separatist Crisis, a series of debates in the Galactic Republic that are referred to in Attack of the Clones, and began about two years prior to the start of that film. By the beginning of Attack of the Clones, many star systems have seceded and left the Republic. The tension caused by this secession eventually leads to the outbreak of war.[2] The war has different causes: The Republic's Chancellor Palpatine tells his people that the war began because of several different reasons such as the years of separation by the outer rim territories, as well as the separatists' capture of the Jedi and financing of rebellions by radical states within the Republic. While these are all true, Palpatine had covertly influenced and created these events with assistance from his secret apprentices.
The conflicts leading up to the Clone Wars begin 22 years before the events of A New Hope and end 19 years before it. During the film, The Phantom Menace, the Trade Federation, a major galactic trade organization under the control of the Neimoidians, blockades the small planet Naboo and demands the capitulation of the world by its queen, Padmé Amidala, who refuses their demands and requests help from the Galactic Republic, the main governing body of the galaxy. The Republic responds by sending two Jedi ambassadors, Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi, to oversee the situation and negotiate with the Trade Federation. The Federation, wary of the Jedi and secretly taking orders from Darth Sidious, attempts to murder the Jedi, who escape to Naboo just as the Federation begins a full-scale invasion. Following a brief occupation, the Trade Federation is defeated by an alliance of the Naboo Royal Guard and the indigenous Gungan Tribes, with the help of the Jedi, and the Viceroy is forced to surrender and deactivate his droid armies.[3]
Following these events, Jedi Master Dooku resigns from the Jedi Order and returns to his homeworld of Serenno, taking on his hereditary title of Count.[4] However, the Jedi Council is unaware that Dooku has fallen under the control of Sith master Darth Sidious, and is secretly his new apprentice Darth Tyranus who begins to organize a separatist coalition of planets and civilizations, with the intention of seceding from the Republic. During this time, the Separatists begin forming their own armies, which primarily consist of battle droids constructed by the Trade Federation and its allies.
Ten years later, following the attempted assassination of Senator Padmé Amidala, the investigation by Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anikin Skywalker puts them on the trail of Jango Fett, an interstellar bounty hunter. Tracking him to the world of Kamino, Obi-Wan discovers that the Kaminoans have used samples of Fett's DNA to clone a vast army of soldiers, referred to as Clone troopers and lead by commander Cody, introduced in episode 3. The order for the soldiers had been submitted to the Kaminoans by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas (who was killed after making the order). Meanwhile, the Republic faces internal opposition as several thousand worlds publicly secede from the Galactic Republic and form the Confederacy of Independent Systems, or CIS. The Republic Senate deliberates passing the Military Creation Act, which calls for the formation of an army to serve the Republic to keep order across Republic Star Systems and prevent further secession. As deliberations stall, Shadow Senator for Naboo Jar Jar Binks proposes (after suggestion from Chancellor Sidious) that the Chancellor be granted emergency powers in order to resolve the issue of the Clone Army that is awaiting approval on Kamino, and to take decisive action to put down the rebellion. This is greeted by applause from the majority of the Senate Chamber, and Chancellor Sidious describes it as a "purely temporary measure".
The Clone Army of the Republic first sees battle engaging the Separatist forces on Geonosis, rescuing a group of Jedi trapped by Tyranus's droids. The Republic's forces in this engagement are commanded by Master Yoda. The Battle of Geonosis marks the end of Attack of the Clones and the beginning of the Clone War.
During the in-universe time period between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, conflict between the Republic and the Separatists increases and expands, which is chronicled in an extensive multimedia campaign for Revenge of the Sith.
Three years after the Battle of Geonosis, CIS forces under the command of the cyborg General Grievous attempt to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine from the Republic capital world of Coruscant. The Chancellor is rescued and Confederacy leader Count Dooku killed, thanks to the efforts of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.
At this point in the timeline of the Clone Wars, the Outer Rim Sieges are in full swing and numerous other battles rage across the galaxy. The Jedi are considered generals, far outranking clones in terms of battle prowess, and are spread thin across the galaxy. One of the key battles of the Outer Rim Sieges is the Battle of Utapau, depicted in Revenge of the Sith. During the battle, Obi-Wan strikes a crippling blow to the Confederacy by killing Grievous. However, the entire Battle of Utapau is a diversionary tactic, intended to remove Obi-Wan Kenobi from Anikin Skywalker's immediate circle of influence in order for Chancellor Sidious to draw Skywalker toward the dark side of the Force.
Left behind by Obi-Wan on Coruscant, Skywalker discovers that Palpatine is also Darth Sidious, Sith leader of the Confederacy. He informs Mace Windu of this terrible truth, who promptly departs with a small group of Jedi Knights to detain the corrupt Chancellor. A furious duel ensues in Palpatine's personal chambers, until only Windu and Palpatine are left standing. Skywalker arrives at the Chancellor's quarters to find Palpatine at the mercy of Windu's lightsaber. Skywalker, recoiling at the idea of executing Palpatine without trial and promised by Palpatine enough power to save his wife Padmé from death, cuts Windu's lightsaber hand off, allowing Palpatine to defenestrate Windu. Sidious takes Skywalker as his new Sith Apprentice and gives him his Sith name Darth Vader. As a newly made Sith Lord, Skywalker has now completely fallen under the sway of the Dark Side.
Utilizing the attack by Mace Windu as a pretext, Palpatine issues Order 66, a pre-arranged military command ordering all Clone Troopers to execute their Jedi commanders in the event that the Jedi "betray" the Republic. Darth Vader leads the raid on the Jedi Temple with the 501st Clone Trooper Legion and kills all the Jedi in the Temple, including Jedi younglings living in the Temple.
With the extermination of the Jedi complete (minus a few survivors, such as Yoda and Obi-Wan), Palpatine marks an end to the Galactic Republic, naming himself ruler of the Galactic Empire. During this time, Emperor Palpatine dispatches Vader to Mustafar to kill the rest of the Separatist leaders. With the elimination of the Confederacy leadership accomplished and his plan for total domination complete, Palpatine (as Darth Sidious) orders all battle droids to be shut down immediately, effectively ending the war.
Like all themes within Star Wars, the Clone Wars borrows from multiple mythical, literary, and historical influences and parallels. Writers and critics have debated over which parallels are most prominent or consistent.
The Clone Wars and its results are portrayed as the catalyst that shifted the Galactic Republic from a democracy to a dictatorship. In a 2002 Time magazine interview, Star Wars creator George Lucas explains:
The prequel trilogy depicts Palpatine using a false flag to gain power: In Attack of the Clones, he orchestrates the Separatist movement (and the Clone Wars that followed) to worry the citizens of the Republic, thus forcing the Senate to grant him emergency powers. According to character Obi-Wan Kenobi, these powers increase as the Clone Wars extend into a search for General Grievous, who replaces Count Dooku as Separatist leader.[6][7] During Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine declares himself Emperor by blaming the Jedi for the Republic's problems, resulting in a Jedi purge via Order 66.[8][9][10]
Comparisons have been made between the political aspects of the Clone Wars and the events leading up to World War II. Radio host Clyde Lewis' article on historical similarities in Star Wars claims that Palpatine's tactics parallel those of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany; both leaders used wars and scapegoats to manipulate society's emotional state, thus providing the leadership with support and power.[11] This viewpoint was also expressed in an editorial on the Clone Wars Unofficial Website.[12] Another writer compares the Clone Wars with World War II in general, basing his argument on the fact that Lucas was born during the baby boomer generation, and the dark times featured in the original trilogy rival the dark, uncertain Cold War.[13] Lucas, however, cited in multiple interviews that one of his primary influences for the political backdrop behind the Clone Wars (and all of Star Wars) was the Vietnam/Watergate era, when leaders embraced corruption for what they thought was the best course of action.[14][15]
There is a variety of opinions on the historical parallels between the political aspects of the Clone Wars and the War in Iraq. In claiming that the Star Wars galaxy under the deceitful Palpatine parallels the modern issues of the United States, an editorial on Antiwar.com states that "[Star Wars] establishes first the generally agreeable premise that it's right to overthrow oppressive government, before bringing into focus something more discomforting – that the corrupt tyranny referred to is our own".[16] Additionally, an article from Wiretap claims that, "like Palpatine, the Bush administration has been able to feed on people's fears to gain more power".[17] However, in an interview with Seattle station KIRO 7 News, Star Wars producer Rick McCallum explained:
Lucas claims, however, that "The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable." Nevertheless, he states that "When I wrote [the backstory/Clone Wars], Iraq didn't exist".[14]
Parallels between the Clone Wars and the American Civil War also seem to exist with the secession of territories, the name "Confederacy of Independent Systems" and the Republic's army being called the Grand Army of the Republic.
A portion of the vehicles developed by the Lucasfilm graphic designers, including the AT-TE and the AT-XT walkers, were created to enhance the technological continuity of the Clone Wars in relation to the Galactic Civil War, the central conflict in the original trilogy of Star Wars films.[19] Other examples of technological continuity are displayed at the Battle of Coruscant, in which ARC-170 starfighters were designed with S-foils, much like X-wings of the original films.[20] Other Vehicles include the AT-RT and the AT-OT.
In the original trilogy, the Clone Wars are only referenced in A New Hope. Lucas claims that he first designed a backstory which preceded the original film trilogy—the events surrounding the Clone Wars era.[21]
The Clone Wars span the three years between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and thus are, for the most part, off-screen. The Expanded Universe recounted events with an ambitious multimedia campaign.[22]
The videogame Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released in 2002 for PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. It is set immediately after the final events of Attack of the Clones, and spans many new worlds and settings not mentioned in the films or novelizations. Additionally, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter ties in to the beginning of the war and the creation of the Clones. Also Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, Star Wars: Republic Commando, and Star Wars: Battlefront II expand the scenarios of the conflict and add new angles to previously covered battles but are not part of the multimedia campaign.
The cartoon microseries Star Wars: Clone Wars started airing in November 2003 on Cartoon Network. It was a series of 20 episodes, each three to five minutes long, showing several of the battles of the war not mentioned in any of the films.
The comic series Star Wars: Republic has also shed light on this era of the Star Wars universe, focusing in particular on the exploits of the Jedi characters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Quinlan Vos, and Aayla Secura.[22] Multiple series of novels based on all aspects of the Clone Wars have been published, as well.
An animated feature film based on the Clone Wars, titled Star Wars: The Clone Wars, was released on August 15, 2008. It introduced the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, which began airing in the fall of 2008. It is planned to consist of at least one hundred episodes and is an expansion to the previous TV cartoon. A video game titled Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes was released on October 6, 2009.
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