The Clone Wars Turned The Clones Into Heroes – But Order 66 Made Them Slaves

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – and its Legends-era counterpart, Star Wars: Clone Wars – turned the clones into heroes before they became slaves and betrayed the Jedi. George Lucas’ prequel trilogy depicts clone troopers as little better than organic droids, with no evidence of free will or personalities beyond their duty to the Republic – and later Imperial – military. Looking beyond the movies, however, both canon and Legends have revealed all clone troopers had free will – and they were brainwashed to participate in Order 66.

In their introduction in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, clone troopers are described by Kaminoan Prime Minister Lama Su as an elite fighting force whose troops follow orders without question. Indeed, the film depicts them as among the galaxy’s finest warriors who quickly send the Separatist forces retreating, despite the latter’s vast numerical advantage. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith would continue this depiction for the most part, having the Clones betray and kill off much of the Jedi Order upon Order 66’s activation, even setting them up as the first generation of the Galactic Empire’s stormtroopers. Canon and Legends non-movie material, however, would prove otherwise.

Related

How To Watch Star Wars Movies In Order

Here is how to watch all Star Wars movies and TV shows, both chronologically and by release date, and how the Star Wars timeline works.

3 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Proved The Clones Had Free Will

Star Wars: Clone Wars & Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Clone troopers were rarely the focus in the original Clone Wars multimedia project. More often than not, the clones who would receive the most characterization and focus were the elite ARC Troopers – clones who were left mostly unmodified and personally trained by Jango Fett himself. Unsurprisingly, ARC Troopers had fully fleshed-out personalities, yet the Legends continuity’s Clone Wars-era materials also demonstrated that the more heavily-modified clones – from the basic troopers and pilots to the more elite commandos – also possessed free will. All five members of Delta Squad (consisting of four commandos and one trooper) had names and distinct personalities in 2005’s Star Wars: Republic Commando.

Related

Genndy Tartakovsky Movies & TV Shows, Ranked

Genndy Tartakovsky has been behind some fantastic animated TV shows and movies, and here’s a ranking of his work from worst to best.

2003’s Star Wars: Clone Wars bridged the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, giving viewers an exciting overview of the Clone Wars. Naturally, the microseries was largely focused on the Jedi, particularly Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but even with its three-minute (and later twelve-minute) episodes, the show managed to acknowledge the free will of clone troopers. Clone troopers are shown to cheer when victorious, become nervous in tense situations, and even question direct orders, as shown by a clone squadron leader during the Battle of Muunilinst. Clone Wars, like the rest of the Legends-era multimedia project, proved that the clone troopers were true heroes.

The modern Star Wars canon functionally began with 2008’s The Clone Wars, which took heavy inspiration from the original Clone Wars multimedia project. The beloved CGI animated series humanized the Clone Troopers in nearly all the same ways that the Legends continuity did, only it gave them far more focus, with entire story arcs centering on the Clone Troopers. In addition to ARC Troopers (only a title and rank in the new canon), clone officers and infantry troopers received names and distinct personalities in The Clone Wars. One such clone – Captain Rex – is one of the show’s protagonists, receiving comparable screen time and character development to the Jedi heroes.

Related

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episodes In Chronological Order (Correct Watch Order)

With Star Wars: The Clone Wars being released non-chronologically, you need the correct viewing order to make sense of its different plotlines.

2 Order 66 Stripped The Clones Of Their Ability To Choose

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Both the canon and Legends iterations of the Clone Wars seemingly contradict the Clones’ depiction in Revenge of the Sith, which paints them in a villainous light by having them murder their Jedi leaders the moment that Order 66 is issued. The Legends continuity remedies this by revealing the clone troopers are all indoctrinated to follow Order 66, regardless of their friendships with the Jedi. The Legends continuity never delves into the specifics of how the Clones were indoctrinated, but it does reveal that Order 66 is one of 150 contingency orders known to the Republic military, hiding it in plain sight.

Related

Star Wars: Every Jedi Who Survived Order 66 (In Canon)

Clone Protocol Order 66 caused once-loyal Clone troopers in Star Wars to wipe out the Jedi, but a handful managed to survive this initial purge.

Some Clones managed to disobey Order 66, however. The standard clone pilot HOB-147 lied to a superior officer to hide Jedi after Order 66’s execution, though this may be because he was never formally given the order. Able-1707, another standard clone trooper, joined the Rebellion for ideological reasons (all Legends-era clone troopers believed in the Republic’s democracy), but the fact he had been stranded on Lubang Minor when Order 66 was enacted may also explain how he averted his brainwashing. Unsurprisingly, numerous ARC Troopers disobeyed the order as their lack of modifications meant that they were likely never indoctrinated to follow Order 66 in the first place.

Unlike the Legends continuity, the new Star Wars canon fully explained how clone obedience to Order 66 was ensured. Order 66 itself is a secret directive and all clone troopers are given control chip brain implants during embryonic development to ensure they follow the order when it is issued. The ARC Trooper Fives discovered the implants and had his removed, but Palpatine himself orchestrated the clone’s death to keep Order 66 secret. Many clones, like Captain Rex and most of Clone Force 99, removed their chips and thus regained their free will. Star Wars: The Bad Batch also reveals some clones overcame the effects of their chips over time.

Related

Every Clone Who Disobeyed Order 66 In Star Wars Canon & Legends

Star Wars’ Clone Troopers were bred for absolute loyalty and secretly created to destroy the Jedi…but not every one obeyed the sinister Order 66.

1 Anakin Led An Army Of Slaves In Order 66

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Modern canon and Legends both portray the clone troopers as heroes without contradicting their actions in the live-action films, but their altruism and free will make Order 66 as tragic for them as it was for the Jedi. Both timelines made a point to emphasize the humanity of the clone troopers, yet Order 66 reduced them to mindless pawns of the Sith Lords. Worse still, the clone troopers are replaced by recruited stormtroopers not long after the rise of the Galactic Empire, with Palpatine essentially discarding them after they had served their purpose.

The fact that Anakin Skywalker – by this point Darth Vader – led a contingent of mind-controlled clone troopers to sack the Jedi Temple is even crueler. The fledgling Sith Lord had once been enslaved as a child, yet he had no qualms about enslaving the Clones under his command. As shown in both the Legends-era Star Wars: Clone Wars and the new canon’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker was fiercely protective of the clone troopers, treating them as friends and respecting their free will, making his actions as Darth Vader tragically indicative of how far he had fallen upon embracing the dark side of the Force.