By George & Josh Bate
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith with the latest issue of Star Wars Insider.
Check out an exclusive preview of Star Wars Insider 231 below…..
Win, Lose, or Draw?
Words: James Floyd
Did revenge really work out for the Sith? In this exclusive extract from #231, Star Wars Insider questions whether there’s an alternative take on the outcomes of the prequel trilogy finale.
Twenty years ago, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith wrapped up the prequel trilogy with the conclusion of the Clone Wars, the fall of the Jedi Order, and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine’s rise to unlimited power. But the events portrayed in the film had much wider repercussions that sent ripples across the galaxy and into its immediate and near future (in galactic terms). This closing act began a chain of events where short-term successes ended up as long-term losses, so let’s examine who the real winners and losers were – from a certain point of view.
10. YODA
How could we possibly describe Yoda as a winner in all this, after everything he suffered at the hands of Palpatine (beyond simply surviving the fate of his fellow Jedi, of course)?
Ask yourself this—did Yoda ever get a break from dealing with Republic Politics, teaching younglings, and Jedi missteps like the Osha/Mae situation? And all those long, dull, Council meetings?! It must have been a draining lifestyle. Sure, the little green guy took the odd sabbatical every now and then to commune with the Force, but let’s face it, he’d more than earned a few decades of me time.
Maybe ready, he was? You’ll notice Yoda didn’t offer to take either of the Skywalker twins to raise – perhaps training all those younglings for centuries had put him off kids altogether? With the onerous responsibilities of leading the Jedi Council behind him, Yoda could kick back and enjoy semi-retirement amid the swamps of Dagobah. An all-you-can-eat buffet of frog stew and the company of shimmering blude “old friends” sounds like a win to us.
09. Owen and Beru Lars
The Lars were in love and happily running their thriving family moisture farm on Tatooine when some bearded space wizard showed up and handed them a baby to look after. And not just any baby, but the son of Owen’s half-brother (whom he’d met once for maybe a few hours, several years prior) who happened to have recently become the second most evil being in the galaxy! As adoptions go, it doesn’t feel like due diligence was observed.
And what if they’d preferred a girl, like Leia? Well, Bail Organa had “selflessly” taken on that responsibility, because he and his wife had always “wanted a girl.” Royal privilege, anyone? It was ever thus.
With crazy middle-aged hermit Ben Kenobi constantly breathing down their necks for the next 18 years, raising young Luke can’t have been much fun for the couple, especially when he kept whining about chores and power converters (let along that visit from an Inquisitor with a chip on his shoulder). Nope, it was diaper duty for the Lars, followed by the challenges of a petulant teenager. That kid would be the death of them.
08. Brand Management
With the Republic quickly transitioning into the Galactic Empire, a lot of changes needed to be made to promote the new regime—and there was plenty of remodelling to be done. The whole city-planet of Corurscant needed a makeover for a start, what with all that falling debris from the orbital space battle that had raged above during the final confrontation of the Clone Wars. The Senate chamber, littered with smashed pods, was in need of some love. And the supreme chancellor’s office? That was crying out for replacement windows if it was to be made fit for an Emperor! Smoke damage and stained carpets were going to make the Jedi Temple a difficult let to new tenants too.
Step up Coruscant’s finest interior designers and contractors, ready to flip those battered buildings into desirable duplex apartment and Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) torture chambers (no safety handrails required—that would cut into profit margins). Marketing gurus had their work cut out too—Palpatine’s propaganda wouldn’t just spread itself!
But the biggest money-spinner of all would have been in branding—swapping out defunct Republic signage for strident Imperial logos on every building, public vehicle, and holographic letterhead in the galaxy. An unexpected win for the creative industries! Who says totalitarianism can’t be fun?
Pick up Star Wars Insider #231 – on sale April 29 – to read the full feature, including Anakin Skywalker, Wilhuff Tarkin, clone troopers and more!
Plus, get ready for Andor Season 2, Andor A Star Wars Story, with a little Season 1 refresher, and senior vice president franchise content & strategy and Visions executive producer James Waugh talks Volumes 1 and 2.
That’s not all! Expert Tom Spina speaks to Star Wars creator concept artists, and there’s an all-new and exclusive Star Wars: The High Republic short fiction by Lydia Kang, and much, much more!