‘Star Wars’ fan neatly summarizes how the Clone Wars killed the Jedi

For all the justified criticism of George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy, it’s difficult to pick holes in Palpatine’s plan to defeat the Jedi and seize power. The would-be Emperor played the long game, slowly raising tensions in the Galactic Senate, fomenting distrust in the Jedi Order, and grooming Anakin Skywalker as his future apprentice. It all culminated in Order 66, which eradicated (almost) the Jedi and gave Palpatine… unliiiiimited power!

Now a fan on r/StarWars is paying tribute to Palpatine’s evil scheme, arguing that the Clone Wars were a trap carefully designed to ensnare and corrupt the Jedi. They say that the Clone Wars are just morally gray enough to suck the Jedi in, with the prolonged conflict gradually corrupting what’s supposed to be a peaceful religious order.

The argument points out that the Clone Wars encouraged the Jedi to behave more aggressively, spend more time fighting than thinking, and that many prominent Jedi Masters ended up as Generals sending men to their deaths. Fighting in a war inevitably led the Jedi to darker tendencies, with them demonstrating anger and fear towards the Separatist Army. Even better is that their enemies’ reliance on droids gives the Jedi a moral justification for cutting loose with the Force — after all, they’re only machines, right?

For once, the community is united on this. Other fans reply that this is a “perfect” summary of the Clone Wars, and one says that it gave the Jedi “the shove” into the abyss.

Another says that one of the most devious parts of Palpatine’s plan is that there’s no winning move for the Jedi (other than figuring out this sinister old guy is a Sith Lord and taking him out). If they join the war they lose their way, if they sit it out then it’d be easy for Palpatine to paint them as traitors.

So let’s give Palpatine some credit for managing to outsmart pretty much everyone in Star Wars for decades. We can see why he had such disdain for the Jedi Order.