I always thought that when the Empire rose to power, they used the clone troops to conquer a couple of planets, which just made them not need to bother with clones anymore—after all, there’s all of this usable meat in serviceable condition running around on their new planets. Alternatively, with the expansion of the Empire, perhaps cloning sufficiently many troops just became too expensive/too slow, and they just went on to snatch up whatever bozo they could stick into a plastic suit (that also explains the stormtroopers’ legendary precision—they don’t need good soldiers, just lots of them).
The whole point of the clone troops was that the Old Republic didn’t have a centralized army. They appear to have operated under a “local militia” model, with each member arranging its own defenses. With clones, Palpatine didn’t have to worry about his soldiers having conflicting loyalties.
Actually, Palpatine probably could have acheived the same goals with with a droid army, but perhaps he thought living beings would be more acceptable to the Senate.
I think it’s more that the people who made droids (members of the Separatists) were already cranking them out by the millions. What the Republic had access to in mass quantities were clones, who were mysteriously ordered many years before they were needed.
Obviously, Palpatine did the ordering, and he also orchestrated the droid-building Separatists to make having a clone army necessary. Ultimately, the only reason for the entire charade was to get the Jedi out in the field with an army who could shoot them in the back at the key moment. Everything else was window dressing.
At what point did the switch from clones to modern Storm Troopers happen? Were they clones in ANH?
Still unclear, I think.
That whole ‘somebody commissioned a clone army for reasons unknown to us—hey, free army!’-bit is still kind of unclear to me. I mean, did none of the Jedi think that this seemed kinda fishy? (It’s possible this is explained, but the way I recall it, Obi Wan went to the planet of people who have to build really high fences, found the drones, fought Jango Fett, left, and then Yoda went and got them to the fight on the planet of the bug people. It’s sure awfully convenient to just trip over an army exactly when you happen to need one…)
The Kaminoans explained to Obiwan the clones were commissioned by a jedi. Based on his reaction, Obi deemed the jedi in question to be trustworthy enough and he only wished he knew why the army was commissioned–what was the plan? Think like a jedi though: they learn to do stuff without knowing why–only that The Force has put the idea into their head. So it’s not such a leap to believe Obi would just accept it as, “Well, someone had a plan for these guys and as it turns out, we DO need them.”
Also: the clones had some modifications from Mr. Fett, most notably they age/mature twice as fast. They were an army of Roy Battys, designed to come online fairly quickly, and to fight like hell. No need to be concerned about a 10-15 year useful lifespan.
With all that, I think it’s safe to say the original clone army would be long dead by the time of TFA. Unless, of course, the good people of Kamino kept the factory going for some reason. One last thing: the clones were horrible marksmen, the First Order troopers were…well, ok, maybe it’s just really hard to aim in those plastic suits (which are about as useful as cotton against even handheld blasters)
The Jedi didn’t want the clone army. At the end of Eposide II, Palpatine engineered a situation where Yoda had no choice but to use the clones, or else the Jedi would have been wiped out by the Seperatists. We don’t see much of the aftermath, but politically, this would have had the effect of legitimizing the clone army. (If Yoda used them, they must be OK, right?) At this point, the Senate basically foisted the clone army on the Jedi. In Episode III, it seemed to me that the Jedi were fairly uncomfortable with the clones. The Jedi were cops, not generals.
Of course, if Yoda hadn’t used the clone army, the Jedi would have been decimated by the Seperatists, which would have been a “win” for Palpatine as well.
Well, there’s about a 20-year gap between Episodes III and IV. The original generation of clones would be getting kinda old for combat by then. Especially if they continue to age at 2x the normal rate. (This isn’t clear.) By the time of ANH, it would have to be either new recruits, or a new generation of clones. Perhaps the older clones are serving as instructors by then, or have less-demanding positions (ie, desk jobs).
You guys are way over thinking this. After the financial success of TFA, Disney’s studio heads will have given a green light to directors and writers to completely disregard the prequels if it makes a better story.
If they think massive armies of battle droids or clone troopers will get bums of seats then we’ll see them again. They’d be crazy to be constrained by anything that happened in the prequels. I mean theres not even sensible continuity between Jedi and TFA (why are the rebels still outsiders and not in power and why did they do nothing about the first order for 30 years?).
The only over riding arc in the star wars movies is the quest to sell more merchandise and it has ever been that way. The continuity is retconned to fit what sells, rather than the other way around.
No, Stormtroopers are conscripts. This was made explicit in the most recent season of Star Wars: Rebels, when a couple of ex-Clone Troopers (legacy characters from the Clone Wars cartoon, made by the same people) join the nascent Rebellion.
Yeah. In ANH, when Biggs and Luke talk about “the Academy” they’re referring to the Imperial Academy, where troopers and pilots are trained.
From memory of discussions on a different board.
At the time of ANH about 5-10% of the Empire’s army were clones from the Clone War era - basically the most trusted, elite troops (Imperial Guard, Vader’s personal shock troopers, special forces etc. A lot of which were on the first Death Star). The rest of the Stormtroopers were a mix of volunteers (looking to get off their shit-hole planets etc) and conscripts.
Always remember this axiom - the Jedi are idiots. Across pretty much every medium and story line they’re often painfully dumb, missing the forest for the trees and vice versa again and again and again. Which when you think about it seems appropos for a fanatical monastic order ;).
One of the reasons I was so fond of the KOTOR computer RPGs, especially KOTOR 2, is they presented a very good case for both the Sith and the Jedi being foolishly dogmatic and kind of clueless.
Doubtful, since, in addition to the other evidence already supplied, different ones who talk clearly have different voices.
Also, I think one of them has boobs.
They’re not Rebels, they’re the Resistance. And it’s all laid out in the movie…
The Rebels did win and formed the New Republic.
The Empire retreated to a smaller part of space and reformed as the First Order.
The Resistance is a group that opposes the First Order that is supported by, but not directly aligned, with the New Republic.
Well, her armor does, anyway.
Wasn’t “she” a robot?
Actually, I hadn’t considered this 'til just now, but Captain Phasma is the first time I can remember a movie putting a female character into armor, and not gluing a couple of tits to the breastplate. Anyone know of previous examples?
Ah, there is one other, isn’t there? Perhaps not co-incidentally, Brienne of Tarth.
Cate Blanchette in Elizabeth II, Mila Jovovich in The Messenger…