How 'Revenge of the Sith' Showcases the Death of Democracy on a Galactic Scale
Part 2 of an in-depth analysis of the best Star Wars prequel
George W. Bush is remembered for many things, most of them not very good.
While many Americans admired Bush for his strong and compassionate response to the September 11 attacks, some of his choices in the immediate aftermath would bring immense scrutiny. Bush pushed Congress to pass controversial laws like the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), allowing the president to conduct military action across the globe without prior approval, and the PATRIOT Act, which greatly increased the government’s surveillance capabilities over American citizens — all in the name of security and safety.
Then in March 2003, Bush launched the invasion of Iraq on dubious pretenses, occupying the entire country and commencing a decade-long quagmire. Some began to feel that Bush had taken advantage of 9/11 to expand his own power. Yet anyone that opposed Bush’s actions was labelled an Al-Qaeda sympathizer, or as he memorably put it in a September 20th, 2001 address to Congress:
Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
Four years after that speech, by which point Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction had been revealed to be nonexistent and Bush’s approval rating had begun a steady decline, moviegoers were surprised to hear reminiscent words in the final film of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, ‘Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.’ They appear in the third act, as Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan MacGregor) confronts his former apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), who has been twisted by the Dark Side:
ANAKIN: Don’t lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, justice, freedom, and security to my new Empire!
OBI-WAN: Your new Empire?
ANAKIN: Don’t make me kill you.
OBI-WAN: Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!
ANAKIN: If you’re not with me, you’re my enemy.
Audience members at the film’s Cannes Film Festival premiere immediately caught on to the contemporary resonance. “That quote is almost a perfect citation of Bush," said one attendee about Anakin’s words. “Plus, you’ve got a politician trying to increase his power to wage a phony war.”
Many were unamused by the Bush references, however, with one conservative website even calling for a boycott of the film. Yet as it turned out, the plot for ‘Revenge of the Sith’ was not a specific commentary on Bush, and it had in fact been outlined decades ago, at the same time director George Lucas was creating the original trilogy. As Lucas suggests at the Cannes premiere, America’s leaders were only repeating the mistakes of their predecessors:
When I wrote [the film], Iraq didn’t exist. We were just funding Saddam Hussein and giving him weapons of mass destruction. We didn’t think of him as an enemy at that time. We were going after Iran and using him as our surrogate, just as we were doing in Vietnam. The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we’re doing in Iraq now are unbelievable.
The prequels, running from 1999 to 2005, have received endless criticism over the years. But as Lucas suggests, beneath the dated special effects and the bewildering dialogue lie compelling themes on the cycle of history and the nature of government. Alongside the battle of good and evil that defines the entire Star Wars saga, Lucas focuses the prequels on the cycle of democracy and dictatorship, showcasing how a republic in crisis can fall into empire. And it is in ‘Revenge of the Sith,’ the best of the prequel trilogy, that this story is fully realized.
In Part 1 of this two-part examination of ‘Revenge of the Sith,’ I analyzed the film through its allusions to classical tragedy and how Anakin’s story arc follows the archetype of the tragic hero. Now, in Part 2, I want to take a look at the political dimensions of ‘Revenge’ and the prequel trilogy as a whole. Specifically, I’d like to examine the master plan of Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), and how he was able to undermine the Republic by turning its own institutions against it.
As will be shown, Lucas’s story timeless condemnation of absolute power and of the vulnerabilities of democracy when no one is left to defend it.
Galactic Civics
First, we need to cover the basics: What exactly is the Galactic Republic, and how is it organized?
Consisting of thousands of planets and hundreds of species, the Republic is the largest and most powerful entity in the Star Wars galaxy. Despite its name, it is closer to the European Union rather than a modern nation-state, with the individual planets still retaining a significant degree of autonomy. But all members have agreed to recognize Republican authority, and to (usually) not fight one another.
The Republic is organized into three branches of government, corresponding to the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary: The Galactic Senate, the Office of the Chancellor, and the Judicial Department. Similarly to the US President, the Chancellor is both the head of state and head of government — in the United Kingdom, for instance, the head of state is the monarch while the head of government is the prime minister. Unlike the US President, however, the Galactic Chancellor is chosen by senators rather than by regular voters, as seen during Palpatine’s election in ‘Episode I — The Phantom Menace.’
In the lore, the Republic is approximately 25,000 years old, and by the time of the prequels had experienced 1,000 years of peace after the destruction of the last Sith Empire. There is thus a consistent feeling throughout the prequels that we are witnessing a society in its twilight period, deep in decadence and sclerosis. For instance, the entire plot of ‘Episode I’ only occurs because the Republic is powerless to stop the blockade of Naboo by the Trade Federation, in part because the Federation itself has representation in the Senate — likely a sly allusion to the influence of corporations in contemporary politics.
The Republic’s decline continues into ‘Episode II — Attack of the Clones,’ as a group of systems and corporations form the Separatist movement and declare independence from the Senate. Ostensibly, the Separatists are rebelling because of legitimate grievances, like corruption and the general neglect of the galaxy’s outer systems. But ‘Revenge of the Sith’ reveals that the war between the Republic and the Separatists was in fact a massive false flag operation by Chancellor Palpatine, who led the Separatists through his alter ego Darth Sidious.
Before we discuss Palpatine’s plan, and why he would feel the need to start a fake war, we need to mention one other institution closely tied to the Republic: The Jedi Order. Originating as a monk-like spiritual organization around the same time as the Republic, the Jedi eventually grew to take on the role of “guardians of peace and justice” in the Republic.
But there is a critical problem with the Jedi: Although they enforce the Republic’s rules, at least at a basic level, they are not actually under its control, instead being commanded by a totally separate leadership, the Jedi Council. The existence of these dual power centers, Republic and Jedi, will become a key pressure point that Palpatine uses to destroy the Republic altogether.
Master Plan
Palpatine’s road to absolute power starts out innocently enough.
The rise of the Separatist movement in ‘Episode II’ provokes heated debate within the Republic over what its reaction should be. A key question is whether the Republic should create an army of its own, which it lacks — another way the Republic is more EU than USA. An opportunity to create such an army emerges when Obi-Wan discovers an ready-made clone army on the planet Kamino, apparently commissioned many years prior by deceased Jedi Master Sifo Dyas.
In that same trip, Obi-Wan also discovers that the Separatists are building an army of droids on the planet of Geonosis, adding a sense of urgency to the Republic’s decision-making. Palpatine’s right-hand man, Mas Amedda, conveniently suggests that the Senate approve emergency powers for the Chancellor, so that he can immediately approve the use of the clone army.
Thanks to a resolution from beloved Senator Jar Jar Binks, Palpatine wins his emergency powers, though he accepts them humbly:
PALPATINE: It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling. I love democracy. I love the Republic. The power you give me I will lay down when this crisis has abated.
This quote is, of course, ridiculous in light of how the prequel trilogy ends. But Palpatine’s rhetoric here is an excellent example of how real-world leaders justify — and abuse — emergency powers.
For instance, in Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak continuously extended emergency law for a record thirty years, allowing the legalization of censorship, indefinite detention without trial, and the prohibition of public gatherings of more than five people, among other restrictions. Despite this obvious abuse, the emergency law was somewhat justified when Mubarak first imposed it in 1981; the previous president, Anwar Sadat, had just been assassinated, and Egypt was being rocked by terrorist attacks from the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups.
Yet of course, every subsequent terrorist attack became justification to extend the emergency law by a few more years. In the same vein, the pressure of the Clone Wars grants Palpatine the ability to augment and consolidate his power.
While the specifics of Palpatine’s emergency powers are kept vague, we do know that by the time of ‘Revenge of the Sith,’ three years after the beginning of the Clone Wars, both the Jedi and many Senators have grown wary of the Chancellor. In a deleted scene early in the movie, Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) discusses the Chancellor with a number of other Senators, including Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) and Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly):
BAIL ORGANA: The Chancellor has appointed Governors to oversee all star systems in the Republic.
FANG ZAR: When did this happen?
BAIL ORGANA: The decree was posted this morning.
PADME: Do you think he will dismantle the Senate?
MON MOTHMA: Why bother? As a practical matter, the Senate no longer exists.
GIDDEAN DANU: The constitution is in shreds. Amendment after amendment . . . executive directives, sometimes a dozen in one day.
This discussion reveals two key tactics used by Palpatine — and numerous historical dictators — to bypass the checks and balances of the Republican system: The use of executive orders to avoid the legislature, and the abandonment of federalism in favor of centrally-picked governors. The Senators then discuss further how the Senate has been undermined by the greed of its own members:
BAIL ORGANA: It has become increasingly clear to many of us that the Chancellor has become an enemy of democracy.
PADME: I can't believe it has come to this! Chancellor Palpatine is one of my oldest advisors. He served as my Ambassador when I was Queen.
GlDDEAN DANU: Senator, I fear you underestimate the amount of corruption that has taken hold in the Senate.
MON MOTHMA: The Chancellor has played the Senators well. They know where the power lies, and they will do whatever it takes to share in it.
Thus, by the time of ‘Episode III,’ Palpatine has already neutralized the Senate, and the courts are nowhere to be found. But to attain absolute power, he still needs to deal with the Jedi, the one remaining institution that can pose a credible threat to him.
His first move against the Jedi is to appoint Anakin Skywalker as his personal representative on the Jedi Council, to be the “eyes, ears, and voice of the Republic.” The Council reacts to this move with suspicion, and Anakin feels slighted when the Council not only fails to give him the coveted title of Master — as all other Council members have — but then discreetly asks him to spy on the Chancellor.
The fact that the final step in Palpatine’s plan hinges so greatly on the manipulation of one man, Anakin, reflects the necessities of cinema, as his other, mostly offscreen steps were clearly focused on manipulating institutions as a whole. Regardless, it is Palpatine’s subsequent revelation to Anakin of his true Sith identity that provides the Chancellor with the perfect excuse to finish the Jedi off once and for all.
A conflicted Anakin informs Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) of Palpatine’s identity, leading Windu to round up a group of Jedi to arrest the Chancellor. When Windu first confronts Palpatine, he states his intention to arrest him. But after they fight and Windu disarms Palpatine, he changes his tune:
MACE WINDU: I am going to end this once and for all!
ANAKIN: You can’t! He must stand trial.
MACE WINDU: He has control of the Senate and the Courts. He is too dangerous to be left alive!
Though Windu fails to kill the Chancellor due to Anakin’s betrayal, his attempted killing still provides an excellent showcase of the inherent tension between the Jedi and the rest of the Republic, and of the problems created by vague divisions of power. The Jedi’s official role is to be the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic. But if the leader of the Republic himself is the threat to justice, how are the Jedi allowed to react?
From the above dialogue, Anakin believes that, despite the evil of the Chancellor, he has the constitutional right to a trial. But Windu believes that, as a Jedi, he has the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner in extraordinary circumstances. Historically, numerous militaries assigned themselves a similar right, overthrowing their political leaders to restore their conception of peace and justice.
In other words, from a certain point of view, the Jedi have just attempted an illegal coup.
This is exactly the argument that Palpatine uses to turn the Senate against the Jedi. The sad truth is that, due to the structure of the Republic, a Jedi coup is a perfectly plausible scenario:
PALPATINE: . . . and the Jedi Rebellion has been foiled.
BAIL ORGANA: I was held up. What's happening?
PADME: The Chancellor has been elaborating on a plot by the Jedi, to overthrow the Senate.
PALPATINE: The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated!
Palpatine’s plan worked out near flawlessly. Using the threat of the Separatists and the inducement of corruption, he gradually accumulated greater and greater emergency powers, strengthening the Chancellor’s office and making the Senate a rubber stamp parliament. He then provoked the Jedi into attacking him, allowing him to credibly claim that the Order had betrayed the Republic and giving him the green light to destroy it. All that is left is to formally declare his total control:
PALPATINE: In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society!
The Senate APPLAUDS.
PADME: So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause . . .
Palpatine’s path to Empire is textbook history, a case study in how to destroy democracy. While Lucas drew on many historical examples to craft the Sith Lord’s rise to power, Nazi Germany looms as the closest and most important comparison.
For instance, the threat of a Jedi coup closely resembles the alleged threat of a coup by the Storm Troopers, the original paramilitary force of the Nazi Party — and, yes, the namesake of the Galactic Empire’s Stormtroopers. Adolf Hitler had first become Chancellor in early 1933, and while he had quickly accumulated power through laws like the Enabling Act, allowing the Chancellor to pass laws without parliamentary approval, the Storm Troopers remained a thorn in his side.
In Hitler’s view, the Storm Trooper leader, Ernst Röhm, was gaining too much power, apparently attempting to bring the German army under his own control. So, over the course of three days in the summer of 1934, Hitler ordered the slightly misnamed Night of the Long Knives, the murder of Röhm and Storm Trooper leaders but also various other opponents of the Nazi Party. By the end, hundreds were likely killed, and Hitler’s power became uncontested, allowing him to fully focus on rebuilding the German war machine.
What followed was more than a decade of totalitarian rule and the disaster of World War II. And just like Chancellor Palpatine, Chancellor Hitler did not seize his title by force. He was appointed by his conservative allies, who had no idea they were sealing the fate of their democracy.
Saving Democracy, Skywalker Style
Now that we know how the Republic dies, does Lucas suggest any way it could have been kept alive?
Clearly, history must be a critical guide. At the Cannes premiere, Lucas invoked three key examples of authoritarian takeover, including Nazi Germany:
Why did the senate after killing Caesar turn around and give the government to his nephew? Why did France after they got rid of the king and that whole system turn around and give it to Napoleon? It’s the same thing with Germany and Hitler.
You sort of see these recurring themes where a democracy turns itself into a dictatorship, and it always seems to happen kind of in the same way, with the same kinds of issues, and threats from the outside, needing more control. A democratic body, a senate, not being able to function properly because everybody's squabbling, there's corruption.
In Ancient Rome, democracy was never restored after the Empire’s foundation, while France and Germany only became stable democracies after many years of hardship. Even after Palpatine is defeated in ‘Return of the Jedi,’ there is no guarantee that the New Republic won’t be taken over by another would-be dictator.
Two major flaws stand out for any would-be successors of the Old Republic. One is the power of the Chancellor, or specifically, the Chancellor’s ability to attain such wide-ranging emergency powers. Germany’s post-World War II constitution, for instance, did not even include emergency laws until 1968, and even then in greatly weakened form from the wide-ranging Article 48 of the Weimar constitution.
Some form of emergency power will always remain a necessity, so that governments can respond effectively to crises. But the bounds of those powers need to be clearly outlined, and they must not continue after the specific crisis has ended. Both the court system and the legislature must play a crucial role in keeping the executive accountable in times of emergency, fulfilling the promise of check and balances that the three-branch system is supposed to provide.
The second major flaw of the Old Republic is the lack of a clear role for the Jedi. The Order needed to either be directly under the control of one of the Republic’s branches — likely either the Chancellor or Senate — or be divorced from the halls of power altogether. But the Jedi instead occupied a dangerous middle ground, playing at politics and becoming generals in the Republic’s armies while not even been governed by the Republic.
The Jedi’s behavior both undermined their spiritual purpose and lessened their admiration in the eyes of the Senate and the public, allowing them to even believe Palpatine’s claim of a Jedi coup. At the very least, this lesson appears to be one Luke Skywalker learned when constructing the New Jedi Order, as he centered it on the distant planet of Yavin-4 rather than the capital planet of Coruscant — keeping his students as far away from politics as possible.
But returning to the modern day, knowing how the Republic could have been saved remains as relevant as ever, as Lucas’s concerns have shown no sign of fading. In the past few years, scholars have spoke of an epidemic of democratic backsliding across the world. Leaders such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro have been accused of undermining democratic norms through attacking the press and the electoral system, while others like Nicolas Maduro or Vladimir Putin have completely transformed their countries into one-party dictatorships where zero dissent is tolerated.
The optimism following the end of the Cold War, when dozens of countries transformed into democracies overnight, has been replaced with deep pessimism. Just like ‘Revenge of the Sith,’ there is no happy ending to this story. But that fact is exactly why Lucas made his film: To warn us of the dangers of complacency, of believing in leaders that promise security over all else. To remind us to remain vigilant to defend our institutions against anti-democratic forces, both external and internal.
Lucas’s warning felt timely in 2005, and now, almost two decades later, it feels essential.