Commentary: The Real Sad Truth Of The Empire In ‘Star Wars’
by Frank Martin
As a thematic roller coaster, Star Wars has an incredible level of highs and lows. Although each individual character has an arc, it could also be noted that the galaxy itself also has one. Each is portrayed through various eras in the Star Wars universe. There’s the era of the High Republic, the prequel era, the Original Trilogy, and of course the sequel trilogy. Each one has its trials and tribulations and messages to be delivered. But arguably, the saddest part of the Star Wars saga is the original series. Specifically: this era is sad because the Empire is in power … but it’s the conduct of regular people that make it sad, not the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) himself.
Part of the big picture of Star Wars is the politics that play out in the Senate and the Republic. Obviously, Emperor Sheev Palpatine is the ultimate villain who manipulates the political system to rise to power. He wants to control everything all across the galaxy. He largely pulled off this coup on his own. He certainly had help from individuals such as General Grievous (Matthew Wood) and Count Dooku (Sir Christopher Lee), but the Jedi and the Clone Army he used to spread war were manipulated into doing such.
The same can’t be said for those who served the Empire. Once it is established with rules and protocols in place, Palpatine relied on an entire army of individuals to carry out these orders. No longer was he hiding his terrible schemes. They were out in the open and implemented, proudly, regardless of any moral qualms. Individuals such as Arihnda Pryce (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) in Star Wars Rebels and Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) in Andor gladly succumbed to their dark ambitions to achieve power. And that’s the real sad part about Star Wars and the Empire. The Emperor could not have inflicted all the evil he did alone. It was regular people who used the situation to enable their own evil.
Star Wars is now streaming on Disney+.
