Darth-Stryphe posted:

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Possibly. The idea for this backstory was conceived in the mid-70s, so the Nixon crisis might have played into part of his reasoning behind using it.

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Darthgordon posted:

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All governments fall or at the very least undergo a drastic change. This will happen to every nation through out time. The Roman Empire fell, the Russian dynasties died out, the British Empire is now a democracy, the Soviet Union collapsed and so on.

Often times, these things almost seem cyclic. They go from free nations to dictatorships and then back again. Democracy seems to work best when it's simpler but as it goes on over time, the system seems to get gummed up and people become corrupt. Collective arrogance seems to set in and thus begins the quest for more power and control. The arrogant believe that the ruling authority knows what's best for everyone no matter how much misery or even bloodshed it causes seems to be a running theme at the end of freedom and beginning of tyranny. Eventually, war or rebellion usually gives them back their freedom, but in time, they revert back.

One thing we often tell ourselves, is that something of that nature couldn't happen in our lifetimes. If all tell ourselves that, all the time, eventually there have been and will people that are wrong.

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DBrennan3333 posted:

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I think you're right about the cyclic nature of civilizations, but I always have this thought that that "cycle" is now over because, nowadays, there's no serious possibility of any rebellion or revolution. I mean, it's not like 1776 where they have muskets and we have muskets and it's just about numbers and tactics. No, nowadays, we might have a couple of rifles, but they've got nukes, satellites, bunker-busters, tanks, fighter jets, algorithms monitoring all digital communication, etc. This is my personal definition of "asymmetrical warfare."

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Darth-Stryphe posted:

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Well, that kind of thing doesn't happen often in history. Can't really even think of a good example of it. Roman had civil wars, but not staged wars. Nor Greece (to my knowledge). Nixon didn't start Vietnam (and actually ended it).

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drg4 posted:

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Makes you think Obi-Wan may have been a busy fella during his Tatooine exile. Who's to say he wasn't convening with the Alex Joneses and Oliver Stones of the SW universe? I could see them now:

Pouring over Bothan B/W captures of Sidious. ("Alright, the hood's shadow ends just above the bridge...trace that sneer...look at those jowls...compare and contrast, gentlemen!")

Freeze-framing Coruscant newsreels. ("Alright, Palpatine's on the balcony...Count Dooku walks past, nods twice...three days later, he leaves the Council...coincidence?")

Constructing meticulous timelines. ("We're at 34-4, at which point Palpatine goes into seclusion, no records as to his whereabouts...Shmi Skywalker impregnated...no father, she said...the puppetmaster's strings everywhere!")

Playing audio-recordings ("Gunray finishes...listen to that voice...sounds a lot like Tarkin, doesn't it?...funneling Republic credits into the Banking Clan all that time!")


Forget all that bounty-hunter crap! THIS is the stuff I want to see on the live-action television series!

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DBrennan3333 posted:

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Of course, as Obi-Wan and his new friends on Tattooine were studying these pictures, trying to piece together how the heck a best friend became a charred monster and how a great republic became a nightmarish dictatorship....a bunch of flag-waving phonies would report them to the Empire. "Those guys are unpatriotic conspiracy theorists!!! They think our heroic Emperor ain't a god! I want you to send them to the Guantanamo System and show them who's boss! YEAH EMPIRE!!!"

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drg4 posted:

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That terrorist Kenobi is about to discover Sith Lords and bounty hunters are insignificant, next to the power of waterboarding (a charming technique sanctioned by Palpatine's Attorney General...or so I've heard).

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DBrennan3333 posted:

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INTERROGATOR (TRAINED BY VADER HIMSELF): "His resistance to the mind probe, waterboarding, and sensory deprivation is considerable. It could be some time before we can extract any information from him."

GRAND ADMIRAL GONZALEZ: "Perhaps he will respond to an alternative form of persuasion....place him in a cell with that annoying Gungan who keeps making cellmates hang themselves."

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Darth-Stryphe posted:

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But that still doesn't fit. In the Clone War, Sidious was the central leader for both sides. The leaders of the N. Vietnamese army didn't report to LBJ, nor did the generals and leaders of 1939 Poland work for Hilter. It's one thing to start a war over a lie (I imagine that's not too uncommon) but its another one for the war to be a lie itself, like the Clone War was.

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