Are the Clone Troopers slaves?

I have thought about this on multiple occasions, but I haven't really read anything about this as of yet. I recall that in Episode I, Padme stated that the Republic had anti-slavery laws. However, the Clone Wars really represent the utlimate paradox of an "anti-slavery" society. The Clone Troopers are quite literally born into bondage, and they cannot escape because they were not "programmed" to desire freedom. They are raised only to fight and be loyal to Palpatine, so they are really a slave driver's fantasy: they are hard working, readily available, will never complain, and will never question authority. They are bought and sold like a commodity, so really the great army of the Republic is nothing but glorified slaves.

Through the Clone army, the Republic effectively created a permanent and disposable under class. I'm amazed that the concept of the clone army was not a red flag to the Jedi order, and that they were open to the concept of a "sub human" class so soon from the onset. If the Jedi were to follow the Republic's laws to the letter, then they should have called the Clone army for what it was-- slaves. But the question never even came up in the movie, which I have always found to be a bit odd.

So, do you think that the Republic made a convincing case as to why the Clones shouldn't be entitled to the rights of the Republic's citizens, who they fought and died for on a daily basis? Or was it that the Republic's citizens were so scared of the prospect of fighting their own war, that they never questioned the ethics or legality of the clone army? Discuss.

 

They are slaves. This issue is brought up very much in the CW EU material. If you read Republic Commando: Triple Zero the clones actually get a leave on Coruscant and they're ordered to walk around out of their armor so the public can have more interaction with them. A lot of people did not like the idea of clones and some felt it was wrong. I imagine that some people thought the Grand Army of the Republic would place the Republic in a draft situation and came to be surprised at a clone army. What it all boils down to is the clones are engineered slaves if you will. It is wrong and that just goes to show you how deep the evil is in Palpatine's veins. A lot of people want to sit there and bash the prequels but they never think about the bigger picture. I've always been in awe of how not only did Palpatine mastermind a full scale galactic war but he basically created a population of sentient beings that were to be butchered like cattle.

As for the Jedi, well, they are spread so thin that they really can't complain about the help. Some of the Jedi don't agree with it but everything is for the greater good as far as they know.

 

I would imagine that the Republic made a case based on the question of whether or not the Clones were human. The majority of the populace would be happy to believe they're not if it stops them from having to risk their lives for the Republic. Those who would object are likely the ones who would have opposed the military creation act anyway and they seem to have been shunted to the side(with Bail's balcony punching outrage representing that some in the Republic opposed it) when Palpatine receives emergency powers. As for the Jedi, they found themselves in a Catch-22. They're clearly uncomfortable with the Clone Army, yet they can't abandon the Republic. They simply end up making the best of a bad situation and force the Republic to give the Clones names and treat them as more then droids encased in flesh.

 

I think the Clones are the single most tragic figures in all Star Wars. They are programmed to die. I mean what kind of existance is that?

 

One of the things I think is often missed when analyzing the clone situation is the Jedi's role in accepting and humanizing the clones. Like most of the humanitarian issues during the prequels, the Jedi don't blatantly spell out what they think of the situation, but I feel it's strongly implied they don't like the fact that the clone army is treated the way they are. The Jedi treat the clones as equals on the battlefield and are also responsible for the clones establishing their own identities and taking human names instead of a numerical designation. The Jedi are not being inherently cruel by leading the clones; if anything they want the clones to have a shot at being freed from a life of endless battle and think that winning the war may accomplish this for both parties. After the eradication of the Jedi order, they go back to being nothing more than a number (which I think provide a nice in universe explanation for the stormtroopers not customizing and painting their armor ).

 

,,I think the Clones are the single most tragic figures in all Star Wars. They are programmed to die. I mean what kind of existance is that?,,

For them it didnt wreally mattered,but i still think its a perverse idea.

 

I hate the clone troopers.

 

I kinda view the clones as slaves. Live, Obey, and Die for the republic, with no thought to anything else.

 

,,I kinda view the clones as slaves. Live, Obey, and Die for the republic, with no thought to anything else.,,

What did the jedi planed with them after the war?

 

Probably nothing. They weren't the Jedi's army and their fate after the war would have been decided by the Republic.

 

Well...assuming Roan Shryne just wasn't plain making stuff up, the Jedi plan was that they'd still keep the clones around to help the Jedi keep the peace. Not an altogether illogical conclusion either-if the immediate post-ROTS situation is any indicator, there would've been all kinds of Sep military hardware just laying around available to anyone. The Jedi would have needed an army to deal with all that.

 

No, they weren't slaves, and they had nothing to do with the Jedi. They were a mistake, a product of the blind decadence of the Old Republic.

 

it depends on you're outlook on clones some fans see them as no better than battle driods so to them they don't matter
if you like the clones you see them as slaves so like all things it depeds on you're outlook on things

 

Question-were the clones paid? I ask because they at least some got shore leave in the RC books, and shore leave without money seems pretty stupid.

Plus if they were paid, then they're a sort of hybrid between indentured servants and actual slaves.

 

no the clones are not paid

 

Yes the clones are slaves. Their existence and use is one of the biggest black marks on both the Old Republic and the Jedi. There is such extreme hypocrisy in the fact that the Republic and Jedi claim to be against slavery, but then use a slave army.

 

Of course, the Jedi had no control over whether or not the Clone Army was going to be used and deserve credit for treating them as the human beings they were rather than as droids with skin as the Kaminoans seem to.

 

Sure they did. While they may not have been able to prevent them from fighting they could have easily argued for more freedoms and rights for the clones, but they did not.

1. Treating clones better than the Kaminoans do isn't anything really to be proud of considering how lowly the Kaminoans act towards them.
2. Which Jedi? I know some like Etain Tur-Murkan and Bardan Jusik treated the clones well but they seemed to be in the minority. It appeared that most Jedi were like Quinlan Vos and did not treat the clones with respect.

 

Obi-Wan and Yoda are shown treating them with respect, especially in CW. In the show they are generally treated with respect.

 

Yeah they did.

1. Fair enough.
2. Obi-Wan who treats Cody as a friend (as Yoda did Gree and Aayla did Bly), Anakin who along with Obi-Wan and the Jedi as a whole started giving the clones names rather than just numbers to introduce the clones to the idea that they were more than just a product, and Yoda who emphasized that the Clones were all unique beings when the Clones reference the fact that they all look alike.

 

They certainly did.

Exactly. Actually, the Jedi who did not treat the clones with respect were in the minority.

 

Do we see other Jedi interaction with the clones beside the principal characters?

I don't remember the Jedi trying to get the clones a salary, nor a plan for their lives after the wars, nor the right to vote, nor leave, etc.

I know the main characters treated them well, but I want to know about the Jedi Order as a whole. In Republic Commando it appears that Zey is the standard for how Jedi officers behave.

No, they didn't. Clones were naming themselves way before they Jedi thought of that. In Hard Contact, the clones commandos already had nicknames even before the Jedi were aware of the army's existence.

True.

Examples?

 

Do we see other Jedi interaction with the clones beside the principal characters?


Besides the oh, seven volumes with sixty-some issues of the Clone Wars comics that had literally dozens of non-main-character Jedi interacting with clones on an issue to issue basis, no, not at all.


Heck, even going off just the films your contention that the Jedi don't like or respect the clones isn't very accurate. We see that Obi-Wan and Cody have a very close relationship-insofar as a guy in an Order that forswears attachment and a clone who's trained to place orders over his personal feelings can be friends, anyway. Yoda doesn't demean the clones when talking to them in AOTC and ROTS; he treats them as any superior officer treats his soldiers-respectfully, but expecting his orders to be followed.

 

I was talking about the Clone Wars TV series, which I haven't really watched. I'm already aware of the Republic comics.

That's true, but then again, Obi-Wan and Yoda are the pinnacle of the Jedi. As I stated earlier it appears that some Jedi respected the clones, but others, like Quinlan Vos or Arligan Zey, think of them as meat droids. In fact in True Colors it almost implies that Mace Windu feels the same way as well.

 

That's true, but then again, Obi-Wan and Yoda are the pinnacle of the Jedi. As I stated earlier it appears that some Jedi respected the clones, but others, like Quinlan Vos or Arligan Zey, think of them as meat droids. In fact in True Colors it almost implies that Mace Windu feels the same way as well.


Yeah, books by an author who's publically said that she doesn't like Jedi in a book series that basically exists to go on and on about how awful the Jedi are. Happily, the rest of the EU doesn't agree with that sentiment.

And, out of the dozens of Jedi we've seen interacting with clones, you can only pick *two* who are actually shown to have disliked them? One of which was nearly killed by a clone while spying for the Republic and has never been the best Jedi to begin with? That's frankly pretty flimsy and doesn't agree with the Clone Wars CG show, the comics, the vast majority of the books or the films.