Full Series Palpatine's Red Guards

Upon watching Episodes I-III, I always assumed the Red Guards replaced the traditional blue-robed Senate guards sometime between episodes I and II, being that we see Palpatine accompanied by them in Attack of the Clones. However, throughout most of the Clone Wars cartoons Palpatine is accompanied by the older blue-robed guards with the exception of a few later episodes where he again has the Red Guards. Is this a lack of oversight in that the writers of the Clone Wars forgot that Palpatine was protected by the Red Guards in Attack of the Clones?

Being that the Clone Wars is canon, this definitely matters even though it is a small detail. If it was indeed a lack of oversight, its something that the Star Wars universe is stuck with so what is the in-universe explanation?

 

The in Universe explanation might be that he used both.

 

Yea I dont know. They never made that clear. AOTC they were obviously replaced by the Red Guard, no explanation alluded to either, not even the Jedi had a clue nor looked interested in the change. When the Blue Guard showed up by ROTS they had the new more intimidating visor. The Senate Commandos weren't supposed to be Clones as far I remember but they came off as Clones on TCW. They're the Senate Guard extension of that branch as well . While the Royal Guard may be Palpatine's select guards however Shock Troopers are also in red and are TCW version of Palpatine's main body guards and essentially the basic Corusant police and military. But the two divisions looked to have served the same purpose, guess they liked both looks and were kept for aesthetics reasons. I like variations myself so am sympathetic, but not sure of the logic.

 

Blue-robed guards appear in all three prequels. In between TPM and AOTC, Palpatine gave red robes to elite guards who sometimes surround him. As the Clone Wars went on, Palpatine came to always be surrounded by red-robed guards. Blue-robed guards presumably continued to exist until the dissolution of the Senate.

The Plagueis novel implies that the Red Guards are secretly an ancient organization that serves the Sith.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Red_Guard

 

As I understand it, the difference is that the blue Senate Commandoes (as the name suggests) are a protection detail meant for the entire Senate as well as the Chancellor, whereas the Red Guards are meant specifically to protect the Chancellor, as part of Palpatine's increasing concentration of power with him alone.

I'm pretty sure the Senate Commandoes weren't meant to be clones in TCW, by the way, as we saw a few specific individuals. If anything made them look that way, it was probably just reuse of character models.

I have to admit, I've never been fond of the idea of giving the Red or Royal Guards that kind of special importance, especially the latter. They always struck me as being like Boba Fett, in that their cool appearance made fans and the EU perceive them as much tougher than they really were, and the ease with which we see them get smacked aside by Yoda in ROTS felt like the eventual confirmation of that belief.

Edit: Which Darth_Downunder beat me to pointing out, it seems.

 

I agree with this post 100%. Blue = Senate in general, Red = Chancellor specifically, and they don't have any sort of special importance otherwise.

Nevertheless, I wonder if the Red/Royal Guards killed Senators who objected to the dissolution of the Senate.

 

If the red guards are exclusively for the Emperor you wouldn't think he'd be using them to kill anybody. May as well paint a big sign on them saying "assassin hired by Palpatine"

 

I meant to imply that he didn't use them (at least not openly) to assasinate anyome until the dissolution of the Senate during ANH, at which point they were unleashed on the helplesss Senators.

 

Fair enough but even after that, he wouldn't want to so blatantly advertise that he was killing the Senators of the various worlds. It's no effort to have them change clothes at least.

 

Where they in AOTC, must've missed it as I do not remember them in it.

 

Yeah they were in the background of Palpy's office, I think.

 

Are the guards Force sensitive? It's something I've always wondered.

 

I, like many, have enjoyed seeing the Red Guards continue into the Prequels and the Clone Wars. I do not remember seeing them in TCW at all, what episodes? The Blue guards did indeed take up the majority of time, especially in the episode where Cad Bane tries to capture Palpatine using a hologram image of a Blue Guard. That Blue Guard's action figure was so hard to find when ROTS was released. Anywho, I would like to see these explored into the ST and from what I'm hearing, their concept will be. Let's just hope they get some action for crying out loud lol!

 

Databank so far only has this:

http://www.starwars.com/databank/emperors-royal-guard

 

I think there is 2 different blue units, the armored guys and the guys in robes, Chancellor Vallorum didnt have Red guards that I remember. Palpatine must have made his personal guards red. I dont recall seeing any of the robed guards in the show though.

 

Armoured guys:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Senate_Commando/Canon

Guys in robes:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Senate_Guard/Canon

 

I could see the New Republic using blue guards like Valorum used to symbolize the end of Palpatine's influence.

I'd love to see a Red Guard fight a Blue Guard.

 

I think the Red Guards would win.

 

Is Valrum dead by the time of the Empire.

 

In the old EU he was assassinated during the Clone Wars. Now, who knows?

 

We know he survived up until about 20 or 19 BBY at the earliest.

 

Who knows. I didn't mean to imply that he survives.

 

Red Guard appearances:
AppearancesEdit

• Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "The Lawless"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "The Wrong Jedi"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Orders"
• Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
• Star Wars Rebels – "Empire Day" (HoloNet News image)
• Star Wars: Commander
• Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (First appearance)