Full Series The Clone Wars: Episode 408: The General -- Discussion Thread

I think the Umbaran gas can be explained as a stimulant/drug, or some sort of biological night vision enhancer.

 

but they could have provided Republic with technology - I said nothing about sending troops but they have technology that is better than Republic's war tech....

 

You don't give away your best tech to other armies for them to potentially reverse-engineer and make their own copies of.

Then your own military loses it's tech advantage.

 

Those slick starfighters are the Umbaran equivalent of the F-22 Raptor?

If the Republic never has access to this technology earlier while Umbara is still a member, then their defection might turn out to be a good thing overall. The Republic has an excuse to invade and conquer Umbara and when the dust has settled, the Republic can set the terms of a new agreement which forces the Umbarans to hand over their military tech.

Umbara could be the model for the resolution of future disputes between the Republic/Empire and star systems over military technology - alienate, reconquer, extort.

 

I do understand this issue but it would be easier to understand if Umbaran tech wouldn't be so alien and totally different from the rest of the republic tech- I would think they only keep the extremely advanced weapons but still if they were part of the Republic it is not a same thing as being two separate states altogether- Umbarans never belonged to the republic so closely they would share technology for greater good? Apparently not - but Kuat and Rothana and even Geonosis on CIS-side do share their most advanced tech with the faction they are allied with- why Umbara didn't support Republic if they have the best knowledge of the weapons?- They could've made a lot of money by selling this tech to GAR -that should've been their ally and protector not enemy- now they use it for CIS so what prevented them from using it for the Republic- same thing after all?

Also if there is not enough clones why these militaristic worlds are not willing to fight for the Republic?- Gungans did help them- that's by far only army that participated in the battle for other Republic world than their home- others stay on their own worlds and let the rest of the Republic fall- as senator I would definitely support recruitment- if there is people willing to live for the republic surely some of these militias would prepare to die for it- cloning is not very good way to produce soldiers after all.....

 

IU, the reason appears to be that the Republic represents the "mainstream" of the GFFA, and the Umbarans are way outside of that mainstream. The mainstream is predominantly human, with elements of Rodian, Twi'lek, Duros, Bothan, Weequay, Bith or Gran and centred on the Galactic Core worlds. The Umbarans, however, are far outside this mainstream, residing in some far flung nebula. They're more like the Mandalorians (who also don't seem to share their technology) in that they are considered "foreign" to the Republic, or they consider themselves foreign.

Maybe it's intentional on the part of the Umbarans. They might be incredibly xenophobic and paranoid about offworlders taking their technology. Money is nothing next to pride in the homeworld.

Only the massive shipyards of Kuat, Corellia, et al. have the economies of scale to build vast numbers of weapons and vehicles for the Republic military, and the Umbarans lack this. It's like a supercar manufacturer not being able to build vast numbers of vans for a telecoms company's fleet.

Palpatine has a vested interest in keeping the Jedi surrounded almost entirely by clones, so the Grand Army of the Republic is unlikely to have any non-clones in it. It may be costly and time-consuming, but the potential rewards are enormous.

However, the Republic Navy might have room for some non-clone personnel (just not anyone who serves regularly under the Jedi), and various planetary security forces could be brought under a single command structure. After the Empire is established, the GAR becomes the Stormtrooper Corps and these non-clone forces become the Imperial Army...

 

The CIS weren't using Umbarra tech, the Umbarra militia were, the CIS forces brought their own gear.

Most armies just don't trust other people playing with their best toys, ally or not.

You don't see the US giving Israel B2 stealth bombers. When the Russians sell other armies tech they usally strip most of it down first. See "Monkey Model".

 

Ep 07 and Ep 08 has in my opinion been the best Clone Wars episodes of all time. Season 4 have been really bad so far, but these two episodes were a true delight. It's wonderful to see the war from the perspective of the clones.

As for Appo, I had completely forgotten about him, until someone else in this thread pointed out he was in Dark Lord and in the comics. Makes me realise I'm not as in to Star Wars as I was in the old days

Maybe Alpha will appear as well?

 

Pursuit of Peace ruins the logic what comes to recruitment-thing- there seems to be no IU-logic why senate allows this "only clones and jedi"-thing while of course it works for Palpatine more than well- if there is so little clones- makes no sense that no one even mentions possibility of recruitment.....

Umbaran-tech issue is probably explained by this rather isolationistic policy thing- but what about Republic worlds that don't think same way? When we do see those worlds that do think themselves as "the Republic" more than as separate worlds - planets and societies that are the "mainstream" unlike Mandalore or Umbara?

 

The IU logic for "only clones and Jedi" might be that the clones and Jedi are the best of the best, and sending the young men and women of the Republic to die on the frontlines of such a bloody war might be politically unfathomable at a time of shattered public confidence in the Republic's institutions.

Alternatively, there are non-clones and non-Jedi commanding troops in large numbers, but they're outside the Grand Army of the Republic's command structure. This would explain the apparent separation between the Stormtrooper Corps and the Imperial Army in the OT-era EU. The Stormtrooper Corps is the successor to the GAR, while the Imperial Army is descended from the non-clone Republic military units. These units might even be highly provincial and technically not under a centralised command structure. There could be regional armies for various sectors, commanded by local leaders or regional governors and used primarily for defence and enforcement. Meanwhile, the Jedi Order and the GAR do the bulk of the fighting.

That would call to mind the various state militias that the U.S. federal government called into service alongside the main U.S. military during the American Civil War...

We've already seen the technology of Kuat and Corellia in TCW. We've also seen Republic Navy officers from Corellia (Killian) and Anaxes (Yularen).

I'd quite like to see Kuat at some point in an "industrial espionage" episode...

 

Has anyone read Walter Murch interview on the latest Insider? It was very interesting to read some of the "additions" he made to the script.

 

You've caught my interest Alexrd... I loved this episode. Can you give us the highlights?