The Republic: 1000 Years or 1000 Generations?

"For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic..." -- Obi-Wan Kenobi, "A New Hope".

"I will not let this Republic that has stood for a thousand years be split in two!" -- Chancellor Palpatine, "Attack of the Clones".

So how long has the Republic been around? A thousand generations (roughly 25,000 years) or a thousand years? For the past year I have continually submitted this question to the Star Wars Insider Q&A column and have been ignored. What do you guys think?

 

I'm guessing a thousand years.

 

Hmmm, this is a toughie since we are comparing 2 liars . I go with Palps though,sure hes a liar, but he would look stupid if he didnt know how long the Republic has been around. All Ben is dealing with is a 20 year old punk, he doesnt need to know every exact detail about how long the Republic has been around. All he has to know is that the Jedi and the republic are older than dirt.

 

They're both right. The Republic, as an entity that united a whole galaxy, was founded roughly 25,000 years BBY. The Republic seen in the PT, as a governmental organization, might only be 1000 years old. It's possible that prior to that, there was a slighly different kind of government structure; sectors could have been organized differently, there could have been a totally different way of electing senators, and there might have been a different kind of head of state/government. Maybe before, the Chancellor was elected via a galaxy-wide general election rather than being nominated and elected via the Senate.

 

I agree with jangoisadrunk, they're both correct in their own way. I take notice of the way Palps phrases it: "I will not let this Republic, that has stood for a thousand years..." He doesn't say the Republic, but this Republic, implying that he's referring to the Republic in the state/form it's in now, not necessarily encompassing its existence over a longer time period.

 

Obi-Wan was talking about everything... KOTOR and all I believe... Palpatine was saying the Republic he was in...

 

Obi-Wan was talking about everything... KOTOR and all I believe... Palpatine was saying the Republic he was in...


I think that too.

 

all its about the point of view, theres a new generation of life each year, so for a thousand years are a thousand generations...what do you think?

 

According to the bible, a generation is 38 years.
Thus a thousand generations would be 38,000 years.

Pretty nice longevity for a social club.

 

I believe somewhere I heard it was a typo in Ian McDiarmid's script and it was supposed to say "generations" not "years". Can't remember the source that I heard that from though.

 

Actually I think its generations. If anyone has played Knights of the Old Republic they might remember Carth Onasi saying (at that point) the Republic has been around for 15,000 years. And I think those events were 20,000 years before the Star Wars saga making it 25,000...math is hard.

 

I too think they're talking about their own points of view, or maybe I'm missing something and there was some unrest 1,000 years before AOTC that caused the Republic to temporarily fall. I should be wrong there, but it's a possibility.

 

Hmmm, this is a toughie since we are comparing 2 liars

lol

 

it could be 1000 years or generations, it depends on you're point of view. lol

 

Depends on your POV. Nah, I think Jango nailed it, they're not talking about the same thing.

 

1000 generations, that is if you take into account Knights of the Old Republic. Bastilla states the a droid is 5,000 years older than the Republic, and at that time the Republic was 20,000 years old. So add on the 5,000 years between KOTOR and TPM which leaves you with 25,000 years. Man I just gave myself a headache.

 

Obi and Palps are both correct. Obi is talking about all incarnations of the Republic and Palps is talking about the current version of the Republic.

 

I concur.

for 1000 generations there has been a Republic of some sort.

For 1000 years the republic as it was in movie time had stood in that form.

 

Well, very good, I agree with this now. Why didnt I think of this *face slap.

 

As a real world example, the First Republic of France was adopted in 1792 after the abolition of the monarchy. The Fifth Republic of France, which is currently in effect, was adopted in 1958. So there have been over 230 years since the First French Republic was declared, but only 47 since the most recent incarnation, the Fifth Republic, was declared. During that 230+ years, there have been two empires and a restoration of the monarchy. Does this sound familiar in the context of both the original Sith galactic rule and Sidious' First Galactic Empire?

 

i agree with jangusdrunk

 

Obi-Wan clearly played a lot of KOTOR

 

in the prequels 1000 years in the OT 1000 generations, another continuity eror on lucas' part

 

The Jedi have been around for a long, long time. re: thousand generations.
The Republic that Palpatine is chancellor of was established after the Jedi
defeat the Sith-ruled galaxy a thousand years prior.
They are not discussing the same thing.

 

He's talking about the Republic with no sith.












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