PT Imperial Royal Guards

I'm not sure what I think of the scene where Yoda takes less than a moment to knock out the Emperor's guards, using the Force. On the one hand it's amusing, on the other it's a disappointment that we still didn't get to see the formidable-looking red-robed ones getting to do anything. They are supposed to be the creme de la creme. Is there anywhere where they get to shine?

 

I mean, they did more in that scene than ROTJ where their most notable moment is walking behind a pillar.

 

The Royal guards do nothing in any way f the movies actually. So I don’t mind.

 

Exactly. And they only appear in 3 of the 9 saga films anyway

 

The only time they do anything remotely interesting is in Episode 9 but even then they get taken out in 2 seconds

 

I remember that scene getting a laugh from the audience in the cinema. The scene injects a bit of levity whilst reminding the audience of how powerful Yoda is prior to his duel with Palpatine.

The Royal Guards don’t do very much in the movies. The only place where I have seen the guards portrayed as elite special forces-level operatives is in the old EU comic series, The Crimson Empire Saga.

 

Those don't count tho, in my eyes. The First Order Praetorian Guards and the Sith Eternal Sovereign Protectors are different from what I think OP is implying.

 

In Legends, the Imperial Royal Guard and the Red Guard under the Republic were different entities. During the Clone Wars, the Red Guard were just Senate Guards who were promoted because of loyalty, while the Royal Guard were trained under immense pressure, and were the best warriors the Empire had, as well as the most loyal. Of course, it is different in canon, but in Legends, this is the case.

 

Oh I know they aren’t the same but they are still guards so I thought ai would still throw them in

 

It's a shame they weren't givem more to do. Perhaps they should have bene used in the scene where Mace and the boys come to arrest the Chancellor, although if memory serves they are only introduced after he officially becomes the Emperor. Apparently there were blue-robed Senate guards prior to that, but I must not have noticed those if they were in the films.

 

I'm told he has Red Guards as early as AOTC:

 

Well spotted!

 

Senate Guards existed side by with the Red Guards during the PT/TCW. Both can be seen in ROTS movie together as far as live action. Imperial Senate remained in existence as well. Imperial Museum Guards also appear to be a sub-group of the Senate Guards as well.

 

They actually show up a lot clearer than that near the start of AOTC in Palpatine's office :

 

True. We never see any in TPM though, so I could believe that Palpatine introduced them between TPM and AOTC.

 

It would make sense, since Palpatine's aesthetic for his office and guards is a passionate deep red, compared to the cold blue of Valorum and his Senate Guards (though senate guards do show up again in ROTS, and in TCW Palpatine only gets the Red Guards later on, in Season 5's Revival [which is also why the Clovis arc has to be set before Revival incidentally]).

 

Presumably that was when the Red Guards replaced the Blue Guards for public occasions - with him avoiding the use of them outside of his own offices, prior to that.

 

Palps used red guards during the Clone Wars, you can see them in the animated series. They are not, however, the Imperial Royal Guards. They were just Senate Guards who were promoted based on loyalty. The Imperial Royal Guards were given better training.

 

The Imperial Royal Guard were taken from wherever Palpatine could find them. Including the old Red Guard. According to the newcanon novel Lords of the Sith, some were Jango clones.

So, while they weren't called Imperial Guard in TCW because the Empire did not yet exist, it is plausible that many of the Imperial Guard started out as Republic Red Guard - he just renamed them, and then started to promote others into them.

 

This is from the Wook, so take for what it's worth, but it gives a pretty good explanation into the origins and the differences between the Red Guard and Senate Guard.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Emperor's_Royal_Guard

 

Seeing the Praetorian Guard in action kind of redeemed them for me. Different guards and armor and weapons, but it's an encounter I always wanted to see as a kid. Still love any kind of Royal / Praetorian Guard figures or merchandise.

 

I remember that being a huge laugh for the audience in theaters. For me, it was also something that was still tonally consistent and didn't distract from the scene. Humor is a tough balance in Star Wars, and I feel like the prequels and beyond get a lot of flack for it.

I liked the subtle evolution from Senate Guards to Red Guards in the prequels. It kind of foretold the fascist takeover with an elite group of guards now swearing allegiance exclusively to the Chancellor and not to the Republic itself.

Also, can someone enlighten me as to when the Senate Guards switched from open to closed visors? I don't think I've seen those guards in Attack of the Clones (I've seen attributed pictures that were actually from TPM).

 

I think we only see the senate guards still in blue in that time period in the cartoons.

Its worth noting that the guards are in red in the scene where Palpatine, Bail. And some other Senators are watching the clones board ships. At the end of the film


You can see a bit of two of them in the back

 

To answer my own question, I spotted the Senate Guards in Attack of the Clones. They have indeed changed over to the closed visor at this time:

post image online
The Vintage Collection figures that show the original design are erroneously packaged as being from Attack of the Clones. Meanwhile, the closed visor Senate Guards were released as part of the original Revenge of the Sith toy line. I'm tempted to say the design and packaging images are just recycled from Attack of the Clones and didn't actually appear in the movie. I don't believe we get any shots of the Senate halls, which is where they've exclusively appeared in the past.

The official Star Wars database claims they're there, however. And this does differentiate them between the Red Guards.
https://www.starwars.com/databank/senate-guard