Full Series The Imperial Senate Guard

The Imperial Senate Guard in SW:Rebels


(Late Republican Senate Guard)


What we know about the Senate Guard before the Empire

We saw the Senate Guard undergoing a transformation between TPM and RoTS. While at first it was the prime representation and security unit for the Senate and the Chancellor, it was gradually replaced by the Red Guard and the Clone Shock Troopers in both of these roles.

In TCW we see Senate Commandos (a branch of the Senate Guard) and Shock Troopers working together. But it seems the clones get the more sensitive missions like rescuing the Chancellor (Hostage Crisis), while the Senate Commandos were usually seen protecting Senators; RoTS followed that trend. It was the Shock Troopers who hunted Yoda in the Senate and who accompanied Palpatine to Mustafar. The Red Guard on the other hand seems to handle the representation duties for the Chancellor.


My speculations for SW:Rebels

I do not think the Senate Guard has been dissolved before the Senate itself. Fulfilling a largely ceremonial role the guard probably survived as a relic of the old times for purely representative reasons – much like the Senate itself actually. However they probably do not have any serious security or even combat duties any longer, because I doubt Palpatine would risk the continued existence of notable armed force which was traditionally dedicated to the Senate.

Interestingly, Trayvis uses security droids in Senate livery (compare to this). It almost looks like they are a droid version of the Guard, which might be explained by Trayvis posing as rebel Senator who has no access to the real Senate Guard.
Or have droids replaced the human Guards?

I do not expect to see the Senate Guard any time soon in Rebels, because a) they would have to do to Coruscant and b) robed characters are expensive to create and animate. But hope that if and when Coruscant is visited, the Imperial Senate Guard will be shown.


Questions:

What do you think?
Is the Senate Guard still around? If so, in what shape and with what mission?
Have they been totally transformed as suggested by TFU?
Will we see them in Rebels?



PS: Imperial Senate Guard is quite a cool name.

 

Are these guys appearing in Rebels? Were they in some new trailer I'm not aware of? Even if they did change I doubt we will see them seeing that Rebels won't likely have and of the political intrigue/thriller type episodes like The Clone Wars had seeing that it is aimed at a younger audience. I'm mor winter wasted on what any new Stormtroopers will look like.

 

As far as I can tell, we haven't seen them in Rebels at all.

I think we've just got too little information at this point to make accurate determinations. The senate guardsmen do appear to travel along with individual senators to provide protection, as seen in various TCW episodes. Their absence in Rebels when senators appear might suggest that the Senate Guard has been supplanted or dissolved. But both times we see senators in Rebels, they are also on clandestine missions.

The one thing that I think we can be reasonably certain of is the Senate Guard's loyalty. Palpatine would never allow the Senate to maintain its own independent security force. If nothing else, Palpatine would hold/maintain complete control over the Senate Guard simply to keep a watchful eye on the senators.

If I was an evil overlord, and I'm neither confirming nor denying that I am, I would replace the Senate Guard with the Stormtrooper Corps, as a constant reminder to the Senate that I wield power in the Empire, and that I am always watching.

 

Rebels is for young audiences? Please

the inquistor beheaded Aresko and Grint

 

Yeah, they're cool. Am sure something like them is still around as the Imperial Senate is still around. But they could be replaced ultimately by the Imperial Senate Guard.






One of my favorite newer designs were the TFU's Imperial Sentinels though, I hope they have them guard the Imperial Palace(ex. Jedi Temple).




Recently made a custom Senate Guard commander.


And an Imperial Sentinel:

 

I would love to see the Emperor's Shadow Guard from TFU. They looked amazing.

 

I'm a huge fan of them and their lightsaber pikes. I wonder if they're related to the Inquisitors.

 

Well we did see senators get blue protocal droid guards.

 

They definitely appear to serve a similar purpose.

 

The shadow guard would be a cool concept to be canonised. The hierarchy would be interesting to see as well.

Vader
>
Inquisitor
>
Shadow Guard

 

I think the Shadow Guard would rank higher than the Inquisitors, since they seemed to report directly to the Emperor. Either way, they'd be a lot of fun to see.

 

Bariss Offee would make a great shadow guard.....that is if she doesn't turn out to be an inquisitor

 

Honestly, I strongly doubt that we'll be seeing any of the different variations of these guys except perhaps as a cameo (like the HNN image in "Empire Day"), for the simple reason that Rebels is very unlikely to go anywhere near Coruscant or the Core Worlds in general.

 

The Shadow Guards travel all around the galaxy in TFU. You meet one on Bespin/Nar Shadda (depends on your version of TFU)!

 

senate guard turned into the royal guard. the red royal guards were in a few shots in aotc and then in rots. they eventually replace the senate guards altogether.

 

TCW introduced that the Senate commando's, which were a branch of the Senate Guard. Coruscant Guard and Senate Guard seemed to have occupied a similar duty but the Coruscant Guard seemed an extension of the Red Guard with both phasing out the two Blue branches.

Gall Trayvis' droids however look like imitation Senate Guards:

 

One instance and it is on Disney XD and rated Y7 (US rating) Dave Filoni has even said it is aimed at younger audiences. And while that particular instance was brutal for such a light show like Rebels, how many things that defined the intense battles in TCW have we seen in Rebels? The Inquisitor died by falling into a reactor, he choose to die, he wasn't killed. Kanan hasn't touched a single Stormtrooper with his lightsaber. The only personal that has hit anything with a blaster is Sabine. And yes the Stormtroopers are anything but intimidating. Lastly the stories, while loosely connected have had little depth and relatively simple to understand. I'm not saying that TCW was super dark, but it was often more intense and violent than Rebels has been (even though TCW was aimed at older kids also). Not saying I don't like Rebels, just saying it is aimed at younger people, as was The Clone Wars. But TCW grew and became darker and more serious as it progressed.

 

AotC and RotS showed both, (Blue) Senate Guard and Red Guard. The new canon relationship between them is not yet explored (afaik), but I think it is likely that the Red Guard is a creation of Palpatine to diminish the Senate Guard's role. As such they existed together, with overlapping duties.

Naturally the personal guard of the Chancellor/Emperor became much more important once the Republic turned into a dictatorship.
However the basic question of this thread is if the Senate Guard still exists while the Senate exists.

That is an interesting thought. I never considered a connection between the Red Guard and the Coruscant Guard, although the colours may indicate one. What I found notable about the Shock troopers is that they usurped not only some roles of the Senate Guard but also of the Coruscant Police. In TCW we see them as military police of the clones (which makes sense, imo), but also as riot control and patrol in the city.

Yes, I have noted that in the opening post. I am just not sure of the implications. Has Trayvis no access to real, human Senate Guard posing as a Senator on the run? Or have droids replaced the humans?

 

Plapatine nationalized pretty much everything and brought them all under his control. With Trayvis my guess is both. The Empire probably didnt want to kill their own men under that particular circumstance, as when he appears in public he has that entourage of droid Republic Senate-looking security. They seem to be acting as the old Coruscant Police droids as well. The Coruscant Underworld Police became the main the police force of Coruscant during Palpatine's reign and phased out the rather peaceful looking droids.

I think the different branches of reminiscent of the SS, SA and SD/Gestapo, despite all being related with many carrying out the same or similar duties, sometimes in competition to one another but the Royal Guard are essentially honor guard for the leader himself, like the SS. In particular the brown shirts(SA - Storm Detachment or Assault Division ) being replaced by the Black Shirts(SS -Protection Squadron" or Defence Corps ).

 

I think something like COMPNOR or the ISB is more akin to the Gestapo, rather than the Senate or Imperial Guard. If someone's going be dragged away in the night for speaking out against the Empire, it'll probably be a couple of COMPNOR or ISB goons who'll be kicking in the door. Or at least ordering the Stormtroopers to do it for them.

 

As a history buff, and a fan of this period in particular, I offer an enthusiastic thumbs-up - not just for mentioning the SA, SS, and SD, but for being absolutely right on their functions and the translation of their names. Bravo, sir.

 

Well the SD and Gestapo was a sub-branches of the SS . Tarkin and Yularen likely restructured some things as Clone troopers are apparently phased out and even out've Star Destroyer crews. The Riot Troopers, Shock Troopers and Senate Commandos and Royal Guards were by Palpatine reign basically carrying out the same duties and functions cept the Shock Troopers on the toon were used more than the Royal Guards and Palpatine's personal security more often than not. Even when Palpatine landed in ROTS from his rescue at the beginning of the movie there was Senate Guards present awaiting him and escorting him. So it did not look like ever disbanded them, just their helmets now covered their eyes. In reality I think he just the like variety of the armors and different classes of soldiers.

 

Or it was one of his "divide them so they won't unite against me" schemes.

 

I think that COMPNOR is such an umbrella organization, encompassing so many smaller organizations of such varied kinds, that to me it seems difficult to compare it one on one with any single National Socialist organization. It has aspects of the Hitler Youth with the SAGroup; it has aspects of the Gestapo / SD, as you pointed out, with the ISB; it even seems to have aspects of the Reichskulturkammer, as it has the Coalition for Progress, an organization that makes determinations on whether this or that piece of cultural expression, be it a painting, sculpture, musical composition or other, is sufficiently pro-New Order.

I suppose you could also make a comparison between the SA and CompForce, if you don't think the SA is more like the Stormtroopers (and to tell you the truth, I wouldn't blame you; I'm certain in my own mind that that's where Lucas got the idea for the term - fascinating story about that, by the way; tomorrow, when I get near a real keyboard, I'll try to find the time to tell it).

 

I had made a Shadow Guard leader not that long ago when I made the Imperial Sentinel.




And recently I made a what if Starkiller as an Inquisitor: