Full Series The Imperial Senate Guard

I'd be hesistant with such comparisons anyway. Sure, Star Wars took a lot inspiration from historical events and organizations, but it is not like the Empire was just Nazi-Germany in space. The variety of security and (para-)military groups in the capital, with overlapping and even competing roles, is indeed characteristic for the Nazi-regime, but it is also trait of many empires and dictatorships from ancient Rome (equites Singulari, cohortes Praetoriani, cohortes Urbanae, vigiles Urbi) to East Germany (secret service Guards Regiment Dzierzynski, army Guards Regiment Engels etc.).

The multitude of such guard units was useful to avoid any one of them becoming too powerful. It makes sense that Palpatine introduced Red Guard and Coruscant Guard to deliberately undermine Senate Guard and Coruscant Police, but also to have them in competition with each other. This competition would be even more useful after he became Emperor, which is another reason why I don't think he disbanded the Senate Guard. (And why he created more guard units like the Shadow Guard).

Actually, they did not escort him. They just stood guard at the columns, did not move, and did not follow the entourage.But perhaps the scene was cut away too soon.

 

Oh, well whether or they followed is an irrelevant arguing schematic, with no clear answer whether they did not follow or did. Logical that they would provide security for him and the rest of the Senators present and would escort them. My point was they were there , the Red Guard were not.

 

The absence of the Red Guard, and any personal security for that matter, is noteworthy indeed. But it is very revelant what the Senate Guards were doing there. To me it looks like they were simply standing on their post, which also happened to be the landing platform of the Chancellor. They were thus not part of his personal security detail, and that is my point. ...Just like you would not argue that Windu and Yoda were protected by the Senate Guard just because one Guard was posted at the cabin they occupied in the Grand Convocation Chamber (AotC). So seeing Senate Guards in the Senate District tells you very little.

This is actually an issue where TV budget limitations created a more complex situation than we saw in the movies. In the movies the development is well told: in TPM the Senate Guard with their open visored helmets is a proud symbol of democracy and public transparency; in AotC the faceless Red Guard shows up as security for a single person; in RotS the Senate Guards are turned into faceless goons too and are barely seen even in the Senate, instead we have got clone troopers sweeping the Senate for Yoda.
Quite powerful imagery.
Simply because TCW did not have the budget to show the Red Guard until Season 5 (!) they introduced the Senate Commandos to stand guard for the Chancellor (Filoni said as much) and a new Senate Guard costume. That increased the importance of the Senate Guard in-universe.

Likewise I do not expect to see Senate Guards in Rebels any time soon. The robes are just to expensive to animate. That, perhaps, is another reason why Trayvis used "Senate Guard Droids" (if that really is a thing!). Once again the in-universe developement would have been dictated by budget issues: human Guards replaced by Droids....

 

I love to see these shadow guards become great characters, like the clones of TCW.

 

I could see shadow guards being referenced in some Dark times era novel.

 

It would be nice to have a character either as an Inquisitor or royal/shadow guard (much like Carnor Jax or Kir Kanos) wield a lightsaber weapon based on the naginata, the sōhei (warrior monks) and women were known to use them a lot, also introduces an interesting fighting style meant to keep an opponent at a safe distance, the added weight gave some extra power to strikes, swings and cuts, and the pole itself was used for both offensive (throwing the opponent off balance) and defensive purposes. I suppose the Pike comes closest to it, i actually like it a bit more than the traditional katana which the common lightsaber is based on. It has a lot of potential to be different.

It would be problematic(?) whenever an opponent comes close, so i suppose the hilt/pole would have to be hell of a lot more resistant against any lightsaber hits, i also guess the extra weight would add some difficulty against deflecting blaster bolts from up close (the only option would be to spin it fast), since it trades agility and precision for length and power. It would make for an interesting matchup nonetheless.

One notable figure of Japanese folklore known for the naginata is Musashibo Benkei. Look him up, tale goes he died standing.

 

A saber staff would definitely be a welcome change to the fighting styles. I am not sure how it would actually work, but I just cannot see the dual-wielding madness any longer. It was cool at first really cool actually, but by now we have seen so many characters dual wielding (Ventress, Ahsoka, Bariss, Anakin, Kanan, Palpatine, Maul, Krell, Fisto...) that its novelty has worn off.

Regarding Shadow Guards... I am torn between the obviously nice look and the impracticality of the armour, especially the helmet. Also: do we really need yet another force user group?
There can be good swordsmen, spearmen etc. without the force. Viszla was a credible enough threat with his sword, and he was no force user.

I would prefer an elite guard unit without the force but with close combat expertise using swords, force pikes and such. I was always under the impression the Red Guard and Senate Guard were such a unit with their force pikes. (It did them no good against Yoda, of course, but that means very little).

 

Nope, don't have to be a force sensitive to be dangerous with any kind of melee weapon, yes, it gives one an advantage of slight precognition, but ordinary men can be trained to be very lethal. I think Royal Guards being somewhat force sensitive was an EU thing, but with the Inquisitors being around in all sorts and sizes, there's no real need for another group of force sensitives. But having an organization of ceremonial value you can still use to get the job done and only the most dedicated end up in feels right. The eventual (combat) appearance of such a character using a saberstaff/pike can be brought down to something as simple, light armored, elegant and monk-like as this;



You could redesign the helmet into something resembling a balaclava (or like Smoke from Mortal Kombat) covering only up to the nose (not the head itself) and hooded if they so choose. An Inquisitor based on that design with the colors swapped for gray and black, combined with that weapon and fighting style? That would be quite something. Would be an instant favorite for me.

 

If the Senate Guard were phased out, that would more mean they had the option to join the Red Guard/Royal Guard. Some of the Royal Guard are apparently clones.

I prefer the idea of the Shadow Guard, that an elite portion are Force sensitives, whether naturally or through some other means. That Generation X/New Mutant-like band of misfits in the Vader comic don't really cut it for me, they're too comic booky. But some of the ideas were better executed in the EU, especially in TFU/II . Perhaps they're extinct by the time of ROTJ or held in reserve at Palpatine's lair or some retreat planet known only to him.

 

They're not Force-sensitive. The comic makes that clear.

 

I did not say they were. They were lab mutants . The Wookie does mention that Morit was weak in the force.

 

My bad. The context in which you mentioned them threw me off.

 

Honestly, I'd prefer to severely cut down on the number of Imperial force-sensitives from what it was in the old EU.

 

The old EU definitely went way overboard with Imperial Force-users. They often felt redundant.

 

Maybe, but I doubt its any different in the new continuity. We seen already Sidious back in TCW wanting to turn children of the Force into his Force sensitive agents roaming the galaxy for him, the use of turned Jedi and youngings into Inquisitors and Project Harvester in general.

 

I don't have a problem with that so far - I just don't want it to go totally overboard again, with Inquisitors and Emperor's Hands and Prophets of the Dark Side and Force-sensitive guard units and miscellaneous "Dark Jedi" and I'm sure I'm forgetting some others here.

 

It would be nice to a see a session of the Imperial Senate in action. Does the Emperor actually preside over the meetings? Does he even appear in public anymore? How much power does the Senate actually have and do they even elect their own leaders or are the appointed by Palpatine?

 

Good question... I wish we knew. The closest we got was from SW:R Empire Day:



It is hard to tell if it is a shot from the Empire or the Republic Era. His appearence (especially the hair) looks like it was before the Empire, but we have never seen the Red Guard in the Grand Convocation Chamber. Or any other military for that matter. However such a show of force would be very plausible for the time of transition from Republic to Empire: Palpatine shows up with his personal Royal Guard right in the centre of the Senate making sure everyone understood the new order. It reminds me a bit of Emperor Tiberius having his Praetorians parade for the senators to intimidate them.
In such a scenario the Senate Guard would remain in the background at best.

I personally think it makes sense to continue the senate meetings. It keeps the senators busy and, more important, easily observable. You don't want mighty (wo-)men, who the senators still are thanks to wealth and influence, running around freely and doing whatever they want to do.

 

Those guards look like they were copying:

 

Don't see anything wrong with that. The show goes for the McQuarrie concept-art style, and alters known forms and shapes, so it is only consequent.




On a related note, the new Lords of the Sith-novel portraits the Royal Guard as a mixed force of humans and clones, and had them remove their helmets in some scenes - both of which I dislike. They should have kept the secret, mysterious, faceless and silent guards.
I really hope that if Rebels shows the guards (in more detail), they will remain faceless and silent.

 

I liked the fact in LOTS there was a clone guard. Shame he got killed though

 

I don't mind that some are clones... or humans... or whatever. I just dislike that I know now. I wish they would have remained a mystery. It is a bit like the Midi-chlorians: I don't dislike the concept as much as I dislike that the mystery is gone.

 

But what could they have been other than clones and humans? It's not a mystery if there's only one possibility.

 

This already holds several possibilities (humans only, clones only, mixed humans and clones).
Anyway, considering the Red Guard is a novelty introduced by Palpatine, they could have been anything; other kinds of clones, all kinds of aliens, perhaps even cyborgs etc. The point is we did not know. That is why they have the facemask in the first place. The unknown holds the power to frighten us; clones and humans, even if a rational choice by all means, just don't have the same effect.
I also know the old EU had them fully fleshed out, and gave them the predictable super-hyper-mega elite routine I have come to expect from the EU.

I also know I am probably pretty alone in my opinion.

 

Well, that's sort of why the "keep them mysterious" idea doesn't really work. At some point, unless you're going to flatly rule out any story where someone tries to assassinate the Emperor or otherwise comes up against the guards, it'll be shown what they can do. And the idea that they're all super-badass Force ninjas, as in the old EU, is difficult to credit after Yoda smacked them aside so easily in ROTS. But if that's not the case, it's hard to see how they could keep their "mystique" unaffected during a combat situation.