The Clone army idea was actually brilliant, and it destroyed almost every Jedi with one clean stroke. And not only that, by being in the position of the Chancellor, the Sith could easily blame the Jedi for being the traitors, thus controlling both of the sides of the coin, which pretty much eliminated every opposition in the galaxy at the time. The Jedi were forced to use this army against the Separatist forces. Otherwise they were helpless against the sheer number of the droid army; As they said, the strongest ones, like Dooku, could've taken more of the droids and they could last longer, (such as Windu, Kenobi or Anakin) Dave Filoni: ''Dooku gets captured by a bunch of pirates... Yes. Now that I think is very hard to believe, except that there are 30 pirates around him. Now I agree wholeheartedly that Dooku is incredibly powerful. But the fact remains that if he gets into a fight with 30 pirates, yes he might kill 15 of them, but he will get shot and he will go down. All you gotta to do is watch Attack of the Clones. How does Count Dooku thwart those Jedi? Sheer numbers. Sheer numbers will defeat the Jedi.'' --- The Clone Wars Season One: Dooku Captured Featurette But in the end, the result would've been the same as they said. So the question is, if the droid army was the main plan of the Sith, which is overpowering them with the droid army only (and not giving the Clone army to the Jedi), what Jedi could do against the Sith? Could they oppose the Separatist forces somehow? I guess the survivors of the Jedi could get help from the Senate to have a small military power to some extent, after all the Rebels didn't even have the Jedi leadership, but they still manage to oppose the Empire's armies after 15 or 20 years, but how long the remaining Jedi could've fought, and how successful they could be?
I imagine there'd be some pushback on worlds with their own security forces. Eg. Naboo, Ryloth, Christophsis, Mon Cala, worlds we see that have their own pre-clone defence troops fighting against the Separatists for a time. However, the Jedi would be stretched to breaking point trying to hold the galaxy together without a proper interplanetary army. There's also the ships and vehicles, which based off what little we have in the shows and movies, were manufactured on Kamino, or outsourced by the Kaminoans before the war, judging by the rapid deployment post-Geonosis. The Republic wouldn't be up to much of a fight without its fleets. All the Republic would seemingly have would be their small frigates, converted peace-time ships with added weapons. The Confederacy would have been able to take most planets easily without a matching force, which seems to have been exactly Palpatine's goal, to create a false, mostly evenly matched conflict that he could then decisively 'win' at the end, taking the Jedi out of the picture and providing him a loyal army in the process.
I think without the Clone army Palpatine risks losing control of the Senate. He convinced them it was necessary to fight back largely as a result of the fact the separatists were preparing for war, yes some senators were reluctant to take a preemptive strike but if the Seppies had attacked first I think you'd be hard pressed to find any senator not willing to defend the republic. Whether Palpatine wanted it or not they would have created an army, I'm not sure how fast they could mobilize, as mentioned above many planets had security forces and the Republic had its own Judiciary force, and maybe they could have merged that into an official army while drafting citizens in large enough numbers to withstand the onslaught. The Jedi would still be on the front lines defending the Republic, but this time with Troops who can't be programed, and are less likely to take orders without question. It may also be harder for Palpatine to play both sides with a non-clone army, he has to appear to be trying to win the war and if the Senators thought he was undermining their effort they might vote him out. He can't let the seppies overwhelm the Republic or else his whole gig as Chancellor goes caput, and its likely most of the Jedi will escape. But if the Republic does win, then it becomes impossible to justify his continued use of emergency powers. Especially with a non-clone army that will likely be more willing to answer to the senate instead of him. Maybe he could hold it at status quo for a while while he comes up with a backup plan, but with a hastily trained army and massive numbers of droids his options become a lot more limited. Really the political dynamic of this scenario is a lot more fascinating than the Jedi's reaction to it from my perspective. I have no doubt that the Jedi would try to defend the Republic either way, and without the clone army they might gain extra sympathy since they are facing longer odds. The senate has every interest to protect itself, and the worlds they represent, so they will try to give the Jedi reinforcements as quick as possible. But even if the Republic does lose and Palpatine manipulates himself into leadership anyways the Purge would be a lot more sloppy since a lot of the Jedi will have easily escaped, and there would be loyalist factions dedicated to protecting them and restoring the republic right from the start.
I imagine the senate would think the jedi would not be enough to protect the republic, and create another military like the ones of the Old Republic era.
Without the clones bailing the Jedi out on Geonosis, most of the order’s best is eliminated in one battle & there’s nothing stopping the armada from storming coruscant shortly afterward to finish off the rest. Sure, there may be some pockets of resistance spread out across the Galaxy but it wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to repel the endless wave of droids.
It's hard to discuss the plot of the giant CIS droid army, without considering its necessary counterpart that was secretly founded at probably the exact same time, right around the Battle of Naboo. But, remember the objective of the Separatists is to do just that - separate - from the Republic. I could see a possible scenario where the droid armies and fleets are deployed along space lanes in a cold war type scenario that tries to strangle the Republic and force more territory concessions. In this, I can see the Jedi deployed in asymmetrical actions trying to topple Confederacy leadership, while the Senate votes to create the Army. Albeit without Kamino it would be a recruitment drive or conscription scenario.
A Jedi being overwhelmed by greater numbers is fine by me. Jedi are strong and talented but you can’t deflect blaster fire from all directions like that when you’re surrounded. They’re more duellists than warriors.
Windu said it to Palpatine when he claimed he would not let the Republic be split in two and his negotiations would not fail: " If they do, you must realize that there aren't enough Jedi to protect the Republic. We're keepers of the peace, not soldiers.." Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Makes me feel that if the Jedis were all killed in Geneosis then the remaining ones would refuse to fight more wars for the republic. Yeah, Palpatine may have also been voted out for not preparing republic for such a crisis.
I am surprised he wasn't voted out as more star systems were leaving the republic during the years between TPM and AOTC Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
That brings a good point as Palpatine's tenure, which probably does include many highlights, does include the secession of many star systems and the creation of the Seperatist. However in time of turmoil, these Republic Senators, some under Sidious's mind control, would want stability and want to keep Palpatine around.
