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Order 66

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Executive Order 66 was a military directive central to the plot of the film , and, hence, to the entire fictional Star Wars universe. It was a pre-arranged command directing that all Jedi be killed, thus beginning the Great Jedi Purge.

It was rumored that Order 66 was a directive ingrained in the clone troopers during their training. This rumor was debunked by George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars universe, in an interview with Star Wars Insider, who stated that it was simply an order. Fans have expressed bafflement that the Jedi were unable to sense duplicity on the part of the thousands of troopers with which they had contact over the course of the Clone Wars. However, while a Jedi can detect lies in the force, nobody ever thought to ask a clone if there was an order to destroy the Jedi. Order 66 was not a "plot" to the clones, it was simply an order that they may be asked to carry out. Additionally, as stated by Lama Su, the minister of Kamino and its cloning facilities, clone troopers are "totally obedient, taking any order without question."

Contents

Reasons

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The order was issued by Chancellor Palpatine, not long before he proclaimed himself Emperor at the end of the Clone Wars. It was justified as a military response to what was portrayed by the Emperor as a rebellion by the Jedi. After the attempted arrest of then-Chancellor Palpatine by Jedi Council members Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin, Palpatine claimed that the Jedi had planned to overthrow the galactic leadership and kill all the members of the Senate. Of course, as Palpatine was Darth Sidious, this was a pretext. The Jedi had been faithfully and tirelessly serving the citizens of the Republic, up until they were betrayed by their loyal clone troops, who were conditioned to follow any and all orders given.

The true reasons the Emperor had were much more sinister—being the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, he had meticulously orchestrated his final move against the Jedi. The key to the order's success was the spreading out of the Jedi—keeping them away from the core worlds by assigning them to distant battlefields. By doing this, he ensured that they were absolutely unable to save themselves from the massive number of clone troops attacking them. If all the Jedi had been together, they would likely have survived the Jedi Purge. The order, sent to clone trooper commanders across the galaxy, dictated that all Jedi were to be killed. Thousands of troopers turned on their Jedi generals, beginning the Great Jedi Purge.

Palpatine was able to pull off this master stroke against important Jedi masters renowned for their ability to detect traps by utilizing the absolute devotion of his army to its Chancellor. As clones were incapable of deceit, most Jedi were not able to sense the deception in advance (only Yoda was shown to have become aware in time to save his life). The soldiers were completely loyal to the Chancellor instead of the Jedi and had no reservation or feelings on the morality of Palpatine's commands whatsoever. In the novelization, for example, Commander Cody's only regret upon receiving Palpatine's holo-message was: "Would it have been too much to ask for the order to have come through before I gave him [Obi-Wan Kenobi] back the bloody lightsaber...?" However, 's single-player storyline, which is told from the perspective of a clone trooper, shows that some of Aayla Secura's troops did have reservations about their upcoming orders.

Execution

Order 66 began with Darth Vader's march to the Jedi Temple with the 501st Clone Trooper Legion, led by Commander Appo. Vader and the 501st Clone Trooper Legion killed all the Jedi in the Temple; Vader personally slaughtered the younglings. The music played during the scene where Vader leads the clone troops into the Jedi Temple is the piece Droid Invasion Theme by John Williams, a precursor to the Imperial March.

As his new apprentice led the assault on the Temple, Palpatine contacted clone commanders across the galaxy and ordered the extermination of the Jedi Order once and for all with only three words: "Execute Order 66."

At the Jedi Temple, the Jedi were overpowered by clones. The clones used a surround-and-shoot tactic, knowing that Jedi could not deflect blaster bolts coming in from all directions at once.

Darth Vader had his own fair share of kills: Murdering Gate Master Jurokk, committing homicide on Whie Malreaux, Bene and Cin Drallig, stabbing Shaak Ti, fighting Cin Drallig's Padawan Serra Keto and winning, killing Archive Master Jocasta Nu, and finally cutting down all the Jedi Apprentices that were sent to hide in the Council Chambers. Countless others were also killed fighting Vader, as depicted in the novel and movie.

Bail Organa, while investigating the reason behind the attack on the Temple, witnessed Zett Jukassa attempting to escape. Jukassa killed a few clones and injured Commander Appo before being shot. Bail fled the scene amid laser blasts as the clones were supposed to ensure that there were no witnesses to any of the Jedi killings. However, 501st Sergeant Fox, grown tired of killing, ordered Vader's Fist not to kill Organa.

These events were played out across the galaxy; troopers turned against their Jedi generals, and the Sith Order prevailed, this time in control of the galaxy and the Senate. Though the Jedi Order was almost completely destroyed, the Emperor's Jedi Purge would continue for years as, one by one, the surviving Jedi were hunted down and killed by Darth Vader and the Empire. The Dark Times—and the reign of the Galactic Empire—had begun.

However, it is known that at least one group of clone commandos did not carry out the order. The reason is suspected to be because the clones had served alongside the Jedi and they gave them a chance to escape. They were executed by Darth Vader for treason.

The following Jedi are known to have survived the initial execution of Order 66. Some, but not all, perished in the Purge:

Possible historical and religious references

The idea for Order 66 may have come from the 1944 assassination plot on Hitler. The assassins had made arrangements after the assassination took place to implement Operation Valkyrie in Berlin which would turn the German troops against the Nazi regime. This however never happened due to the failure of the assassination attempt.

Order 66 may allude to other previous historical incidents. Among these are the Jewish Holocaust, and the Japanese-American internment during World War II, which was demanded by President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. Joseph Stalin's Great Purge following his consolidation of power in the USSR in the 1930s is also a possible reference point. Comparisons have been drawn between Order 66 and the Night of the Long Knives, in which Hitler purged potential rivals in the Sturmabteilung, a Nazi paramilitary organization. Coincidentally, it was the clone stormtroopers who carried out Order 66.

As for possible religious references, the number 666 is listed in Revelation 13:18 as the Mark of the Beast, a sign of a servant of Satan that will come in the last days of the earth before (or shortly after) Christ's return. In fact, Order 66 and the 666 are more similar than it appears. In the modern numerologic system(a=1..z=8), the numerical value of the word Order is 6. This makes 'Order 66' a symbolic equivalent of the number 666.

In addition, Order 66 has a great deal in common with the historical elimination of the Knights Templar order. Like Order 66, it was a command spread though secrecy and suddenly implemented. Virtually all of Templars in France were simultaneously arrested on October 13 (the unlucky Friday the 13th), 1307. Many were tortured and sentenced to death. In most other countries, the Templars were forced to leave the order or join other orders. A few Templars escaped and lived in exile, mainly in Scotland. King Philip the Fair of France at this time also seized the Templar's treasury for himself, putting an end to the monastic banking system. These events are largely seen as manipulated by Philip to gain greater powers. Like in Star Wars, this began an era of Military fiat.

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