Karen Traviss’s Republic Commando series paints a bleak portrait of the execution of Order 66, more nuanced than depicted in the Star Wars canon.
Order 66 was the most infamous command in Star Wars history, which marks the end of the Galactic Republic and begins the near-collapse of the Jedi Order. While Clone troops were forced to obey Command 66 because of the cannons implanted in the cannon, Karen Traviss’ Legends series Republic Command paints a much darker portrait of its execution.
The Republic Command a series depicts Order 66 as a command that all clone troops were taught, rather than one that they were forced to obey. At first glance, the Order seemed quite reasonable, as it was originally created by Sifo-Dyas as a way to dispel rogue Jedi who had gone against the Republic. This order was also higher than order 65, which was intended to dismiss the Chancellor of the Exchequer should a similar case arise.
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In Republic command: true colors, Order 66 is described as follows: “In the case of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders confirming that they come directly from the Commander-in-Chief (Chancellor), GAR commanders shall officers with lethal force, and command of the GAR will return to the Commander-in-Chief (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established. ‘
Traviss depicts the cruel reality of the Clone Wars, which created a lot of tension between Clone troops and their Jedi commanders. The life of a clone troop was essentially equivalent to soldiers for the Republic and was basically similar to that of a droid. Their accelerated aging process ensured that Clone troops would never achieve a fulfilling life outside of battle, even though Clones were biologically identical to humans and capable of making biological reproduction. Clones were also capable of a whole range of human emotions, causing inner turmoil over their short existence.
Many clone troops also grew tired as the war continued, as they were forced to watch their brothers fall into battle. Republic Command: Order 66 details of Delta Squad Commando Scorch’s inner frustrations over this loss of life, while hearing the names of thousands of fallen Clone troops. “Scorch could not now name half of the groups in his group at the Tipoca training center, let alone the men in it. He felt ashamed as if he had betrayed them,” the passage reads. As the war continued, many clone troops began to annoy the Jedi over these victims, even questioning their ability.
The attitude of the Jedi towards clone troops was not better, because they simply regarded them as disposable. They were especially indifferent to Clone commandos, who regarded them as state-sanctioned hunters for the Republic. Despite their indifference to these groups, the Jedi understood their necessity in the war. “This is the problem with intelligent clones trained by a rag bag of undisciplined thugs – they turned out to be idiosyncratic at best, disobedient at worst. But they will probably win the war for us. Tolerate them,” Jedi master and director of special The forces general Arligan Zey explains in Republic Command: Triple Zero.
Because of this shared dissatisfaction, it was not difficult for many Clone troops to turn their rifles on their former commanders, but a few notable outliers remained. Ion Team, led by Captain Climber, not only disobeyed the order, but turned their guns against the forces of Commander Salvo, who was trying to lure a group of Jedi. Other clone squadrons, such as Omega Squad, Delta Squad and Ordo Skirata, were also disobedient to the order, but deceived compliance to prevent suspicion on the part of the Empire. While clones in the latter squadrons had little relationship with the Jedi, they were much more skeptical about Palpatine revealing new Centax clones that normally age.
While canon robs the Clones of their guilt in carrying out Order 66, Legends confront their betrayal straight. This nuanced depiction of Order 66 is darker than canon, but Republic Command provides depth to its execution by humanizing its clone offenders and their suffering.
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