Entertainment
Star Wars' Most Hated Plot Hole Actually Makes Perfect Sense
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Do you know what happens when Star Wars fans get together? If you said “embarrassing things,” you’re correct, but I meant more specifically. After a few conversations and a few beers (or maybe spiked blue milks), everyone starts dishing on their favorite franchise plot holes. These are supposedly narrative mistakes that make this famous galaxy far, far away feel that much less immersive. Incidentally, the one “plot hole” that comes up most frequently in these discussions is the idea that Order 66 should have killed more Jedi than it actually did.
In the Original Trilogy, we are introduced to the idea that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda are the last Jedi in the galaxy. But the prequels, sequels, and an entire universe of tie-in books, comics, and games have increasingly introduced more Jedi characters that survived Emperor Palpatine’s galactic purge of these laser sword-wielding do-gooders. However, as usual, the fandom is griping for no good reason because, based on the sheer onscreen incompetence of Palpatine and his clones, it’s a miracle that more Jedi didn’t survive this sloppy attempt at mass murder.
The Stupidest Order In The Galaxy
The Star Wars movies A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back presented Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda as the only surviving Jedi. Of course, Kenobi didn’t give too many granular details as to how the Jedi died. All he told young Luke Skywalker in that first movie is that Darth Vader “helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights.… now, the Jedi are all but extinct.” Nobody really questioned this because we had no idea how many Jedi there were to begin with. Plus, it was easy enough to imagine the most powerful guy in the galaxy using all of a vast, galaxy-spanning Empire’s resources to hunt and kill a bunch of hippie space wizards.
But in Revenge of the Sith, we see how it all went down. Palpatine had a hidden command secretly installed in the brains of all the clones who were fighting side-by-side with the Jedi during the Clone Wars. Once the Emperor commanded them to “Execute Order 66,” all of the clones stopped what they were doing to immediately kill the closest Jedi. In a montage of bleak scenes, we see how sudden surprise blaster fire was enough to kill even Jedi Masters like Ki-Adi Mundi, Plo Koon, and Aayla Secura.
Holo Pursuits
At the time, it made a kind of morbid sense. We had previously seen how Jedi like Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi could deflect a handful of blaster bolts, so it seemed reasonable to believe they couldn’t survive if a small army fired on them all at once. However, some of the clones were downright sloppy with their execution attempts. Because of their methods and the whole design of Palpatine’s harebrained scheme, it was basically inevitable that countless warriors would survive this attempted purge. This would explain why popular Jedi like Kanan Jarrus, Ahsoka Tano, Cal Kestis, and even Grogu survived Order 66.
When you re-watch Revenge of the Sith, notice how sloppy the Clone Troopers are. Cody basically fires one shot at Obi-Wan Kenobi and assumes falling into the water will be enough to kill the guy who can take on entire droid armies by himself. The handful of clones who try to kill Yoda somehow forget that he can sense their intent through the Force. Even some of the successful kills are sloppy. Like, sure, y’all blew Plo Koon out of the sky, but other Jedi flying starships could likely hyperspace to safety (yes, they’d have to get to a hyperspace ring first, you can stop writing that comment).
When The Sith Go Marching In
My theory is simple: assuming other Jedi were in similar situations throughout the galaxy, quite a few Jedi would survive Order 66. If the Clone Troopers tried to fire on other warriors who were very far away (like Obi-Wan), the targeted Jedi would likely escape. If other clones tried to sneak up on Jedi in non-combat situations (like with Yoda), these Force users would sense their intent and kill them out of self-defense. Furthermore, if there aren’t enough Clones around when the order goes through, a Jedi could survive, say, only three or four people trying to shoot him, much like Obi-Wan did when fighting Battle Droids throughout the prequels.
Long story not very short, the Emperor came up with a stupid plan and executed it in the sloppiest possible way. Plus, contrary to what Obi-Wan said in A New Hope, later Star Wars shows make it seem like Vader stopped personally hunting down Jedi and left that task to the Inquisitors. Whenever the Inquisitors fight someone other than a helpless child or scared former Padawan, they get their butts handed to them, as seen in everything from Star Wars Rebels to the Fallen Order and Survivor video games. Because Order 66 was done so poorly, and Palpatine’s brute squad sucked so hard, it’s no wonder so many Jedi survived the purge.
In retrospect, this makes sense, too. Palpatine is infamous among fans for his insane plans, which included playing the commander in chief of two different warring armies so he could land the job of “mutilated president for life.” It’s only because of (let’s face it) bad writing on George Lucas’ part that any of the Emperor’s plans ever succeed. Order 66 was so utterly stupid and handled so poorly that it guaranteed plenty of Jedi survivors. But what else would you expect from someone who spent all his Empire’s credits on a space station that’s so easy to blow up … twice!