Hello everyone!

Having had my "30th Anniversary Marathon" the other day (see this blog, Part I and Part II), I made a 2-page list of things I could blog about, so there'll be a lot coming from me in the coming little while. (I hope people are happy with this...)

This is one of the things I thought about a lot during my Marathon. Having only seen the SW Ep's randomly and with day, week, or even month long breaks between them, I never really considered this before. I always used to think that things really started to fall apart in Ep. II, with the assassinations attempts on Padmé and the creation of the army, and that Ep. I was kind of an introductory episode, to introduce us to the characters and the places that we've never seen before (i.e. the Jedi Temple, young Anakin, Qui-Gon, Coruscant, etc.). But now that I've watched them all in sequence, I realize that I was gravely mistaken.

I see know that the Republic started to destroy itself (yes... I said destroy itself) not only in Ep. I, but extremely early on therein. This quote by Amidala was the thing that really got me thinking about this:

"It is clear to me now that the Republic no longer functions."

Hearing that, I really started to see the seeds of descent that were planted very early on, mainly by Senator Palpatine and the Jedi Order. The Jedi's arrogance and ignorance to the entire situation of the Sith and Anakin (among other things) really aided in the downfall of the Republic. In my mind, had the Jedi been more willing to change, they would have realized how much trouble they were really in, and the Republic - along with democracy - could have been saved.

What I'm really trying to say is that the Clone Wars wasn't the catalyst for change in the GFFA. It started far before the idea of a war was even considered. The beginning of the end of the Republic was happened the moment when the Trade Federation blockaded Naboo, and the Senate essentially ignored it. The Senate was just as much to blame as the Jedi Order... more so, actually.

Had the Senate payed attention to Amidala's and Palpatine's (however insincere) pleas about the blockade, I think the whole issue of the Separatists and the Clone Wars could have been prevented. Think about it....

Why was Palpatine elected Supreme Chancellor?
The Senate felt that they needed a new Chancellor because the current one wasn't doing anything about the Trade Federation blockade.

Why did the Republic fall?
Because Palpatine had the opportunity to do so, since he was the Supreme Chancellor. Had he not had so much power, so much of this would have been avoided, and the Jedi would have eventually figured out that Palps had ulterior motives.

And how did Palpatine become Supreme Chancellor in the first place?

Well, you catch my drift. And now I hope you see what I'm saying, because I can't think of a way to end this blog. So...

May the Force be With You, Happy 30th Anniversary, and See you at CIV!! (69 days!)