The Republic and the Jedi are falling into shadow. In Attack of the Clones the machine to swallow the life of the galaxy with war. Clouds of arrogance, greed and a tendency to fall if not leap into darkness is scattered throughout the visuals, start to finish. This is an important link in the chain of the saga. This ties the prequels to the original trilogy through Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s words.
“You fought in the Clone Wars?” ~ Luke Skywalker
“Yes I was a Jedi Knight the same as your father.” ~ Obi-Wan KenobiStar Wars Episode 4 A New Hope
There was something in this, that had most at the time assume the clones were the bad guys. For the most of us, we were right, but at the wrong time and they certainly weren’t the real villains.
Review
Attack of the Clones is easily overlooked, lacking the clear focus of the Rebellion in the Original Trilogy or the tragedy of Revenge of the Sith. But its here we see the true disaster, through not only story but sheer visual symbolism, building against Jedi and Republic. The courtly romance is easily dismissed by those who just never bothered to broaden their reach into more classical tales – modern tales skip the romance, the courting, and go for replacement lust for the most part. But Attack of the Clones combines forbidden love, with the film noir mystery of who is the assassin, and the tragic build up to an inevitable war with both side orchestrated by the same evil hand.
In this, the innocents of the heroes will fall into shadow as their deepest fears and feelings can’t truly be shared with friends and family.
Arrogance of the Jedi
“His abilities have made him, well, arrogant.” ~ Obi-Wan
The first hint we got of this was in The Phantom Menace. “Impossible! The Sith have been extinct for nearly a millennia!” Said Jedi Council member Ki-Adi-Mundi. Ki is a good Jedi but blinded by his confidence. Once more in Attack of the Clones he leaps to Dooku’s defense when Senator Amidala suggests she believes he is behind her attempted assassination. Mace seconds Ki’s opinion, though Yoda, at least, seems to not so sure each time.
Later, when Obi-Wan seeks Kamino, Jocasta Nu is utterly offended at the suggestion the archives are incomplete. “If it isn’t in our records, it doesn’t exist!” So surely the system must be a lie or a prank pulled by his contact. What hubris, to assume even the Jedi know every planetary system in the universe, wild space, the unknown regions. What insanity to not even consider perhaps there was something misfiled or malfunctioning!
In Attack of the Clones, only when they get Obi-Wan Kenobi’s report that the Jedi Council realize any of the real danger. The Republic seemingly has prepared to push negotiation, with loyalists like resisting forming an army.
The Monster Machine against Nature.
Coruscant is already city world, but there is a hint even there of what’s coming. “If machines could think, there would be none of us here, would there.” Kenobi says in response to Dex’s mockery at the Jedi Temple droids inability to identify a toxic dart. (The droid scene was cut but available in extras as well as the novelization.)
When Obi-Wan goes to Kamino he finds an army of clones. The novelization makes his horror more clear since it can reveal what he dare not to his hosts. An army of living beings, grown in machine vats, no familial love or kindness is deeply disturbing. Stripped of half their childhood and genetically manipulated to obey, fight and die without any reward or choice, is totally against the Jedi beliefs in the value of all life. In Attack of the Clones, these are humans, yet all their raising is left to machines. Even their genetic code is ‘programmed’ to make them more compliant to orders.
Jango, their progenitor, is a walking arsenal man in a shell, literally covered in machine himself. A man who bypassed a woman to marry and conceive with, whose ‘son’ is a clone that is unaltered. But at least Boba has a father, whereas the rest of the troops have no parent to love and nurture at all.
Going to Geonosis reveals the Separatists have already formed Alliance to join their armies of battle droids together. While there are surely legitimate reasons for some systems to feel unrepresented in the Republic and break away, the commerce guilds have less than noble motives. They want the resources of worlds without the limits of conscious (just look at the Trade Federation’s attack on Naboo, and their hiring of Jango to murder Amidala.)
Anakin’s own path mirrors this part closely. We see Cliegg Lars in his hover chair, and the novelization makes it clear he flat will not accept an artificial leg. But Anakin, coming from the green world of Naboo, then Tatooine at the death of his Mom finds himself eerily trapped in a droid arm that cuts his lightsaber in two. This foreshadows how later in the movie he’ll have a literal artificial arm. Padme herself narrowly avoids being burned alive by it by one of the only friendly machines in the movie.
Attack of the Clones brings the galaxy into shadows.
While the investigations and side trips peak into the light, most of Episode 2 Attack of the Clones is in the dark. The ship landing, the two attempts on Amidala, the chase after the assassin, all are in the dark. The investigation is in the light, but once more falls into shadow when the truth is revealed.
From the start, the Senator’s ship has to rotate to land in a world in darkness. It explodes almost on landing. Padme is still living a double life, before it was Queen and Handmaid but now its Senator disguised as bodyguard.
While Obi-Wan does recklessy leap out of a window and nearly fall to his doom when the droid is shot, its not a permanent fall. Anakin catches him in a speeder. But there is something a bit foreshadowing about Anakin’s actions from here in. Laughing as he dives the speeder straight down, as Obi-Wan cringes. Going an opposite way then he expects only to intentionally jump out to fall into dark shadows until he hits his target below.
Anakin will one day do the same with the dark side itself: leap out into it, willingly, expecting to hit the target. Only with the dark side, he doesn’t achieve his goal.
We continue to see Anakin’s leaps into the dark as he goes after his Mother, down into the canyon where the Tusken camp lies. He hides in the shadows of the tech dome in the Lars farm as he wrestles with his own hate of the sand people and what he did to them. He is angry at himself for failing to save his Mother. He’s angry at the Jedi for not teaching him more. He’s angry at himself for not living up to the Jedi ideal.
It’s somewhat more doubtful if he’s truly sorry for killing the sandpeople. And to be fair, had Cliegg Lars been able he’d probably happily have joined him taking shots at them himself. The grievance was real and the youngling Tuskens would certainly have grown up to to the same to others as to Shmi, from the Settler’s point of view. But it was not a Jedi thing to do and definitely opened him to the dark side.
Obi-Wan’s investigation too, leads into shadow. Kamino is non stop rain no matter how artificially lit itself. The Geonosian buildings have him largely hiding in shadows too, lest he get caught.
Begun, the Clone Wars has.
The opening of the war in Attack of the Clones has Yoda bring the clones to save the Jedi. This makes them seem heroes. But Yoda isn’t quite so arrogant in this as some. He knows something isn’t right with the entire clone situation. He brought them because he knew the Jedi on Geonosis would be decimated otherwise. This is also the first and only time we see the Jedi watching the Senate.
Many Jedi did not return from Geonosis.
The Jedi and Republic have fallen into shadow. Their arrogance did blind them and now its really too late. They are too scattered and their focus too diffuse to realize the enemy is in the room with them: Palpatine. And without that knowledge, they have no hope of setting things right until its far too late. They think by ending the war they will find the Sith, but only by finding the Sith can they end the war!
Lore and Continuity
The Review for the Attack of the Clones Novelization is found here.
It also had a comic adaptation, and a Game Boy Advance video game.
The earlier movie is The Phantom Menace, with Revenge of the Sith following. The first we hear of the Clone Wars is in A New Hope before it even had a number or the subtitle. Back then, it was just Star Wars.
The preceding story is The Approaching Storm by Alan Dean Foster. It’s mentioned in Attack of the Clones that Obi-Wan and Anakin were recently at a border dispute on Ansion. This tells that story.
The story Jedi Quest book 6: The Moment of Truth by Jude Watson tells of Obi-Wan falling into a nest of Gundark’s and being rescued by Anakin, as mentioned in Attack of the Clones elevator scene.
The Jedi Quest series came out as a sequel to Jedi Apprentice, immediately after Attack of the Clones and tells the story between the Phantom Menace and that. The Republic comics also immediately kicked into the Clone Wars multimedia project after the movie. Clone Wars 2003 by Genndy Tartovsky came out to bridge the events between this, and Revenge of the Sith.
The young Owen Lars played by Joel Edgerton is introduced.
Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight, leaped from the comic books to live action with Attack of the Clones.
Barriss Offee is introduced in the background and goes on to have a role as healer in The Approaching Storm, Medstar duology, various comic strips, the Republic Clone Wars comics and Adventures. She is also in the Genndy Tartovsky series. Her character is literally de-aged and drastically altered by The later Clone Wars: her age in the movie is approximately the same as Anakin Skywalker and she is his contemporary.
Star Wars Jedi Starfighter, sequel to Starfighter, is released and leads into Attack of the Clones. It introduces the Delta 7 Aethersprite as Obi-Wan flew in the movie. It has Jedi Master, Adi Gallia, teaming up with Nym from the previous game.
Clone Wars (2002/3) was released on video game consoles, featuring an adventure tying it to Tales of the Jedi era comics.
Padme’s family will finally be on screen (at the funeral) in Revenge of the Sith.
Sora Bulq, in the background, is a Jedi Knight at Geonosis with a story in later Republic comics.
Shatterpoint by Matt Stover deals with Mace Windu’s struggle to reconcile why he didn’t immediately kill Dooku when he first entered the Geonosian balcony.
Yoda Dark Rendezvous deals with results of the battle at the Jedi Temple.
Jango Fett stories reconciled Boba Fett’s previously written past with the movie, particularly Jango Fett: Open Seasons. The video game Bounty Hunter reveals how he became the Clone Template.
