How Order 66 Became the Best Scene in Star Wars

The saddest part of Order 66 now, at least to me, is how close it was to being avoided. The whole inhibitor chip arc with Fives is still painful for me to watch. We know he’s right, and if he wasn’t killed by one of his own brothers so much would have changed.

Another thing I’d like to point out is when Wrecker snaps out of his chip he reveals that he witnessed everything he did under its control which is horrifying because that means every clone was a spectator watching themselves kill their friends

One small thing I recently noticed was when Tup starts rattling off "Good soldiers follow orders" in S6 Ep1 he looks straight at Anakin and completely ignores him but tries to attack General Tiplee as soon as he saw her, implying Sidious intentionally left out Anakin as a target in the inhibitor chip programming

The fact a CLONE trooper was so close to ruining Palpatine's plans is actually so cool but tragic

The saddest part to me is that Ahsoka never got the chance to say goodbye to Plo Koon despite knowing him for her entire life.

I really love how The Bad Batch handled Order 66 from the clone perspective.

The entire prequel trilogy felt like one of those early access games that started off jank but received lots of patch updates over the decade to become the juggernaut that it is now.

I find that Order 66 is one of the best examples of "bomb theory". Imagine you're watching two people talk and a bomb goes off without warning. It's startling because you've grown to like the two people. Now imagine the same scenario but you know the bomb is there, that's why Order 66 is great.

The greatest detail of all, is how every clone replies "Yes, my lord" and whatnot. Never identifying him as more than that. Rex replies "Yes, Lord Sidious." And Palpy stops for a moment, likely thinking "oh shit, that was close".

There's actually a whole other even more sick and twisted angle to it. Because of how the Dark Side works, it's entirely possible that Palpatine took this specific course of action specifically to feed on all the shock and horror and trauma experienced by the clones and the Jedi as order 66 victimizes them both.

I actually like "No one could have survived that fall" Maybe the clones couldn't directly resist, but with a convenient excuse, they can ignore the chip.

OK this is great but you can't leave out the Bad Batch episode where Rex shows up and you can just SEE his anxiety when he discovers they haven't pulled out their chips

It’s still truly insane how Darth fucking Maul of all people somehow turned out to be the best storytelling device for this huge world shaking event. In the end, for me, it was just that one guy that made it feel so much more real. I don’t really like the recent star wars shows all that much, but what they did with Maul really was genius.

As one comment said: “Clone wars is literally every character just saying things will turn out fine then staring at the camera while evil music intensifies and I love it.”

My favorite comment about it all was "its heartbreaking that the very first episode of the Clone Wars emphasized the individuality of the clones and the very last episode took it away from them" captioned with a image of rex crying

I grew SOO attached to Fives in this show...and I DID cry when he died not only because he was a great guy...but because he died trying to do the right thing

What was most shocking was that The Bad Batch revealed that the Clones don't have their free will removed by the chip, but overridden. Wrecker explains after his chip was removed that he was fully aware of what he was doing, but he couldn't stop himself. It's like being a passenger in your own body, with some thing else behind the wheel. We see something similar in the final season of the Clone Wars. Rex tried to argue with Jesse that Ahsoka technically wasn't a Jedi anymore because she left the Order. Jesse visibly considers the possibility. Then, he instantly regains his composure and calls Rex a traitor. I believe Jesse was on the verge of accepting this, only for the chip to override the thought because "Good soldiers follow orders."

Having Darth Maul yelling about how everyone is going to die near the end of the series was one of the most horrifying things i'd ever seen in Star Wars. One of the most iconic bad guys in the canon terrified about the future he knew was coming. Amazing writing.

To me, Order 66 is a perfect reflection of how the toll of tragic historical events can unfold. When one hears of such an event, it initially comes off as shocking, but is forgotten relatively quickly. But, overtime, as new information, articles, accounts of the victims/survivors' experiences, and visual depictions of the event are published, one gains a new perspective, and we realize the full weight and impact of such horrible tragedies.

The moment Ahsoka dropping her lightsaber before all the helmets of the 501st was one of the saddest moments in the star wars canon. Here lay people she loved, trusted, and fought beside, and who, in the end, had died trying to kill her against their will. It's for this reason that Rex and Ahsoka are two of my favorite characters, because of their moral codes, sense of duty, and above all else, loyalty.