Like many people who grew up with “Star Wars” I analyzed the new trailer for “The Force Unleashed” with great interest and look forward to seeing the film this coming December.
Like many I have gone over my thoughts for what the images in the trailer and set photos indicate as well as potential avenues for the story to take as this is the nature of fans with any high-profile release.
For me I keep coming back to the obvious inclusion of the Empire. I have asked if the title could possibly point to a return of the Dark Side of The Force or if the Empire never really went away following the death of Vader and Emperor Palpatine.
Politics have been a large part of the Star Wars universe, especially in the Prequels as we saw how corruption and infighting weakened the Republic to the point that Palpatine and his allies were able to manipulate systems into fighting amongst one another which in turn allowed him to gain and maintain a stranglehold on the galaxy.
For me the Empire either never went away or was biding their time pinned into their section of the galaxy, while Leia, Luke, Han, and the Rebel Alliance worked to restore democracy to the Republic.
As in the Expanded Universe, I figured that the Empire would have their section of space where the remaining military forces rule and operate under a sort of cease fire with the Republic as long as they keep their activity largely confined to their assigned territory.
World War II has always been a template for me when analyzing “Star Wars” as one can draw numerous connections to The Empire and Nazi Germany as well as Hitler and Palpatine.
For the sake of this article, I will call the Empire The “New Empire” as it is possibly different in form and scope from what we have seen and experienced previously.
Looking at the economic situation facing the Empire and I would say that unless they are doing an open trade with the New Republic or independent planets, then they would most likely not be able to support nor sustain their military forces. Perhaps it is like Germany between WWI and WWII where they quietly built up their forces in secret and by the time of Episode VII they are preparing to emerge and take back what was lost.
In some ways I see them very much like the Klingons in the original Star Trek in that they take the resources they need through military conquests and expansion, and that they are allowed to do this as a form of appeasement as long as they keep their activities on their side of the galactic map and do not involve planets that are aligned with or part of The Republic.
The cost of maintaining a standing army is vast to say nothing of research and construction costs, so someone or something has to be funding this massive effort. Even if the troops are made up of clones and conscripts, food, housing, and weaponry all cost money, lots of it.
Count Dooku as vast as his family fortune was needed the resources of The Trade Federation, The Techno Union, The Banking Clan, Geonosis, and other guilds to fund his movement so I have to wonder who is eager to side with and support the Empire knowing their past history, especially when doing so will likely draw the attention of the New Republic as well.
The most likely scenario is that the Republic is such a mess that even after decades, the heroes of the original trilogy are trying to keep order and put things right amongst the natural corruption and infighting that likely would result.
Removing the Empire would not magically make all the old issues vanish and for some they may see the former Rebel Alliance as a new form of military control and would naturally lead to mistrust of rule backed by military as remember, the Republic of the Prequel Era did not have a standing army and had not for a long time. They relied on the 10,000 Jedi to keep the peace.
Regardless of what the final answers will be, I think we are likely going to see an Empire that has all the nasty elements of old, but with a few new wrinkles as they did not survive the galactic turmoil that undoubtedly occurred in the 30+ years since the fall of Palpatine and Vader without some adaptation.
