Star Wars: What If The Separatists Had Won The Clone Wars? (2024)

The galaxy-spanning Clone Wars were a vital part of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, but the saga would have been quite different if the Separatists had won. Ultimately, the Clone Wars were a phony conflict whose warring factions were both controlled by Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), so no matter who won the war, he’d still control the galaxy. Palpatine was a brilliant and malicious Machiavellian tactician who masterminded the fall of both the Republic and the Jedi Order, but his control over both sides of the Clone Wars shows that he had backup plans. A Separatist victory would still throw the galaxy into Sith oppression, but it’d be quite different from the reign of the Empire shown in the original Star Wars trilogy.

As shown in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Palpatine, in the guise of Darth Sidious, used his apprentice, Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), to form an existential threat to the Republic, necessitating that emergency powers be given to Palpatine’s public identity as the Supreme Chancellor. The war turned the Jedi into generals (thus compromising their role as peacekeepers) and spread them across the galaxy, where their main companions were the formidable Clone Troopers, who were codedto become their assassins when Order 66 was issued. In this way, the Clone Wars were the perfect Jedi trap and the perfect means for Palpatine to accumulate power.

Related: How Count Dooku Turned The Galaxy Against The Republic

The Separatists were winning the Clone Wars at the beginning of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, though the war had been a stalemate for the most part. Palpatine needed the war to drag on as a way to turn the Republic into a military dictatorship, and he allowed the Separatists to gradually gain an edge towards the end of the war to increase the Republic’s desperation. The Republic’s Jedi and Clone Troopers are far more formidable than the Separatists’ droids, but the latter simply overwhelmed the Republic through sheer numbers and occasional elite units, which Palpatine carefully monitored to prolong the conflict. Here's what would have happened if the separatists had won the Clone Wars in the Star Wars universe.

Palpatine Still Controls The Galaxy

No matter who won the Clone Wars, the true winner would always be Palpatine. The fall of the Jedi Order and the galaxy’s subjugation by the Sith was nearly guaranteed by the time the Clone Wars began, ensuring the Sith’s revenge for their seeming destruction a millennium ago. While the Separatists were not a blatantly authoritarian regime, they functioned as a corporate oligarchy in secret, with the Separatist Council (a cabal of unscrupulous business tycoons) being the power behind the Separatist Parliament in canon and openly ruling in Legends. Despite this, the council was still controlled by the Sith, making Palpatine the ultimate power behind the Separatists.

Anakin Skywalker Would Die As A Jedi

Palpatine wished to replace Count Dooku with Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), seeing the younger Force sensitive’s greater potential. Yet since Anakin was a member of the Jedi Order and Republic, having fought against the Separatists throughout the Clone Wars, his death (in place of his turn to the dark side) couldjust aseasily be the inciting incident that leads Palpatine to have the Separatists win the war instead of the Republic. With his preferred apprentice gone, Palpatine would have to settle for his current one, Dooku, as well as have the Separatists chip away at the Republic until it is too overwhelmed to continue fighting. Anakin’s death, while tragic, would mean that he’d never betray his ideals and become the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

The Jedi Are Destroyed

The destruction of the Jedi Order was one of Palpatine’s main goals in the Clone Wars, so their fall would still occur with a Separatist victory, but the circ*mstances would change. Order 66 is one of Palpatine’s most valuable tools, and he’d likely still give the order even if he decided that the Separatists would win the war. The Jedi Knight and their Clone Troopers comprised the majority of the Republic Military, so having the Clones suddenly turn on the Jedi would create chaos and confusion within their ranks, giving the Separatists the necessary advantage for a victory. Still, there would likely still be Jedi who survive this version of the Jedi Purge, such as Yoda (Frank Oz), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), or Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson).

Related: How Padmé Created The Rebellion In Revenge Of The Sith's Original Plan

The Republic Is Replaced By The Separatists

With the Republic Military crippled, the Separatists would eventually push their way back into the Core Worlds and force the Republic to surrender.Since Count Dooku's goal even as a Jediwas for the galaxy to “start over,” the Separatists would ensure that the Republic itself is dissolved, making them the dominant power in the galaxy. The Clone Troopers, whose Order 66 programming makes them subservient to Darth Sidious, would likely become the most elite soldiers in the Separatist military while Palpatine either disappears or fakes his death to continue manipulating the galaxy from the shadows as Sidious. Most Republic politicians would have to represent their worlds as members of the Separatists under threat of death,while some, like Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), would have to go into hiding to avoid execution (in Padmé’s case due to Nute Gunray’s feud with her).

Palpatine Still Betrays Dooku

Considering Count Dooku’s strength in the dark side and the Sith’s tendency to betray one another, the Separatists’ public leader would inevitably plot against his master sooner or later. Palpatine is more powerful than his apprentice, so this would end with Dooku’s demise, creating a new problem for Darth Sidious. Dooku’s charisma and political savvy rivaled Palpatine’s and Sidious wouldn’t be able to rule the Separatists in his Palpatine identity. Palpatine would need to find both a new Sith apprentice and a new puppet ruler for the Separatists who’d keep the regime unified as well as Dooku did. While unlikely, Palpatine could use his Sidious identity publicly in this scenario and become the new face of the Separatists.

A Different Rebellion Would Be Formed

Thanks to their Sith rulers and malicious military leaders like General Grievous, the Separatists would imprison or kill any politicians within their ranks who speak out against them, just as the Galactic Empire does. While many Republic politicians would inevitably become loyal to their new regime, others like the members of the Delegation of 2000, who protested the Republic’s gradual slip into authoritarianism, would eventually form a Rebel movement against the Separatists. Assuming that Padmé Amidala survives the Separatist coup, she’d likely be the leader of such a movement, though the Separatists’ pretense of freedom and better representation than the Republic would make a rebel movement less enticing than it is in the reign of the Galactic Empire.

Luke & Leia Could Still Challenge Palpatine

If a Separatist victory and Anakin Skywalker’s death occur around the same time as Revenge of the Sith, Padmé would end up raising Luke and Leia within Rebellion against the Separatists, with the two Force-sensitives growing up hearing stories about their heroic Jedi father who died in the Clone Wars. With at least one Clone Wars-era Jedi Master most likely surviving, Luke and Leia would be trained as Jedi sooner or later, allowing them to threaten and contribute to the downfall of Palpatine and his Separatist regime in what would probably be an alternate version of the Star Wars saga’s Galactic Civil War following the Separatists’ victory in the Clone Wars.

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