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Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Mandalore Plot (2010) [S2E12]
If you ignore the past, you jeopardize your future.
"Diplomacy or deception? The Council of Neutral Systems speaks for over 1,500 worlds who
want to stay out of the war. But rumors have reached the Republic Senate suggesting that
the Council's new leader, Duchess Satine of Mandalore, is secretly building her own army
to fight for the Separatist cause! Now, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi has been sent to
Mandalore to discover the truth behind these claims..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Voyage of Temptation (2010) [S2E13]
Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.
"A royal welcome! Sent to investigate allegations that Mandalore was joining Count Dooku's
Separatists, Obi-Wan Kenobi was reunited with an old friend, the Duchess Satine of Kalevala.
While Satine claimed Mandalore's intentions were to remain neutral during the war,
an attack on the capital city led Obi-Wan to the discovery of a terrorist organization known
as Death Watch. Now the Duchess travels to the Senate, so she can plead her case against
her involvement in the war, as the Jedi prepare a defense against her opponents..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Duchess of Mandalore (2010) [S2E14]
In war, truth is the first casualty.
"A diplomatic mission! As dissent threatens to tear apart the peaceful Mandalore system,
Duchess Satine struggles to protect her people against the escalating violence.
Betrayed by two of her trusted allies, Satine now travels to Coruscant.
There, she hopes to convince the Senate that a destructive splinter group,
Death Watch, does not represent the entire Mandalorian government..."




CONTINUITY
These three episodes form a single storyline about Mandalore and the Death Watch. The chronological order of episodes is as given by Lucasfilm,
and follows their release order. The planet Mandalore and its moon Concordia are seen for the first time. Three worlds are seen in these episodes:


- Council of Neutral Systems, with over 1500 planets as members, includes Kin Robb, Zinn Paulness, Dantum Roohd, and Onaconda Farr. Senator Robb is
from Taris, a planet with a huge population which lies in the Trans-Hydian region of the Rim, right in the crossroads between the strategically vital areas
of Separatist and Republic space. Although loyal to the Republic, it does not wish to be invaded. Rodia is likewise in harms way, and Senator Farr has
already been caught between the opposing sides. The most surprising member is Senator Roohd of Kuat, which is a major Core world of great influence
due to its population, history, and massive orbital shipyards. Kuat is home to one of the galaxy's largest corporations, Kuat Drive Yards, and as a major
manufacturer of military equipment and starships, it has a huge stake in the war. Its neutrality may be in part due to the size and influence of Kuat Drive
Yards, which as a member of the Techno Union, does not want to be seen as partial, and certainly no one on the planet wants it to be a target. Its clear
that all these worlds, even Mandalore, are member worlds of the Republic, indicating that the neutral systems were never truly independent. It's a bit
of a contradiction that these 'neutral' Senators are very actively involved in Republic politics, and are prominent members of the Senate. This again
shows that the Republic is more like an United Nations than an United States, as UN members can choose to be involved in a war authorized by
the UN security council or not, but if the US government were to go to war, a state wouldn't be allowed to claim neutrality. Supplementary material
claims the 'neutral' Senators abstain from votes involving the war, but we have no canon evidence of that. In fact, they seem quite vocal on all matters
concerning the war. It seems like every planet in the Republic should declare itself neutral, since it doesn't stop a planet from providing materials or
personnel to the Republic, building massive fleets of star destroyers for it, or participating in its politics. It's also true that being neutral won't definitely
stop the Separatists from invading a planet, and it certainly won't stop them from interfering in a planet's politics, as demonstrated on Mandalore.
Main Article: The Galactic Republic and the Neutral Systems


Why is Tal Merrik representing Kalevala in the Senate? The Senator is always identified in supplementary material
as representing Kalevala, a Mandalorian planet in the same star system as Mandalore. It is the home of clan Kryze
and Duchess Satine Kryze, but it is strange that the Senator for the Mandalore Sector isn't said to be representing
Mandalore. It is certainly true that representatives from different worlds in a sector can be part of a sector's
Senate delegation, but since we never see any other representatives from the Mandalore Sector, this has never
been explored. It may be this way to help the planet Mandalore assert its independent status within the Republic.


- Mandalore is a terrestrial planet located in the Mandalore Sector, in the Trans-Hydian region of the Outer Rim. The devastating effect of millennia of
war is apparent, as the planet is a barren desert planet that was once covered with water and life. Supplementary material suggests the planet is
not completely devoid of macroscopic life, but there is no on screen evidence to support this. From orbit the planet seems to be in relatively
uniform condition. The population resides entirely in artificial structures, primarily in domed cities, including the capital city of Sundari.
Mandalore's architecture and art is seen, reflecting the same design influences that can be seen in their armor and ships. Mandalorian people
tend to be demonstrative, passionate, and uptight, as well as combative, even the peace-loving ones.



How independent is Mandalore really? Not any more than any other Republic planet. While supplementary
material, and fans of legends material related to Mandalorians, usually insist on Mandalore being non-aligned
or otherwise more independent than other planets, canon does not support this. The only worlds we know from
canon to have not been part of the Republic were unknown worlds like Kamino, worlds that fall within Hutt Space,
including Tatooine and Toydaria, and those in Wild Space or unincorporated sectors. That does not mean there
are Republic offices and officials on every world of the galaxy. Much of the galaxy is simply ignored as unimportant
by the Republic. Worlds like Bardotta which wish to be left alone are left alone, and every world's internal affairs
are their own. There are only enough Senate pods for about one per sector. There are sometimes several major
systems in a sector, and only one planet gets to represent them all in the Senate. Worlds like Naboo, which do
represent their sector, sometimes have whole civilizations on them that are simply ignored, like the Gungans prior
to the Clone Wars. Mandalore may be like Bardotta, one that keeps to itself, however Obi-Wan says to Satine,
"we have both sworn a loyalty to the Republic", in one scene, suggesting independent worlds are members.
Main Article: The Galactic Republic and the Neutral Systems


- Jango Fett is dismissed by Almec as not a real a Mandalorian, perhaps a reference to the divide between the Mandalorians of the planet Mandalore,
and the Mandalorian religion. Fett was born on a Mandalorian planet, Concord Dawn, and was a foundling of the religion. Almec doesn't know
how he got the armor, so he may not know anything of Fett's actual history beyond his bounty hunting career.


What does Almec mean by "no Mandalorian would engage in such violence"? It's been 21 years since an intense
civil war. Mandalorians have a long warrior tradition that is extremely pronounced, and twenty years of education
isn't going to erase that from everyone's mind, let alone erase the potential for violence in the human being. This is
typical of the kind of over the top hyperbole that is common among Mandalorians, most notably Satine, who makes
statements like "every one of my people is as trustworthy as I am." They are both either incredibly naive, or more
likely, irrationally combative, refusing to concede any point, or engage in a reasoned discussion. How could Satine
possibly believe every person on her planet was completely honest, or Almec believe not a single person might
consider becoming a warrior, getting some armor, and wind up as a saboteur one way or another?



Why are the supposedly educated and wise Jedi Masters in The Clone Wars series constantly confusing their own
philosophy with pacifism? Most featured Jedi appear to lack a nuanced understanding of a philosophy they have
spent their life learning and living. As discussed below in the 'Analysis' section of this page, Obi-Wan does at least
defend his position, and role as a warrior, but his argument that he is a peacekeeper is flawed. Satine is right to say
that extremists can be reasoned with, most of the time. Warmongers, on the other hand, aren't interested in talking.


- The Concordian moon is a province with its own government, either a province of Mandalore, or more likely of the Mandalore Sector.
Mandalorian culture is very libertarian, and understandably respectful of the sovereignty of each individual Mandalorian world.



Satine says Death Watch is a small group of hooligans guilty of vandalism, and that they have been tracked to
Mandalore's moon Concordia. This is the same place all those who refused to give up their warrior ways were sent
21 years ago and supposedly died off, according to Satine. Why would she possibly assume they were all dead?
Were they all men? Were they forbidden to relocate their families? Neither seems likely. Since others live on
the moon, couldn't they have made lives for themselves, possibly started families, possibly passing down their
ideas to their children, or to others they meet? Those who were in their 20s at the time are in their 40s now.
Does that mean they are incapable of violence, couldn't still be practicing martial arts, and must be dead for
some reason? Couldn't some have left the moon? Mandalorian clans live on many planets in the sector,
some on planets in the same star system. Have all these planets adopted Satine's philosophy and banned
militarism and their ancient religion? What would possibly lead Satine and Almec to the conclusion that no
Mandalorian person anywhere would use violence, and that all remaining warriors from a war only two
decades earlier had decided to give up the beliefs they were exiled for, and then died really quickly?
They aren't just being difficult about this issue, they genuinely seem convinced they are dead, but why?


- Concordia was used primarily as a mining world, which devastated the environment. Their desire for raw materials and industry, much of it for war,
nearly did to the moon what endless warfare did to the planet itself. The forests are now growing back and industrial activity reduced, mostly as
a result of the peace and the government's opposition to war industry, but probably also due to the huge reduction in population in the system.


- Satine's communicator gives her a directional bearing to Obi-Wan's position, suggesting further that there is a connection between tracking and
a communications system. It is hard to imagine how the technology would work if it was unable to locate the other party involved.
Main Article: Hyperspace Communications

- The darksaber's appearance and color, as well as some of its properties, suggest that the crystal which powers it isn't a kyber crystal. Whatever
type of Force-conducting energy crystal it uses allows for the emitter to shape the blade to resemble a physical sword. Vizsla related some of its
history, revealing that it was taken from the Jedi temple during the fall of the Old Republic, which was a little more than 1000 years earlier.


- Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan protected Satine during the last Mandalorian civil war, which was 21 years ago in 7935 (42 BBY). It is revealed that this war
killed most of the population, and likely effected all Mandalorian planets in a similarly negative way.

- Obi-Wan is to Satine as Anakin is to Padme, so much so that Obi-Wan says his younger self would have left the Jedi Order for her if she had asked.
The difference is that Obi-Wan is able to respect his duty to the Order and those it serves, and place his own desires in context, while Anakin has
always prioritized his own feelings, and has always tried to contextualize his duty to the Order in a way that serves his desires.


- Vizsla tips his hand too quickly, believing that Dooku's support makes him powerful enough to reveal himself. He apparently feels betrayed, but it seems
unwarranted. Dooku is honest in telling Vizsla that without the backing of Separatists and the people, revolution will be over in a day. A Separatist invasion
unsupported by popular support will empower Satine and her allies. Dooku says he has other means of accomplishing their goals, but no other attempts
are seen, and in future Death Watch seem really bitter and angry at Dooku. There seems to be another 'betrayal' after Dooku refused to help them with
this losing proposition, based on Vizsla's statements in 'A Friend in Need' (S4E14), leading to their vendetta against him.

ANALYSIS
The Council of Neutral Systems was an alliance of planets which place their safety ahead of their loyalty to the Republic, usually for a mix of philosophical and
practical reasons. While these worlds are fully justified in a legal and moral sense in choosing neutrality, the over all effect of their movement primarily
hurt the Republic far more than it did the Separatists. As Obi-Wan pointed out in an earlier storyline, "if more worlds would stand up for themselves,
this war would be over." Along with Republic loyalists like Organa's Alderaan and Amidala's Naboo, Republic neutrals like Kin Robb's Taris and Mandalore
will be early members of the Rebel Alliance. Many of these worlds are put in a very difficult position by the war, and have no choice but to remove themselves
as a target or face certain destruction. Their clear allegiance to themselves over the Republic singles them out as the least loyal to centralized authority,
and many, including Mandalore, are worlds Sidious wishes to destroy by Separatist invasion, or occupy with a Republic garrison, or both if possible.

The New Mandalorians are the young Turks of Mandalore, abandoning aspects of their entire cultural and religious history to conform to 'the times',
and the prevailing intergalactic culture. How Mandalorian are they really at this point, or would they be in the future if this had continued? The word
Mandalorian would become just a label for the people who come from a place called Mandalore, but the name would lose all meaning. Calling oneself
Mandalorian has deep implications for the warfare-based religion which founded the society and the planet that bares the name. Reducing its meaning to
generic citizens of just another planetary nation-state serves to undermine their principles, and diminish the uniqueness of their culture over time.
The positions of the New Mandalorians show great wisdom in many cases, as a society largely devoted to the martial arts has left them with a relatively
small population, a desertified planet with a destroyed ecosystem, and no way to look forward. While Satine looks forward, reactionaries like the Death
Watch look to the past, and embrace the same cycle of violence that has seen them decline from their ancient strength into a fading culture. They are
absolutely right that the only way to preserve Mandalorian culture is to continue to practice it. In typical Mandalorian fashion, both Satine's camp and
Death Watch have extreme points of view, and are unwilling to cooperate, negotiate, or find a middle ground with those they see as opponents.

Dooku allies himself with the Death Watch, an ultra-nationalist, right-wing militia made up of religious fundamentalists. Disguised as an effort to regime
change Mandalore, it is in reality a scheme engineered by Sidious to create a pretext for a Republic occupation. Since the Republic would not be welcome
on Mandalore, even if under threat, the Senate needs the fear of the Separatists to take such action. Sidious wants to remove Mandalore, with its famous
independence and warrior tradition, as a threat to his future Empire. If the scheme succeeds, Dooku could then dispatch droid armies to fight alongside
Death Watch in the name of a free and independent Mandalore, garnering local support. This would leave the populace divided, lead to the two sides
decimating each other, and leave the planet in ruins. A Republic defense that would be strong enough to prevent that would have to be a full-fledged
military occupation, meaning that Sidious will achieve his goals no matter the outcome.

Obi-Wan, like most Jedi, is for some reason stuck on this label of peacekeeper, when he is a warrior monk and knight of the Republic. The Jedi are only
peacekeepers when there is peace. Whenever there is conflict, their role is to be peacemakers, to return the situation to civility and discourse. They do
this by defending others who get caught up in the conflict, and disarming, disabling, or if necessary, even killing those who refuse to deescalate from
violence. They are not a society of pacifists, and never were. They believe in the desirability of peace, and devote their efforts to promoting peace,
which is not at all the type of extremist pacifism that refuses to ever use violence to confront the violent, preached by Satine, the Lurmen colonists
(S1E13-14), and others during this series. Most of what the Jedi do during the Clone Wars in no way violates their principles of light side peacemaking.
Disarming, disabling, and at times killing those who would send armies of killer machines to occupy, pillage, and murder the people of the galaxy, is
entirely in keeping with Jedi beliefs. What is different about the Clone Wars is the scale of it: the number of innocents put in danger, the threat to
the lives of Jedi, and the potential downfall of the Republic. This leads to fear, anger, and hate, even amongst the Jedi, which not only casts a shadow
of the dark side over their paths, it leads them to take actions which at times do violate their principles, their ethics, and their honor, and they do this
to serve a corrupt political system with dark intentions. Fighting battle droids isn't a violation of Jedi values in any way. Anakin's understanding is more
accurate, the Jedi are protectors. Obi-Wan at least defends his position by mentioning that since the situation has already devolved into war, the Jedi
must try to bring peace through fighting on the front lines, as the alternative is to allow droid armies to ransack the galaxy. The time for negotiation
has passed, and the Sith Lords and greedy economic interests sabotage every effort to resume diplomacy, leaving the Jedi with few options open.
Satine later says that "just because I am a pacifist doesn't mean I won't defend myself". Obi-Wan has been making that exact argument, but with
concern for the situation of those across the galaxy who are defenseless, not only oneself, as that is a primary motivation for the Jedi in the war.

Satine's Senate speech is much more diplomatic and level-headed than her repartee with Obi-Wan and company, and she makes the case for neutrality
quite well. Palpatine is able to advocate for the occupation of Mandalore without breaking character, and yet we see that Mas Amedda clearly has
knowledge of Palpatine's agenda, and helps him to advance it by offering an 'objective' second opinion in the Chancellor's office to hurt Satine's case.
Satine, whose views sometimes make her seem politically naive, is more aware than Obi-Wan is that times are changing, and that the Republic security
state is already becoming so intense, that security measures will be imposed even on a Jedi. Despite their efforts, Satine defeats Sidious and Dooku,
which is only a small setback in their grand scheme, but a significant victory nonetheless. It was only through the vigilance of Satine and her supporters,
and the sacrifice of good people, including with their lives, that the evil schemes that would bring misfortune to so many could be stopped.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
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