Imperical Theory

Why Empire?

Roughly the original Star Wars goes like this: The Empire are more or less the 'bad guys' of the Star Wars universe. They are a huge organization that ruled the planets with fear. Corruption, shortsightness, and tactical ineptness have been hallmarks of the Empire.

Unfortunately (just joking) some of my good friends happen to support the 'good guys' called the Rebel Alliance or whatever, and for a good reason I believe many more do prefer the rebels. The rebels are the answer to the 'evil Empire', and consistently achieve success over the Imperials. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Chewbacca are just the few of the heroic faces that saturate the Rebellion.

I'll try my best to present my case as logically as possible, and I admit I have not read expansively on the expanded universe. Rebel victories irk me and I stay away from them (I did read a bit but I got turned off). I am aware of events that would cause me to be a rebel-emphatizer such as the alliance against the Yuzhan-voong.

One can say that I am biased in sources, and I accept that within reason. The expanded universe ultimately draws upon what the movies have portrayed initially, or else they can't be called 'Star Wars'. Since the rebels already are pictured as the winners, it would not be surprising for the expanded universe to follow in a similar vein.

For me, I can't imagine myself liking the rebel movement for quite a few reasons. Not that I love evil and that kind of stuff...but deeper than that. No single sentence can really convey my preference for the Empire haha.

1. Rebels are the 'Convenient Choice'

This is one of the main reasons why I don't like rebels. It is just too easy to fawn over the good guys and woo for them. They win practically anywhere...movies, novels, comupter games and such. Is it hard to support someone who's a good guy and winning? People like to be associated with champions (since they are remembered for winning, such as wearing Nike apparel or being a Man Utd fan haha).

In a way, this can be linked back to real life. Remember those 'easy solutions' that now plague the world? Fertilization was the 'way' for the green revolution, Vioxx was withdrawn from shelves worldwide, even DDT started out with widespread belief of its answer to pests. It is tempting to accept the solution without taking notes of possible implications. GM foods is another 'easy solution' that is really killing us in the background of big companies and political manipulation.

People might argue that the rebels paid the cost in their lives, hardship, emotional stress and so on...then more so for the Empire. 2 Death Stars (or moon-sized space stations) staffed by Imperials on them perished in their duties. The Rebellion had the storywriters on their side and usually rebel victories smell of 'artistic license'...think Ewoks. :)

Check these cool links out:

The Endor Holocaust

Principle of Evil Marksmenship

2. Possible in Real Life?


Real life rebel movements also do not prove that rebellions are wholly altruistic or are free of criticism. Being a rebel is not a life that is simply all about fighting for freedom or against a huge and oppressive power. Humans are infamous for ulterior motives, and what makes the Alliance free from manipulation? They already depend on smugglers (who now have an avenue to put on an ethical front on their operations), they need to garner popular support (what if 1 planet doesn't agree? Would rebels just happily walk away and say 'thank you and continue to support Empire scum'), and Rebels exist as long as there is war.

The Empire also cannot be a wholly evil organization, with its tactically inept members bent on self-advancement. For one, we can always examine the empires of this real world. It is too simplistic to say all the empires were bad, as they did oppress their colonies and robbed them of their national heritage (China has lost a LOT from the British, and the British refuse to return them to 'help preserve history'),

Well, no one face can describe the whole Empire. Even though the stormtroopers and TIE fighter pilots are clones, identical twin experiments have shown large differences between twins. Everybody's different and it is within logical reason to postulate that there are noble people in the Empire, Pellaeon would be one of them.

3. Good Intentions turn Bad

Ever believed someone would like to be corrupt for the sake of it? Is it possible to have purely evil intentions that drew upon evil? Thing is...it's not as easy as that. Let's take a look at Emperor Palpatine:

What he wants (what others think): No good Jedis, since he's a Sith and evil.

What he may think: It's his life mission, and he needs to achieve it for his organization he lives for, the Sith. In short, 'keeping it real'.

What he used to achieve his goals: Smarts and guile. Really fooled those wise Jedis.

Everyone has a life mission, and Palpatine used his gifts to attain it with dedication (what we all strive to do so too). The gifts themselves are noble qualities, but its applications are not noble in this context. Ultimately, this evil grew from a legitimate goal, and notable gifts were used to evil ends. Bad draws its meaning and power from good.

Message is: It's too easy for us to call others evil because we just don't agree with their goals.

*of course this philosophical argument is very short...it's a blog after all!