Order 66/Legends

"The time has come. Execute Order 66."

- Palpatine to numerous clone commanders

Order 66 was one of a series of contingency orders that the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic were secretly trained to prepare for during their growth. The order branded the Jedi as traitors of the Republic and called for their immediate execution without question. Its issuing by Emperor Palpatine marked the formal beginning of the Great Jedi Purge, which started the Galactic Civil War. Almost all of the Jedi were killed by Order 66 and most of the survivors in the Great Jedi Purge that followed. The Jedi Order survived with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda teaching Luke Skywalker the ways of the Force. Skywalker will decades later establish his new Jedi Order.

History
"I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi. The dark side of the Force surrounds the Chancellor."

- Mace Windu

During their training on Kamino, Order 66 was taught to all of the clone troopers as a last resort order to be obeyed instantly and without question.

Execution of the order


In 19 BBY, Order 66 was issued by Darth Sidious towards the end of the Clone Wars. The official reason given for its execution was the onset of an attempted Jedi coup against the Republic; in reality, it was the culmination of a chain of events orchestrated by Palpatine himself over a period of decades, all designed to end the Jedi Order and to bring about the domination of the Sith. Just days earlier, the Senate had passed the Security Act, which gave Palpatine authority to disband the Jedi Order.

After the destruction of General Grievous at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin stormed the Supreme Chancellor's office, intent on arresting Palpatine, who had been revealed to them as the elusive Sith Lord Darth Sidious by Anakin Skywalker. Fisto, Kolar, and Tiin were quickly cut down by Sidious, but Windu was able to hold him off and eventually disarm him. Skywalker then arrived to find the Supreme Chancellor, looking defeated, attempting to surrender in exchange for his life. When it became evident that Windu was going to kill the older man, Skywalker intervened, which gave the Sith Lord the opportunity to destroy the Jedi Master. The Jedi's actions provided the Chancellor with the excuse he needed to have the Order carried out. "Would it have been too much to ask for the order to have come through before I gave him back the bloody lightsaber?"

- Commander Cody, speaking of Obi-Wan Kenobi, after receiving Order 66

Palpatine sent word out via the office of the Chancellor to all of the clone commanders in the army. The commanders had a variety of reactions to the surprising order, but since it came from the Chancellor himself, virtually all of them carried it out without question or hesitation. On countless planets, Jedi were cut down by their troopers. The Jedi, who had been spread throughout the Galaxy across disparate battlefields, were almost all caught totally unawares and gunned down with ease. Three years of non-stop intergalactic warfare polluted the Force with the dark side, clouding Jedi perception even further. Because the clones had no malice nor hatred, but were merely following a legal order, they had no ill intent in their heart which might give warning to the Jedi via the Force.



Although it was impossible for Palpatine to have issued the order to every single commander individually, he did take the time to contact several personally before the Order was relayed throughout the army as a whole. Within the first minutes of the Order, several members of the Jedi Council had been killed; including Plo Koon on Cato Neimoidia at the hands of Captain Jag, Stass Allie on Saleucami at the hands of Commander Neyo, and Ki-Adi-Mundi on Mygeeto at the hands of Commander Bacara. On Utapau, Obi-Wan Kenobi was riding a varactyl named Boga when Commander Cody executed the order, ordering an AT-TE to fire on him, but Kenobi managed to survive and escape the planet. He soon reunited with Grand Master Yoda, who had also managed to escape an attack by Commander Gree on Kashyyyk, with the help of some Wookiees. As noted, not all clone troopers obeyed the Order. On Murkhana, Roan Shryne and Olee Starstone were rescued from Order 66 by a member of a clone commando unit named Climber, who initially questioned the validity of the order, and even upon confirmation, refused to side with the government over those who had fought alongside them, having developed an affinity for the Jedi. As a result, they were punished harshly. However, that is the only evidence to date of a soldier disobeying the order; even other clone commandos and ARC troopers obeyed it.

Raid on the Jedi Temple
"I saw thousands of troops attack the Jedi Temple."

- Bail Organa



On Coruscant, Senate Emergency Response announced a state of martial law over Coruscant, and declared the Jedi Temple under military lockdown. Order 66 authorized Darth Vader and the 501st Legion to attack the Jedi Temple; however, deciding to take a more surprise-attack approach, a mission named Operation: Knightfall was devised where the 501st killed everyone they found in the Temple&mdash;Masters, Padawans, even younglings. They even mercilessly massacred non-Jedi staff, such as adminstrators, trainers, and guards, and attempted to attack Bail Organa when he arrived to investigate. None within the building were spared, but Shaak Ti escaped.

Aftermath
Although Order 66 greatly depleted the Jedi Order's ranks, with an estimated less than 100 Jedi surviving it, it was only the beginning of the Great Jedi Purge, which stretched on for years. Nearly all of the surviving Jedi Knights were hunted down and murdered by Darth Vader, while Order 66 itself remained in effect indefinitely among the ranks of the Galactic Empire's newly-christened stormtroopers. Kenobi and Yoda, like many others, chose to go into exile&mdash;on Tatooine and Dagobah, respectively. There they managed to elude Imperial justice for many years; a feat few of their contemporaries could claim. Within two decades, the Order of the Sith Lords had risen completely from the shadows, controlling the Galaxy through an impenetrable network of executive privilege, including organizations such as Imperial Intelligence, the Imperial Security Bureau, and COMPNOR, not to mention a system of powerful regional governors, all loyal to Palpatine himself.

Known victims
"Every single Jedi [&hellip;] is now an enemy of the Republic."

- Palpatine to Anakin Skywalker



The majority of the Jedi across the Galaxy fell victim to Order 66. Below are just some of the many Jedi who were killed when Order 66 was executed. Included are some who died in the Raid on the Jedi Temple.


 * Stass Allie
 * Sors Bandeam
 * Nem Bees
 * Bene
 * Olana Chion
 * Cin Drallig
 * Zett Jukassa
 * Jurokk
 * Serra Keto
 * Plo Koon
 * Saras Loorne
 * Whie Malreaux
 * Ki-Adi-Mundi
 * Jocasta Nu
 * Barriss Offee
 * Aayla Secura
 * Sev
 * Simms
 * Tra'avis
 * Luminara Unduli

Known survivors
"The Jedi Order is as ancient as time itself. It would take the might of the entire Galaxy to strike us down."

- Jedi Master Kreia

It was said that fewer than one hundred Jedi&mdash;approximately one percent of the entire Order&mdash;survived Order 66. However, it appeared that that was incorrect, as the number seemed to actually be above one hundred. Nonetheless, many of these Jedi were killed over the following years during the Great Jedi Purge.

Unknown/MIA
There were some Jedi whose fate after Order 66 was unknown. Among them were:


 * Depa Billaba
 * Iri Camas
 * Thracia Cho-Leem
 * Joclad Danva
 * Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy
 * Glynn-Beti
 * Bardan Jusik
 * Coleman Kcaj
 * Sha Koon
 * Etain Tur-Mukan
 * Even Piell
 * Saldith
 * Ulu Ulix

Behind the scenes

 * There are a number of theories regarding the origin of Order 66:


 * Order 66 may take its name from 666, the Mark of the Beast and a sign of the Apocalypse. This goes along with George Lucas' opinion that Palpatine is a representation of the Devil, as stated in numerous interviews.


 * It may also take its name from Executive Order 9066 issued by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, which ordered the internment of Japanese, Italian, and German Americans during World War II.


 * Order 66 has a great deal in common with the historical elimination of the Warrior Monks known as the Knights Templar. Like Order 66, it was a command spread through secrecy and suddenly implemented. Virtually all of the Templars in France were simultaneously arrested on October 13 (the unlucky Friday the 13th), 1307. Many were tortured and sentenced to death. In most every other country, the Templars were forced to leave the order or join other orders. A few Templars escaped and lived in exile, mainly in Scotland. King Philip IV of France at this time also seized the Templar's treasury for himself, putting an end to the monastic banking system. These events are largely seen as manipulated by Philip to gain greater powers. Like in Star Wars, this began an era of military fiat.


 * Order 66 may also have been inspired by The Night of the Long Knives, the Nazi Party's purge of opposition both within and outside of the Party. On June 30, 1934, the SS conducted a wave of murders across Germany, destroying not only a major portion of the Nazi private army (the so-called "stormtroopers" of the SA) but also such opposition politicians as Kurt von Schleicher, Hitler's predecessor as Chancellor. The purge is seen as the penultimate step towards Hitler's establishment of a total dictatorship in Germany, as it was followed very closely by the death of President von Hindenburg, the consolidation of the posts of President and Chancellor (in the new post of Führer) and the imposition of a personal loyalty oath to Hitler by the German military. In much the same way, Order 66 and the Jedi Purge is the herald for the declaration of Palpatine's Empire. A similar Nazi purge would be the 1938 Kristallnacht, which marked the start of the Holocaust.


 * Also consider The Auspicious Incident, the end of the Janissaries of Turkey.


 * When Revenge of the Sith first came out, it was believed that Order 66 was preprogrammed into the clone troopers. However, George Lucas has stated that it was a "last resort" order, not preprogrammed.

Appearances

 * Orders
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * Tag & Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace
 * Republic Commando: Order 66
 * The Order of Outcasts
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: Purge
 * The Last of the Jedi: Death on Naboo
 * The Last of the Jedi: A Tangled Web
 * The Last of the Jedi: Return of the Dark Side