Star Wars has just doubled down on a massive Clone Wars plot hole that dates all the way back to Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Until 2002, Star Wars viewers had generally assumed the clones were the bad guys in the Clone Wars. In reality, they were led by Jedi Generals, and fought on behalf of the Republic – at least until Order 66, when Palpatine turned them against the Jedi.
But there’s always been one massive problem with the clone army. The Star Wars galaxy is a vast one, with reportedly 1 billion inhabited star systems. The Clone Wars were mostly fought on the Outer Rim, far from the human inhabitants of the Core Worlds, and that was no accident; Palpatine wanted to draw the Jedi away from the Galactic Core, and he cared little for the Rim, meaning he didn’t care about damage to those worlds. But that’s still a massive area, so just how big would the Grand Admiral of the Republic need to be?
Just How Many Soldiers Were In The Clone Army?
When Obi-Wan Kenobi met with the Kaminoan Lama Su, he was told there were two hundred thousand units ready – “with another million well on the way.“ These were the first generation of clone troopers, and it’s easy to imagine how shocked the Republic would have been to suddenly have an army of such size. It was not enough, though, and in Star Wars: The Clone Wars there’s an entire arc exploring Palpatine’s decision to order another five million clones.
That’s over 6 million soldiers from just four countries on Earth.
But is even an army of over 7 million clones enough for a galactic war? To give a sense of context, on Earth, China currently maintains the largest standing army worldwide – with 2.18 million active military personnel. India has an army of 1.45 million, the United States has one of 1.33 million, and Russia has 1.2 million soldiers. That’s over 6 million soldiers from just four countries on Earth. Suddenly the clone army looks pretty small.
Making matters worse, the Clone Wars were fought against battle droids. There can be no doubt the Separatists turned entire worlds into gigantic manufacturing plants, rolling out a constant assembly line of droids. The comparatively small number of clones would never have been able to stem such a tide, simply because the droids would have been advancing on too many fronts.
Fans Have Tried To Explain This Plot Hole Away
Naturally, there have been many attempts to fix this apparent Star Wars plot hole. The most notable is simply the idea that Lama Su was speaking of squads when he talked about “units.” Every clone squad consisted of nine soldiers, so that would mean the six million number would need to be multiplied by nine. That’s over 54 million, which still sounds a little small for an actual galactic war.
Some have gone further, suggesting Lama Su was referring to clone platoons (four squads, meaning there would be an army of over 216 million). There’s even been speculation that a unit is a clone battalion, 576 troopers in all, which would mean the Grand Army of the Republic would be over 3,456 million in number. These are feeling a little more reasonable – but there’s just one major problem. Star Wars has just debunked all these theories and explanations.
Star Wars Doubles Down On The Original Clone Wars Numbers
Marc Sunerak’s excellent The Secrets of the Clone Wars doubles down on the original number, dismissing any attempt to explain the plot hole away. It’s told from the perspective of Captain Rex himself, and he recalls the events of Attack of the Clones. “The first generation of clone troopers — 200,000 soldiers, including yours truly — were now fully grown, highly trained, and ready for deployment,” he writes. A “unit,” then, is definitively the same as an individual soldier.
To be fair, there can be no doubt this was how George Lucas intended it. He surely didn’t intend “unit” to refer to platoons or even battalions, because he didn’t really care much about the numbers involved. Rather, he simply picked some numbers that sounded impressively large, unaware that they become insignificant in the context of an entire galaxy locked in the throes of war. Star Wars has effectively stuck with Lucas’ intent for Attack of the Clones, whether it makes sense or not.
Buy Secrets of the Clone Troopers from Amazon
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is the sixth film in the Star Wars franchise and chronologically the third in the Skywalker Saga. Set three years after the events of Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker is tasked with keeping an eye on Chancellor Palpatine while other Jedi battle across the galaxy. In the background, however, a mysterious Sith lord begins to make their move to destroy the Jedi once and for all.
- Release Date
- May 19, 2005