In order to prevent a certain other thread from becoming seriously derailed....

The Empire is evil.

This is not an opinion, it is a statement of fact.

It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.

Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy....

I rest my case.

Granted that Star Wars is a Rebellion propaganda film series, of course it would say that

It's not evil. Like all malevolent dictatorships, a few malcontents try to stir up the populous with totally bogus malignant rumors of oppression and attempt to put the beloved government in a bad light.

(Waves hand across at nothing) "There is nothing to see here... these are not the truths you are looking for... move along now"

I said off-topic!

Lies and propaganda.

I just don't know what to believe anymore

You know

It kind of shocks me that anybody can defend the morality of a faction that was not only capable of, but did destroy an entire planet that was unarmed and historically had never attacked anybody.

Uh... you guys do realize that the people adopting "Empire = good" are trolling, right? I'd do the same if it weren't so obvious.

"Evil is just a point of view, Anakin." I'd believe Palpatine more if he hadn't instigated a galactic civil war, then put himself as the leader of one faction and his apprentice as the leader of the other, meaning no matter what he'd win. Kind of evil to murder millions for personal power.

It's a fun idea to adopt "The Empire is Good" as a troll POV, but Star Wars is a story, and the writers have ultimate control over the reality of a story. The writers say the Empire is evil, therefore it's EVHUL, with a capitol EV.

Evil adj.

1.morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked:

2.harmful; injurious:

3.characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous:

4.due to actual or imputed bad conduct or character:

5. marked by anger, irritability, irascibility, etc.

And like I said before, the reason I find the NJO books so disgusting is that it puts a shiny core of good underneath all the evil that the Emperor, and therefore the Empire did: Sheev was just trying to protect the galaxy, not greedily grasping for every shred of personal power he could get for its own sake. Regardless of the writing and the interwoven plotlines (mediocre to above average), the moment I realized that I gave the books back to my friend and never touched them again.

You know

It kind of shocks me that anybody can defend the morality of a faction that was not only capable of, but did destroy an entire planet that was unarmed and historically had never attacked anybody.

I'll just leave this here

Wasn't there a theory that Palpatine militarised the Republic and made it into an Empire in order to combat the threat of the invading Yuuzhan Vong?

its all terrorist proper-gander.....

Terrorists always label the legitimate government evil, but we keep the peace and make the shuttles run on time.

Wasn't there a theory that Palpatine militarised the Republic and made it into an Empire in order to combat the threat of the invading Yuuzhan Vong?

The Empire is the America of Star Wars.

Edit: And Vader is Trump.

Lies and propaganda.

Good one, sir! I choose to believe what I was brainwashed to believe.

Wasn't there a theory that Palpatine militarised the Republic and made it into an Empire in order to combat the threat of the invading Yuuzhan Vong?

In legends

And a case could be made that he never knew the scale of the Vong as a threat, so never took them seriously. He'd been doing most of what he did long before he found out about the Vong's existence - it didn't change what he was doing - it only gave him a tool which his underling Kinman Doriana used to bring people like Thrawn into the Empire.

Uh... you guys do realize that the people adopting "Empire = good" are trolling, right? I'd do the same if it weren't so obvious.

SEApocalypse and McFoy did a good job of making it seem like they believe everything they're saying about morality, to me.

the reason I find the NJO books so disgusting is that it puts a shiny core of good underneath all the evil that the Emperor, and therefore the Empire did: Sheev was just trying to protect the galaxy, not greedily grasping for every shred of personal power he could get for its own sake. Regardless of the writing and the interwoven plotlines (mediocre to above average), the moment I realized that I gave the books back to my friend and never touched them again.

The theory was, as far as I can tell, never voiced in any of the NJO books themselves. It was only afterward, that Zahn's Outbound Flight novel made it the reason for Thrawn joining the Empire, and The Essential Guide to Warfare had Imperial historical revisionists portray Palpatine as Thrawn-ish.

As the TEGTW author pointed out at the time:

http://boards.theforce.net/xentemp/index.php?threads/be-excited-the-essential-thread-to-the-essential-guide-to-warfare.73/page-114

I wouldn't trust O'Pali farther than I could throw him ... on Sirpar. His account is certainly not the canon interpretation.

Which isn't the same as saying he's wrong about everything. And the debate's kind of fun.

The Empire is the America of Star Wars.

Edit: And Vader is Trump.

I just don't know what to believe anymore

Why does the conspiracy theorist keep saying Alderbrawn!

The interesting thing about the empire, like many real governments, is that even though the Empire itself is evil, there are people in it who belive they are doing the right thing. I love to root for the empire, I like flying TIE Figthers, I want my own Stormtrooper armor, I like the Empire. but if I lived in the Star Wars Universe, I would probably be in the empire, but join the Rebels after Alderran.

The Empire is the America of Star Wars.

Edit: And Vader is Trump.

I know your statement is tongue and cheek (although the America position is arguable)....but to the second statement: No, no, no, noooooooo, lets not lower Darth Vader to such a piss-poor level as that piece.....even in humor......please, "oh, the humanity!"

USA is the number one threat to world peace according to most countries when polled.

USA is the number one threat to world peace according to most countries when polled.

Pffft. World peace. You have to think in galactic standards. Far, far, away standards. I'm sure Alderaan also worried about petty 'world peace' without considering the bigger picture.

The Empire is the America of Star Wars.

Edit: And Vader is Trump.

I know your statement is tongue and cheek (although the America position is arguable)....but to the second statement: No, no, no, noooooooo, lets not lower Darth Vader to such a piss-poor level as that piece.....even in humor......please, "oh, the humanity!"

You know what? You're absolutely right.

Jar Jar Binks is the Trump of Star Wars (after all, he started of as a joke, ended up in politics and ended up being responsible for all the atrocities that the Empire went on to commit)