AsStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sithnears its 20th anniversary, now is the perfect time to reflect on its monumental scenes, many of which have been changed over time by otherStar Warsstories. Widely regarded as the best film of theStar Warsprequel trilogy- and even the bestStar Warsmovie period by many fans -Revenge of the Sithfeatures some of the saga’s most crucial moments.
However,Revenge of the Sithdidn’t have time to expand on every element of the story, a task initially left to the film novelization and the originalStar WarsExpanded Universe. In the two decades since then, theStar Wars: The Clone Warsanimated series andthe new officialStar Warscanonhave revealed more information that provides new context to certain scenes. These changes include fleshed-out backstories, alternate perspectives, and foreshadowing future events in theStar Warstimeline.
10Revenge Of The Sith’s Opening Crawl Makes More Sense Now
Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 3, episode 10 “Heroes on Both Sides”
Revenge of the Sith’s opening crawl includes the line"There are heroes on both sides,“but it was unclear what this meant. While it is true that the Sith secretly controlled both sides of the Clone Wars,the movies generally portrayed the Jedi and the clones as the heroes and Count Dooku and his droid armies as the villains.There was only a brief mention of Separatists who left the Republic for good reasons but were pressured into war.
Thankfully, the appropriately titledClone Warsepisode “Heroes on Both Sides” explored this line in more detail. Hoping to stop the war, Padmé Amidala travels to the Separatist capital to speak with her old friend, Senator Mina Bonteri, who is now a member of the Separatist Senate. While Ahsoka Tano is skeptical,meeting Bonteri quickly teaches her that the politics of the Clone Wars aren’t as black and white as she thought.
Bonteri even convinces the Separatist Senate to offer a peace agreement to the Republic, but sadly, the plan is sabotaged when General Grievous orchestrates an attack on Coruscant. This highlights that while Dooku, the Separatist Council, and many Separatist generals are evil,many Separatist senators and ordinary citizens are simply doing what they think is right. It makes the Clone Wars far more interesting and makesRevenge of the Sithmore tragic.
9Dooku’s Backstory Makes His Fate More Tragic
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi season 1, episodes 2-4
Dooku’s death was only tragic inRevenge of the Sithbecause Anakin Skywalker took another step toward the dark side by killing an unarmed opponent. However, there have been severalStar Warsstories about Dooku’s time as a Jedi and why he left the Order, includingStar Wars: Tales of the Jediepisodes 2–4. In three short episodes,Tales of the Jedimakes you empathize with Dooku and understand what set him on his dark path.
Although he’s a flawed and overconfident Jedi,Dooku sees how the Republic’s corruption and the Jedi Order’s failures are hurting everyday citizens. The first episode wisely begins with Dooku’s time training Qui-Gon Jinn before showing them during the events ofThe Phantom Menace,making it heartbreaking when Dooku learns of his death. Watching Dooku’s death inRevenge of the Sithis even more tragic knowing that he began with noble intentions.
8This Isn’t The First Time Certain Characters Have Met During The War
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The dialogue during Obi-Wan and Anakin’s duel with Dooku suggests it has been a while since these characters have seen each other. Obi-Wan tells Anakin"This time we’ll do it together,“while Anakin tells Dooku his powers have doubled since their last meeting, both of which seemingly refer to the Battle of Geonosis. However,Anakin and Obi-Wan fought Dooku multiple times throughoutThe Clone Warsand its tie-in books and comics.
The same is true for Obi-Wan and General Grievous, who explain his Jedi training to Obi-Wan while his opponent seems surprised by his enemy’s abilities. This contradicts Obi-Wan and Grievous fighting each other on several occasions throughout the war, with Grievous using some of the same moves.These duels inRevenge of the Sithare now the culmination of long rivalriesrather than standalone fights.
7Anakin’s Frustration With The Council Is More Understandable
Although Anakin’s personality and motivations were clearly defined inRevenge of the Sith, some of his outbursts at the Jedi Council were hard to empathize with. While the Council didn’t grant Anakin the rank of Jedi Master, it’s hard to blame them when Anakin was appointed by Palpatine rather than earning the title himself. In the original Clone Wars timeline, Anakin only became a Jedi Knight six months beforeRevenge of the Sith.
Thanks toThe Clone Wars, Anakin’s anger about being denied and general frustration with the Council is easier to understand.The Clone Warsmade Anakin a Jedi Knight at the start of the war,and he even trained his own Padawan. That same Padawan left the Order after the Council abandoned her, but this was only one of many mistakes that angered Anakin. This doesn’t justify Anakin’s actions but does allow us to see them in a new light.
6Ahsoka Missed Anakin Just Before He Learned The Truth About Palpatine
Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7, episode 11 “Shattered”
The last arc ofThe Clone Warsseason is set concurrently withRevenge of the Sithand features familiar moments because of it. One of these scenes is the Jedi Council planning to arrest Palpatine and take control of the Senate when Grievous is destroyed, a conversation Ahsoka just misses. If Ahsoka had walked in sooner, she would have seen Anakin before his next fateful meeting with Palpatine.
Perhaps Ahsoka couldn’t have changed anything, but watching Anakin go to see Palpatine is sadder because of that uncertainty.
Yoda even asks Ahsoka if she has a message for Anakin, but Ahsoka decides to wait and speak to him in person. Rex also notes thatAhsoka didn’t tell the Council about Maul’s vision of Anakin joining Darth Sidious, likely because she didn’t believe it. Perhaps Ahsoka couldn’t have changed anything, but watching Anakin go to see Palpatine is sadder because of that uncertainty.
5Palpatine Did Indeed Discover The Power To Cheat Death
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Anakin’s primary motivation for joining Palpatine was the promise of saving others from dying, but Palpatine confessed that"To cheat death is a power only one has achieved.“This made it ambiguous whether Palpatine really learned this ability from his masteror if he could use it to cheat death himself.Star Wars: Dark Empireby Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy explored this idea in 1991, but the comic was made non-canon in 2014.
This made it even more shocking when Palpatine somehow returned inStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, having survived his apparent death through dark science and cloning. This revelation gives more weight to Palpatine’s lines inRevenge of the Sith, ashe will indeed learn to cheat death and become the true mastermind behind the events of theStar Warssequel trilogy. It’s also poetic that his granddaughter will be the one to master Force healing as a Jedi.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 6, episodes 1-4
Perhaps the most monumental scene inRevenge of the Sithis the Order 66 sequence where the clones turn on the Jedi.It originally seemed that the clones obeyed the order without question, exactly as the Kaminoans described to Obi-Wan inAttack of the Clones. However,The Clone Warsreally humanized the clones and showed their growth as individuals, so it no longer made sense for them to kill the Jedi without question.
20 Years On, Star Wars Has Totally Retconned Order 66 In 7 Major Ways
20 years ago, Star Wars viewers watched in horror as the Jedi died in Order 66. But these events have been retconned in many ways since then…
The solution came inThe Clone Warsseason 6 when it was revealed how far the Kaminoans went to ensure the clones' obedience.It turns out that every clone soldier has an inhibitor chip programmed with certain orders, meaning the Clones literally had no choice when Palpatine issued Order 66. This not only explains why none of the clones hesitated but also recontextualizes the entirety of Order 66.
3Anakin Didn’t Kill All The Younglings
Obi-Wan Kenobi season 1, episode 5 “Part V”
One of the most horrific scenes inRevenge of the Sithis the moment Anakin ignites his lightsaber in front of the Jedi younglings. Obi-Wan discovers the bodies of many more younglings and is heartbroken when he sees a hologram of Anakin committing these atrocities. As if this wasn’t bad enough, we eventually learned thatAnakin’s actions have long-term consequences in the form of the Third Sister.
Obi-Wan Kenobiintroduced Reva Sevander, a former Jedi Youngling who saw Anakin kill her friends. She grew up to become an Imperial Inquisitor,hunting her fellow Jedi survivors in the hope of earning Darth Vader’s trust and getting close enough to kill him. Revisiting Anakin’s attack on the Jedi Temple not only displays him becoming a monster but also creating a new one.
2Obi-Wan Did More Than Tell Surviving Jedi To Stay Away
Star Wars Rebels “Spark of Rebellion”
When Obi-Wan and Yoda fought their way into the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan stated that he had simply reconfigured the Temple beacon. However,Star Wars Rebelsrevealed thatObi-Wan also recorded a message, not only telling Jedi not to return to the Temple but reminding them to trust in the Force and wait for a"new hope"to emerge. Rewatching this scene now sparks some hope knowing that Jedi like Kanan Jarrus will one day turn to it for inspiration.
1We Now Know How And When Yoda Learned From Qui-Gon Jinn
Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 6, episodes 11-13
Revenge of the Sithends with the surprising revelation that Yoda has been in contact with the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, learning from him the secret to immortality. There was originally aStar Warsdeleted scene of Yoda hearing Qui-Gon’s voice, but it was ultimately cut for time. This left several questions about how Qui-Gon achieved this, when he made contact with Yoda, and what training was required for a Jedi to learn it.
The answers came in the final episodes ofThe Clone Warsseason 6, where Qui-Gon led Yoda to Dagobah as the first step on his journey.Yoda then made his way to another Force-rich planet where Force priestesses put him through a series of trials, testing his spirit before they revealed the secret. Yoda’s final scene with Obi-Wan now feels more complete and bringsStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sithto a satisfying conclusion.
