Who carried out Order 66?

[Manus Celer Dei]

I know you're probably thinking "The clone troopers, dummy!" but bear with me here.

The more I watch the O66 scene, the more I become convinced that it was not a indescriminate command to all the clones to wipe out all the Jedi, but sent only to any ARCs and the Clone Commanders. Consider:

• Obi-Wan:
  Cody receives the order, seems to only tell the AT-TE crew to open fire and then carry out a search.
• Aayla:
  Unless I'm mistaken, those troopers that kill her are all ARCs, with the exception of Commander Bly. I'm not too sure about this, though.
• Stass Allie:
  The Clone on the bike closest to the camera is her Commander, and we know that Clone helmets have built in comms, so it isn't nesercerry for the other trooper to be told about o66, only "drop back and open fire on my order" or something like that.
• Yoda
  Same deal as before, one of the clones that tried to kill him was the Commander of his forces.
• Ki-Adi-Mundi
  This is where it may fall apart, as I have no fucking clue what those guys in the funky red outfits were.
• Plo Koon
  This may be reaching abit, but the OS says that " the clone commander pilot opened fire", so that could be taken to mean that the pilot was a clone commander (and thus received O66) or just the commander of the ARC-170.

I don't however, know anything about the other Jedi shown being killing the comic, so I can't comment on that.

Anyway, from these examples it can be inferred that O66 was only sent to ARCs and the Commanders serving under the Jedi, instead of all the Clone being told that the Jedi were all to be killed on sight (Apart from the Clones at the temple, obviously.)

Why does this matter? Well, there's been a few discussions on the likelyhood of a Jedi surviving O66, and IIRC the general consensus was that it hinged on whether every Clone had been given an order to kill all Jedi, or whether it was just the higher-ranking Clones who were told.

Of course, I've probably made a massive mistake somewhere in there, so please correct me if I have.

[Jack Bauer]

There's no evidence that these snowtroopers were elite ARCs or Clone Commanders. So we can assume from this that all of the clone troopers got the same order and carried it out.

[Manus Celer Dei]

There's no evidence that these snowtroopers were elite ARCs or Clone Commanders. So we can assume from this that all of the clone troopers got the same order and carried it out.

Are you referring to the ones on Mygeeto? Yeah, I was expecting that to be the weak bit. Does anyone know what they are, or are they just identified as "snowtroopers"?

[Darth Fanboy]

Devil's Advocate: Most of these are isolated examples of High ranking Jedi working with High ranking clones. We don't have much of a way of knowing what happened to the other Jedi killed during Order 66.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

There's no evidence that these snowtroopers were elite ARCs or Clone Commanders. So we can assume from this that all of the clone troopers got the same order and carried it out.

Are you referring to the ones on Mygeeto? Yeah, I was expecting that to be the weak bit. Does anyone know what they are, or are they just identified as "snowtroopers"?

They're Galactic Marines led by Commander Bacara.
http://www.starwars.com/databank/charac ... derbacara/

[GeneralTacticus]

According to the novelisation:

The order is given once. Its wave-front spreads to clone commanders on Kashyyyk and Felucia, Mygeeto, and Tellanroeg and every battlefront, every miltiary installation, every hospital and rehab centre and spaceport cantina in the galaxy.

It's interesting for two reasons - first, it refers to the order spreading to clone commanders, as theorised in the OP, but second, it says the order went everywhere.

Just how common are Clone Commanders, anyway?

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Skimming through the Clone Commander entries in the OS Databank, I get nothing exactly concrete, at least not with the level of military stuff I have:

Commander Bacara: led the Galactic Marines unit.

Commander Bly: led the 327th Star Corps.

Commander Cody: led the 212th Attack Battalion.

Commander Gree: led the 41st Elite Corps.

Commander Neyo: served under Oppo Rancisis' multi-battalion taskforce that stormed Saleucami during the Outer Rim Sieges, and one of first 100 graduates of the Alpha commander training program.

Commander Thire: seems to be leader of the Coruscant shock troopers.

The Databank mentions that 3.5 percent (seven out of every two-hundred) of all clones made by the Kaminoans were aberrent from the norm, and while at first such clones were reconditioned, clones who underwent the Alpha commander training program were usually aberrent. So there could easily be millions (or even several billions) of them out there at the time Order Sixty-Six was issued.

[Kettch]

According to the novelisation:

The order is given once. Its wave-front spreads to clone commanders on Kashyyyk and Felucia, Mygeeto, and Tellanroeg and every battlefront, every miltiary installation, every hospital and rehab centre and spaceport cantina in the galaxy.

It's interesting for two reasons - first, it refers to the order spreading to clone commanders, as theorised in the OP, but second, it says the order went everywhere.

Just how common are Clone Commanders, anyway?

I think you're reading too much into it. The Palp dispatched the order through the command structure, hence those commanders, who are clones got the messages. Not all clones in command positions are ARC level special, some are like the commading clones seen an Genosis.

Once it started at the top, the order progressed down the chain of command. As Dath Fanboy pointed out the filmed scenes are of High Ranking Jedi, so a number were attacked by the high ranking clone command staff who were in the immediate vacinity of the Jedi. Others seem to have just gotten verbal instructions that could have come down the chain of command.

[Illuminatus Primus]

They're all Galactic Marines, Spanky. The Stormtroopers are the Imperial Marines.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

That's odd, because the EU section of Bacara's Databank entry states that the Galactic Marines are a specific Clonetrooper unit:

The progression of the Clone Wars saw increasing diversification within the Grand Army of the Republic. Clone troopers became more specialized, and specific units were distinguished by mission profiles and customized armor. One of the most feared and versatile units were the Galactic Marines, under the command of General Ki-Adi-Mundi and Clone Commander Bacara.

The marines were cross-trained in space and ground-based fighting, and well-versed in zero-gee combat. These troops were among the first to field-test new equipment and combat gear. Their use of the prototype spacetrooper powersuit during the Battle of New Bornalex was well documented; when the weapons systems on the suits failed, the troopers used the mechanical musculature to engage the enemy super battle droids in hand-to-hand combat and tore into them with their enhanced manipulators. This fostered a ferocious reputation for the marines that Bacara particularly relished.

http://www.starwars.com/databank/charac ... ara/?id=eu

[VT-16]

Yup, they´re a special unit, just like Aayla´s Star Corps.

[Tyrian2000]

I know it has nothing to do with the question, but why the Jedi didn´t know that they were going to be double-crossed? - I thought they had precognition or something. That bearded guy on the bridge had no idea of what was going on until he had blasters aiming at his nose.

[DrkHelmet]

I know it has nothing to do with the question, but why the Jedi didn´t know that they were going to be double-crossed? - I thought they had precognition or something. That bearded guy on the bridge had no idea of what was going on until he had blasters aiming at his nose.

The shroud of the dark side. That's Palpatine's special power.

[Manus Celer Dei]

I know it has nothing to do with the question, but why the Jedi didn´t know that they were going to be double-crossed? - I thought they had precognition or something. That bearded guy on the bridge had no idea of what was going on until he had blasters aiming at his nose.

The shroud of the dark side. That's Palpatine's special power.

And that the Clones felt no remorse, regret or malice for what they were about to do. It was just another order to them.

[Tyrian2000]

The shroud of the dark side. That's Palpatine's special power.

And just one Sith can pull that off? - why didn´t the Jedi just extincted hundreds of years ago?. Couldn´t they tell that they Precog powers were not working anymore and be more careful?.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Yes. Palpatine was one of the most powerful Force-users who ever lived, if not actually the most powerful.

In AotC, Yoda and Windu actually comment on the Jedi's diminishing ability to see into the future because of the shroud of the Dark Side.

At least that's what I think you were asking. Your typing sucks.

[Tyrian2000]

Yes. Palpatine was one of the most powerful Force-users who ever lived.

In AotC, Yoda and Windu actually comment on the Jedi's diminishing ability to see into the future because of the shroud of the Dark Side.

At least that's what I think you were asking. Your typing sucks.

Yeah, that was pretty much what I was asking. Sorry if I have to check the god-damned english dictionary everytime I try to post.

[VT-16]

The "Clones feel no malice"-explanation seemed more likely to me. It´s like the Jedi´s "Spider sense" don´t go off if something´s about to be done by a person who harbors no negative feelings (that are connected to the Dark Side).

[Cykeisme]

Their precognition might not be all-encompassing; assuming their focus had to be directed, it's not inconceivable that the betrayal of their trusted super-loyal troopers might not have been foreseen. Sidious, after all, never saw his end coming, when Vader tossed him into the open shaft.

The "lack of malice" thing may be a contributor perhaps, but I don't think that alone explains it, otherwise battle droids would be much more effective against our Jedi heroes.

Sorry if I have to check the god-damned english dictionary everytime I try to post.

Well, we appreciate your effort, and you're improving yourself each time you do

[Darth Fanboy]

I know it has nothing to do with the question, but why the Jedi didn´t know that they were going to be double-crossed? - I thought they had precognition or something. That bearded guy on the bridge had no idea of what was going on until he had blasters aiming at his nose.

The shroud of the dark side. That's Palpatine's special power.

Special power my ass. The shroud of the Dark Side is what results from an abundance of things such as war and chaos, these things limit the Jedi's precognition. Palpatine, and other Sith over many many years have added to the shroud by fostering pain and suffering across the galaxy. Leading up to the moment where the Sith would have their revenge.

Addition:

The point is that this is not a Palpatine-only power.

[Vympel]

I don't buy this "they had a name therefore they were a special unit" argument. Every Clonetrooper unit had a name, 'Galactic Marines' was merely the one that Bacara commanded (under Ki-Adi-Mundi). The 501st was of course, Anakin/Vader's.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Where was that argued? I personally only used the term "specific" rather than "special".

[Vympel]

Where was that argued? I personally only used the term "specific" rather than "special".

VT-16 said they were a "special" unit.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Well then VT-16 is full of shit.

[Havok]

Regardless of how many Clone commanders there are, orders, in any military go through a chain of command. In this situation, especialy, you would only want the higest ranking, and smallest group of Clone troops to know what the order is. I doubt anyone esle would even know of the order outside the Sith and the Clones and possibly some of the Clone programmers. More than likely only the Clone troopers that were asigned directly to specific Jedi knew of the order such as Bly and Cody, and they simply gave orders that the other troopers followed. Palpatine did give the order personally to Cody and used his name, so I would think that, like I said only the commanders closest to the Jedi knew the order.

Just my 2