Thats the problem here. The issue is Mace went to arrest the Chancellor with no evidence of a crime or treason. You can't just arrest someone with no evidence of a crime. He than went on to attempt to kill him. To everyone else that would look like a Jedi just assassinated the Chancellor and attempting to seize power in a coup d'etat. I agree that Mace had to do something but the way that he went about doing it would have made him and the Jedi look like traitors to The Republic and hunted down anyway.

@@brandonarmienti6875 yea good thing that Mace got thrown out the Windu.

​@@Lobo-Perez Genius

He should have gotten some evidence and rounded up some trusted senators for the case and have some security to make the arrest either way it would have been a winnable outcome if Mace Windu did decide to kill Palpatine

​@@Lobo-Perez lmfao

Exactly! Mace, in true Jedi fashion, was able to LET GO of such rules for the greater good of the galaxy. Sometimes, letting go is more than just letting a PERSON go, but beliefs and rules you once followed. Anakin's attachment to both Padme and Palpatine's false promises kept Mace from killing Palpatine, thus dooming the galaxy to 20+ years of a genocidal empire.

​@@alexielshadowangellet go

The thing is though, it absolutely jives with the Jedi Code. The Clone Wars was as much a holy war as it was a civil war. It absolutely checks out that the Jedi would put their religious fervor above laws. They're zealots.

@ScooterinAB use the force

📠📠📠

Also Mace Window: gets eye scratched out by a Porg

Nick Fury was more competent at least until Sercret Invasion.

Dang. I knew “the force” was some sort of organization.

And technically Palpatine wasn't a prisoner yet. He was still an active enemy combatant. One with no hope of winning unless his opponent did something extremely stupid, sure, but he was still fighting. Whether that technicality actually matters is a different question.

Keep in mind, there was also the fact that Palpatine had just murdered several Jedi Masters with what could easily be identified as a Sith weapon. Sure the initial reason for arrest wasn't really justified but someone is going to raise a few eyebrows about the suspicious circumstances of the whole event. As stated, there was no security and a single old man murdered a group of decorated war heroes on his own with a weapon that hadn't seen use outside of the Jedi Order in centuries? That's going to make the idea that he's a Sith Lord much easier to believe.

​@kylepessell1350 He packed the courts with sycophants and held the position that would make him responsible for his own sentencing.

@@DarkEdgePrince That he did but the system wasn't entirely corrupted, just heavily in his favor. Those corrupt officials were mostly weak-willed follower types exactly like Palpatine wanted which means that if his position was weakened enough then their loyalties could flip since they were ultimately beholden to the galactic population. If it was proven without a shadow of a doubt everything that Palpatine was responsible for, there would be no way he could get away with it once the common republic citizen started demanding his arrest no matter how ostensibly loyal his cronies were. Of course, Palpatine knew this and made it as difficult as possible for this to ever come to pass but that doesn't mean it was entirely impossible.

Windu was still going to arrest him though. He didn’t decide to go full-on executioner until Sidious tried to blast him with Force Lightning. That’s when Windu realized that Sidious was too much trouble to arrest and he had to be killed right then and there.

Yeah there would've been call logs to count dooku and grievous somewhere

Not really. Palpatine took care of that immediately. I think I read somewhere that Palpatine got his henchmen to alter the recordings to make it look like that the Jedi were committing an act of aggression against an elected Supreme Chancellor by trying to kill him. He would’ve edited out the parts where Mace Windu was trying to arrest him and all the evidence of the Sith stuff that happened during that assault.

@@FastTquick that was afterward. How could Palpatine do that if Mace killed him and started downloading files from his office

@@knightingale9833 Well, as Allen already pointed out, Palpatine has the entire judicial system in his hands and I can bet that his henchmen will find a way to exonerate him and still label the Jedi traitors anyway.

@@knightingale9833 Remember the no guards in the senate building thing? Palpatine knew Mace Windu was coming and thus repaired for his arrival. Palpatine's all about preparing in advance. He probably wiped his entire contact registry and put in a falsified one even before Anakin figured out he was a Sith. Heck he probably covered his tracks after every single call he made to anyone over the past decade. What about the Sith artifacts all over the place? No one would know what those are. People would assume he was an avid art collector. Luthen Rael used that same guise to hide in plain sight while forging the Rebellion. And this also assumes that Mace actually COULD kill him. Palpatine might have been playing the "wounded gazelle" card to entice Anakin to the Dark Side. Had Anakin not shown up it's possible Palpatine would have just wasted Mace Windu right then and there.

Dooku*

And Dooku

Palpatine would not let then take him in

@@Spider-Man647 I don't think Palatine could have taken on Windu and Anakin together. After a lengthy duel he would have lost.

@@Spider-Man647. Palpatine wasn’t in that condition. Mace had beaten him. Mace was prepare to arrest him. The last trick Palps had was Force Lightning and appealing to Anakin, which didn’t have the full direct effect that he had hoped for. But it did change Mace’s mind from an arrest to an assassination. Which is when Anakin stepped in. Because; 1 - such an act was treason. 2 - the act was unjust. 3 - it is not the Jedi way. If Mace stood his ground with the arrest, Palpatine would’ve been arrested. And the rest of the Jedi would’ve been notified. There was just no way for Palpatine to hold off both of them AND called for Order 66. But Mace changed his mind because Palpatine was trying to appeal to Anakin while holding Mace off with Force Lightning and Mace didn’t have enough faith in Anakin’s ability to make good choices. But the Jedi had the evidence linking everything to Darth Sidious. Just no way to draw the connection between him and Palpatine that would hold water in court. And they had some support in the Senate. But would need more time to be confident. And Mace didn’t have much trust in politicians. But, it’s laughable that Palpatine could beat both Anakin and Mace and call for Order 66 before the other Jedi learned what was going on. The guy is a joke with his political connections and authority or his persuasive words for Force Users in Mace’s power class and competence.

The Jedi nor the Senate knew about the contingency orders. They just barely knew about the inhibitor chips. Most what if scenarios forget that Palpatine and the Kaminoans kept that a secret until Fives figured it out, but then it was just passed off as artificial aggression blockers.

Of course, the real problem is how do they prove any of this in a court of law? Disregarding the incredible influence Palpatine had over the systems of the Republic, their evidence against him was flimsy at best and consisted only of an alleged confession of allegiance to a system of belief that may or may not have been recorded by the building's security system (assuming Palpatine didn't wipe that particular record). Even if they could prove he was Sith (presenting his personal lightsaber would have been the only other real move there), that doesn't automatically make him the one responsible for the war. Remember that Dooku, Ventres, Maul and Savage (before he was killed) were all also Sith of varying power. Without further evidence tying Palpatine to the Separatist movement and Dooku, the best they could probably manage was having Palpatine removed from his position in the Republic. And *that* is assuming the Republic even had laws preventing Sith from holding political office, because if not then the Jedi have no grounds to build a case against him. Remember that the Jedi, for all of the claims made about them, are not a legitimate law enforcement agency. Their authority in matters is unofficial, granted with the understanding that they would act in the best interests of the Republic but given none of the oversight or regulations used with their actual officers of the law. And given the importance of the position Palpatine held, almost no one in the Senate is going to just sit back and let the Jedi waltz up and assassinate a sitting Chancellor on allegations that they are 'evil.' That is a wildly dangerous precedent to set for the future, and not one anyone there would have allowed especially given the Jedi's waning popularity towards the end of the war.

A guy who engineered the takeover of the entire galaxy probably (but not necessarily) would have been smart enough to not have a "My Secret Separatist Plot" folder on his desktop. :P

@@ScooterinAB He had the plans of the death Star in there so...who knows

If Palps is alive he can interfere in any investigation, he is a Sith Lord after all. Any evidence potentially exonerating the Jedi would be far far easier to collect with him dead rather than alive. At worst Jedi lose their political power (not a bad trade, all things considered) since I doubt a trial absent Palps would result in a state mandated genocide of the Jedi, even in the worst case where they have 0 non-witness or circumstantial evidence.

@@GeneralJarrett1997 Especley because I think Windu would have bein willing to take the fall and take all the bame on himself. heck he actet without the approvel of the Jedi Council he just heard Palpetine was a sith, and collectet 3 other Jedi and thats it. So..most likley only he would have bein punished not the entirtey of the Order

He’s a keeper of the peace, not a soldier, dammit!

Lucas clearly stated that Mace bested Palpatine. It was really a matter of making sure Anakin either helped or at the least didn't interfere for Mace to commit to killing him.

Palpatine was waiting for them to come….he planned it. Why would he do that if he wasn’t prepared to kill them all? You really think a guy who planed this moment for 30 years and put all the pieces together to take over the Galaxy…. left the whole thing up to chance and the presumption that Anakin wouldn’t get stuck in traffic?

@@akaviral5476Sure…..he plots for 30 years to take over the Galaxy and leaves the whole thing resting on Anakin showing up at the exact right moment and not getting stuck in traffic. He sent his guards away and lured the Jedi in….butchered three masters almost effortlessly but somehow loses 90% of his power the moment Anakin lands in the hanger and he genuinely gets “ beaten” just in time for Anakin to walk in and see Windu trying to kill a defenseless old man.

​@@Matt-yg8ubit wasn't chance though, the Plageuis novel describes it perfectly: the force had turned against the jedi

@@Captain_Insano_nomercy Yep. Just like the expanded prophecy mentioned - the Jedi would have to pay dearly in lives to restore *real* balance. They were punished for losing their way. Yoda sees this during his fight with Sidious and realizes he (and by extension the former Jedi way) is not destined to defeat the Sith.

But helped the galazy more

The Sith had totally outmaneuvered the Jedi, who left it too late to act.

I don't think so if the republic went after the Jedi I doubt they could mess with them palpatines empire failed hard against 100 or less survivors and that's an illegal operation without any restraints like the republic has since they are a diplomatic government not a tyranny like sidious

Well, no, because Palpatine's death would mean the end of his tyranny. Only he can hold it all together. When he dies in return of the Jedi, his whole system collapses, and that's after 20 some years of shoring it up and establishing it. If he Mace kills him, he dies without a capable apprentice and the Jedi would simply root out his allies

@@histguy101 that was mainly because he expanded Tyrany too far in an effort to stamp out the rebellion. Up until about 10-15 years in the Empires lifetime most ordinary people didn't have too big of an issue and the Senate still had some pull. If the Jedi had succeeded in assassinating Palpatine, the order would very likely be branded traitors and his chosen circle would likely have taken over with sending the armies after the Jedi, but without the singular evil force to let the public realize their error.

The public didn't know who Anakin was. The public likely had never met a Jedi. The odds that even someone on Coruscant even knew someone who had met a Jedi was unlikely. This is why everyone "forgot" about the Jedi during the time of the Empire; they barely knew they existed in the first place.

Mind control the loyalists to be against Palpatine.

@@ScooterinAB ​ @ScooterinAB No one knew? There was a big war being televised, and we saw Jedi like Yoda with Chewbacca and everything. Back when Timothy Zahn made his trilogy, Luke was treated like a peace maker, everyone brought their grievances right to him like he was the local judge or district attorney and abided by his decision.

Anakin was the poster-boy of Republic War Propaganda. He was called "The Hero With No Fear" even according to Canon.@@ScooterinAB

@@philippschwarz4539 So? How many people knew anything about him? How many people even cared that there was a war on the other side of the galaxy?

That could be a fun what if scenario, but it would probably just end with Palpatine executing order 66 a few minutes early

He could just have them execute Order 66 in that room pretty easily. Would've been even worse for the Jedi in the room, though I wonder what it would do to Anakin. Probably would turn out the same, but he might recognize that this was a long term plan and question things more. I doubt it though

Tbh Palp woud have killed the senate guards and spoke order 66 in person...How ever i think Mace would have escaped and been able to help more jedi escape the temple and warn outlying Jedi about the full order 66 ambushes

The Senate Guards are useless.

what sort of reason could windu give to the guard to arrest the chancellor? and i doubt the coruscant clones would be entirely onboard, with the idea either, even if windu is a general

That's a good point and a huge thing people seem to miss. Order 66 wasn't "kill the Jedi." It was "the Jedi have turned against the Republic." I think it was enough for him to just say they betrayed the Republic. Remember when Padme talks about how Palpatine spent a bunch of time explain the Jedi Order's plot to the Senate. He only had to justify it later, since it's not like he'd be contested.

@@ScooterinAB your response just gave me another question to consider; Palpatine explains to the senate what happened with the Jedi attacking him, etc., but that happens after he issues Order 66. I think I just answered my own question in my head... can Palpatine give the order to execute Order 66 without the senate's approval? But then I realized that most likely he can as an emergency protocol much like the U.S. President can order the military services to conduct operations as an immediate response to any threat such as President Bush did after 9/11 or President Roosevelt did after Pearl Harbor.

@@skyden24195 It seems that he certainly had the authority to do so. He was given emergency powers, but he also would have engineered the whole thing so that he could just do it. He would have just had to pretend to justify it to the Senate after the fact.

​@@ScooterinABThere's no way Order 66 was legal. He had all Jedi everywhere executed on sight without trial, including all the children and noncombatants. The only way order 66 can be legal is if it's successful and Palpatine makes himself emperor

@@histguy101 When your government is taken over by an evil wizard who has been granted legal authority to make laws, Order 66 was absolutely legal. There were other orders that were contingencies in case Palps didn't become the Supreme Chancellor, which means these orders would have been documented and known. If anything, Order 66 is one of the only believable things in the prequels. The Jedi turned against the Supreme Chancellor and were deemed traitors. Windu pretty much said so himself; he planned to kill Palpatine and have the Jedi step in to control the Senate until this was resolved. They were too dangerous to be brought in because they shown to immediately fight back and started killing clones to escape arrest. Just as it was too dangerous for Dooku and Palpatine to stand trial, the Jedi were too dangerous to be brought in.

That’s not to say they had any understanding what they actually were and how they worked besides the basics like most people here with giant institutions that exist on earth. A easy fix I would use for the public was call him (paps) an evil Jedi and it’s their job and purpose to protect everyone from them. Then explain the reality to the senate and those who needs and cares to know the truth. Most people won’t care as long as they get the gist as they have more important things to worry about.

Don't forget that by the point Windu was poised to arrest him, good old Palpatine had just murdered several decorated war heroes with a distinctly Sith weapon while security was mysteriously absent. Most of the uncorrupted members of the Senate and even some of the lightly corrupted ones are going to demand an explanation for how he managed to do that and 'space magic' is going to end up a lot more believable in such suspicious circumstances.

It's likely that someone had emergency power of succession. Maybe that head tentacle guy. At least the wording of the orders (incidentally why I never like the chip idea) suggests that it's really the Senate that's doing it, not Palpatine himself.

The Senate had the authority to issue any of the orders as well, iirc

The issue is Mace went to arrest the Chancellor with no evidence of a crime or treason. He than went on to attempt to kill him. To everyone else that would look like a Jedi just assassinated the Chancellor and attempting to seize power in a coup d'etat. I agree that Mace had to do something but the way that he went about doing it would have made him and the Jedi look like traitors to The Republic and hunted down anyway.

​@brandonarmienti6875 they went to arrest him and would formulate all the evidence later. Plus Palpatine used recordings and doctored them to make it seem like the jedi randomly attack him. They would just use that recording. Killing Palpatine was the best option. No one else had the absolute power he had. A simple way to prove Palpatine is a sith lord would be after his arrest to test his midicholorian count

@@Spider-Man647the Jedi were screwed no matter what they did. If Mace Windu had killed Palpatine than the Jedi would still be in serious trouble. Palpatine was the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. He was a respected and admired leader in the eyes of the public. The population of the galaxy were largely kept in the dark concerning Jedi business and would have no knowledge of what a Sith is. Therefore, Mace Windu has just killed the most powerful individual in the whole galaxy without any proof that Palpatine was a Sith Lord or more importantly a traitor. Palpatine himself was the only proof that Windu had and now he is gone. The rest of the Jedi Order would probably believe him. But not the general public or the Senate. They would turn against him and demand he be put on trial for treason. They would see Mace Windu as a criminal who had to be brought to justice. The only scenario I can see the Jedi probably getting out of this is if Mace took full blame and said he acted on his own, basically he says he went rogue against the order to protect them. He would probably be executed for treason and the rest of the order would still be in a bad spot cuz now nobody trusts them and the Jedi's power and authority in the Republic would be greatly diminished or worse be banned. Either way Palpatine wins.

​@@brandonarmienti6875Would there not be evidence of separatist contact, though? Or would that be lost if it's not within his office? He had the Death Star plans there, so there's a chance.

@@akaviral5476 What evidence was there against Palpatine? His contact with the Separatists was through Dooku, and there was no evidence of his contact with Dooku. Heck, he'd been a prisoner of Dooku...there was evidence of _that._

Well at that time they did not know the chancellor was Sidious

@@LetsHavePun No, I meant more the political ramifications. Like they thought they could just remove and and seize the office without long term issues or even immediate consequences. If they considered how risky it really was they would have amassed about 90% of the order on Coruscant before approaching Palpatine to both secure the senate and fortify the Temple.

@@sonicguyver7445 They deliberately sent Yoda off-world to make the order on Coruscant weaker because they wanted to lure Palpatine out. They probably had a plan to withdraw as many Jedi as possible as quickly as possible once Palpatine was out of the picture, but doing so beforehand would have been a very dangerous move.

Apparently the showdown went a bit differently in the books in a way that makes more sense, Palpatine brought up a lot of the points explained in the video how they couldn't arrest him and would only make more problems for themselves by trying. While his cunning manipulations distracted and unnerved the Jedi, he was able to catch them off guard and kill two before the others even realized a fight had started. At that point, Mace Windu and pals were fighting more in self-defense for their lives against a cunning ambush rather than starting off the bat with aggressive threatening shown in the film.

Sabine's throwaway line as she explained it to Ezra in "Ahsoka" suggests that the galaxy never learned those details.

The masses would never believe it.

@@gumdeo Yes. From the perspective of the masses who had been oppressed by the Republic going to being oppressed by the Empire, it was just the elite replacing the elite for whatever reasons the elite did such things.

What could they do though? The whole point here is that Palpatine was the Senate and the Courts. I mean, if Trump can buy his way out of jail, Palpatine absolutely could.

See, I don't think the plan was ever to arrest him. I know he says that's what he was trying to do, but I don't think that was the end game. Windu knew he was going there to kill Palpatine, because there is no way he would have allowed himself to be arrested.