Were The Natives Of Umbara The Good Guys During The Clone Wars?

Star Wars

Nov 19

Considered by many to be a high point ofThe Clone Wars by many, the 4-episode arc covering the Battle of Umbara was largely portrayed as a typical good vs. evil story. The planet of Umbara had seceded from the Republic after initially choosing to support the Republic over the Separatists. Between joining the Separatists and a Republic leader being exposed as a traitor and it seems that the Umbarans are the bad guys. But on a closer look, it doesn’t seem so obvious.

We need to examine why the Umbarans decided to change sides to determine who was really in the right. To start, Umbara was a dark planet in the Expansion Region. They were very isolated and therefore had developed their technology which often far exceeded that of the Republic. While the key export was doonium (the metal to make ships), the planet’s greatest importance was that it lay along the Great Kashyyyk Branch trade route. This was not only a very important trade route in terms of getting supplies from all the other worlds along this route but also very important politically.

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Many of the worlds along this trade route looked to Kashyyyk for leadership, and since Kashyyyk had declared its support for the Republic, they didn’t want to risk losing their support, and subsequently all the other worlds in that region. As for why Umbara had decided to secede from the Republic, it all came down to an assassination. The Senator of Umbara Mee Deechi was both very popular with his people and fiercely supportive of the Republic. However, he was murdered as part of a plot which completely flipped the opinions of the Umbarans and their eyes were opened to how corrupt the senate had become and they decided it was beyond saving.

While most Separatist worlds didn’t receive an immediate invasion, the Republic decided to intervene due to Umbara’s importance to the trade route. To give a similar example in our world, it’s very close to what happened during colonialism and the many wars and atrocities that occurred simply in the name of influence and money. After the fall of the Umbarans, they were subjugated to the Republic and then later more fiercely by the Galactic Empire but they never stopped fighting to try to liberate their planet.

This arc demonstrated one of the strengths of The Clone Wars. At first glance, this arc about the heroism of the clone troopers and the betrayal by General Pong Krell shows the slow turn of the Republic through the war and how noble motivations such as peace can be twisted into less-than-noble deeds. While we normally are cheering for the clone troopers, they ended up playing the oppressors in this scenario and offered a glimpse into the future under the Empire.

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