Detailed Analysis - Main Narrative
501st Journal - The Clone Wars
When the Clones were first introduced in the Star Wars movie Attack of the Clones we learned a great deal about them that made their creation a worrying prospect. Bred on Kamino, the Clone army was commissioned by a Jedi names Sifo-Dyas, intending the army to be for the Galactic Republic. The DNA donor for the army was a bounty hunter named Jango Fett and when questioned by Obi-Wan Kenobi we learn that he was hired by a man who called himself Tyrannus. Genetically modified to age faster, and take orders without question. By the end of the movie, the Clone Wars had begun and the massive Clone Army would go on to protect and defend Republic worlds, while also fighting against the Droid Armies under the Separatists. An immensely worrying prospect however is that we learned the major villain of the movie, Count Dooku, was Tyrannus, who hired Jango as the template for The Clone Army.
As we begin to explore the battles that took place during the Clone Wars, specifically the battles won by the 501st Clone legion, we are treated to the performance of Temuera Morrison who voices a random 501st trooper who survived through the battles that followed and endowed his thoughts into his recordings. Through these recordings, we learn more about the planning Palpatine did to fulfil his plan for destroying the Jedi and ruling the galaxy and how the Clone army was complicit in his plans. While on the planet Mygeeto, the 501st would serve with Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi to destroy a droid energy collector, but the 501st was tasked with acquiring crystals that Palpatine wanted for his super laser. They often talk about how they were working to keep Mundi in the dark and like the rest of the Jedi, never figured out their plan until it was far too late.
Understanding that the clones were complicit in Palpatine’s plan to take the galaxy for himself as well as eliminate the Jedi was something that many people probably saw coming as we were being briefed in Attack of the Clones on how the Clones will take any order without question. To learn how devious the clones were was a curious thing as we didn’t expect much from them other than being effective soldiers. The Mygeeto mission would just be the first of the many exciting but also hard battles that the 501st would perform and honestly showed different layers to the clones even though they don’t amount to much.
While the clones always meant to turn on the Jedi, they did appreciate and respect some of them specifically Aalya Secura and Obi-Wan Kenobi. During the mission on Felucia, the 501st faced a hostile planet, filled with diseases and monsters that wrecked the 501st. The only reason they were able to win against the Separatists is with the iron will of Aalya Secura who kept the men focused and rallied them When the 501st were rotated out of Felucia, Aalya made a point of seeing them off declaring them the greatest soldiers she had ever worked with. The 501st struggles to look her in the eye knowing the fate that awaited her and hopes that her death would be quick. While they did respect her, they would not intervene or even warn her of what was coming which showed how strong their training and genetic modifications were.
The most dangerous and galaxy-changing mission that the 501st would perform would be the execution of Order 66: To execute all Jedi as traitors of the Republic, an order that the entire Clone Army would perform in the Galaxy. In Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine would recruit Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker to his cause and rename him Darth Vader of the Sith. Having Anakin by his side, Palpatine would have the Clone Army fulfil its true purpose, to eliminate the Jedi.
As the Clone Wars were coming to a close the 501st legion was discretely transferred back to the Republic capital, Coruscant, to attack the Jedi Temple and wipe them out. During the trip, the trooper journey gave us an interesting perspective, about how he wondered if the troopers he was with had any private or treacherous thoughts as they remained silent on their trip. It wouldn’t stop them, however, as they laid siege to the Temple, under the command of Lord Vader and kill every Jedi there. The 501st’s mission to wipe them out would put the galaxy under the thumb of the newly appointed Emperor Palpatine and with the Clone army under his command, no one could oppose an army as skilled and numerous as them, leaving very few to challenge them. The 501st themselves would be put under the permanent and direct command of Darth Vader.
501st Journal - The Rise of The Empire
Finishing the Campaign with Knightfall would have been fine as Star Wars: Battlefront II’s main source of replayability and entertainment would have focused on its galactic conquest, multiplayer and instant action modes. Pandemic studios decided to take this one step further and expand on the Rise of the Empire campaign and show how the Empire grew and what kind of missions they had to undergo to establish the Empire’s footing and ensure its success. Many of these missions took a fair few twists and turns and showed the Imperial 501st legion go from protectors to conquerors as they crushed everyone in their way.
Naboo - The mission on Naboo would earn the Imperial 501st Legion the reputation and title as “Vader’s Fist”. The Queen of Naboo would break off diplomatic ties and started to explore military options as well as harbouring surviving Jedi. Eliminating the current queen of Naboo and the remaining Jedi would show the 501st going against what they were and becoming like the Separatists, though they never noticed the contradiction or hypocrisy.
Mustafar - In an almost amusing turn of events the 501st would also have to deal with a droid uprising on Mustafar, something that the 501st were nostalgic for but ultimately wanted to deal with immediately. Having the imperial army going against the droid army was an interesting mission as the Clones often struggled with the droids alone even with the Jedi by their side. With the Imperial weaponry and numbers, it was odd seeing them succeed against the Droid army even without the Jedi.
Kamino - Perhaps their most challenging mission would be on a mission to Kamino. In Official Imperial records, there was never a Clone Rebellion on Kamino but unofficially, about 20 years after the 501st were created. Tasked with eliminating an army of clones that had been bred to take up arms against the Empire, the Imperial 501st would eliminate the rogue clones and Kaminoens and would cause a drastic and future change for the Empire. Palpatine decided that an army of genetically identical clones was far too susceptible to corruption and would add new clone templates for the Imperial army with the original clones not getting used to the new soldiers but the 501st remaining pure. This mission was also fun as the 501st would fight under the command of Boba Fett, the son of Jango
Looking at past chapters and seeing how the Imperial 501st legion would have to fight against Imperial subjects, their old droid foes and even worse, their brethren. While these missions were well made and narratively fun it would be the future missions that truly impact the 501st. As the 501st were maintaining the Empire, they would also witness the rise and birth of the Rebellion, taking part in some of the most recognisable and pivotal missions as well as a few iconic locations.
Death Star - After completion of The Death Star it became Palpatine’s favourite toy and the 501st were stationed there and bored out of their minds. Eventually, a prison break would arise and have the 501st scramble to put it down while protecting the Death Star, not knowing that putting down the break would be much more difficult than they expected. While they would eventually win and eliminate a Jedi in the process, the 501st failed in the one thing that would act as a tinderbox that would burn down the Empire, to keep the Death Star plans safe as they were stolen.
Tantive IV - The Tantive IV was perhaps the most iconically recognizable mission from the campaign. The boarding of the Tantive IV would be the very first scene from the first Star Wars movie, where the Imperial 501st legion, aided by Lord Vader, would invade and kill everyone aboard except for Princess Leia, searching for the Death Star plans.
Yavin - After the destruction of The Death Star, the 501st were gravely impacted by this. The 501st would be on The Death Star when it was destroyed and barely half of them were out of the hangar claiming many lives of troopers that had lived through the Clone Wars. To hear the pain and tiredness of the trooper who was narrating the journal almost paints the Imperials in a sympathetic life, even though we as the player have taken part in their tyrannous acts, we still thought alongside the 501st and now we know most are dead.
Hoth - Perhaps the Empire’s greatest victory against the Rebellion would be the Battle of Hoth. After searching for traces of the Rebellion, they eventually found them and launched a full assault, led by Darth Vader. The men of the 501st were anxious to succeed and could see victory and the death of the Rebellion on the horizon. They eventually succeeded and destroyed the Rebel ships there and many of their forces. Basking in their victory, the men of the 501st celebrated as they saw the Rebellion defeated and the construction of a new Death Star. The victory of the Empire would never have been achieved without the efforts of the 501st Imperial legion, though little did they know, this would not be the end and the Empire would not last long.
Canon Events
While the events and missions undergone by the 501st were successful and their actions themselves were impressive, it is important to note that many of their 501st thoughts and feelings and missions are not currently canon. In the canon series Star Wars: The Clone Wars it is proven that the Clones had no knowledge about Palpatine’s motives nor did they know about the plan to eliminate the Jedi. In truth, the clones admired and respected the Jedi and even formed close friendships with many of them. Jedi like Anakin Skywalker held a deep respect for the troops under his command and the legion serving under him was also the 501st legion. It explains why when Anakin became Vader, he would use the men of the 501st to attack the Jedi temple and keep them as his legion.
If the clones had a choice, they would have never attacked the Jedi and would have turned against Palpatine but unfortunately, this was out of their control. When the Jedi, Sifo-Dyas ordered the creation of the Clone army, he was quickly attacked by Count Dooku’s forces and killed. Afterwards, Dooku went to Kamino and co-opted the clone army for his and Palpatine’s purposes. To ensure their loyalty and resolve against the Jedi, Dooku has the Kaminoens place chips inside the clone's head that would inhibit their freedom and force them to follow any order, specifically Order 66. Certain clones would learn about the chip and its true purpose and tried their best to inform the Jedi about the plot but were stopped by Dooku’s agents.
As Order 66 reached its climax, most of the Jedi were killed and the Clones were under the complete control of Palpatine and would enforce the creation and succession of the Galactic Empire. While most Star Wars canon focusing on the clones is still being created there are still many unknown variables being formed. What has been revealed is that early on in the creation of the Empire, officers already doubted the need for the Clone Army and had begun recruiting and training citizens from Imperial planets, having experienced clone veterans train them. The Empire also destroyed the main cloning facilities on Kamino, preventing the creation of any new clones. The clones we grew to love during The Clone Wars fought hard to protect their home and many brave men gave their lives in defence of their home only for the Empire to have the clones destroy Kamino, still under the influence of the Inhibitor chips.
Sometime after the Destruction of the cloning facilities, the Imperial senate would begin voting for the creation of a new army filled with conscripts from Imperial worlds due to numerous clones beginning to desert the imperial army. Few senators would fight to provide the clones with financial and living aids and Palpatine would orchestrate events so that he could enforce the creation of the new Imperial army while also dodging the topic of the clone aid. At this moment it is unclear exactly what would happen to the remaining clones but from what we can gleam the clones will not be taken care of as the Empire would not care for its troops.