A Chilling Star Wars Theory: Rewriting Fives' Tragic Death in The Clone Wars
Fives' Death: The Clone Wars' Most Heartbreaking Moment?
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is full of epic battles and heartbreaking losses; and for fans who watched the series unfold in its original run and/or revisited that story many times afterward, that series remains deeply beloved and critically lauded for the same reasons, yet there’s a really crucial and intense moment: the death of ARC trooper Fives! This event occurred after Fives’s critical discovery of the inhibitor chips – that key element behind the clones' programming– this event really raised a ton of questions concerning how and why this even happened and a deeper understanding into what it might have implied for various storylines and characters if events transpired otherwise.
The Clone Wars season 6 began with this thrilling four-episode arc focused entirely around Fives's investigation; that incredible quest which led to those stunning reveals. After learning the terrifying truth behind these all-important inhibitor chips, he became a major target and tragically dies in the arms of Captain Rex! Many of the decisions leading to Fives's demise in the show left many to wonder about its validity and what Fives's untimely death truly meant for the show.
But the theory we’ll soon explore asks if that was the true, entire story. The theory that we will uncover adds another chilling layer to the event itself, creating even more questions and suspense! It changes how the very narrative of The Clone Wars unfolded; a question raised in many re-tellings that occurred many years after the series original conclusion; questioning whether Fives's actions created further, unplanned impacts and the implications it would've had on various key characters; and this re-telling emphasizes another chilling conclusion which changes how viewers might potentially see those previous decisions presented and portrayed earlier!
Beyond Order 66: The Hidden Contingency Orders
Before we start explaining those core theoretical components of this theory, it is necessary to explain why the existence of these contingency plans really are necessary for understanding Palpatine’s plan overall! The inhibitor chips didn’t only program Order 66! Star Wars Legends details several more orders, including Order 65 (clones turning on Palpatine instead of the Jedi); demonstrating that Palpatine had actually multiple methods of creating ultimate power for himself and eliminating opposition for control and to consolidate his influence over that vast empire; this illustrates his masterful ability to plan his own actions to deliver exactly what he wants in the long term.
While Order 66 was essential to his coup, there is far more; a much larger, even more frightening design. There were allegedly more than 150 orders. Some targeted specific individuals, even possibly performing extremely secret actions that greatly benefitted Palpatine – even benefiting powerful Kaminoans; these details highlight Palpatine's foresight and also those subtle and not-so-subtle tactics involved in eliminating or managing potential threats; an act required for consolidating total, complete power! The vast implications highlight how little his foes truly understood, while he secretly created countless potential events and outcomes– these possible contingencies would also demonstrate why so many clone troopers did suffer under those situations; a risk taken to provide additional and vastly necessary safeguards from opposition to his own ascent in galactic-wide dominance!
The Coruscant Guard's Secret Missions: Palpatine's Hidden Control
Those elite Coruscant Guard (the "shocktroopers") were even more controlled than their regular clone trooper counterparts. That's partly due to the kind of jobs they performed; tasked with protecting Coruscant’s powerful figures (while also policing it). But this theory goes much further. This additional analysis presented further emphasizes those possibilities which hadn't previously been considered before the arrival of this particular analysis. The new ideas being added emphasize that deeper, far more nuanced reality presented concerning Palpatine’s ability to not only manipulate those around him but also the possibility for manipulating technology to produce highly unpredictable outcomes.
That fanfic “Dominoes” (by meridianpony) reveals a chilling aspect for this particular group, showing those previously-unseen and untold issues hidden behind their public-facing reality: Those memory lapses are due to Palpatine repeatedly activating the inhibitor chips in that group’s own technology– showing Palpatine’s capacity and use for deploying technology not to merely kill but to create amnesia and control individuals at a level deeper and far more manipulative than would have initially been suspected! That fanfic is completely impactful even though these concepts might only seem possible; and if the theory is true, the vast and numerous possibilities created from his actions creates those long-term, unseen and far-reaching ramifications, demonstrating the potential of having these things changed throughout those numerous narratives and events concerning this very sensitive topic. That potential horror from repeated and sustained misuse for such deeply nefarious and problematic activities, raises so many disturbing thoughts!
Fives' Death: A Chilling Twist
The most pressing question surrounds Fives's death: Why did Commander Fox shoot Fives to kill and not just incapacitate him? This is the point that becomes critical in evaluating why this analysis might have legitimacy and whether it provides a significantly better interpretation than the currently offered narrative. The presented analysis introduces the suggestion: That Fox didn’t really choose. This additional explanation and analysis adds a level of complexity not seen in prior explanations. After meeting Palpatine (and knowing the entire plan), Palpatine remotely activated that Coruscant Guard's chip to assassinate Fives, that incredibly skilled clone! This unexpected revelation from that key perspective highlights how dangerous Palpatine actually was!
And it gets even more horrifying. That previously discussed amnesia impacts Fox and his guard, a heartbreaking implication suggesting that those kinds of orders resulted in devastating mental trauma; creating a cruel double-layer tragedy surrounding Fives. It suggests that he unwittingly helped kill someone who may have been crucial in solving that entire crisis– Fives represented a hope–that someone else killed and eliminated a hope for better times; that he lost. The irony is that this would also potentially expose that deep-set flaw, a betrayal ultimately committed without Fox ever understanding that betrayal itself!
Conclusion: Adding Depth to Palpatine’s Evil Mastermind Tactics
This theory enhances the original Clone Wars narrative! It shows Palpatine not only as incredibly powerful but a mastermind who employed extreme methods long before Order 66—using those chips secretly. This creates more horror in this very compelling and intense story.
Those small-scale assassinations of individuals could've only worked if he’d tested and ensured that these things were working at a lower level of engagement to gain insights and experience in deployment strategies for creating broader effects; his seemingly casual brutality at those smaller levels, even within those supposedly “safe” guards of his own empire creates yet another layer of fear and manipulation that was rarely seen even across many other entries in this series! This clever deployment creates multiple additional moments for chilling speculation, hinting towards unseen terrors within Palpatine’s own methods.
The tragedy of Fives's death gets magnified; it raises more profoundly disturbing questions; creating a uniquely impactful moment rarely achieved through these specific methods for storytelling in Star Wars and similar entries and truly demonstrates the masterful narrative storytelling achievable from an apparently simpler explanation. It showcases that masterful evil mastermind as the supreme schemer.
