Why Didn't Palpatine Use The CIS Droid Army After The Clone Wars?

Why Didn’t Palpatine Use The CIS Droid Army In His New Empire?


The droid army of the CIS was one of, if not they most powerful army the galaxy had ever seen. Some estimates have put the number of droids in the quintillions: outnumbering every single organic being in the galaxy by an order of magnitude.

The end of the clone wars saw Palpatine in command of not only the Clone Army, but the the CIS army too. However, Palpatine refused to use the droid army and had it melted down for scrap metal. While at first this may seem like a massive waste of resources that could have helped him solidify his new Empire, in actuality, the destruction of the droid army was just another big brain move of Emperor Palpatine. This video will explore all the reasons why Palpatine decided to eliminate the forces of the CIS.

To understand why, we must first look at how Palpatine hoped to cling on to absolute power and how his Empire differed from the numerous Sith Empires from the Old Republic Era. The Sith of Old spent many thousands of years attempting to take over the Republic by military force. However, whenever they conquered a new world, they would soon find that the people of the planet would rise up against them. With a smaller Empire, this may not have mattered. But as their Empire grew and supply lines were stretched to their absolute limit, the Empire would fall victim to uprising after uprising from subjects fighting for their freedom.

This was one of the main reasons that the Sith of the Old Republic era failed. Brute force could only get a Government so far. If the people of a planet did not want to be ruled, then it was only a matter of time before a Republic backed uprising or coup was successful and the Sith were driven from that world.


To rule indefinitely, the Sith needed the citizens of the galaxy to want the Sith to rule them. And that is exactly what Palpatine did. By orchestrating the Clone Wars, he convinced the majority of the Galaxy's citizens that they would rather have the safety and security of the Empire, than the chaos and corruption that the freedom loving Republic had brought.


And this brings us back to today’s question at hand. Palpatine knew that he couldn’t simply rule through sheer military might. Even the combined power of the clone and droid armies would not have been able to subdue the people of the galaxy forever. To truly rule indefinitely, Palpatine had to be both loved and feared.

After the Clone Wars, many within the Galaxy hated droids, particularly battle droids. The integration of the droid armies into the Imperial military would have angered many veterans who had spent years destroying as many clankers as they possibly could. The last thing Palpatine wanted was to make people believe he was behind the clone wars and associate his new Empire with the highly hated and feared, CIS army.

However, this was far from the main reason. Just like in the real world, the best way to cement yourself as a dictator is to introduce a large number of conscripts into your armies. Why use an army of manufactured clones and droids when you can instead enlist soldiers from across the many thousands of worlds that make up your Empire. These new conscripts can then be indoctrinated by Imperial propaganda, fight your Empire's wars, before returning to their homeworld to teach their families about the glory of the peace loving Empire and its benevolent dictator.


By getting rid of the clones and droids, not just within the army, but also within many manufacturing and maintenance positions, the Empire became by far the largest Employer in the galaxy overnight. Unlike the Sith of Old, who simply oppressed and ravaged the populations of conquered people, Palpatine was able to conquer thousands of worlds without them even realising.

Instead of fighting the Empire, the galaxy's citizens actually wanted to join its ranks. Many ambitious young men and women, those who posed the most risk of rebelling against Palpatine, aspired to join the Empire’s military for adventure. Those left behind often found work in one of the Empire's many factories or shipyards.

The more entrenched the Empire was in the everyday life of the galaxy's citizens, the less likely it was to be overthrown. Afterall, you are very unlikely to lead an attack against an Imperial facility if you, a friend or a family member work at that Imperial facility.


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