Iconic Padme Line in Revenge of the Sith Is More Relevant Than Ever In 2023

Palpatine, once a great mentor to Senator Padme Amidala, successfully played both sides of a civil war. He took small steps from senator to chancellor before getting his Senate to grant him emergency ultimate powers. He was now the Emperor of the First Galactic Empire.

He was met with cheers from the Senate, to which Padme replied: "So this is how liberty dies – with thunderous applause."

The people of the Republic were concerned about free trade and freedom of movement, and they soon became polarized. It led to a terrible war, one that stretched across the galaxy. Nationalized attitudes exploded as the people of the public craved a powerful leader. They gave up their freedoms for security, turning to an extremist head of state.

As Anakin said in the episode before: "We need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problem," and if they couldn't agree, "They should be made to."

It's a fantastical world full of lightsabers and Wookies, but the transition from democracy to dictatorship felt pretty real.

In the world of social media, biased news outlets, and the information highway, people are becoming more radicalized than ever before. Government leaders rarely cater to both sides of the political spectrum anymore; rather, they do their best to radicalize their own voters.

In a worst-case scenario, those extremist leaders are granted ultimate power, just like Sheev Palpatine. And like Palpatine, they don't care about the betterment of their people – they care about saying the right things to be given the power they crave.

Lucas actually studied real transitions from republics to tyranny.

Historically, it's been common for nations to swiftly turn to dictators right after democracy's been fully embraced. They'll fight for independence and set up a voter-based government before realizing it's a lot harder than anticipated. They elect one strong leader to take charge, and he never gives up that power.

Lucas asked why the Roman senate would give the government over to Augustus right after assassinating Julius Caesar, or why the French would turn to Napoleon after they'd turned the entire government on its head. In recent times, opponents could argue the same could be applied to many political leaders across the globe.

Unlike Star Wars, death to democracy isn't combated with lightsabers and force chokes. Democracy rises when voters refuse to be radicalized when they listen to their opponents rather than entrenching themselves deeper into their own beliefs.

Because, like Obi-Wan said, our allegiances should be to "the Republic; to Democracy!"