The Clone Wars-era Separatist Droid Army almost looked completely different inStar Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. The Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the CIS or Separatists, opposed theGalactic Republicin the Separatist Crisis and the Clone Wars. Though like the Republic, it was under Palpatine’s control all along, with the secret Sith Lord using the CIS to tear the Republic apart and convince its citizenry to accept the Republic’s transition into the totalitarianGalactic Empire.
Although the Separatists managed to convince a massive portion of theStar Warsgalaxy to break away from the Republic, it was a far more corrupt government. Below Palpatine and Count Dooku, the real power within the CIS were the members of the Separatist Council, comprised of some of the galaxy’s greediest and most unethical corporate entities. These companies each contributed to the Separatist war machine – a massive force largely comprised of varioustypes of battle droids, though the CIS military almost ended up looking quite different in itsAttack of the Clonesdebut.
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The Droid Army’s Unique Droids Almost Didn’t Exist
InAttack of the Clones, the Separatist Droid Army includes the familiar B1 battle droids and droidekas used by the Trade Federation inStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, butit also introduced a slew of new droids. These included (but were not limited to) the Commerce Guild’s spider droids and the InterGalactic Banking Clan’s hailfire droids. Later Clone Wars-era materials andStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sithwould introduce even more Separatist droids from its various sub-factions.
Revenge of the Sithincluded Corporate Alliance tank droids and Techno Union octuptarra droids, with the former almost appearing inAttack of the Clones.
Still, the Droid Army almost looked perhaps too familiar to the Trade Federation’s military inThe Phantom Menace. According to the officialStar Warswebsite’s bygone databank entry for dwarf spider droids,the Droid Army inAttack of the Cloneswas almost identical to what was seen inThe Phantom Menace, only the droids would have different paint markings to represent their respective affiliation with Separatist sub-factions.
The decision was made early on, however, to give each Separatist sub-faction different droids. This was, ultimately, the right choice. It made the villainous Separatist Droid Army far more visually diverse and allowed for fascinating lore to be created for the new droids.
Grievous Was Responsible For This Change In Legends
In theStar WarsLegends continuity,the CIS military was relatively decentralized at the start of the war, typically appearing as a hodgepodgeof various droid armies and naval forces as it did inAttack of the Clones. By the end of the war’s first year, however, warships and ground forces began identifying more with the CIS writ large than the various Separatist sub-factions, with warships almost universally adopting the signature Separatist emblem and blue paint scheme. This change may have been accelerated by General Grievous replacing the late Sev’rance Tann as the Separatist Supreme Commander.
The Mandalorian and Grogu
