As the Clone Was came to and end and the Jedi Order was wiped out by the call of Order 66
to the Republic’s clone troopers, Palpatine began making massive power moves across to
galaxy in order to solidify his stranglehold and to ensure that the memory of the Jedi
Order remained scarred and damaged forever.
Part of this program included capturing and taking control of old Jedi temples and locations,
like the one on Ilum.
After realizing just how important Ilum was, not only in its connection to the force and
the fallen Jedi order, but also as a location to mine kyber crystals for the Empire’s
upcoming super weapon, the death star…
Palpatine acted very quickly, sending his Clone troopers there to secure the site.
While stationed there however, something strange happened which caused Palpatine to pull the
clone troopers out and replace them all with human-born imperials…
So what caused this?
Lets find out.
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In the days following the end of the Clone Wars and the execution of Order 66, Palpatine
immediately began scouring through old Jedi temple vault and archives, looking for the
locations of Old Jedi temples, sacred sites and historical monuments so that he could
wipe them from the face of the galaxy, and cut their connection from the force off.
After Palpatine discovered the true location of Ilum’s Jedi temple and it’s rich supply
of kyber that lined the icy cave systems there, he immediately realized he had to take action
immediately to secure his future plans.
After coming to this conclusion, Palpatine rapidly dispatched a very large detachment
of the 481st Clone Legion to Ilum with the primary goal of eliminating all Jedi survivors
who may be seeking refuge in the temple there.
What he didn’t tell the troops of the 481st however is that the location held great spiritual
importance in the force and was about to become the site of the Empire’s largest strip mining
operation to power the upcoming Project Stardust.
Because Palpatine held absolutely zero trust in the Clone Army and their loyalty to him,
he refused to let them be the ones in charge of guarding Ilum with its incredible importance
to both Sidious’ exploration of the force and the Imperial construction projects which
were about to happen there.
After realizing that Order 66 actually worked and could very easily be turned on him if
the wrong people found out about it, Palpatine became so terrified and paranoid of the Clone
Troopers turning on him with the help of a surviving Jedi on Ilum, he immediately ripped
them off world and sent them back to their home units, before being dispersed thinly
throughout the galaxy.
Sidious needed the Clones spread thinly so that they could not come together to fight
against him.
So let me know down below how you would feel a bout being transferred away from an important
military location, despite doing a good job and having just literally won a war for the
Republic, now empire…
It can’t be a nice feeling for the Clone brothers.
Following the sudden expulsion of the 481st Clone Troopers from ilum, Palpatine brought
in the newly established Imperial army, with a large mix of infantry, light armor and engineering
units, in order to establish a base of operations only a small distance away from the Jedi temple.
In orbit of the planet, the Imperial Navy was also dispatched to begin a water tight
blockade so that no surviving Jedi would have any chance of returning, to either connect
deeply with the force or to claim new Kyber crystals.
This was actually incredibly effective, and in the Ahsoka novel, Ahsoka Tano actually
travelled to ilum hoping to claim two new Kyber crystals for her time as a rebellion
leader on a remote farming world, but once she saw blockade and the huge strip mining
operation going on, she had no choice but to turn back and look elsewhere for her crystals.
As the years passed, the small base of operations initially formed by the Imperial Army after
the 481st clones were kicked out and expelled, transitioned into a full garrison, which expanded
into the actual Jedi temple sight.
Observation outposts and towers also scattered the planet, desperately trying to stop any
stray Jedi from arriving.
Terrifyingly, rumours began to form that high ranking imperials were sending troublemakers,
ineffective officers and failed navy captains to Ilum, where they would allow them to freeze
to death and dump their bodies.
On top of this, the Imperial Army and Navy forces on Ilum were openly hostile to each
other, and although they kept their official communication channels open, they never communicated
with each other unless absolutely necessary..
Yeah I don’t think this would have happened if Palpatine just kept Clone Troopers there.
So that is the tragic story of the 481st clone troopers who were sent to guard ilum after
Order 66.
Thanks so much for watching, really hope you enjoyed the video.
Cheers guys, hope to see you in the next one!