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Posted by Liam on January 16, 2022 at 08:05 AM CST
Hey there, Rebelscum fans! This week on the site we’re diving into the Battle of Coruscant that begins Revenge of the Sith and teases the end of the Clone Wars. Make sure to check out our “Expand Your Mind” article first to read about why it's such a critical sequence within the Star Wars saga, but stay tuned throughout the week for more articles, insights, video content, and information about the best merchandising opportunities.
The Battle of Coruscant is teased within the opening crawl of Revenge of the Sith and puts fans right in the middle of the action. Not only have the Separatists launched an invasion on the galactic capital itself, but the enigmatic new villain General Greivous has kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine. Both the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars and the novel Labyrinth of Evil gave more insights on the battle on the surface.
Check out our “Force Facts” on Episode III’s action-packed opening!
The name of the planet “Coruscant” originated in Timothy Zahn’s novel Heir to the Empire from 1991 and later used in the Dark Empire comic the same year.
The opening crawl teases that there are “Heroes on Both Sides”- this is also the name of an episode in Star Wars: The Clone Wars’s third season that introduces Ashoka’s love interest Lux Bonteri.
When Anakin and Obi-Wan return with Palpatine to safety and greet the Senators, there is a brief cameo by the Millenium Falcon flying in the background. This is explored more heavily in the Expanded Universe novel that is aptly titled Millenium Falcon.
Despite having only a brief cameo at the end of that same meeting and later at Padme’s funeral, there is more footage of Jar Jar Binks that was left on the cutting room floor. Ahmed Best revealed that there was a scene where Jar Jar is accepted and even thanked by Palpatine for his help in gaining emergency powers to begin the war.
Although the Battle of Coruscant features some of the most groundbreaking visual effects in the entire saga, Revenge of the Sith is surprisingly the only live-action Star Wars film to not receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. Lucasfilm also launched an unsuccessful campaign to see Ian McDiarmid nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Anakin’s line “his fate will be the same as ours” is particularly ominous, as both he, Palpatine, and Obi-Wan are all killed on a Death Star.
Coruscant makes its first appearance in live-action with the 1997 Special Edition of Return of the Jedi that includes celebrations being held throughout the galaxy.
Coruscant is invaded by the Yuuzhan Vong in The New Jedi Order novel series and overtaken in the novel Star by Star. The New Republic transitions into becoming the Galactic Alliance and forms a pact to rebuild the planet with the Yuuzhan Vong Empire.
There’s a canonical discrepancy detailing the fate of Coruscant in Legends post-Return of the Jedi material. While some of the biological elements of the Yuuzhan Vong union are still present within the Star Wars: Legacy comics, the Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi series reveal they have already been cleared out.
Cade Skywalker and his allies return to overtake Coruscant from Darth Krayt’s Sith Empire in the Star Wars: Legacy - War comic miniseries.
What do you think, Rebelscum fans? Do you know any “Force Facts” of your own? What are some of your favorite figures and merchandise inspired by this sequence? Let us know in the forums, and as always, may the Force be with you!
