Question: Is there a reason why they are not (yet) called "Storm" troopers?
Question: A trivia entry for this movie reads: "One of the droids in the arena battle has 1138 written on his back." Forgive my ignorance, but this means... what, exactly?
Chosen answer: George Lucas first movie (made in college I think) was called THX-1138. It is referenced from time to time in a lot of his movies.
Question: When the clones arrived at Geonosis, why didn't Palpatine just execute Order 66 there?
Answer: Palpatine had a clear, detailed plan mapped out. First he was to become Chancellor by sympathetic vote after the invasion of Naboo. Then he would instigate the Civil War with the Seperatists in order to install himself as a lifelong Emperor while using Order 66 to wipe out the Jedi. Finally he would completely dissolve the Senate, leaving no-one left to challenge him. He needs the Jedi to fight in his proxy war with the Seperatists to dwindle their numbers and give the illusion that the clones are fighting for the Republic, when in reality they are fighting for him. When Palpatine finally does execute Order 66, it is after the war has left both sides crippled, with the Jedi at the weakest they've been in ages.
Answer: He might not have had such a plan in place at that time. He also wanted Anakin to eventually become his new apprentice, so he wouldn't want to risk him being killed by ordering the Clone Army to execute all the Jedi.
Oh he did have a plan, but I agree the biggest reason was that Anakin was still a Jedi and he couldn't execute the order until he had turned Anakin to the dark side.
He had a long-term plan to wipe out the Jedi, yes, but at this point I don't think he had any plan to kill them all from a logistical standpoint, especially given that he had just barely received the Clone Army.
The Sith ordered the clone army to be made and they were made specifically with order 66 in them, and Palpatine knew it from his former master (who manipulated Jedi Sifo-Dyas to place the order). It was always the plan to kill the Jedi. He just had to wait.
Question: Does anybody know why Mace Windu is the head of the Jedi council? It just seems as though there are or were better or older Jedi who surely would have rose to become head Jedi. I thought at first that he may have a high Midi-chlorian count, but it seems his is quite normal by Jedi standards. No wonder Count Dooku left, he waited until he was seventy and still didn't become head of the council!
Answer: Mace Windu is not the head of the Council. Yoda, as Grand Master of the Jedi Order for all intents and purposes is head of the council, but each councillor is equal in terms of voting power. Though the councillors are all powerful force users, power seems secondary to wisdom as far as the selection process is concerned. Dooku left the Jedi Order not due to issues of rank, but because he had become disillusioned with the council.
Question: Is it true that Keira Knightly almost played Padme in this movie and Episode III, because Natalie Portman didn't want to do it anymore?
Answer: No. All the main actors were contractually obliged to do all three prequel movies.
Question: Why not take over this planet's cloning process instead of shutting it down and recruiting others to be Stormtroopers, when the clones were 100% obedient and loyal to the Emperor?
Answer: I think recruiting people is one of the sneaky ways of controlling the galaxy. Many Stormtroopers might have spouses and children back home. They could be receiving a tiny salary. Maybe some younger adults are eager to get away from their home planets, as Luke and Anakin both were. Still, others could be criminals who agreed to serve as Stormtroopers instead of another sentence (in "Game of Thrones", some convicted criminals can choose to join the Night's Watch order). These would all be ways to convince more citizens to support the Empire, instead of just training clones.
I'd like to add besides these points that it's possible the cloning process is just too slow and cumbersome for the Emperor. They were useful as shock troops, to fight droid armies. But their numbers were not great enough to cover the entire galaxy as a security force. This especially once the Rebel Alliance shows up. I'd say recruiting people gives him a much-needed manpower boost in a shorter time.
Answer: There would be serious moral and ethical issues about cloning sentient beings just to become mindless, obedient servants/slaves/killers to achieve your cause, regardless of its good intent.
But the Empire clearly doesn't really have moral/ethical issues about most stuff, so that's not really an argument.
Ray West mentions "mindless, obedient" servants, which is a good point. I think an army of "mindless" clones would actually be less effective. Instead, the Emperor claims that the Jedi wanted to overthrow the Senate. If he can persuade a decent number of people to support him, and spread his way of thinking, he can slowly gain more influence around the galaxy.
Question: Did the Clones know that Tyranus/Dooku is the one who ordered the clone army?
Chosen answer: Most likely yes. As pointed out in a correction in this page, they did not shoot him in the pursuit scene on Geonosis with the Gunship lasers as they knew he was a leader of them. They might have known that he was the one who placed the order, but they followed Sidious whether they knew or not.
It's also possible that they were ordered to capture Dooku alive to gain information on his master and the Separatists, and shooting him down would probably kill him.
Question: When Dooku invited Obi-Wan to join him and destroy the Sith, what did he really want? Surely he didn't think that Obi-Wan would believe him?
Answer: I don't think that Dooku, nor Palpatine, really cared much about being actual Sith Lords. They wanted to be rulers in their own rights. Hence why Palpatine becomes Emperor Palpatine and abandons the "Darth Sidious" title. Dooku might have "destroyed the Sith" in the sense that he would kill Darth Sidious/Palpatine with Obi-wan's help.
Question: Before the Clone Wars, what situations did Jedi handle most of the time? I only ask because at Padme's apartment, Obi-wan says it's not their job to investigate the assassination attempt. Anakin says that local security could guard the apartment; it's not a matter for Jedi. So apparently, Jedi don't watch over people nor investigate crimes. What do they do?
Answer: Their job is to protect the integrity of the republic with diplomacy and advice to politicians. They do not enforce laws or rules. They can also be security for senators or be taken to places in crisis to help resolve difficult matters (like the blockade of Naboo). They protect and secure. That was their job during the time of the 'old' republic.
So, in a way, are the Jedi similar to involving the FBI in a situation, instead of contacting your town/city/county police?
Maybe more like UN Peacekeepers.
Question: I know that Boba was the only clone of Jango that wasn't modified. But was he the first Jango clone ever created?
Answer: Yes, Boba was the first clone of Jango Fett. This is confirmed in the Topps Star Wars Card Trader trading card series which includes canon details on many Star Wars characters.
Question: When Obi-Wan is told by Dooku that the republic is controlled by Darth Sidious, he does not immediately believe it. Later in the movie he mentions it to Yoda and Mace Windu and he remarks that it does not feel right. Why were the Jedi not able to connect the dots and figure out a pattern when Palpatine stayed in office longer than he should have? That should have been a red flag. Are the Jedi not clued in at all?
Answer: The influence of the dark side of the force clouds their judgements, it causes a disturb in the force so they can't see through it to discover the truth. Even at the end of the war all they feel is that the dark side of the force surrounds the chancellor but they can't figure out what that means.
Question: If Count Dooku took over with ordering the clone army for Dyas, did he ask for the clones to have the biochip that would turn against the Jedi? If so, why wouldn't the Kaminoians inform Obi-Wan of this?
Answer: Order 66 was an extra implaced by Dooku later on to the clone army. It was a secret order and the Kaminoans are very loyal to the customers. The fact Obi-Wan came there to inspect the army doesn't mean they should reveal the secret order, they had no reason to do so as they thought Obi-Wan already knew.
Chosen answer: The Empire renamed the soldiers when it started accepting cadets into the Imperial Navy. Since they were not all clones, the name had to be changed.
Timothy Cheseborough