Happy (?) Clone Wars Friday! (Why do I say happy? It never is!)
The three Star Wars trilogies parallel in each other in interesting and not-so-interesting ways. One of the less obvious parallels is that a never-before-seen but beloved minor character dies at the beginning of each “dark middle chapter.” Padme’s decoy Corde dies at the beginning of Attack of the Clones; Luke’s gunner Dak dies at the beginning of Empire Strikes Back; and Rose’s sister Paige dies at the beginning of The Last Jedi. These deaths accomplish two things: they set a grim tone after the victorious finale of the previous film, and they establish a main character’s emotional investment in the war.
Both Dak and Paige die in battle, but Corde is assassinated just outside the Senate. Though The Clone Wars have not been declared, this act of aggression was certainly meant to provoke them. I would argue that Corde is technically the first casualty of The Clone Wars – the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Star Wars.
Little Golden Book: Attack of the Clones. July 28, 2015. Writer: Geof Smith. Illustrator: Ethan Beavers.
