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The Chancellor undoubtably did some really evil things (and/or made Vader do them) after the scene in question, but given only what happened leading up to this scene I wonder if Windu was in violation of the Jedi code or laws of the Republic by trying to kill Chancellor Palpatine.

Chancellor Palpatine was the freely elected leader of the Republic (he was elected to office and his term was extended by a democratic vote). If he had killed anyone or broken any laws, I don't think evidence of that was shown to the viewer, or at least not to Windu, yet Windu:

  • trespassed onto his private property,
  • decided to "arrest" him based on an unsubstantiated rumor that he used "the dark side" (which I have a hard time imagining was against any law anyway),
  • horribly disfigured the elderly man and
  • subsequently decided that Palpatine was "too dangerous to let live" after he defended himself.

He attempted to kill Palpatine as he lay writhing in pain and begging for his life.

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I can understand that this was done to help humanize Anakin's decision to save the Chancellor, but I can't see how Master Windu was representing "good" and the Chancellor or Anakin "evil".

It seems like Windu was acting criminally and attempting to commit murder (?). I don't see how Anakin's protection of the Chancellor or the Chancellor's self-defense could be considered evil or unethical.

Hack-R
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  • You might want to reframe this to limit it to being criminal or a violation of the Jedi Code. "Unethical" might get it closed as primarily opinion-based. – Adamant May 15 '16 at 21:29
  • @Jonah Fair enough; I updated it. Feel free to help me edit the question to make it better as well. – Hack-R May 15 '16 at 21:30
  • Also, people might downvote because you are misrepresenting (some might say defending) the actions of an Sith Lord bent on total galactic domination, who draws his power from anger and hatred, slaughtered children and Jedi, and destroyed an entire planet in order to instill fear. – Adamant May 15 '16 at 21:31
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    @Jonah But the domination and murder didn't happen until afterwards. I don't think there would be any law against using the dark side, that's more like having a different philosophy or lifestyle choice, no? I mean certainly it's not grounds to kill him. Now I know that he was supposed to be the bad guy and the things he made Anakin do later were certainly worthy of the death penalty, but I just don't get this particular scene. In this scene it seems like the Jedi Windu was the evil one and that he had to be breaking the law.Anakin yelled something about it being against the code or Jedi way. – Hack-R May 15 '16 at 21:35
  • @Jonah OK I added some things to try to make it more neutral – Hack-R May 15 '16 at 21:39
  • @Hack-R - Good question. Alas, a dupe. – Valorum May 15 '16 at 21:41
  • @Richard Thanks Richard. But, to be clear, since the other question/answer says that it was not a crime to be a Sith, then the answer to this question is that Windu was attempting murder and Anakin / the Chancellor were basically the good guys? – Hack-R May 15 '16 at 21:44
  • @Hack-R - It's certainly a crime to arrest him for being a Sith. On the other hand, Palpatine is a traitor to the Republic and a mass murderer. Both of those are punishable by death. – Valorum May 15 '16 at 21:46
  • @AE - Windu is willing to accept the judgement of the Senate if it means disposing of a Sith Lord. – Valorum May 15 '16 at 21:53
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    @Richard Fair enough, but I don't think that at that point Palpatine had mass murdered or betrayed the Senate (and even if he had, that's not the information that Anakin gave Windu which prompted the attempted murder -- Anakin only said he was a Sith) – Hack-R May 15 '16 at 22:00
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    @Hack-R - By the point that Windu confronts him, Palpatine is (indirectly) responsible for the whole Clone Wars, literally billions of deaths. The Jedi know (via Dooku) that a Sith Lord called "Sidious" is supporting the Separatists, so at the very least they could be sure that Palpatine has committed high treason. – Valorum May 15 '16 at 22:03
  • @Richard I see. OK, that makes sense, though I think that coulda been a nice unique answer that you just gave. I would've never gotten all that from the other post. – Hack-R May 15 '16 at 22:05
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    Also, by the time Windu decides to summarily execute him, Palpatine had already murdered the other four Jedi that came to arrest him. Personally, that's all the justification I needed, and I find it hard to believe it would be considered a serious violation of the Jedi code. (Whether it would be legal under Republic law I hesitate to guess.) – Harry Johnston May 15 '16 at 23:27
  • @HarryJohnston Self defense isn't murder – Hack-R May 15 '16 at 23:28
  • It wasn't self-defense, any more than shooting at a police officer is. They were arresting him, not attacking him. – Harry Johnston May 15 '16 at 23:28

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