When George Lucas created the Star Wars saga, it was a combination of many things. It has elements of Westerns, Arthurian legend, fairy tales, Samurai films, Flash Gordon serials, Frank Herbert’s Dune, DC Comics’ New Gods, and about a dozen other things. But there was one influence Lucas wasn’t remotely subtle about and that’s how much Palpatine’s rise to Emperor in the prequels was a direct analogy to Hitler’s ascendency in 1930s Germany. But in the original cut of Revenge of the Sith, even more scenes connected the Empire to real-world fascism. A video from the YouTube channel Star Wars Analyst explores this subject in greater detail. You can watch it in full below:
As the video’s narrator says, the prequels weren’t just a tragic tale of a Republic’s collapse. Nor were they about just the personal collapse of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. “They’re a warning,” the narrator says. “A warning about dangerous individuals who promise safety at the price of freedom. All while tightening control over every facet of society.” But several deleted scenes explored this consolidation of power by Chancellor Palpatine even more. One deleted scene even has Palpatine explain to Anakin how he would take direct control of the once-autonomous Jedi Council.
The most important deleted scene dealing with the political fallout of Palpatine’s takeover was a clandestine meeting of Senators Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and Padmé Amidala. (There were also three other unnamed senators.) This scene shows how the Rebellion was born, in secret, among just a handful who fought the Empire from within. Padme was already the “Mother of the Rebellion” in the figurative sense, as the mother of Luke and Leia. But this makes her a literal mother of the Rebellion, as a founding member before her tragic death.
This deleted scene is also of importance to the Star Wars canon, as it introduced Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma. She took over the role from Return of the Jedi’s Caroline Blakiston. Despite the scene never making it to the final cut, O’Reilly nevertheless went on to play the character in Rogue One, Rebels, Andor, and Ahsoka. This makes it one of the most important cut scenes of the entire saga. The entire story of Palpatine’s rise, and the fight against it, showed just how much George Lucas was a student of history. And how he tried to make sure this piece of broad appeal entertainment warned us about repeating history’s worst mistakes.