It should also be stated that if you thought George was pointedly making a statement of strict anti-imperialism, the CIS and the Alliance fought for the same major motivation, freedom from core world oppression. But one was led in part by humans, and the other was led in majority by non-humans. And the one that was led by non-humans also happens to be ‘evil’. By the time of the clone wars, Lucas had entirely dropped the anti-imperialism from the story.

The heroes of the clone wars era are the oppressors, we’re expected to root for magic space wizards and liberal politicians who utilize a slave army to put down popular native revolutions. CIS is f a r from perfect, but most of the systems within it are genuinely just trying to win the right to regulate themselves. When we get to the rebellion, we’re rooting for humans to regain their old state so they can do the exact same thing again, but this time with more minority oppressors :trade mark: