Were the Separatists really the bad guys?

The Separatists, also known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) are portrayed as the bad guys in the prequel era of Star Wars. However, they actually had a good reason for breaking away from the Republic. So we are left asking the question, were the Separatists really the bad guys in the Clone Wars?
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[SirJeppy]

To be honest, the Republic was so so so flawed in many ways that it kinda makes sense people would want to break off

[connormacleod]

Separatists are not necessarily bad, they just got fed up with the intense corruption of the republic.

[FoxhoundAK]

Longtime CIS supporter,
Since both sides were lead by the Sith, I completely agree that it means that calling one side good or bad is flawed since, both were controlled by Evil.
We see in the Clone Wars the CIS and Republic attempt peace, only to be stopped repeatedly by their evil puppet masters.

I think though the CIS had a very just and reasonable cause, and like any war even if it had been a true conflict, war brings out the worst in all sides.

[athinafe]

I think all the Seperatists asked was for fair taxation for the outer rim worlds

[notv_internetuser]

The Trade Federation invasion on Naboo was never in their interests but in the interests of their master Darth Sidious who was the acting senator of Naboo. He just secretly wanted to use the Trade Federation as an invader to his home planet so then he could fuel support for himself to win power of the Republic and then use it to crush the Outer Rim planets and the Trade Federation for his selfish ends.

Did the Trade Federation really want to invade Naboo? No, it was never in the minds. Their aim was to cause a trade blockade against the planet because its senator - their master Sidious- was pressuring the Republic to impose excessive taxes on both the Trade Federation and the Outer Rim galaxies.

The droid army was never used as an invasive army by the Trade Federation against planets but as a defence force for the impoverished Outer Rim planets with whom they were doing business to protect them from pirates and other invasive forces. This is something about which the Galactic Republic did nothing except heavy taxation promoted by the Senator of Naboo in secret Darth Sidious.

This makes the Trade Federation the anti-villains in which they were not inherently evil but deliberately misguided and went down the wrong way with everything.

[EricAlbin]

The C.I.S. was actually the good guys. They were the original rebellion. But their rebellion was led by someone who, ultimately, betrayed the cause.

[bradcouch]

If Count Dooku had survived the Clone Wars he would've joined the Rebellion and become a hero.

[Octavius_DelMonte]

Its kinda hard to say. Think of it this way, some of the planets in the CIS had economies revolving around the exploitation of weaker systems(Trade Federation) and some even depended on Slavery. The Slavery thing is a bit arguable since even under the Republic, Slavery existed in the Outer Rim and Hutt Space.

[acrazysheepdog]

I see it as the Separatist had a better reason to fight the war than the Republic. However, the many horrific actions committed by the Separatist military, from genocides, to slavery, was mostly orchestrated by Sidious and Dooku, but it doesn’t change the fact that these actions happened under the Separatist banner. In the end, while the Separatist had many reasons to secede, the actions taken in the war makes them the bad guys. Really, both sides were at fault, no side was good, but each side had good minded people trying to help the Galaxy out despite the horrors of war.

[evandugas]

It's also worth noting that in the movies the "Rebellion" is the separatists. The outer rim worlds in the first star wars trilogy are the ones fighting. So ya...

[colindaniels]

The best words/terms to use for the Separatists would be patsies or pawns.

Their sole purpose was to justify Palpatine acquiring power

[The-Lion-Of-Feronia]

Weren’t the clone troopers technically child soldiers?

[khamul]

Not sure if you count old Legends material but the entire arc of Legends Grevious is build upon how incompetent the Senate became.

[not-much]

I came from jeppy and both ur vids are great. I love siege and star wars and now I watch the lore of siege and lore of star wars.

[hyneksmid]

The republic used basically slave soldiers. The CIS atleast use droid as canonfodder.

[herr_panzerfaust]

I had the exact same toughts about the issue. I think that given that scenario, i would support the CIS without a doubt if i lived in that universe. Great video.

[dantewilliams]

Yes they are.people seem to think the separatists were this grassroots movement that sprung up to oppose the oppression and corruption of the republic.they were not they were formed by the very business leaders and politicians who were largely responsible for the republics corruption in the first place.now that’s not to say every separatist was evil far from it but the idea the cis wasn’t evil especially after seeing what they were more than happy to do to countless innocent and even their own worlds is absolutely delusional

[glitchlogreen]

While I do agree it was better to use droids as an army for less living casualties, I am also a huge advocate for droid rights. They develop their own personalities, their own wants, and while yes they do follow their protocol, it’s not like living beings don’t either. The only good thing I can say is that droids can have backups of their brains. But they were treated as cannon fodder and not like the soldiers they were. From both sides. War crimes were committed against them, and prisoners were just not taken. Where as the droids would show mercy. Strange that the so called clunkers showed more empathy than the living clones.

[alexanderdrude]

The Seps are, actually, my favourite faction in all of SW)))

[shboyle]

Yeah, I believe that the “good guys” in the movie are actually the bad guys. ESPECIALLY in the original trilogy. Love the content bro