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Order 66

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this was the secret mission that was among the myriad of orders that were driven into the training of every clone commander who served the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Known only to Darth Sidious, Order 66 was issued only after Sidious - known to the rest of the galaxy as Chancellor Palpatine - had destroyed Mace Windu and much of the Jedi Council. The communications issuing Order 66 were sent to clone commanders on secure Republic links, but were encrypted with codes used only by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, thereby ensuring its secrecy. Upon hearing the execution of Order 66 from the supreme ruler of the galaxy, clone commanders abandoned any loyalty to their Jedi Generals and began to open fire on them. This allowed Darth Sidious to eliminate a huge portion of the Jedi Order, and became the opening act in the Jedi Purge. Historians later debated whether or not the issuing of Order Sixty-six signalled the true end of the Clone Wars, since the order was only issued after Palpatine declared himself Emperor. Others argued that the true end came when Anakin Skywalker - now known as Darth Vader - traveled to Mustafar to eliminate the Council of Separatists.