God the absolute absurdity that proceeds to happen.
The Senate wanted to just make one documentary, a focus on the most popular heroes: the Skywalker, Tano, and Kenobi trio.
And it starts off really well, really serious. The Clones are serious, Anakin and Ahsoka are (read as trying) serious, Obi-Wan is serious. There’s an added bonus of the 501st, 212th, and Kit Fisto teaming up for a sea-side mission. Unusual for three Generals— two of which were High Councilors— to be on the ground at once, but this is a big deal.
While making their way over, Commander Cody and Captain Rex with Ahsoka go over what its like basically living on the Star Destroyers, theres a lighthearted joke about how Obi-Wan’s flagship is called “The Negotiator” and all is well.
Then shit hits the fan when they’re on the ground, meeting up with High Councilor and General Kit Fisto. Despite being told that a bunch of camera droids would be there, the General is stripped down to his swim shorts— because really, they shouldn’t have expected anything different.
Obi-Wan is struggling to keep the serious facade as Anakin and Ahsoka try and keep straight faces at least, and it doesn’t help that Kit isn’t acting like anything is different.
When the footage is released, the results for more Jedi documentaries come flooding in because the fights that were seen were ridiculous and Kit was telling the droids too much interesting information to cut him and his shirtless self out of the documentary aside from back ground appearances. And don’t even get the editors started on the backflips, battle-field smack talk, and other acrobatics the Jedi used, nor the fact that they had zero qualms about throwing caution to the wind to save their men— or that the Clones didn’t seem to mind getting tossed up by the Force to avoid a round of blaster shots by the separatist droids. Obviously a common thing.
So the Senate gives in, starts having camera droids follow more Jedi into battle. The public has their favorites and their favorite team ups.
The Skywalker-Tano-Kenobi trio is a fan favorite, of course, but suddenly there’s just so many more Jedi out there.
There’s Plo Koon with Kit Fisto and Tauht on Khorm which had donations flooding into the Temple because “please, please get Commander Wolffe the help he needs for his eye!” “He deserves the best that the public can get the Commander for his bravery against that Darksider!” and also there’s an ongoing guessing forum somewhere on the Holonet that’s got people trying to guess Plo’s age.
While the Battle of Hypori’s camera droids were destroyed by Grievous, the footage was still in-tact as it was being sent over to the editing company and there was a mini-doc about that— there were many ‘Down with Grievous!’ posters and tag lines around Coruscant and the Republic worlds after that.
There’s a team up with Voolvif Monn, Agen Kolar, and Aayla Secura in the outer rim that was a fan favorite for the extremely contrasting personalities— Aayla being friendly and bubbly, Agen being openly for using thermals and Voolvif seemingly like he’d Rather Be Elsewhere until the battle ends and everyone’s surprised by the Shistavanen’s victory howl. The other Shistavanens of the uvena system go wild and that’s the most watched episode from that area.
And then the Senate asks if they’re allowed to enter the temple for filming because there’s been so much footage of battle, the Public also wants to see what home life is like. After some debate, they’re allowed in.
Like the start of the battle documentaries, Mace Windu, Yoda, and Cin Drallig attempt to be serious, as they’re the three who were still at the Temple at that time— but that falls to pieces soon enough because Cin has to break up a fight between two padawans in the sallies and its just: “Now what exactly are you fighting over?” “He called me ugly” “He called me a snot-nosed brat!”
And cue Mace just giving the camera droid The Look ™ and shaking his head with a “And this is what our esteemed Battlemaster deals with on a daily basis when he’s not teaching or checking in on the Guard”
and the Temple documentaries are all down hill from there. It becomes like a drinking game to see how many times Mace looks at the camera droid in utter disappointment, how many times Jocasta Nu is seen hunting down someone who has late books, how many spontaneous fights break out in the halls that force the Temple Guard to show up and break them up, how many times Vokara and the other Healers are seen chasing down an escaped Jedi from the Halls of Healing, and more.
Speaking of the Guard, someone has a whole conspiracy forum on them on the ‘net. It’s also a game to play ‘spot the Guard’ and then it became a game of ‘spot the Guard doing something ridiculous in the background’ of the shot because sometimes they’ll just quickly do something stupid before righting back into position like nothing ever happened.
Palpatine, meanwhile, is seething internally at the Jedi Approval ratings. And ofc, following that, the Clone approval ratings. Already in the Senate are motions to try and confirm their sentience and get their rights, Clone Production slows down because more effort is getting poured into them to keep the ones on the field that they know in the documentaries alive. The Republic grieves for Master Di on Ryloth and the troops that followed him into battle because through the Documentary they got to know them decently well.
At the end of every documentary episode, especially the battle ones, a list of names of all the Clones who died— and any Jedi or anyone else— goes across the screen in remembrance. There’s a large list on the ‘net as well.
The Public not only knows the serious and rigid forms of the Jedi, but now they know the absolute ridiculous sides of them and the Clones— along with the side that is emotional and grieving for fallen friends and comrades in arms.
And, just maybe, the documentary series changes the War a bit more than what was ever expected.
