The Disgusting Lie Palpatine Told About Plo-Koon After Order 66

After Order 66, the Jedi were gone — but Palpatine wasn’t finished with them.

He didn’t just kill the Order; he poisoned their memory. In his new Empire, Jedi like Master Plo Koon were branded as traitors who had turned their blades against the Republic. The galaxy was told that Plo died fighting clone forces after trying to overthrow the Chancellor.

But that wasn’t true at all.

So what exactly was the lie Palpatine told about Plo Koon’s death?

The Death of Plo Koon on Cato Neimoidia

We all remember the final days of the Clone Wars, when Jedi across the galaxy were deployed to countless battlefronts against the Separatists. Master Plo Koon was among them, leading a squadron of clone pilots over Cato Neimoidia, one of the last major strongholds of the Confederacy.

When Order 66 was issued, Plo Koon was leading a squadron of clone pilots over Cato Neimoidia — one of the last strongholds of the Confederacy. Moments earlier, he was flying in perfect formation with his troops, unaware that they had already received a new command from Coruscant.

As soon as Palpatine’s words came through — “Execute Order 66” — the clones turned on him without hesitation. His own wingmen opened fire, tearing through his starfighter mid-flight. The explosion was immediate. Plo never even had time to defend himself.

The Disgusting Lie Palpatine Told

After the Jedi were wiped out, Palpatine’s next move wasn’t fought on the battlefield — it was through propaganda. He turned the tragedy of Order 66 into a story that painted himself as the savior of the Republic.

To spread this lie, Palpatine turned to his trusted aide Sate Pestage, tasking him with creating official “casualty reports” for every fallen Jedi. Each record falsely claimed that the Jedi had committed acts of treason before their deaths, justifying their execution under the new Empire.

For Plo Koon, the report was especially vile. It stated that he had been killed while attempting a suicidal attack on a Neimoidian nursery, supposedly filled with innocent children — a fabrication meant to portray his death as a heroic act by loyal clone pilots.

According to Star Wars Insider #87, in the feature Casualty Report: Order 66, these official records were falsified and compiled by Sate Pestage, one of Palpatine’s closest aides. Each Jedi’s death was rewritten to fit the Empire’s version of events. Plo Koon’s entry reads:

“Killed in a suicide attack against a Neimoidian grub-nursery.”

A disgusting fabrication — reducing one of the most respected Jedi Masters to a deranged traitor. It’s a small example of just how far Palpatine went to rewrite history, ensuring that even in death, the Jedi could no longer defend their honor.