The Kaminoans made their canon debut in Episode Two: Attack of the Clones, and they played a crucial role in the Clone Wars. Without the Kaminoans, the Separatists would have won the war easily, since droids outnumbered Jedi and were mass produced at a fast pace.
But, thanks to the Clones and Order 66, the galaxy lost most of its defenders in one fell swoop. Since the Kaminoans created the Clones, does this mean they are evil?
Did they know they were working for a Sith Lord? If so, would they care? We’ll cover these questions and more!
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Did Kaminoans Work For The Sith?
Not in a direct way. The Kaminoans’ homeworld of Kamino, located far in the Outer Rim, is mostly underwater.
But this wasn’t always the case. Due to natural causes, Kamino became this way and the Kaminoans were forced to move to higher ground.
They were isolated in the galaxy and, even if they could call for help, they would risk losing resources and being taken advantage of. But the Kaminoans were highly intelligent, so they set their scientists to work on gene manipulation.
They succeeded for themselves and for animals and plant life. Sadly, this came almost too late as the waters had covered all but the tallest mountain peaks.
This would lead them down a tricky path. The Kaminoans weren’t content with enhancing their species to secure their survival.
They wanted perfection. Not only for themselves, but in the clones they would create. Let’s focus on the Kaminoans and their society for a minute.
Kaminoans had three castes in their society depecticed by eye color. Gray eyes are administrators.
Yellow eyes are the specialists and blue eyes are for manual labor. For some reason, they view green eyes as an undesirable defect and kill any Kaminoan with them at birth.
Kaminoans treated both sexes equally, but the gray eyes treated those beneath them with contempt. Because of the remote location of their planet, they viewed outsiders as inferior.
Kaminoans became known for their cloning and this would be their chief way to support themselves.
They could replicate animals fairly easily and could clone those that are mostly extinct to extinct. This made them popular with hunters, as well as with Darth Plagueis.
Darth Plagueis originally came to the Kaminoans to procure rare animals that he would either use for experiments or gifts. He asked the Kaminoans if they could create a clone army.
They said no due to their facilities not being large enough to make an army. Darth Plagueis said he’d fund them with his connections to the Bank clan.
It’s unknown if he revealed himself as a Sith Lord, and it wouldn’t have mattered if he did. As long as he paid them, they would do it.
Why Did the Kaminoans Agree To Order 66?
One, they were paid to overlook it and developed new biochips, to insert into every Clone once they reached term 3 as an embryo. Two, there are actually 150 orders in those biochips.
And we only know what six of them are. Each order was meant to be a backup for any worse case scenario.
For example, Order 65 would have let either most of the Senate or the Security Council use the clones to arrest the Supreme Chancellor, until a new Chancellor was appointed or a new government was established. (The Clones could kill the Chancellor if they had to.)
Order 4 was to maintain military leadership if the Chancellor became incapacitated. (Remember that the Jedi were part of the military, as most had the rank of general.)
Order 5 is very similar to Order 4, but also very confusing. It states that if someone declares the Chancellor to be unfit to issue orders (not clear as to who can do that), then the chief of defense staff may assume command.
Order 37 permits the taking and execution of civilian hostages in order to apprehend a fugitive. This order was carried out twice after the fall of the Jedi and essentially put a planet under martial law.
Order 151 was meant to turn the clones against Darth Vader. Palpatine added this order just in case Vader tried to kill him.
In legends, Vader did learn of this, and killed the Clone commander Vill, thus covering his tracks and remaining loyal to his Master.
Did The Kaminoans Know About Palpatine?
Did they know he was a Sith Lord? No. They assumed the Emperor was just like everyone else and continued to make clones for the Empire.
Even though Darth Plagueis paid them, it still took time to build the labs and equipment to make an army. And Plagueis would be dead by the time the Kaminoans were able to begin production.
So how did they not know about Palpatine? A Jedi Knight and childhood friend to Count Dooku named Sifo-Dyas saw the future.
He foresaw the need for an army, but when he told the Jedi Council, they refused to believe him.
But he didn’t give up. Sifo-Dyas contacted the Kaminoans and gave them the original control chip that would be copied into biochips for the Clones.
Unfortunately, the Sith discovered this plan and Dooku ended up killing his old friend. Dooku pretended to be Sifo-Dyas and thus, the Sith gained control of the Clones.
What Happens To The Kaminoans After Order 66?
The end came slowly. At first, things went well for the Kaminoans. They continued to produce Clones until Captain Rex, Commander Wolfe, and Commander Gregor removed their biochips.
Palpatine rightly guessed that if these three could resist the chips (and other Clones resisted as well) then more could do so. The Clones’ rapid aging was also an issue now that the war was over.
And even with Order 151, there were more cons to making more Clones. This would have been bad enough for the Kaminoans since this was their biggest contract.
Due to their aging process, the clones would die around age fifty. And The Bad Batch shows us that a new geneplate (genetic template to copy the Clones from) was needed.
This brings us to one of the most famous clones from the first trilogy, Bobba Fett, as he is a perfect copy of Jango Fett (his aging is the same as a human’s).
The Kaminoans also created a new template, a girl called Omega.
But the Emperor decided he didn’t need their planet anymore. So he had the most essential scientists and equipment rounded up for use in other projects. Then he ordered all of the cities on Kamino to be destroyed.
Before we wrap this up it’s important to note that there has been one Kaminoan who became a Jedi: Kina Ha, who was born with an extended lifespan of about 3,000 years (Kaminoans normally have a lifespan similar to humans).
Being able to use the Force is considered a defect to the Kaminoans, so she ran away. She too would foresee the Clone Wars, but just like Sifo-Dyas, no one would believe her.
In Conclusion
The Kaminoans weren’t evil; they viewed themselves to be superior and mostly kept to themselves. They rarely showed emotion and viewed the clones as property.
It’s unclear if they will pop up in any of the new Star Wars shows. But it wouldn’t be unexpected given some of the theories surrounding The Mandalorian.
Thank you for reading and remember: Making money is good and evolution is fine. Just be careful who you accept commissions from.