Star Wars has increasingly revealed Order 66 survivors. In fact, even in the most recent addition to Star Wars movies and TV shows, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, brand-new survivors (Devon and her master, Eeko-Dio Daki, in this case) have been revealed. Yet, as Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (and now a few other projects as well, including Obi-Wan Kenobi and even Star Wars Rebels) confirmed, there were many, many more Jedi who were killed in the massacre.
While Palpatine wasn’t successful in completely eradicating the Jedi—and, thankfully, he never was—this was overall a very effective way of vastly cutting down the Jedi’s numbers, including even some of the Jedi Order’s best and most powerful Jedi. Of those Jedi, these 6 are among the strongest who died during Order 66, and due to their respective skills and power, they really should have lived.
Depa Billaba was absolutely among the Jedi’s strongest warriors, particularly because she had been the Padawan of Jedi Master Mace Windu himself, who was known to be exceptionally skilled with a lightsaber. She was also on the Jedi Council, reflecting her standing as one of the top Jedi at the time. However, Star Wars: The Bad Batch revealed that she had died during Order 66 while protecting her Jedi Padawan, Caleb Dume (Kanan Jarrus).
While there were many clone troopers swarming Depa, this was also true of Ahsoka Tano, who managed to survive Order 66 and even save the clone with whom she was closest, Rex. Granted, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi showed that Anakin had very specifically trained Ahsoka for such an attack, but if Ahsoka could survive, particularly considering she hadn’t been with the Order for quite some time at that point, a fully trained Jedi Master should have been able to.
Although Aayla Secura was not on the Jedi Council, she was an incredibly powerful Jedi and should have survived Order 66. Secura’s is one of the most gruesome deaths in Revenge of the Sith, as the movie showed her clones continuing to shoot her long after she had already fallen down and was presumably dead.
However, like Yoda, Aayla should theoretically have been able to sense that blaster fire was coming and feel that shift in the Force when the clones were about to turn on her. Instead, she seems completely caught off-guard when the attack begins, and she quickly falls to the ground (which simply feels unrealistic for any Jedi).
Ki-Adi-Mundi was yet another Jedi Council member, and a powerful one at that. In fact, The Acolyte revealed just how long Ki-Adi-Mundi had been a Jedi Master, which should have given him a leg up when it came to surviving Order 66. Nevertheless, when the onslaught began, he was completely taken by surprise, just as Aayla Secura was.
This was even more surprising when it came to Ki-Adi-Mundi, though, as he was not only far more advanced than Aayla but also had a moment to express disbelief at the clones’ attack before he was killed—meaning he had a brief window of time to react, but he failed to.
Shaak Ti has actually died multiple times in Star Wars, which has become an ongoing joke in the fanbase. Among other non-canon iterations of her death, there were two deleted Revenge of the Sith scenes involving Shaak Ti’s death, one early in the movie at the hands of General Grievous and the other during Order 66 at the hands of Darth Vader. The Clone Wars ultimately confirmed that the latter was in fact how she died.
Although going up against Darth Vader certainly gave Shaak Ti among the most dangerous Order 66 attacks (after all, even multiple clones are nothing compared to the strength of Darth Vader), the way in which she dies nevertheless feels like something she should have been able to get out of or at least put up a better fight against. Anakin/Vader attacks Shaak Ti while she is meditating, but wouldn’t her meditation have made her even more attuned to what was coming?
Plo Koon was yet another esteemed Jedi Council member, which made his death even more frustrating. Plo was flying a ship during Order 66, and he was therefore shot out of the sky by his clones when they turned on him.
This is honestly among the more frustrating Order 66 deaths because while Plo may not have been a pilot as skilled as Anakin Skywalker, he should have sensed the incoming attack, similar to how Yoda did, and been able to at least employ some evasive maneuvers. Instead, he is shot down fairly easily.
Finally—keeping in mind that Jedi like Mace Windu and Kit Fisto were not killed by Order 66 directly, even if their deaths were closely related—the single strongest Jedi who absolutely should not have died during Order 66 was Cin Drallig. Like Shaak Ti, Cin was killed by Anakin/Vader during Order 66.
However, he, even more than Shaak Ti, absolutely should have survived this attack. While he may not have defeated Vader, Cin was the Battlemaster and Chief of Security of the Jedi Order. Given that standing and what it represents in terms of his strength and skill, Cin absolutely should have lived through Order 66.
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