Correction: they don’t need to “join” the Empire. They mostly lived on worlds the Empire already annexed, controlled or owned. They are in the Empire. Luke worked as a farmer on an Empire world. Han was a criminal because of the Empire’s laws. Leia was part of a former ruling base of the government the Empire became.
Thanks for the input!
Didn’t they pretty much try?
“All right fellow rebels… now that we’ve all infiltrated the Empire by joining as Storm Troopers, it’s time to enact our plan.”
“Aim to miss, sir?”
“You’re goddamn right.”
Fun fact is that Star Wars was directly inspired by the Vietcong fighting US invasion during the Vietnam war
https://www.cbr.com/george-lucas-vietnam-war-star-wars-inspiration/
Luke wanted to go to the imperial academy, Leia was a senator, and if I remember correctly, in legends canon (the only correct canon)Han actually was in the imperial academy for a while.
Everything after Disney buyout is fan fiction at best
They literally dressed up as stormtroopers!
That’s less of a peaceful reform and more of a war crime.
It’s a long time ago, in a galaxy far away. Geneva conventions and the laws of war didn’t exist at the time.