Who really ordered the creation of the Clone Army?

Question

It seems to me that the question is never resolved. Who ordered the creation of the Clone Army?

Answer 1

Ordered it was, by Jedi Sifo-Dyas. Consult the Jedi Council, he did not.

_Script

LAMA SU: Please tell your Master Sifo-Dyas that we have every confidence his order will be met on time and in full. He is well, I hope.

OBI-WAN: I'm sorry? Master - ?

LAMA SU: Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas. He's still a leading member of the Jedi Council, is he not?

OBI-WAN: Master Sifo-Dyas was killed almost ten years ago.

LAMA SU: Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. But I'm sure he would have been proud of the army we've built for him.

OBI-WAN: The army?

LAMA SU: Yes, a clone army. And, I must say, one of the finest we've ever created.

OBI-WAN: Tell me, Prime Minister, when my Master first contacted you about the army, did he say who it was for?

LAMA SU: Of course he did. This army is for the Republic. But you must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself.

---

Here's an explanation for a lot of the confusion and the vagueness surrounding this. The draft script refers to the person who placed the order as "Sido-Dyas", which is a twist on Sidious (Palpatine) and the story line strongly indicated the role of the Sith in both impersonating the Jedi and placing the order for the army. I couldn't verify the authenticity of this draft, but assuming it is true and moving forward:

1:

OBI-WAN: Then you must know Master Sifo-Dyas?

...

JANGO FETT: Master who?

OBI-WAN: Sido-Dyas. Is he not the Jedi who hired you for this job?

JANGO FETT: Never heard of him.

OBI-WAN: Really.

JANGO FETT: I was recruited by a man called Darth Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogden.

OBI-WAN: No? I thought...

TAUN WE: Sido-Dyas told us to expect him. And he showed up just when your Jedi Master said he would. We have kept the Jedi's involvement a secret until your arrival, just as your Master requested.

2:

OBI-WAN: (V.O.) ...I've never heard of a Jedi called Sido-Dyas, have you, Master?

MACE WINDU: No. Whoever placed that order was not a Jedi, I can assure you.

3:

OBI-WAN: One more thing. Jango mentioned he was recruited by someone named Darth Tyranus. Any idea who that might be?

YODA: With the forename Darth, a Sith he must be.

MACE WINDU: Our missing apprentice. They are playing their hand at last.

Throughout the draft script, it is clear that the Jedi had nothing to do with it, going by Mace's tone and a Sith lord (most likely Sideous) impersonated the Jedi to place the order. It is also hinted that the Jedi knew (or deduced) that Dooku was Tryannus.

However, the following transpires in the movie:

OBI-WAN: (V.O.) Yes, Master. They say Master Sifo-Dyas placed the order for a clone army at the request of the Senate almost ten years ago. I was under the impression he was killed before that. Did the Council ever authorize the creation of a clone army?

MACE WINDU: No. Whoever placed that order did not have the authorization of the Jedi Council.

Nothing in the movie indicates that the rest of the Jedi didn't know who Sifo-Dyas was. Mace doesn't deny that it was a Jedi (as in the draft), instead looks at Yoda with a puzzled face and merely says that it did not have the authorization of the Council. The fact that he doesn't come to Sifo-Dyas' defense, implies that Sifo-Dyas was known to be somewhat of an odd-ball Jedi (not the Dooku kind, but the Qui-Gon kind) and that he might have done this is not surprising.

In the conversation with Jango, the word Darth is also dropped, instead referring to the person simply as Tryannus (Thanks to BBlake for spotting this, as the script linked above includes this. I have confirmed by reviewing the scene that the word indeed is dropped). I believe the overall vagueness comes from hasty (or deliberate) corrections to the draft.

Since the movies are G-Canon and generally take precedence over draft scripts, I'm sticking with Sifo-Dyas as being responsible. My interpretation as to the actual order of events is:

1. Sifo-Dyas (Jedi) orders the clone army for the Republic.
2. Darth Sidious learns of this and orders his apprentice Darth Tyrannus (Dooku) to intervene (possibly killing Sifo-Dyas) and collaborate with Jango to continue the production of the army, but with the change in motive unbeknownst to the Kaminoans.
3. Dooku, still a rogue Jedi, removes Kamino from the navigation maps to keep the Siths' plan a secret.

Point 3 above also agrees with Yoda's statement in the movie that only a Jedi could've removed it from the maps.

Answer 2

It's unclear from the movie itself. There are two options:

• Darth Sideous masquerading as Sifo-Dyas ordered the clones, and had Count Dooku erase Kamino from the Jedi archives while Dooku was still a Jedi and had access.
• Sifo-Dyas himself foresaw the war and placed the order for the clones. In this case, it's unknown why someone removed Kamino from the Jedi archives.

It's heavily hinted that Sideous had Kamino removed from the archives, so as to keep his army a secret until the appropriate time.

Answer 3

According to Wookieepedia, it was Sifo-Dyas.

When the Sith were revealed to have returned during the Invasion of Naboo in 32 BBY, Master Sifo-Dyas secretly commissioned the creation of a clone army, placing an order with the Kaminoan government before he was murdered by his friend, Master Dooku.

In the "Behind the Scenes" section of the above article, it says:

"Sido-Dyas" [the original name for Sifo-Dyas] was originally only a false identity for Sidious — Obi-Wan Kenobi claimed never to have heard of him, and Mace Windu confirmed that there was no Jedi by that name.

That corresponds to the draft & final script that @yoda mentions in his answer. The article then goes on:

His backstory was promised by George Lucas to be revealed in Revenge of the Sith, but instead was explained in the lead-in novel Labyrinth of Evil.

So it seems there was meant to be more detail in the films, but Lucas left it out for whatever reason.