Thanks to the Acolyte series, we get to see Palpatine’s true plans for the Inquisitors and Darth Vader.
The arrival of “The Acolyte” is just around the corner, and Star Wars is already using this series to show why Emperor Palpatine needs Darth Vader and the Inquisitors. During the rise of the Empire, the Inquisitors played a vital role in eradicating the remaining Jedi from Order 66 and searching for Force-sensitive children, something we saw in “Star Wars Rebels.” Under Darth Vader’s control and training, the Inquisitors operated from the planet Nur in the Mustafa system, allowing Vader to maintain strict control over them.
The hunt for a living Jedi
Although Order 66 was a resounding success for Palpatine, many Jedi managed to escape and were scattered throughout the galaxy. Although some famous Jedi found other fates like Yoda or Kanan Jarrus, the task of finding and eliminating them fell to the Foragers. Despite their affinity with the dark side, Inquisitors were not considered Sith, due to Sith law there could only be one master and one apprentice at a time.
Palpatine’s interest in the Inquisitors had a dual motivation. On the one hand, they had to finish off the rest of the Jedi. On the other hand, their mission was to find children who were sensitive to coercion, proving that they could be dangerous to grow up. The interrogators, being forced laborers themselves, were specially trained to identify these children. However, the fate of these children is still a mystery. Foreshadowed in season three’s “The Bad Batch,” they could have been killed, trained as inquisitors, or used in experiments like Project Necromancer.
Jedi stability before the prequel trilogy
During the High Republic era, both the Republic and the Jedi Order expanded greatly, exploring new planets and bringing more Force-sensitive individuals to the Jedi Temple. However, this expansion eventually stalled, bringing Jedi numbers to a plateau. A lack of navigation may mean a limit to the number of Force-sensitives in the galaxy at any given time.
Since the Jedi are unable to reproduce, the Jedi Order relies solely on recruiting young Force-sensitive children. Therefore, in the era of the High Republic, the number of Jedi represents the natural level of force-sensitive individuals. With many Jedi, the number of these individuals is quickly filled.
Force-sensitives increase without Jedi recruitment
The Jedi’s ban on forming emotional bonds and having children means that Fore-sensitives do not increase their population by breeding. However, as seen in Star Wars, children of compulsive-sensitive individuals also become force-sensitive. This is clearly seen with Anakin Skywalker’s sons Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa and later with Leia’s son Ben Solo.
Without the Jedi to recruit these children, there was a possibility that the number of Force-sensitive individuals would have greatly increased. This phenomenon was not limited to the Skywalker family. Kanan Jarrus had a son, Jacen Syndulla, with Hera, and the first season of “Ahsoka” suggests that Jacen is also Force-sensitive. This means that by destroying the Jedi and ending recruitment, more Force-sensitive individuals can live normal lives, reproduce, and produce more Force-sensitive children.
Palpatine’s strategy for controlling the Force sensitive
Palpatine anticipated this problem and tasked the mutants with finding and eliminating the remaining Jedi and force-sensitive children. The existence of the investigators was a very clever solution, because with the power-sensitivity, they can identify these children. While it is not clear what exactly they did with the captured children, it is plausible that they were killed, turned into inquisitors, or used for experiments.
The June 4 premiere of “The Acolyte” on Disney+ promises to shed more light on this dark and strategic movement of Emperor Palpatine, giving fans a fresh look at the galaxy’s darkest period.