A brand new Star Wars retcon revealed new details about the canonical dark side origins of Darth Vader’s group of Force-sensitive Imperial Inquisitors. Although the Inquisitors were a relatively late addition to the Star Wars movies and TV shows, they are increasingly present on screen and their popularity seems to be growing. The Inquisitors have appeared in both animation and live-action, in shows including Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: Tales of the Empireand Obi Wan Kenobi.
The inquisitors also had great prominence in Star Wars off-screen stories, including in the very popular canonical games Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Despite their growing importance and continued interest in the fanbase, the origins of the Inquisitors remain somewhat mysterious in Star Wars. However, a recent retcon may be changing that, by revealing new details about the Inquisitors’ history..
Star Wars Finally Explained Palpatine’s Harvester Project
The Inquisitors Were Kidnapping Children for a Reason
Project Harvester was one of Palpatine’s many plans involving the permanent destruction of the Jedi.. By the nature of the Force, new Force-sensitives would always be born. To ensure that these Force-sensitive beings did not turn into (or remain) Jedi, thus helping to restore the Jedi Order, Palpatine used the Imperial Inquisitors to kidnap or kill them. them.
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire depicted efforts to kill Force-sensitives when Barriss Offee became an Imperial Inquisitor and helped hunt down the remaining Jedi for a time, until she realized she couldn’t do it. Star Wars: The Bad Batch also revealed that some children were being kidnapped for other nefarious projects, including the Necromancer Project, which was intended to bolster Palpatine’s eventual resurrection. Clearly, Palpatine had a multifaceted approach that involved multiple projects at once.
In the case of Project Harvester, the goal was to kidnap children and train them as Inquisitors.
In the case of Project Harvester, the goal was to kidnap children and train them as Inquisitors. Not only would this ensure they didn’t become Jedi themselves, but it would also help Palpatine gather a group of dark side Force users who were loyal to the Empire and could continue to remove the threat from the rising Jedi. A brand new Star Wars book, Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Complete Guide to the Star Wars Galaxywritten by Dan Brooks, Megan Crouse, Amy Richau, Amy Ratcliffe, Brandon Wainerdi, Dan Zehr and Kelly Knox, explains:
“Eventually, the Inquisitorius starts Project Harvester to find Force-attuned beings to train into future Inquisitors. The group also attempts to convert any surviving Jedi, but kills any who refuse.”
This finally addresses the long-standing question of Star Wars Rebels regarding the Inquisitors’ efforts to kidnap Force-sensitive children, but this plan predates even this period of the Star Wars timeline.
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Project Harvester actually began during the Clone Wars
Palpatine’s plot to steal Force-sensitive children was hatched before the fall of the Jedi
Although Project Harvester wasn’t fully implemented until after Order 66, Palpatine, as always, was several steps ahead. He had already begun work on identifying and kidnapping Force-sensitive children in Star Wars: The Clone Wars in a plot that directly involved Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. In the show, Darth Sidious hired bounty hunter Cad Bane to break into the Jedi Temple and steal a holocron containing the names of Force-sensitive children who had not yet been brought into the Order.
Cad Bane then used Anakin’s attachment to Ahsoka against him, threatening Ahsoka’s life if Anakin did not help him open the Jedi holocron. Ultimately (and predictably) Anakin chose his attachment to what was arguably the right thing to do, which gave Cad Bane access to those names. Bane managed to kidnap several children and bring them to a mysterious facility on Mustafar before being stopped by Ahsoka and Anakin. As Mustafar’s facilities were destroyed in their rescue mission, the project was temporarily halted, but finally resumed during the Dark Times.
Palpatine was already recruiting Inquisitors during the Clone Wars
The Inquisitors already existed during the Clone Wars
THE Darth Vader (2017) the comics had already confirmed that the Inquisitors were present during Order 66, but a recent Star Wars Comic series revealed that the Inquisitors existed even before that. In canon Star Wars: Inquisitors In the comic book miniseries, a flashback reveals an Inquisitor alongside clone troopers. This suggests that some Inquisitors were chosen even before Order 66.
Some Inquisitors were chosen even before Order 66.
This raises a number of interesting questions about the work Palpatine was doing behind the scenes to ensure the future of his Imperial Inquisitor plan and, perhaps, continue the work of Project Harvester undetected. Clearly, his efforts with Cad Bane only went so far, but given the fact that he already had Inquisitors at his disposal during the Clone Wars, it appears he may have found other avenues to recruit Force-sensitives. Darth’s Imperial Inquisitors Vader remains one of the most compelling additions to the Star Warsand no doubt more will be revealed about its origins.