Since the release of Episode IX of Star Wars, efforts are visible on the part of Lucasfilm to try to justify, five years later, the return of Palpatine. It was true with the series The Mandalorian. This is still the case with The Bad Batch.
We cannot deny Lucasfilm a certain effort to justify the script choices of The Rise of Skywalker. Since its release in cinemas in December 2019, some of the studio’s new productions have been mobilized to give credibility and depth to the thunderous return of Emperor Palpatine.
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The Bad Batch expands efforts to justify Palpatine’s return
This effort had already been noted during season 3 of The Mandalorian, upon its release in spring 2023. More specifically, it is the third episode which planted the seeds of retroactive legitimization. It was about DNA and work in the field of genetics. Then, in episode seven, there was even talk of a “Necromancy Project”.
A year later, again, this time with season 3 of The Bad Batch. The first episode of the animated series also returned to this project, to anchor it a little more in a coherent chronology with Palpatine – it was a question of placing this program in a contemporary era of the emperor, for ‘involve directly.
Thus, we are confronted with a Galactic Empire taking blood samples from the clones, in the hope of reproducing a certain genetic M rate – a letter which obviously refers to the famous midi-chlorians. These are microscopic organisms invented in 1999 for the plot of The Phantom Menace.
Given Emperor Palpatine’s Force sensitivity, it seems obvious that the key to successful cloning involves the need for a high level of this M. According to the principle established in The Phantom Menacewhich also divides fans, the more of these midi-chlorians one has in the blood, the greater the affinity to the Force.
A Palpatine quote from The Bad Batchreprinted in the pages of an encyclopedia Star Wars, also underlines his perfect knowledge of the program. “ There is nothing more important to ensure the future of this Empire. Whatever is needed to achieve this goal, you will have it “, said the emperor.
The Necromancy project has been vague for a long time. As the encyclopedic site HoloNet points out, “ the objective was to restore the chain of command, presumably by the return of Palpatine himself to Exegol “. This effort continued after the return of the New Republic, in secret, by the remnants of the Empire.
Episode IX of Star Wars deeply divided fans and audiences due to the rather poorly explained return of Emperor Palpatine. The tirade Somehow Palpatine Returned » has even become a meme, as the return of this antagonist – supposed to have died since episode VI – has not been well introduced or explained.
Attempts at post-facto repairs, five years after release, are not guaranteed to hit the mark with spectators. No more than the defenses that emerge in the press, like that of the actor Ian McDiarmid, who plays Palpatine. He estimated, among other things, that the emperor was always one step ahead.
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