Star Wars: Tales of the Empire revealed how the Imperial Inquisitors turned the people against the Jedi via scare tactics, and the very first Force ability shown in Star Wars helped them do it. Tales of the Empire surprised audiences by replacing Tales of the Jedi season 2, which had already been announced and was anticipated as one of Star Wars’ upcoming TV shows. Instead, the new show followed the story arcs of two dark side Force-users, Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee.

Barriss’ arc in particular shed light upon the efforts of the Inquisitors, as she joined their ranks and helped hunt down survivors of Order 66. However, doing so often proved challenging; not only were the Jedi skilled in combat and at avoiding detection, but also, not everyone had turned against them after claims of an assassination attempt on the Emperor (then Chancellor). To change the perceptions of the people who still had faith in the Jedi and were helping them hide, the earliest of the canon Force powers in Star Wars movies and TV shows was weaponized against the Jedi.

The Inquisitors Caused People To Fear The Jedi

In Tales of the Empire, Inquisitor Lyn, or the Fourth Sister, attempted to coerce a group of citizens into revealing where they were hiding a Jedi. However, she didn’t use brute force at first. Rather, she employed scare tactics, trying to convince them by telling them the Jedi “can control your minds.” This assertion was in reference to the Jedi mind trick, first depicted in A New Hope by Obi-Wan Kenobi alongside his now iconic line “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”

Since then, the mind trick has been used countless times, all the way from Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace to Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As it was such a well-known power of the Jedi, this scare tactic is undoubtedly how so many people turned a blind eye to the Inquisitors’ murder of the Jedi and even turned the Jedi over to the Inquisitors at times. It was likely very effective for a number of reasons. For one, it was technically true that the Jedi could control minds, and they frequently did so.

For another, imagining such a power would have been frightening for those who didn’t have access to such powers and who perhaps had little to no prior interactions with the Jedi. It makes sense that this would be alarming to the average person, particularly if the pervasive rhetoric around the Jedi was that they were secretly evil all along. Sadly, this meant that the Jedi themselves were partially (and accidentally) involved in the strategies the Empire used to eradicate them.

Using Scare Tactics To Destroy The Jedi Was One Of The Empire’s Best Plans

Although the Empire ruled for nearly two decades and managed to gain incredible power in that time, not all Imperial plans were the wisest. In fact, in the same episode of Tales of the Empire, Barriss Offee pointed out that causing people to fear the Empire would only make citizens turn against them—ironic, given they knew that about the Jedi but not about themselves. In the end, this was proven true, as the Rebellion gained traction in part because of the oppressive, violent moves the Empire made.

This makes the scare tactics employed by the Inquisitors one of the best strategies the Empire used. Emphasizing that the Jedi could control minds was surely an effective way to cause people to turn on them. While claiming the Jedi attempted to assassinate the Chancellor may have convinced some, an active personal threat was no doubt more encouraging. Moreover, this would have caused people to doubt the Jedi’s intentions even if they had first helped and believed them. Tragically, this means Star Wars: Tales of the Empire revealed the way Star Wars’ oldest Force power helped wipe out the Jedi.

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