Palpatine’s Project Necromancer Shows The Death Star Was Never The Empire’s Greatest Weapon

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 episodes 1, 2, and 3.

The Death Star was a symbol of the Galactic Empire’s oppressive brutality in Star Wars, but Star Wars: The Bad Batch just demonstrated that there was an even more devastating weapon at its disposal. The Empire had several tools it could use to maintain its tyrannical order throughout the galaxy. It could use the corrupt justice system, inhumane prisons, conscription into the military, or just regular oppression from stormtroopers. There was a much bigger and more effective weapon, though, and The Bad Batch showed how powerful it was.

The premiere of The Bad Batch season 3 showed Omega and Crosshair in Dr. Hemlock’s captivity on Mount Tantiss. They were imprisoned there as part of Hemlock’s research into cloning for Project Necromancer, which would have given Emperor Palpatine the secret to eternal life. The Empire’s greatest weapon was much more subtle than Palpatine’s resurrection, but Project Necromancer would have helped the Empire use it.

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Despair Was The Empire’s Greatest Strength

The Death Star may have been capable of destroying entire planets, but the Empire had a much more effective weapon at its disposal. The Empire’s greatest weapon was despair, and The Bad Batch gave an in-depth view of how the Empire used it. The Empire nearly broke Omega by giving her a constant, inescapable routine. She rebelled against Hemlock and Dr. Karr, but just before she escaped with Crosshair, she was much less antagonistic. The Empire couldn’t give Omega a sense of despair, but she was far from normal, and the strategy would likely have had a much larger effect on average people.

There’s no point in fighting against an enemy that can’t be beaten, and the Empire did an amazing job of convincing people that they were there to stay from the very beginning. At the start, the Empire didn’t need to crush individual rebels, they could let despair take them out of the fight before it even began. It was a genius plan, as more obvious examples of oppression would have only inspired people across the galaxy to take up arms against them. Instilling despair in this way would have been barely recognizable as oppression, meaning people were much less likely to rebel.

Despair is a useful tool, but it isn’t easy to foster in people. Unfortunately, the Empire was more than capable of oppressing its subjects in a variety of ways, both overt and subtle. The Empire convinced people across the galaxy that they were both inevitable and long-lasting. Because of that longevity, the Empire was able to stamp out hope in its enemies and quell many rebellions before they even began. The Empire only ended up lasting about 23 years, but that didn’t stop them from sending the message that their reign would be eternal.

The Empire Was Always Playing The Long Game

Palpatine had grand plans for his Empire, and Project Necromancer only proves that he believed it would last much longer than it did. Palpatine believed he would rule the galaxy forever thanks to Project Necromancer, which would have bolstered his weapon of despair. If Palpatine, the most public figure of the entire Empire, was immortal, it would have meant the entire Empire was immortal as well. His ability to resurrect himself endlessly would have gone a long way in convincing the galaxy of that.

How Did The Empire Convince The Galaxy It Was There To Stay?

By the time of A New Hope, much of the galaxy could not conceive of life without the Empire’s presence. Though it had only lasted about two decades, the Empire had permeated every part of everyday life for much of the galaxy and become a staple of life. The Empire convinced the galaxy of its longevity in the same way it attempted to convince Omega: by being a constant presence in every moment of every day.

If a person wanted to travel, they had to provide an Imperial chain code. If they wanted to buy something, they used Imperial credits. If they committed a crime, stormtroopers arrested them. Every part of life in the galaxy far, far away included the Empire in some way. After nearly two decades, many people would have forgotten what life was like without the Empire’s involvement.

Project Necromancer was obviously important to Palpatine, as it was the key to his own eternal life, but The Bad Batch also proved that it would have helped the Empire as a whole. The despair from Project Necromancer would have ensured people complied with the Empire. It would have been much easier to get them to work in a mine, join the military, or do any other task, as complying was simply easier than fighting back against an eternal Empire. While they had planet destroying weapons like the Death Star, if Project Necromancer had worked, they wouldn’t have needed to fire it at all.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episodes 1-4 are available now on Disney+. Future episodes release Wednesdays at 12:00 a.m. PT, 3:00 a.m. ET, and 8:00 a.m. GMT.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Animation

Adventure

Action

Sci-Fi

Cast

Dee Bradley Baker , Michelle Ang , Noshir Dalal , Liam O’Brien , Rhea Perlman , Sam Riegel , Bob Bergen , Gwendoline Yeo

Release Date

May 4, 2021

Seasons

3

Showrunner

Dave Filoni

Where To Watch

Disney Plus