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

Instead of in a Star Wars movie, some essential reasons for Palpatine’s return to life in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker can actually be found in an episode of The Mandalorian that many viewers wrote off as ‘filler’. The Mandalorian season 3 was not received nearly as well as the previous two seasons of the smash-hit space-western series, but despite its reception, season 3 has a lot to love character-wise, and maybe even more to appreciate in its lore and world building. Specifically, in “Chapter 19: The Convert”, The Mandalorian dives deep into some essential setups for future stories.

“The Convert” takes a big step back when it comes to The Mandalorian episodes in what it chooses to focus on. Possibly intentionally similar to the episode of The Book of Boba Fett that featured Din Djarin’s Boba Fett takeover, “The Convert” focuses on a different aspect of the galaxy, in the previously established Imperial scientist Dr. Penn Pershing. Having smaller roles in both seasons 1 and 2 of the series, Dr. Pershing finally got the spotlight in a Mandalorian episode that is now more important than ever, considering the events of The Bad Batch season 3.

“The Convert” Is The Mandalorian’s Most Controversial Episode

This Hard Turn From Din Djarin Upset Some Fans

“The Convert” begins like many other episodes of The Mandalorian, with Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze engaging a squadron of TIE interceptors in a thrilling air battle. But as the battle winds down, Kryze’s castle home is destroyed, and the two Mandalorians depart. After this, the episode abruptly cuts to Coruscant, now a major world in the New Republic, which governs the galaxy after the Empire, and before the First Order.

This totally changes the pace of the season, dedicating the majority of the long episode’s screen time to characters who are not too involved with its main plot at all. The Coruscant plot of the episode doesn’t touch on retaking Mandalore at all, instead giving viewers the closest look at the New Republic they have ever seen. This, however, certainly has merit in the long run.

“The Convert” Is Essential To Understanding Force-Cloning

Dr. Pershing’s Connection To Cloning And Grogu Make Him Essential

Dr. Pershing is the main character of the events on Coruscant, as he, a former Imperial, is reconditioned and integrated into the New Republic’s government. From the beginning, Dr Pershing has appeared as a clone-related scientist. First showing up tending to Grogu as he was first delivered to the Empire by Din Djarin, Pershing even wore a Kaminoan cloner uniform. When he’s seen again in “The Convert”, he is giving a speech to the New Republic about genetic splicing in cloning, all in the same opera house where Palpatine first explained to Anakin the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise.

The usage of this location for this speech is incredibly significant, as the story Palpatine regales Anakin with in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith heavily deals with the Sith attempting to cheat death. Decades later, Dr. Pershing – a former Imperial – is explaining the very technology that Palpatine will use to cheat his own death in that very same location. Including this story thread, then, was a necessity.

The opera house is even where Palpatine first says “the dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural” in Revenge of the Sith. This quote is later repeated in The Rise of Skywalker by the reborn Emperor as an explanation for his survival. The throughline between Pershing’s work as an Imperial cloning technician and Palpatine’s resurrection is so clear through the episode’s usage of this location.

Palpatine’s Return Proves This Story Has To Be Told

The Emperor’s Plans Take Place Over The Whole Skywalker Saga

As The Bad Batch season 3 is proving, the amount of world building surrounding Palpatine’s return is massive. From books to animation, and even episodes of The Mandalorian like “The Convert”, this process is proving to be incredibly essential to all parts of the Skywalker Saga. ​​It makes sense too, as the final battle of the movie saga in The Rise of Skywalker culminates because of Emperor Palpatine’s resurrection from the dead.

From the very beginning, Palpatine’s plan was always to cheat death, and reign immortal over the galaxy. Though he ultimately fails at this, Star Wars stories about his efforts to cheat death find themselves in all eras of the Star Wars timeline. This overlooked episode of The Mandalorian is no exception, especially with it serving as such a core explanation for his return.

The Mandalorian is available to stream on Disney+