Star Wars Reveals Sith Spies In The Jedi Temple… A Year Before The Phantom Menace

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Living Force.

A new canon Star Wars novel, Star Wars: The Living Force, has revealed that Palpatine infiltrated the Jedi Temple with Sith spies even before the prequel trilogy. The Living Force, written by John Jackson Miller and set one year before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in the Star Wars timeline, offers additional insight into the cracks the Jedi Order was already grappling with when the prequel trilogy began. Emperor Palpatine, wily as ever, was of course quick to exploit these issues.

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While Star Wars movies and TV shows have increasingly fleshed out various eras in the franchise, the time before the prequel trilogy remains less explored. Some of Star Wars’ upcoming TV shows will offer just that, but The Living Force is an excellent entry point into the period immediately preceding the prequels. One plot from The Living Force in particular demonstrates how early on Palpatine had already taken root in the Jedi Order.

Palpatine Had Spies In The Jedi Temple For Over A Decade

A recent canon novel, Star Wars: Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade, written by Delilah S. Dawson, revealed that Palpatine had spies in the Jedi Temple for quite some time before the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Specifically, Darth Sidious had employed Heezo, a droid technician who worked in the Jedi Temple. Heezo was an ideal candidate to infiltrate the Jedi Temple, as he had been trained as a Jedi Padawan but ultimately failed his Jedi Trials. Undoubtedly, this fueled some bitterness in Heezo. Moreover, this meant he had direct access to Jedi Knights, Padawans, and younglings.

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Within the Jedi Temple, Heezo’s job was to identify disgruntled Jedi who may be easily tempted to the dark side of the Force. As the Clone Wars went on, this inevitably became easier. As Barriss Offee demonstrated in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, many Jedi were displeased to see the Order betray their own values and sink further and further into politics and war.

Surprisingly, The Living Force saw the return of Heezo to Star Wars canon. In the novel, Heezo is already working for Darth Sidious, giving him intel on the Jedi who may be tempted by the dark side. The most interesting aspect of this reappearance by Heezo is the timeline. As The Living Force takes place a year before The Phantom Menace, it’s clear that Palpatine’s plan was in motion even before the prequel trilogy.

Darth Sidious Knew Just How To Manipulate The Jedi

Although in retrospect it can seem a bit comical that the Jedi worked so closely with a Sith Lord for more than a decade, Palpatine’s plan was actually quite smart. Moreover, it was multifactorial, and each layer was masterfully executed. It’s clear that Palpatine had long anticipated Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side of the Force and had meticulously orchestrated it from the moment Anakin arrived on Coruscant as a child.

Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith also revealed how brilliant Palpatine’s plot with the clone troopers and Order 66 was. And, of course, there’s also the fact that Palpatine was playing both sides of the Clone Wars, always stoking the flames of the Republic and the Separatists. However, this plot with Heezo demonstrates an even greater level of sinister intelligence.

Palpatine clearly anticipated how the impending war and the Jedi’s increased involvement in politics would sow seeds of doubt among the Jedi. By planting Heezo strategically within the Jedi Temple, Palpatine ensured that he could capitalize on the growing concerns about the war, and other elements of the Jedi Order’s rejection of their own code, as soon as they emerged. In fact, as The Living Force makes clear, many Jedi were also disturbed by the Jedi receding from the galaxy—even great Jedi such as Qui-Gon Jinn and Depa Billaba.

Heezo Helped Seduce Inquisitors To The Dark Side… Did He Influence Anakin Too?

Given that Heezo was working for Sidious in the Jedi Temple throughout the prequel trilogy era, it’s entirely possible that Heezo influenced Anakin Skywalker. While Palpatine was obviously much more hands-on with Anakin than he was with other Jedi who had growing doubts about the Order, Heezo could nevertheless have been instrumental. Depending on how aware of Anakin’s sentiments Heezo was, he may even have alerted Palpatine to the ideal time to pounce on Anakin, tempting him to the dark side with promises of saving Padmé.

Among these fascinating plot points, The Living Force demonstrates how interested Star Wars remains in the prequel era (and even the time before that). In fact, the upcoming Disney+ TV show Star Wars: The Acolyte will explore the time before the prequels as well, no doubt representing the reality of disgruntled Jedi even more. Given the significant context being added to the Star Wars prequel trilogy, this is truly an exciting time for the franchise.

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