Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine was a Dark Lord of the Sith and brilliant mastermind who preferred to work through subterfuge and manipulation. So why did he commission the creation of an organization of brash and overly ambitious Force-sensitive enforcers?
Here’s what you need to know.
Why did Palpatine Allow Inquisitors?
Palpatine managed almost singlehandedly to bring about the downfall of the Jedi Order and did so largely from the shadows. However, this success didn’t stop him from creating and deploying the Inquisitorius for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons were:
- There Was No Need for Further Subterfuge
- He Needed a Team of Jedi Hunters
- They Didn’t Violate the Rule of Two
- Turning Former Jedi to the Dark Side Appealed to Him
- They Kept Vader on His Toes.
#1 There was no Need for Further Subterfuge
The first and most apparent reason that Palpatine allowed the Inquisitors to exist and operate in the open was that he had largely already won. Capitalising on the deformation from his battle with Mace Windu, Palpatine cast the Jedi as assassins and enemies of the Republic.
In addition to serving as part of his justification for reordering the Republic into the Galactic Empire, this also legitimised his vendetta against the Jedi Order.
The result was that Palpatine could get away with Order 66 and that the Empire as a whole could openly persecute any remaining Jedi. Secrecy and manipulation were no longer needed and wouldn’t have been as effective regardless.
He Needed a Team of Jedi Hunters
“During the early years of the Empire, the red blades of the Inquisitorius cut a swath through the galaxy as they wiped any remaining traces of the Jedi Order from existence. Once the Jedi were finally considered extinct by the Empire, the Inquisitorius vanished into the darkness as well.”
―Luke Skywalker
Despite his victory, Palpatine still had a problem on his hands; he feared that certain planets and Jedi survivors might threaten his new Empire.
For the former, he simply sent in the Imperial Armies to quell unrest and bring Separatist holdouts to their knees.
The latter problem, however, required a different solution.
With the exception of the most prolific Mandalorians and rare talents like Cad Bane, non-Force-sensitives were generally not suited for the job of tracking and eliminating Jedi.
The Inquisitors solved this problem handily as they could make rudimentary use of the Force in tracking Jedi and could engage in lightsaber combat.
You can find out how a Sith differs from an Inquisitor, and how they could hunt Jedi in this article.
They Didn’t Violate the Rule of Two
While having multiple full-fledged Dark Lords like Vader hunt down and kill Jedi would have probably been the easiest and most foolproof strategy, this was made unworkable by the Rule of Two.
This Sith precept dictated that there could only be two Sith Lords in existence at any given time;
A Master to embody the power of the Dark Side of the Force and an Apprentice to crave it.
However, this Rule could be bypassed as not every dark side acolyte has to become a Sith Lord.
By training the Inquisitors almost exclusively in lightsaber combat and not the more spiritual tenets of the Dark Side of the Force and Sith religion, Palpatine and Vader ensured that they complied with the Rule of Two and could not be usurped.
You can find out more about how the Inquisitors did not break the Rule of Two here.
Turning Former Jedi to the Dark Side Appealed to Him
“The Inquisitorius. A project of mine, long planned. Slaves to the light side once, now awake. Hunters, one and all.”
-Palpatine, telling Vader about the Inquisitors
A minor point to consider is that throughout Star Wars canon, we see Palpatine play the role of the seductor. We see this with almost every subordinate he is in close contact with in canon (such as Tarkin), which is especially clear in his acquisition of force-sensitive allies.
The Inquisitors were already trained in the Force, so they already had some background knowledge.
From Maul and Anakin to the Inquisitors, Palpatine, time and time again, perfectly embodies the archetypal misleader of the young and vulnerable.
Other than Dooku, who was always just an ideological decision away from leaving the Jedi Order, all of Palpatine’s retainers and associates fell prey to his lure.
As such, it is safe to say that lulling others to the Dark Side and freeing them from the slavery of the Jedi religion was part of the appeal of this strategy.
It is also interesting to note that Henry Gilroy, writer, and producer for The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, noted in an interview that Palpatine was liable to watch out for Jedi that could be turned to the Dark Side pre-Order 66.
You can find out how strong the Inquisitors were compared to the Jedi they faced.
They Kept Vader on His Toes
Lastly, Palpatine might have kept the Inquisitors around to remind Vader that he was somewhat expendable. While Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side was a key part of Palpatine’s success in quelling the Jedi Order, he still had much to fear from his apprentice.
The presence of multiple acolytes that would be all too happy to take his place and become true Sith was likely meant to ensure that Vader behaved himself to some extent.
We see this from the introduction that Palpatine orchestrated for Vader and the Grand Inquisitor. In Darth Vader #6, the two come to blows after Palpatine sends Vader to investigate an intrusion in the Jedi archives, knowing full well it was the Grand Inquisitor whom Palpatine had given permission to access.
Palpatine also ensured that the Inquisitors were trained in lightsaber combat by Vader himself, ensuring that they would be skilled and capable enforcers despite a lack of true Sith training.
In all likelihood, this came across to Vader very much like training his own replacement.
As a result, we see the resentment in his training style, maiming and belittling his supposed students on a whim. Palpatine likely saw this outcome and probably intended for the resentment to be mutual, all the better to spur a replacement.
Palpatine was extremely scheming, which was one of the reasons why he was so powerful.
Conclusion
Despite being largely functional, Palpatine’s decision to add Force-sensitives to his list of retainers has given us many memorable moments and interesting characters in recent Star Wars media.
While the Inquisitors have a short period of activity in the galaxy far, far away, those at the reigns of the Star Wars IP have shown an interest in focusing on characters that the fans enjoy.
On that note, we may still see more of them yet!
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