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

Summary

• Mandalore may have been important to Emperor Palpatine's resurrection plans, Project Necromancer, which focused on creating Force-sensitive clones.
• Operation: Cinder and the Great Purge of Mandalore were part of Palpatine's contingency plan, with Mandalore's destruction used to hide Project Necromancer from the New Republic.
• Project Necromancer was a long-term project spanning different eras of the Skywalker saga, and it needed to remain a secret in order to work.

Mandalore has long been a central planet to code named Project Necromancer, was focused on developing a method to create Force-sensitive clones. Palpatine's secret to eternal life was a process called essence transfer, which allowed him to put his consciousness into another person's body, essentially possessing it. If the body wasn't strong enough with the Force, though, it would wither away trying to contain Palpatine's essence, so Project Necromancer became a huge priority for the Empire.

Project Necromancer was first detailed in Grogu might have been the key to uncovering the secret of midichlorian transfer. Even the planet Mandalore might have had a huge role in its development, as part of a different diabolical plan.

Palpatine's Operation: Cinder Targeted Planets Traced Back To Him

After Emperor Palpatine was killed in Return of the Jedi, his contingency plan, Operation: Cinder, went into effect. Operation: Cinder aimed to destroy planets across the galaxy, even those loyal to the Empire, because Palpatine believed that if the Empire could not protect him, it was a failure that did not deserve to outlast him. The Great Purge of Mandalore was part of Operation: Cinder, as Palpatine decided that if he couldn't control Mandalore, he wouldn't let anyone else. Palpatine took personal issue with every planet he destroyed, but he may have had a much more important reason to bomb Mandalore.

Mandalore Is Right Next To Palpatine's Most Important Contingency Plan

According to the Star Wars galaxy map, Mandalore has a very important neighbor: Wayland. The planet Wayland was the home of Mount Tantiss, where Dr. Hemlock conducted his research into cloning. Mount Tantiss was a top-secret facility, as it was the home of Project Necromancer, which was a much more important contingency plan for Palpatine than Operation: Cinder. Where Operation: Cinder was concerned with punishing the galaxy for his death, Project Necromancer was focused on making sure Palpatine would never truly die.

Palpatine May Have Ordered Mandalore's Destruction To Keep His Plan A Secret

Project Necromancer needed to be kept absolutely secret, because if Palpatine's enemies ever found out, they could sabotage his ultimate contingency. Because of its proximity to Wayland, Mandalore may have been destroyed to hide Project Necromancer. In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, containing and responding to Operation: Cinder and the Great Purge kept the fledgling New Republic occupied. If a major planet like Mandalore was being bombarded just next door, the New Republic wouldn't have had time or reason to investigate a seemingly unimportant research facility.

The Mandalorian and other shows set during the New Republic era have shown that Project Necromancer was a long-term project that was still being pursued years after Palpatine's death. The Imperial Shadow Council was working tirelessly to complete the project, even going as far as to attack the galaxy to buy time. Project Necromancer was the absolute highest priority, and the destruction of Mandalore would have been a small price to pay to keep it secret. The Great Purge serves as an example of the atrocities the Empire was willing to commit to secure its own future.

Project Necromancer is already tying together every era of the Skywalker saga, and it's even linking the galaxy itself together. The galaxy map has mostly been a reference for devoted followers of the franchise in the past, but Project Necromancer is making it vital to understand Palpatine's plans. It's quickly becoming Palpatine's biggest and most complicated plot yet, and entire planets are hanging in the balance. Mandalore's destruction was tragic, but Star Wars is showing that it was just the first tragedy of many needed to complete Project Necromancer.

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.