STAR WARS Just Exposed How Emperor Palpatine Bungled The Jedi Hunt After Order 66
Order 66 was supposed to be the Jedi-killing masterstroke. In Star Wars history, it’s often painted as the swift and decisive end of the Jedi Order. But Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #7 flips that narrative on its head, revealing a much messier truth about the galaxy immediately after the purge.
Yes, the initial slaughter was devastating, but Emperor Palpatine’s follow-up plan to track down survivors was shockingly primitive and, frankly, doomed from the start.
Instead of launching a methodical, galaxy-wide manhunt, the fledgling Empire relied on clumsy tactics that make it clear why so many Jedi lived to fight another day.
In Legacy of Vader #7, the first phase of Palpatine’s “great” Jedi purge boiled down to passing out lists. Imperial officers and clone troopers literally handed names and physical descriptions of “possible Jedi survivors” to local magistrates and everyday citizens. It was a far cry from the later precision and ruthlessness of the Inquisitorius.
The flaws were obvious. A galaxy with countless species and wildly different appearances meant that a description could match dozens, if not hundreds, of people. Even accurate details could quickly become useless as Jedi changed their names, cut their hair, ditched their robes, and blended in with the crowds. The comic even shows an official broadcast from Palpatine himself offering bounties for “any traitorous Jedi who yet survive.”
While meant to encourage tips, this tactic could easily backfire. Offering “most generous” payments for information might tempt some to turn in a neighbor, but it could just as easily inspire false leads, wasted resources, and open defiance.
Many citizens still saw Jedi as protectors of the Republic, and others simply distrusted the new regime. Instead of cooperating, some might shelter fugitives or feed the Empire misinformation. This is exactly how the Hidden Path, an underground network to smuggle Jedi to safety, was born.
Relying on a public bounty system was wildly inefficient. Palpatine’s early strategy lacked the precision and focus needed to wipe out Force-sensitive survivors, which is why the Inquisitorius became a necessity.
The Inquisitorius wasn’t a squad Force-sensitive hunters, often former Jedi themselves, trained to root out and eliminate survivors. Under Darth Vader’s direct command, these hunters didn’t need civilian help or crude descriptions. They could feel their targets through the Force, tracking fear, presence, and even hidden connections.
The issue of Force sensitivity plays out in Legacy of Vader #7 through the character Grandea, who reveals she can sense Kylo Ren’s identity because it was “right there in the front of [his] mind.” It’s a perfect example of the kind of psychological and Force-based detection that Inquisitors would later weaponize.
Unlike clone troopers or bounty hunters, Inquisitors were personally invested in their missions. They had a vendetta against the Jedi and were molded into tools of Palpatine and Vader’s will. They worked in secrecy, didn’t depend on unreliable locals, and brought fear wherever they went.
Palpatine’s initial hunt for the Jedi after Order 66 may have started with chaos and missteps, but the rise of the Inquisitorius transformed the Jedi Purge from an amateur manhunt into a cold, calculated extermination. Without them, the Jedi Order might have survived in far greater numbers.