Project Necromancer
In “Shadows of Tantiss” (The Bad Batch 3.3), Emperor Palpatine visits Dr. Hemlock’s facility at Mount Tantiss to assess the progress of Project Necromancer. Project Necromancer, Palpatine’s plan to cheat death by creating a Force-sensitive clone into which he can transfer his spirit, is aptly named: a “necromancer” is a black magician who purports to raise the dead.
Strikingly, when Palpatine arrives, Hemlock shows him to a chamber that contains both technological machinery and occultic Sith runes. This unholy union between mad science and dark sorcery evokes C.S. Lewis’ description of the similarities between magic and applied science in The Abolition of Man:
There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the “wisdom” of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious – such as digging up and mutilating the dead.
Palpatine and Hemlock are aware that the true nature of Project Necromancer would disgust and appall not only their enemies but also their Imperial allies. Palpatine says as much when he warns Hemlock, “There are many, even within our own ranks, who would consider much of your work an abomination.” However, Palpatine, the dark magician, and Hemlock, the mad doctor, are united by their willingness to transgress moral and natural boundaries and commit abominable acts in their pursuit of power over life and death.
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Characters: Dr. Hemlock / Palpatine
Shows: The Bad Batch
GO DEEPER INTO THE ARCHIVES…
Concepts: life and death / names / nature and technology / power and weakness
Influences: C.S. Lewis
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My favorite aspect of Palpatine’s brain is continually pitting his allies against one another. Each one thinking they are better than the others, and have a more superior relationship with the Emperor. “My project is more important than yours!” How do you maintain control? Prey on greed!