Everything We Know About Clone Inhibitor Chips So Far

On May the 4th the Star Wars fan community was treated with the newest entry in the animated universe, The Bad Batch. The premier was an 73 minute joyride through the mere hours after the fall of the Republic. The episode highlights featured Saw Gerrera, the Kaminoan training facility, a couple of excellent fire fights, the introduction of the fascinating new character Omega and, of course, anther look at Order 66. The handing down of Order 66 and the subsequent Great Jedi Purge is obviously one of the most intense and emotional sequences in all of the Star Wars saga. The Jedi betrayed and murdered by clone troopers they had fought alongside for years. But why? Here we will examine everything known in cannon about Order 66 and the driving factor at the heart of the entire Sith plot, the behavioral modification biochip.

One of the greatest mysteries of the original trilogy was solved in Revenge of the Sith with the handing down of Order 66. Prior to the prequels, many people had wondered how the Jedi Knights had been driven to the brink of extinction. With the premiere of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, only more questions were raised. Especially considering the raw displays of power put on by the Jedi over the course of Episodes I and II. How and why could the "guardians of peace and justice" be annihilated? There were thousands of Jedi at the onset of the Clone War but a few short decades later there would be only a handful. The answer, of course, was Order 66. With one command the clone legions turned on their Jedi generals, gunning them down with hardly a second thought

Commissioned by Jedi Master and Council member Sifo-Dyas in the final years of the Republic, the Grand Army of the Republic was produced by the gifted Kaminoan cloners using the genetic template of Mandalorian turned bounty hunter Jango Fett. Sifo-Dyas was gifted with foresight and received several visions through the Force throughout his life, all of them coming to pass as he had forseen. Shortly before the Battle of Naboo he was plagued by a reoccurring vision of the Republic plunged into the turmoil of war. At the time, the Republic had no standing army and Sifo-Dyas feared democracy and the Jedi Order would be swept away by the enemies of his visions. The Jedi Master approached the other members of the Council with these visions, begging them to approve the raising of an army for the Republic. The other Masters were appalled, calling Sifo-Dyas a radical warmonger and removing him from the Jedi Council. Undeterred, the Jedi Master contacted the Kaminoans and commissioned the creation of the Republic's army, leading the cloners to believe that it was at the command of the Jedi Council. Unfortunately for Sifo-Dyas, his actions did not go unnoticed by more sinister powers of the universe.

Count Dooku, Jedi exile and newly accepted Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious, contacted his lifelong friend, Syfo-Dyas after the latters expulsion from the Council. Dooku told the wayward Jedi that he believed his visions and had also foreseen the Republic at war, offering to use his families wealth on Serenno to sponsor the creation of the clones. The Count selected the notorious gunslinger Jango Fett as the template for the clone army both for his athletic physical traits, his proficiency in combat, and his mental strength. Around this time, Sifo-Dyas was murdered by the Pyke Syndicate, a ruthless crime family, who had been hired by Dooku to silence his former friend. The creation of the army was then in the hands of the Sith who had one modification to make. Behavioral inhibitor chips were implanted in the clones in utero to prevent them from being as aggressive as Fett and to more readily comply with orders. While the existence of the chip was no great secret, their true function was known to only a few. Constructed with a combination of cybernetics and some of the clone's own brain tissue, these biochips were designed to activate upon audio confirmation of Order 66. Of the extreme few who knew about the Order it seems only the Sith knew of it's true purpose and objective, with the Kaminoans believing it was only for traitorous Jedi, with Dooku being a likely scape goat.

Upon activation of the chip, a clone's old personality was swept away, replaced by the fervor and obedience of the loyalist soldier. Their old friendships and morals, individuality and creativity eliminated by the Emperor. Prior to the character development given to so many members of the GAR in the Clone Wars animated series, many fans considered the clones little more than organic droids, blindly loyal to the Republic and willing to comply with any order. However after being introduced to clones such as Rex, Jesse, Hevy, Fives, and Echo fans came to realize that each clone was their own unique being. As Master Yoda once told his clone squad "in the Force, very different each one of you are." With the activation of the behavioral modification chip, the clone's minds were taken away from them and they were turned into puppets of the Emperor. This caused many of them to gun down some of their best friends, Jedi who had each saved hundreds of lives, both civilians and clones. The unwilling actions of the Republic's finest soldiers plunged the galaxy into the darkest of times under the reign of the evil Emperor.

What other uses the Empire could have for the clone inhibitor chips is likely yet to be seen in upcoming episodes of The Bad Batch. Unfortunately we know from past experiences with clone trooper Tup that head trauma can cause the chip to malfunction, leading to the death of the clone and his close friend Jedi Master Tiplar. With Wrecker's head hurting after the Havoc Marauder crashed on the moon of the Ordo Moon Dragon, the Batch had better keep a close eye on him. Hopefully Tech can get his scanner online to locate and evaluate the Bad Batch's inhibitor chips before Crosshair gets one of his old roommates back. With Captain Rex hopefully arriving soon to fill in Clone Force 99 on what he and Ahsoka learned during Order 66, maybe there is hope for the Batch and Crosshair yet.

Written By Weston Erickson

Source(s): Wookieepedia

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