3 small but potentially big things we noticed in Star Wars lore

2. Palpatine attempted Nightsister magick to make his clones

Remember those creepy Palpy clones mentioned in The Rise of Skywalker? Compared to Moff Gideon’s clones, seen on The Mandalorian, they were definitely subpar, which is definitely surprising since Palpy is such a powerful and talented Sith Lord. What made his clones look as if they were rotting in graves instead of being fresh versions of him is the fact that Palpatine actually tried to use Nightsister magick to make them.

Nightsister magick thrives on community and is ultimately greatly connected to its home planet, Dathomir. Palpy’s Sith ways? Revelations from the novel Jedi: Battle Scars make it easy to see why Palpatine’s attempts to integrate Nightsister magick into his dark experiments were not such a successful endeavor. His ambition did lead him to make clones of himself in his quest for eternal life and power, but even though he went to great lengths to learn Nightsister magick, his complete lack of understanding of its communal nature and attachment to specific places like Dathomir meant that his clones ended up being ugly and flawed imitations instead of perfect copies. Unlike Nightsister magick, which gains its strength from the bonds of community and the peculiarities of its home planet, the Sith way revolves around the domination and manipulation of others, making true community impossible.

What’s the lesson here? You can’t just mix and match different Force traditions and expect a master recipe. Nightsister magick isn’t just another Dark Side hack to be exploited. It’s a distinct practice, deeply tied to community and place, something the Sith fundamentally misunderstood.