Cloning was the process of duplicating an organism into one or many genetically identical individuals known as clones. During the final years of the Galactic Republic, an army of clone troopers was grown on the planet Kamino. Using the human Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett as a template, the Kaminoans tampered with Fett’s genetic structure to make his clones more docile. In addition, they were designed to grow at twice the rate of normal human aging, making the clone troopers ready for deployment in a decade’s time. At Fett’s request, an unmodified clone—Boba Fett—was created from his template and given to him to raise as his son.

During the Clone Wars, Fett’s clone soldiers served in the Grand Army of the Republic under Jedi leadership until Order 66 called for the destruction of the Jedi Order. The clones carried out their mandate due to their programming, eliminating most of the Jedi Knights across the galaxy, after which the Galactic Empire was formed by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Shortly thereafter, the clone army was decommissioned and replaced by birth-born stormtroopers.

The Empire ultimately fell to the New Republic after the Emperor’s destruction. However, Sidious managed to cheat death. Through the combined use of cloning and the dark side of the Force, the Sith Lord transferred his spirit to a new host that had been cloned from his original body. Though the transference had been a success, Sidious’ new vessel suffered from rapid deterioration and was unable to contain the dark energy of his soul. His followers, the Sith Eternal, experimented with Sidious’ template in the hope of creating a more suitable vessel. Their efforts produced various Strand-Casts, including Supreme Leader Snoke and multiple genetic copies of him, as well as a modified clone that was healthy yet lacked Sidious’ connection to the Force. As such, the clone’s only worth to Sidious lay in continuing the Palpatine bloodline through more natural means, resulting in the birth of Rey who, unlike her father, was regarded as the ideal host for her grandfather’s essence following Ben Solo‘s rejection of the dark side.