Imperial Kinder-block

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"The emergence of the—now infamous—Imperial kinder-blocks on some worlds, which served as both housing and educational compounds where the Empire could raise a new generation of loyalists, is a further sign of the insidious nature of the overarching project."
―Beaumont Kin, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire[1]

Imperial Kinder-blocks, also written as Imperial kinderblocks or Imperial kinder-blocks, were compounds set up by the Galactic Empire's Sub-Adult Group to raise a generation of Imperial loyalists. The human Dedra Meero was raised in a facility that would become known as an Imperial Kinder-block and grew up to serve the Empire. Following the fall of the Empire in 5 ABY, the blocks became infamous according to the historian Beaumont Kin.

Description

"We had everything we needed."
"Except a mother's love."
"We didn't know what we were missing."
―Dedra Meero and Eedy Karn — 20?cb=20250116042720 ▶️ (file info)[2]

Imperial Kinder-blocks,[3] also written as Imperial kinderblocks[4] or Imperial kinder-blocks,[5] were compounds set up on various worlds by the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order's Sub-Adult Group. Kinder-blocks were meant to provide housing and education to children and also raise a generation of loyalists to the Galactic Empire.[1]

History

"My parents were criminals. They were arrested when I was three. I was raised in an Imperial Kinder-block."
"Well… Nothing delicate about that, is there?"
―Dedra Meero and Eedy Karn — 20?cb=20250116042720 ▶️ (file info)[2]
A severe looking human woman in an Imperial officers uniform with a white tunic and black pants stands on a stone balcony. Her blonde hair is tightly tied back and her hands are planted firmly on the baclony's barrier.

Dedra Meero was raised in a facility that would become an Imperial Kinder-block.

Dedra Meero, a human from[6] the planet[1] Coruscant,[6] was raised in a facility[2] that would later become known as an Imperial Kinder-block[4] after her parents were arrested when she was three years old.[2] The training that she received there during her childhood helped turn her into a cold, calculating, emotionally bankrupt servant of the Empire as an adult.[4]

In 4 BBY,[7] Meero informed her partner Syril Karn's mother, Eedy Karn, about her upbringing and claimed that she and the other residents had had everything they needed. Eedy described such an upbringing as indelicate and claimed the children had lacked a mother's love, although Meero responded that they had not known what they were missing out on.[2]

Following the fall of the Empire[1] in 5 ABY,[8] the blocks became infamous, and the historian Beaumont Kin described them as a sign of the Sub-Adult Group's overall insidious nature in[1] his[9] book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire[1] in 35 ABY.[10]

Behind the scenes

"Dedra grew up in an Imperial kinder-block, which means she had no example of love, of affection, of joy, of affirmation, of boundaries or of any parenting. So when Syril comes into her life and she has all these feelings that a normal person would be able to put in a place of safety within them, Dedra is undone by it."
―Denise Gough[11]
The black cover of Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire with a crumbling red Imperial crest. The book's title and DK are written in white, while the author, Dr. Chris Kempshall, is written in red.

Imperial kinder-blocks were first mentioned in Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, by Dr. Chris Kempshall.

Imperial kinder-blocks were first mentioned in the 2024 reference book Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, which was written by Dr. Chris Kempshall.[1] The capitalization "Imperial Kinder-block" was then first used in the subtitles of "Harvest," the third episode of the second season of the Disney+ live-action show Star Wars: Andor,[3] which aired on April 22, 2025.[12] A StarWars.com article on the episode written by Kristin Baver and published April 23, 2025, then introduced the spelling Imperial kinderblock.[4] A second StarWars.com article, written by Ethan Sacks and released on May 15, 2025, then introduced the spelling Imperial kinder-block.[5]

During early development of the show, its creator and executive producer, Tony Gilroy, considered making an episode showing Deedra's unconventional childhood as a ward of the state in the facility that would become an Imperial kinder-block. Instead, he chose to present this information with a single line, but this meant that Denise Gough, the actress portraying Meero, knew the character's twisted origin, viewing her as having grown up with no love, touch, or care.[5] Gilroy viewed the character as a zealot who had grown up to become the very thing that terrified her during her childhood: the authority of the state.[13]

Gough saw this childhood lack of joy, affection, or affirmation as affecting her relationship with Karn, as she did not understand the feelings she had toward him or what to do with them.[11] She also described the character as essentially growing up in a cult where she was brainwashed.[14] Karn's actor, Kyle Soller, viewed part of the romance between Karn and Meero as being based in the fact that both grew up in environments where overbearing control was used against them.[15]

Appearances

This article has an associated index page with page numbers and/or timestamps.

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Andor logo new Star Wars: Andor — "Harvest"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Andor logo new Star Wars: Andor — "Harvest" (Subtitles from Disney+)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 StarWars.com Andor Explained: Episodes 1-3 - "One Year Later", "Sagrona Teema", and "Harvest" on StarWars.com (backup link)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 StarWars.com Even these Andor Stars Were Creeped Out by the Series' Strangest Power Couple on StarWars.com (backup link)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 2023 Topps Star Wars Card: Dedra Meero (backup link)
  7. ↑ StarWars.com Behind the Seams: The Costumes of Andor Season 2 - Updated on StarWars.com (backup link) dates "Sagrona Teema" to 4 BBY.
  8. ↑ Star Wars: Timelines
  9. ↑ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary
  10. ↑ Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire states that thirty years have passed since the end of the Galactic Civil War and months have passed since the Battle of Exegol. As Star Wars: Timelines dates the end of the war to 5 ABY and the Battle of Exegol to 35 ABY, the in-universe The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire must have been published in 35 ABY.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Premium-Era-real ‘Andor’ Star Denise Gough on Dedra Meero’s Worst Nightmare Coming True by Brian, Davids on The Hollywood Reporter (May 6, 2025) (backup link archived on May 9, 2025)
  12. ↑ StarWars.com First Andor A Star Wars Story Teaser Trailer and Poster Revealed on StarWars.com (backup link)
  13. ↑ YouTube Tony Gilroy: Yes, 'Andor' Rhymes with Our Political Moment on the To the Contrary With Charlie Sykes YouTube channel (August 12, 2025) (backup link)
  14. ↑ Premium-Era-real Andor star Denise Gough takes us inside Luthen-Dedra showdown and reacts to Dedra's fate by Lenker, Maureen Lee on Entertainment Weekly (May 15, 2025) (backup link archived on May 16, 2025)
  15. ↑ Premium-Era-real Andor's Kyle Soller on Syril's 'Incredible' Anger: He's 'Finally Understanding That He's Been the Patsy' by Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia on TV Guide (May 9, 2025) (backup link archived on May 9, 2025)
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