Control chip

"The evidence is in here, it's all in here, every one of us, every clone!" "What is it?" "Organic chips, built into our genetic code to make us do whatever someone wants, even kill the Jedi! It's all in here!"

- Clone troopers ARC trooper Fives and Captain Rex

Control chips, also known as inhibitor chips, were a type of organic bio-chip capable of dictating or responding to the thoughts of its host. Kaminoan cloners implanted them within each clone trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic. It was implanted into the brain of every trooper at the third stage of their embryonic development. When they were activated the troopers responded to orders without question, allowing the Supreme Chancellor to initiate Order 66. The Galactic Empire later employed these devices to keep in line its enslaved Wookiee population on Kashyyyk.

Description
"We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than the original host. They are totally obedient, taking any order without question."

- Lama Su, to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Inhibitor chips had been implanted in the clone troopers to make the clones less aggressive than the clone template. Unbeknownst to Sifo-Dyas, however, the chips were also tooled to another purpose: to force the clones to comply with the execution of Order 66, which wiped out nearly all Jedi. The chips were later installed in enslaved Wookiees by the Galactic Empire.

History
"You must remember the chip is a safeguard against betrayal from rogue Jedi. Master Sifo-Dyas was the only Jedi who knew of this. But with his passing, we alone know of this secret, and we must keep it that way."

- The disguised Count Dooku, to Lama Su

Prior to the battle of Naboo, former Jedi Council member Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas contacted the Kaminoans to order a clone army for the Republic. He provided them the inhibitor chip to make the clones less aggressive than the clone template and to act as a safeguard against betrayal from rogue Jedi. However, Sith Lords Darth Sidious and his new apprentice, Darth Tyranus, had Sifo-Dyas eliminated and took over his project, keeping it a secret from the Jedi.

Order 66
During the Clone Wars, the inhibitor-chip conspiracy was nearly uncovered when the Order 66 function of the chip in the clone trooper Tup was prematurely activated, causing him to execute the Jedi General Tiplar. Though the Jedi discovered the existence of the inhibitor chip, they never learned that it was also used to issue Order 66, as the clone Fives, who had been investigating the matter, was killed by Commander Fox. Though Fives had warned that the conspiracy went to the highest level and that Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine had tried to stop him from revealing what he knew, Anakin Skywalker stubbornly refused to believe that Palpatine was capable of what Fives was describing.

Age of the Empire
"It was at the end, the end of the war. Our fellow soldiers, the clones, the ones we Jedi fought side by side with, suddenly turned and betrayed us. I watched them kill my master. She fought beside them for years and they gunned her down in a second! Then they came for me. Later they said they had chips in their heads that made them do it. Said they had no choice."

- Kanan Jarrus describing what happened during Order 66 to his Padawan, Ezra Bridger

Some clones, however, removed their chips from their heads before the order was given, so they did not betray their Jedi comrades. At least 3 clones, Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor, removed their chips and moved to a modified AT-TE. After Order 66, some clone troopers, horrified at their actions while controlled, found out about the chips and spread the word about their existence in order to explain what had happened.

In 18 BBY a former Jedi Padawan on the run from Vader's inquisitors used the force to activate the inhibitor chips of nearby clones, leading them to attack said inquisitors, whom were former Jedi.

Once the Galactic Empire gained control of the galaxy, it enslaved the Wookiee population of Kashyyyk. Enslaved Wookiees were installed with inhibitor chips which could be used to cause them extreme pain should they rebel against their captors. The chip could be activated in a rebelling Wookiee, causing pain until the Wookiee either fell back in line or died from the pain. As the Empire became more savvy, a common tactic was to instead subject family or clan members to pain, as the Wookiees would often be willing to sacrifice their own lives but couldn't bear to see the suffering of clan or family members. During the liberation of Kashyyyk, a strike team led by Han Solo disabled the field controlling the inhibitor chips, effectively rendering them useless and allowing the Wookiees to strike freely, though this was met with an orbital bombardment by Star Destroyers from the Galactic Empire.

Ultimately, the Imperial occupiers were defeated when a small New Republic fleet led by Admiral Ackbar and Captain Wedge Antilles entered the Kashyyyk system and forced their surrender. Chewbacca's son Lumpawaroo likened the inhibitor chips to a song which sounded like the thrumming wings of a swarm of drriw-tcha blood-worm flies.

Rax also installed inorganic bio-chips in the brain stems of a hundred Rebel Alliance prisoners at Ashmead's Lock prison on Kashyyyk. These prisoners were part of a secret contingency plan to assassinate New Republic government officials and military commanders during the Liberation Day celebrations on Chandrila in 5 ABY. Rax and his undercover agent Windom Traducier used a transponder installed at the Hanna City opera house to transmit signals which activated the agents.

Prisoners installed with the bio-chips included Brentin Lore Wexley, Jonda Jae-Talwar, and Esdo. The unwilling assassins killed several New Republic officials and commanders, including Hostis Ij, but failed to kill Chancellor Mon Mothma. The New Republic authorities managed to subdue the prisoners. Investigations by the New Republic Security Bureau and the slicer Conder Kyl uncovered the chips. However, they malfunctioned as some kind of planned degradation before the New Republic could conduct further investigations.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
 * Kanan 5: The Last Padawan, Part V: Release
 * Ahsoka
 * Aftermath: Life Debt
 * Aftermath: Empire's End
 * "The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku"
 * Aftermath: Life Debt
 * Aftermath: Empire's End
 * "The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku"
 * "The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku"