Imperial Kinder-block

"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

Imperial Kinder-blocks, also written as Imperial kinderblocks, 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, 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

Imperial Kinder-blocks also written as Imperial kinderblocks, 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.

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

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

Dedra Meero, a human from the planet Coruscant, was raised in a facility that would later become known as an Imperial kinder-block after her parents were arrested when she was three years old. 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.

In 4 BBY, 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.

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

Behind the scenes

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. The capitalisation "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 Andor, which aired on April 22, 2025. A StarWars.com article on the episode written by Kristin Baver and published April 23, 2025, then introduced the spelling Imperial kinderblock.

Appearances

• Andor — "Harvest" (Mentioned only) (First identified as Imperial Kinder-block)

Sources

• Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire (First mentioned)
• Andor Explained: Episodes 1-3 - "One Year Later", "Sagrona Teema", and "Harvest" on StarWars.com (backup link) (First identified as Imperial kinderblock)