During the time of the Galactic Civil War, Minister Veris Hydan of the Galactic Empire was in charge of an excavation project at the Jedi Temple on Lothal. This was done at the behest of Emperor Palpatine, who wanted to utilize a portal located within the temple that led to the World Between Worlds. The Empire's awareness of the temple came about when two Imperial Inquisitors, the Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister, followed the Jedi Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, as well as the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, to the location in approximately 3 BBY year. As part of the excavation, one of the temple's doorways was carefully disassembled, stone by stone, and then moved off-planet. This doorway contained a portal which led to the mystical Force realm.
The excavation brought to light a painting depicting the three powerful Force users, the Father, Daughter, and Son; Hydan correctly surmised that it was linked to the portal he was seeking. In 1 BBY, the Spectres, a Rebel group, embarked on a mission to the temple. While there, Ezra and Sabine Wren infiltrated the excavation site while disguised as scout troopers. The pair managed to activate the portal before Sabine was discovered and her disguise removed, and Ezra then stepped into the World Between Worlds. The excavation was brought to an end when Ezra, after returning to Lothal via the portal, activated the Mortis gods painting in a way that caused the permanent destruction of the Jedi temple, thus preventing the Empire from gaining access to that particular portal.