The scheme known as the Ismaren plot, alternatively referred to as the Eye of Palpatine crisis or the Eye of Palpatine incident, was a strategy put into action by Roganda Ismaren in collaboration with House Sreethyn in 12 ABY. Its purpose was to reinvigorate the Galactic Empire after a series of defeats in previous years.
Roganda Ismaren, a former Emperor's Hand, was the one who initiated the plot. Following Palpatine's demise, she escaped to the remote planet of Belsavis. From that location, in the years leading up to 12 ABY, she began the process of putting her plan into effect.
Roganda's son, Irek, was central to the scheme, and she brought him with her to Belsavis. Sarcev Quest, another Emperor's Hand, was Irek's father, but Roganda asserted that Palpatine was the true father, providing Irek with a justification to lead and reunite the splintered Empire in its conflict against the New Republic. She instructed him in the ways of the dark side of the Force and had a subelectronic converter implanted in him. Furthermore, through the tutelage of the captured Professor Nasdra Magrody and the advanced learning methods developed by Wilhuff Tarkin for his facility over Omwat, Irek gained expertise in controlling machinery.
Locating the Eye of Palpatine, a battlemoon that had been lost since the Empire's early days, was the next stage of Roganda's strategy. She used Irek's skills to activate it and start its journey toward Belsavis. She then contacted the leaders of the Senex and Juvex sectors, a region ruled by powerful, oligarchic families who profited from slavery, had prospered under Palpatine, and had opposed the New Republic.
She gathered them on Belsavis and introduced Irek as Palpatine's son. Leia Organa Solo, the Chief of State of the New Republic, who, along with her husband Han, had been looking into questionable activities on the planet, had been captured by the Ismarens. She was also presented to the Lords, along with the announcement that the Eye of Palpatine had been reactivated and summoned. Roganda hoped to create a crucial turning point in the civil war by combining the wealth and power of the Senex and Juvex Lords, the Ismarens' skills, the Eye of Palpatine and other weapons she had been secretly bringing to Belsavis over the years, and the Chief of State as their hostage.
However, Luke Skywalker, Leia's brother, along with Callista Ming, Nichos Marr, and Cray Mingla were successful in destroying the Eye of Palpatine, while Han Solo, along with Mara Jade Skywalker, R2-D2, and C-3PO, were able to overwhelm the assembled Lords. The plot failed, and despite the Ismarens' escape, they were never able to regain prominence.