Star Wars: Obi-Wan’s Inquisitors, explained

As a wise Jedi master once said, “there is always a bigger fish.” And when it comes to the Empire’s Jedi hunter faction, the galaxy’s bigger fish are the Royal Heretics.

The Inquisitors went all out in the trailer for Disney Plus’ new Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. We first meet Reva, played by Moses Ingram’s Queen’s Gambit, who is hunting Obi-Wan on Tatooine and interrogating Uncle Owen. We also see the Grand Inquisitor, a genuine bad guy who reports directly to Darth Vader.

No, moviegoers, you haven’t seen either of these in the prequel, sequel, or original trilogy. But they’re an important part of Star Wars. (Sorry Ewan McGregor for being overshadowed – he’s cool too.)

Fans who once devoured every piece of Star Wars lore are now familiar with The Heretics. But those who haven’t caught up with novels, manga and most importantly Star Wars: Rebels anime series, it can be a bit confusing when these lightsaber-wielding enemies first appear in the new Star Wars TV show. Who We Counterpicks?

To help you understand Obi-WanOur most deadly enemies, we’ve traced the history of Star Wars to chart the past and present of the characters in this expansive universe.

Who are the Empire Investigators?

In the time between Sith’s Revenge and A new hopeThe Inquisitors were a specific unit of Imperial soldiers working under Darth Vader. All of them are Force sensitive and most use lightsaber. They are tragic figures: Each is a former Jedi who defected from the Resistance and chose to join the Empire.

By choosing the former Jedi, Vader avoids the need to directly advise his new Force-wielding death squad. Vader may have done this in part so he wouldn’t violate the Sith rule of two, which states that there must always be two Siths: an employer and an apprentice. Therefore, if you want an army of Force users running around with lights on, they have to be Inquisitors instead of actual Siths.

What do Inquisitors do?

You can think of Inquisitors as a small task force. They may perform missions to help quell rebellions or quell local conflicts. They were like violent cousins ​​to the Jedi who served the Republic as peacekeepers. They are sometimes honored as tax collectors. But their main purpose is to hunt the Jedi.

With their recent past as the Jedi themselves giving them insight, the Heretics hunting the remaining Jedi have slipped through the cracks of Order 66. As Darth Vader himself records in the episode first of Star Wars: RebelsThe Inquisitors focused their efforts on the “Children of the Force,” the next generation of Force users that could pose a threat to the Empire.

Image: Lucasfilm

What Inquisitors have we seen before?

What we see most of Inquisitors in official canon law is in Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith manga series, where they frequently accompany the Sith lord on his various missions around the galaxy. But the version of Inquisitors that most resembles Reva comes from Star Wars: Rebels. In Rebels, Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister (name based on Inquisitor’s rating system) pursue the group of heroes across the stars of the show. In the second season episode “Always Two There Are”, we will see these two Inquisitors and their impressive action skills as they pursue Ezra Bridger and his friends.

Then the Inquisitors appeared in Jedi: Fallen Order

Inquisitors played a major role in Respawn’s recent Star Wars game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, where they make the perfect boss opponent. In the game, set after the fall of the Republic, they spend most of their time hunting. Jedi: Fallen Orders protagonist Cal Kestis is a Jedi living in the time after the rise of the Empire, which means the Inquisition is a daily threat. And one day they caught him while searching for the surviving Jedi.

Why are Inquisitors in Obi-Wan?

Item-Sith’s Revenge the timeline is where the Heretics really shine, so the Clone War Creator – and shadow master of this new era of live action TV of Star Wars storytelling – Dave Filoni will put the animated timeline in action of the Obi-Wan story . In the anime, Obi-Wan had his fair share of encounters with the Inquisitor. Now he will do so again, for reasons that will remain a mystery until Obi-Wan Kenobi premiered in Disney Plus on May 25.

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