Obi-Wan Kenobi: Who Is the Grand Inquisitor?

With the release of the Obi-Wan Kenobi teaser trailer, the Star Wars Universe is abuzz with a myriad of theories for the future. The teaser trailer had a few familiar faces, the return of John Williams as the composer, and even a few new faces.

For those who have not yet been fully inducted into the full animated Star Wars Universe, you may be wondering who the pale-faced inquisitor is. For those of us who have seen Star Wars: Rebels, we remember the chilling voice that accompanied the Grand Inquisitor.

After the fall of the Jedi Order, and the diaspora of Jedi that happened shortly thereafter, Palpatine decided to create an order of sith-like warriors known as the Inquisitors. This group was tasked with the hunting down of the remnants of the Jedi Order, often along with other specialized units such as the Purge Troopers. Often Inquisitors were fallen Jedi themselves, and the Grand Inquisitor was no exception.

The Grand Inquisitor is a former Jedi Temple Guard, who rose up the ranks of the evil order until he was the highest-ranking member, only behind Darth Vader himself. The Grand Inquisitor is a Pau’an (Utapuan) male, whose name is unknown. Like the rest of the Inquisitors he is skilled in the use of the Dark Side of the Force, has a duel bladed spinning lightsaber, and was a quite skilled duelist, able to effectively engage and defeat former Jedi padawan Kanan Jarrus and his apprentice Ezra Bridger on multiple occasions with little effort.

While Kanan eventually would get the better of the Grand Inquisitor, his time in service for Darth Vader would not end there. In Star Wars (2020) 6 we see the Grand Inquisitor spirit was used by Vader to guard a temple and its contents from Luke Skywalker. Again it seems that the Inquisitor remembers that there are many “fates worse than death.”

The appearance of multiple Inquisitors as well as an appearance by Hayden Christain sets up tons of great villains for the upcoming limited series. No matter the obstacle, the Grand Inquisitor is certain to employ any ruthless tactics to overcome Kenobi, and his appearance sets the expectations high for the upcoming series.

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