The Inquisitors in Obi-Wan Kenobi show why the Rule of Two is neceesary

Obi Wan Kenobi brought the Inquisitors to live-action, a group of fallen Jedi who serve the Empire by hunting any Order 66 survivors and force sensitive children. Obi Wan Kenobi introduces audiences to four Inquisitors, the Grand Inquisitor and the Fifth Brother, the Fourth Sis and the Third Sister Reva. They receive a significant amount of screen time, and constantly fight one another, actively working against their goal of capturing Kenobi. Through this portrayal, audiences are able to see why Darth Bane had introduced the Rule of Two thousands of years before.

The Rule of Two was created by Darth Bane in the aftermath of the Jedi-Sith War. Due to the selfish ideology of the Sith, members of its order would actively work against each other and undermine their goals of destroying the Jedi. Citing selfish infighting as one of the reasons why the Sith lost the war, Bane mandated that only two Sith could exist at one time, a master to embody the power of the Dark Side, and an apprentice to crave it. This would stop the infighting and allow the Sith to triumph over the Jedi.

How Obi Wan Kenobi portrays the Inquisitors perfectly captures why Darth Bane created the Rule of Two. While the Inquisitors aren’t Sith, they are Dark Side acolytes, they still harbour the same selfish tendencies. Their overall goal is to work together to hunt the remaining Jedi down, but they often fall into infighting which stops them achieving it.

In “Part 1” of Obi Wan Kenobi, the Grand Inquisitor, the Fifth Brother and the Third Sister track a Jedi to a local bar, but because of Reva’s selfish quest for personal glory, he escapes. Reva is obsessed with hunting Kenobi, to the detriment of her other quests. Both here and in Episode Two the other Inquisitors question her methods, and the Grand Inquisitor even goes as far as to remove her from the hunt and belittle her. When Reva has Obi Wan cornered on Daiyu, the Grand Inquisitor lets his pride and hatred of her get in the way of capturing Kenobi, and it’s also this that leads to Reva stabbing him.

This continues through Episode 3 and 4. Reva and the Fifth Brother bicker constantly about becoming the Grand Inquisitor, and not focusing on the hunt for Kenobi. The Fifth Brother and Reva argue about who should speak to Vader, and they wish ill upon each other. In Episode Four, when Obi Wan breaks into Fortress Inquisitorius, instead of helping Reva find Obi Wan, the Fifth Brother priorities chastising Reva, and assuring his place as the Grand Inquisitor. Because of this selfish desire to knock Reva down and desire of power, the Fifth Brother walks straight past Obi Wan. Ironically enough, had the Fifth Brother been focusing on finding Kenobi, he would have won Vader’s favour.

The Inquisitors show an inability to work together, just like the ancient Sith did. Both fail to achieve their goals due to their selfishness and lust for power. The failure of the Inquisitorius to capture Kenobi perfectly encapsulates Bane’s reasoning for restricting the Sith’s ranks.  Perhaps Vader would have had more success if he limited the amount of Inquisitors he had.

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