Tales of The Empire episode 6 "The Way Out" ending explained

"The Way Out" is a fitting title for this last episode of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire. It begins with the revelation of how Barriss has moved on to a new life and ends with her attempt to provide the same escape for the woman who hunted her down.

The conclusion brought Barriss back to her Jedi nature and healer’s calling. In our introduction to the Force and its servants, one of Barriss’ contemporaries described what came next:

"“A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine before he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights…Now, the Jedi are all but extinct.”"

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

The episode shows the former Inquisitor being sought out for an act of service and compassion, but this lifestyle is in peril. A family with a Force sensitive child seeks her out, but danger lurks behind them as the Fourth Sister hunts the child. Barriss sends the family and her aides away on her personal ship as she faces her old foe. Just as Barriss succeeds in stalling the Fourth Sister long enough for a family to escape, she is gravely wounded. Our last view of her is from a distance as Lyn carries her limp body from the caves where the two Inquisitors faced off.

Barriss was indeed impaled, but it’s not clear if she received a fatal wound.  This uncertainty is further heightened by her once-friend’s promise to get her out as it seems the Fourth Sister has become Lyn once again in a return to the light side. At this point, Lyn is able to find the literal way out, leaving her iconic Inquisitor lightsaber behind her. And it is at this point that our knowledge of Barriss’ eventual fate comes to a standstill.

This is equally true for the Fourth Sister. This episode is cited as taking place after the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi and before the fall of the Inquisitorius nine years later. Her armor is spotted later than this in the timeline, as Rebel Commander Lina Graf uses it to impersonate the Fourth Sister in the 2019 comic Return to Vader’s Castle #5.  The Fourth Sister’s fate currently remains a secret. 

So, where did these foes meet their ends? Was Barriss able to be healed and continue her work as a healer of others?  Did Lyn accept the way out that Barriss promised she could find?

We can hope that those answers will come.