One of the many elements in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series that Star Wars fans are excited about is the live-action debut of the Inquisitorius, particularly the Grand Inquisitor, who canon lovers have gotten to know well over the years. While his design in the show was initially criticized, fans are still anticipating Rupert Friend's portrayal and finding out more about the character.
In the canon, as it is, though, there is a lot of information about the character that a lot of fans will not know about. Even fans of Rebels may not necessarily have the full scope of his awesome, intimidating character.
For those going into Obi-Wan Kenobi completely blind to what the Inquisitorius are, it may seem confusing as to why there are numbered brothers and sisters and then one single Inquisitor with the title Grand Inquisitor.
The Grand Inquisitor is the adopted name of the Pau'an former Jedi who held the title of the same name during the time of the Empire. He is the highest-ranking member of the Inquisitorius to whom the others report and confide, with him himself answering to Darth Vader. He is also known as just the Inquisitor on occasion and is, as far as fans can see thus far anyway, the most skilled and powerful of the group. As far as fans know, there is not a Grand Inquisitor who succeeds him. His title was not revealed in Rebels but by Dave Filoni in the home release of Rebels' first season, previewing season 2.
For those Star Wars fans who have not given Rebels a watch prior to Obi-Wan Kenobi, they will not only be missing out on one of the best and most underappreciated pieces of Star Wars ever but will be missing out on a lot of Grand Inquisitor information.
He is the main antagonist of the show's first season, tasked by Darth Vader to hunt down Force sensitives and their Masters, leading him to the crew of the Ghost, a small band of rebels of which two Force users/Jedi are a part of, Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, who proves to be a difficult task for the skilled Inquisitor. The three have some great battles and some awesome encounters, and the show gives audiences a great foundation of understanding what an Inquisitor is and who the Grand Inquisitor is specifically.
The Grand Inquisitor is the first of the Inquisitors that fans meet and his first appearance was initially in Star Wars: Rebels, but through a retcon, his first appearance is actually in Star Wars' other beloved animated show, The Clone Wars.
The Grand Inquisitor is a former Jedi Temple Guard and is actually one of the Guards who escorts Ahsoka, and later Barriss Offee, to the trial of Ahsoka Tano, where she confesses to her crimes and lambasts the Jedi Order, making his first Star Wars appearance "The Wrong Jedi" and not "Spark Of Rebellion."
Despite being a Jedi Knight and part of the Jedi Temple Guard, the Grand Inquisitor held some unbecoming feelings of hatred toward the Chief Librarian Jocasta Nu - who, admittedly, is not the most likable of Jedi in the era.
This hatred stemmed from Jocasta's own feelings toward him. He wanted to read data files in the Jedi Archives, but she watched him closely when he did so and deemed him unfit for education, as explained in Darth Vader (2017) 7. If he were not a Jedi, these feelings of dislike, even hatred towards Jocasta, would be justified.
The Grand Inquisitor's fall to the dark side comes not just from temptation but due to Barriss Offee's betrayal and disillusionment of the Jedi and longing for the Jedi Temple archives, the latter of which Darth Sidious used as a recruitment tactic.
The Grand Inquisitor was promised the secrets of the Jedi Archives by Darth Sidious, who personally made him a part of the Inquisitorius. These records would help the Inquisitor become such a deadly threat and one of Star Wars animation's most powerful villains, as he learned the history of the Jedi further and became familiar with all of the combat styles and members of the Jedi Order who used them.
Rae Sloane is another fantastic Imperial villain who will not be known to a lot of more casual Star Wars fans, and even fewer will know that the Grand Inquisitor got her help while hunting Kanan Jarrus.
Sloane encountered Kanan long before the Grand Inquisitor and, outside of her Imperial duties, hunted him as more of a hobby - as the Inquisitor called it. After a failed attempt to capture Kanan on Lahn, the Grand Inquisitor demanded Sloane tell him everything she knew about the Jedi, this helping the Inquisitor hunt Kanan throughout season 1 of Rebels.
Inklings of Project Harvester existed before the Inquisitorius Programme, but did not kick into gear properly until the Inquisitors did, as they were necessary to complete the program's main function; kidnap Force-sensitive children and turn them into Imperial agents.
The first look at this project came to be in The Clone Wars but continues throughout the Empire's reign. The Grand Inquisitor himself was responsible for the kidnapping of Dhara Leonis, who remained in a cell after the Grand Inquisitor's death until she was rescued. As told in Dark Legends, there was a tale told about a figure resembling the Inquisitor kidnapping children from an orphanage on Gaaten until he was scared away by Order 66 survivor Kira Vantala and Force-sensitive orphan Elish.
The Grand Inquisitor's full story is not known as of now, there are blanks, especially in his life prior to being the Inquisitor, but writer Henry Gilroy (who has worked on various Star Wars projects such as the prequels, The Clone Wars, and Rebels) has his own great ideas about his past.
At DragonCon 2018, Gilroy revealed his idea that the Grand Inquisitor murdered all of the other Jedi Temple Guards when Order 66 happened, allowing Anakin and the 501st to storm the temple, explaining why Jedi Temple Guards were absent at the time. It is a phenomenal and totally plausible idea in the canon.
Following the Grand Inquisitor's epic final quote and harrowing death, it would be easy to assume that was him done in the canon going forward chronologically. Thanks to Vader, that was not the case.
Despite letting himself die rather than face Vader's wrath, the Inquisitor would not be free as Vader continued using his spirit, trapping it on Tempes at a High Republic Jedi Outpost, hoping to stop those seeking knowledge. For all fans know, he continues to reside there with his spirit burning in the fire that consumed his body in Rebels.
The Grad Inquisitor did not simply get revealed to have gotten trapped as a spirit on Tempes with no further role to play; readers of Star Wars (2020) get to see him in action against none other than Luke skywalker.
This comes following the events of The Empire Strikes Back and sees Luke venture to Tempes in hopes of finding a new weapon. Ironically, he ended up dueling the Inquisitor with a Jedi Temple Guard's lightsaber. After learning a moral lesson about the willingness to die for a cause, Luke ended up defeating the spirit of the Grand Inquisitor, who, to this day, haunts Tempes with his fiery presence.
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