Joseph Watson
Warning: This article will contain spoilers for Star Wars the Clone Wars S5 and Star Wars Rebels
The Grand Inquisitor was a Pau’an male inquisitor first introduced in the TV show 'Star Wars: Rebels'. He was never given an actual name; he was only ever referred to as the Grand Inquisitor. Nevertheless, he had a massive impact in the show and has a very interesting backstory which I will be explaining in this article.
In his early days, he lived on the planet of Utapau (which is also where General Grievous was killed) and was born 15 years before the invasion of Naboo which took place in The Phantom Menace. He later became a Jedi Temple Guard however, not a lot is known about how and when this took place. What is known is that he was involved in the bombing of the Jedi Temple Ark in The Clone Wars S5, arresting Ashoka Tano who was suspected for the bombing but was not actually the culprit. He then later assisted Anakin Skywalker along with the other temple guards to arrest the real culprit - Barriss Offee. After the arrest of Barriss Offee, he escorted her to her trial along with Anakin and three other temple guards. At this trial, Barriss Offee gave a speech on how the Jedi were lost and corrupt. This made the Grand Inquisitor lose faith in the Jedi order and, during Order 66, he fell to the Darkside - killing his fellow temple guards and becoming the leader of the inquisitorius.
During his time as an Inquisitor, the Grand Inquisitor hunted many Jedi and was tasked in killing the more powerful Jedi who escaped the great Jedi Purge (Order 66). He dealt with more challenging tasks than other Inquisitors as he was the most powerful of all of them. For example, he also was responsible for the brutal execution of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. He used the bones of Luminara and a fake broadcast to lure other Jedi to the cell where she was being held before her death so that they could also meet a similar fate. Later, Kanan Jarus ( a Jedi padawan who escaped order 66) and his apprentice Ezra Bridger both went there only to discover it was a trap. Luckily they managed to escape with their lives leading to the Grand Inquisitor searching for them. In the season 1 finale of Star Wars Rebels the Grand Inquisitor fought Kanan and Ezra. In this battle Ezra fell off the side of a platform they were fighting on. Kanan thought Ezra had died from the fall resulting in him having nothing to lose so he fought the Grand Inquisitor with all of his strength. This made the Grand Inquisitor slip off the ledge and barely grip onto the side of the platform. Kanan, despite all of the hate he had for the Grand Inquisitor, held his hand out to help him up. But instead of taking his hand the Grand Inquisitor simply said “There are some things far more frightening than death” and then fell into the burning flames below. The Grand Inquisitor was referring to the fact that he had failed to stop Kanan and Ezra thus was scared as to what Darth Vader might do to him given that he failed his mission. It was also revealed that Ezra was still alive and together they both left the area. The Grand Inquisitor also appeared in a later episode in a flashback to his time as a temple guard.
After the Grand Inquisitor's death, many inquisitors saw this as an opportunity to become the next Grand Inquisitor. This is proven in the quote from the seventh sister, “The death of the Grand Inquisitor was a shock, but it has given many new opportunities”. The Grand Inquisitor is set to also appear in the new Obi Wan Kenobi show which will release on Disney+ on the 25th of May this year. While the Grand Inquisitor has only appeared in one show (soon to be two with the new Obi Wan Kenobi) he has left a massive impact on the Star Wars universe - being the first canon Inquisitor appearance and showing just how intimidating the Empire truly is.
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