Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi shocked Star Wars fans by seemingly killing off the Grand Inquisitor, a villain who was shown to be alive years later in the animated series, Star Wars Rebels. Star Rupert Friend recently explained how that might be possible.
Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel, Friend discussed an earlier episode of the series, featuring his apparent demise at the hands of Inquisitor Reva. “And then you got stabbed in the stomach,” Kimmel said. “One of them,” the actor said. When prompted for further details, Friend refused to confirm the Grand Inquisitor’s survival.
The Grand Inquisitor was stabbed in the stomach in “Part III” of Obi-Wan Kenobi, sparking fierce debate among Star Wars fans about the character’s place in Star Wars and the Disney+ series’ impact on the established canon. As previously mentioned, the Inquisitor played a large role in the first two seasons of Star Wars Rebels, in which he was voiced by Jason Isaacs.
The series revealed the mysterious Grand Inquisitor was once a guard of the Jedi Temple. Following Order 66 and the Jedi Purge, the Inquisitor was turned into a Jedi hunter for the Empire. He was tasked with following rumors of surviving Jedi and, should they prove true, eliminating those Jedi or acquiring them for the Empire. He was the first dark force user to be introduced in the era, which formerly had only Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. With the introduction of the Grand Inquisitor, the new Star Wars canon established the Empire hunted Jedi by turning their own kind against them.
Following the first trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi, there was some discussion surrounding the appearance of Rupert Friend’s Grand Inquisitor, which differs somewhat from his appearance in Star Wars Rebels and from other members of his particular alien race, the Pau’ans, who appeared in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. No explanation has been given concerning these differences.
Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi sees the return of actors Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen as the titular Jedi and Darth Vader, respectively, both of which last appeared in the franchise back in 2005. McGregor recently discussed his appearance in the franchise and teased there may be more in the future. He said, “I got as much, or more, out of playing him this time than I did in the first three movies put together. That’s to do with the writing, and the people we were making the series with, and the technology, and how different everything is. … [If] we were to get an opportunity to do it again, I’d be totally up for that.”
New episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi air every Wednesday on Disney+.
Source: YouTube