A Proper Introduction to the Inquisitor
The Inquisitor with spinning dual lightsaber
While The Inquisitor had been shown previously, we had had very little to understand of him. However, five weeks ago, he was finally properly introduced. The Inquisitor was first introduced at the tail end of “Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion” and, subsequently, in the special addition of Darth Vader speaking to him at the beginning of “Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion”, we actually know quite little about him, beyond his task of hunting after Jedi. With “Rise of the Old Masters”, aired five weeks ago, we are finally fully introduced to The Inquisitor. We have seen people communicating with him and him speaking very little, but this episode shows him in action.
We see The Inquisitor when he reveals to Kanan and Ezra that he had lured them to a holding cell with the bones of Master Luminara Unduli, upon which he states, “Yes, I’m afraid Master Luminara died with the Republic,” confirming her being dead. And, as to his sensing her energy, the Inquisitor continues, “But her bones continue to serve the Empire luring the last Jedi to their end.”
Kanan and The Inquisitor then engage in a light saber duel, in which it appears that The Inquisitor is barely breaking a sweat, while Kanan is fighting fiercely. In the midst of their duel, The Inquisitor calmly states, “It seems you trained with Jedi Master Depa Billaba”, whereupon Kanan, who is totally stunned, fumbles to ask, “How-? Who are you?!”
To this, The Inquisitor responds that, “The temple records are quite complete,” indicating that he has not only had full access to the Jedi Temple records, but also that he has gone through all of them, especially files on styles of Jedi fighting and the various masters who employed them. Perhaps, also, it may be that The Inquisitor did such research in order to better discover the Jedi out there and to finish them off. He continues to show off his particular knowledge, “In close quarter fighting, Billaba’s emphasis was always on form 3, which you favor to a ridiculous degree.” And, to add insult, “Clearly, you were a poor student.”
When Ezra uses his energy slingshot against The Inquisitor, it seems to barely even register any notice for him, to which The Inquisitor responds, “Is that really all you’ve got, my boy?” It is unclear why it had little effect on him – whether it was armor he had or he had some sort of immunity from it.
Following Ezra’s and Kanan’s escape from the detention cell, The Inquisitor calmly hunts them down and then engages in further light saber duelling with Kanan, whereupon he queries Ezra, “Are you paying attention, boy? The Jedi are dead, but there is another path the dark side.” He then continues to try convincing Ezra to leave Kanan and join him and the dark side: “Your master cannot save you, boy. He is unfocused and undisciplined.” Eventually, he tries killing him, although Kanan is able to use the Force and move him out of the way.
Once they get away, he then chases them down, starting out walking along calmly, albeit with his double-bladed light saber spinning around, eventually picking up the pace and running after them. While he doesn’t quite reach them in time, he is quite menacing, nevertheless.
Indeed, as Eric Geller pointed out, “The Imperial Inquisitor’s first appearance cemented his status as a villain worth watching. The entrance itself was dramatic, accompanied by the haunting chants of the Sith. Jason Isaacs’ voice work was phenomenal, positively humming with elegant menace. The confidence and disdain in that voice is excellent.”
It shall be interesting to see more of The Inquisitor as Star Wars Rebels continues.
In sum, we see that
- The Inquisitor is has gone through the records in the Jedi Temple and studied the various fighting styles of the Jedi
- The Inquisitor is very good with a light saber, easily fighting Kanan, while the latter needs to put a lot of energy into it just to stay alive
- The Inquisitor is immune to shots flung from an energy slingshot
- The Inquisitor tries to convert Ezra to the dark side
- The Inquisitor has some knowledge of The Force, as he flings Kanan away
