Summary
A newStar Warsbook may have confirmed the brutal fate that awaitedDarth Vader’s Inquisitorsonce the Jedi threat was eliminated. Darth Vader’s Inquisitors were first introduced in canon inStar Wars Rebels. Led bythe Grand Inquisitor,these dark side Force-wielders were tasked with hunting down any surviving Jedi after the harrowing events of Order 66.SinceStar Wars Rebelspremiered, audiences have seen Inquisitors pursuing Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cal Kestis, and more, working tirelessly to ensure Palpatine’s victory and the complete decimation of the Jedi Order.
This was made even more tragic by the revelation that most of the Inquisitors had once been Jedi themselves; many had been kidnapped and tortured until they finally fell to the dark side, while others were bribed to become Darth Vader’s loyal Force-wielding assassins.The Inquisitors being former Jedi did limit the number of dark siders available for Darth Vader, however, and it’s entirely possible that they simply were unable to replace them once they were killed, leading to the eventual downfall of their organization. There is another, more sinister, explanation, however.
Star Wars: All 16 Inquisitors In Canon Explained
Star Wars' Inquisitors were Darth Vader’s elite death squad of Jedi-killing dark side users. Who were these Imperial agents and what were their fates?
InStar Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empireby Dr. Chris Kempshall, the author theorizes that while it’s possible the Inquisitors dwindled in number until they died out completely, it’s equally possible and perhaps even more plausible that Vader, and more importantly, Palpatine, decided that the Inquisitors had overstayed their welcome. Once almost all theOrder 66 survivorshad been wiped out – besides the few mentioned above – there was no way the Jedi could truly become a force to be reckoned with.It’s possible the Inquisitors became useless to the Emperor, and he threw them away.
“It’s possible that as their numbers thinned – the Spectres alone can account for the deaths of at least four separate Inquisitors – the Empire was unable to replace them because of the lack of viable Force users and the group died out. However, I feel this is probably an unlikely eventual fate for the Inquisitors. The excavations on Exegol have found a few references to the group within what appear to be recollections by Palpatine where he states that they had become ‘obsolete.’ If this is the case, then it seems plausible that Palpatine had the remaining Inquisitors dealt with.”
The “Spectres” refers to the members ofStar Wars Rebels' Ghost crew, a small but powerful band of rebels. Kanan Jarrus was “Spectre-1,” Rebel pilot Hera Syndulla was “Spectre-2,” and so on.
At a certain point, most of the Jedi who had survived Order 66 went into hiding, cutting themselves off from the Force completely. Those Jedi wouldn’t have been a threat to Palpatine – in fact,having the Inquisitors hunt down those Jedi who had ceased to use the Force may have begun to work against them.
InStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, for instance, Cal Kestis, who survived Order 66 as a Padawan, had sheltered on the planet Bracca, cut himself off from the Force, and made an exhausting living as a scrapper. It wasn’t until the Inquisitors showed up and forced him out of hiding that he reconnected with the Force and became a nuisance to the Empire, eventually destroying Fortress Inquisitorius, killing multiple Inquisitors, wreaking havoc on the Empire’s plans, and even reuniting with two other powerful, knowledgeable Jedi.
InObi-Wan Kenobi, which takes place ten years afterStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the Inquisitors are on the hunt for any sign of Obi-Wan Kenobi. They make it a point to mention that they believe Obi-Wan is the last surviving member to represent the true strength of the Jedi Order. IfObi-Wan was their biggest target, it stands to reason that the Empire assumed that all other high-ranking Jedi, like Grand Master Yoda, were already dead.
If the Jedi’s most decorated and beloved Jedi were already gone, what was the point in sending more Inquisitors out into the galaxy?Especially if there was even the slightest possibility that it would cause more problems in the long run, as demonstrated by their encounters with Cal Kestis. Darth Sidious may have eventually decided that the Inquisitors were more trouble than they were worth.
Did Palpatine Have Darth Vader Kill The Inquisitors?
Of course, if that is the case, and Palpatine did order the destruction of the Inquisitors, there’s the question of how their organization came to an end. As Dr. Kempshall mentions in his book,“For all their [the Inquisitors’] power, I do not expect many of them could have survived an encounter with Darth Vader.”The Inquisitors may have fallen under Darth Vader’s purview, but Vader was Palpatine’s apprentice. If Palpatine had asked Vader to destroy the Inquisitors, he would undoubtedly have done so, and the Inquisitors really wouldn’t have stood a chance.
As has been demonstrated in canon, any powerful, well-trained Jedi could take on an Inquisitor and eventually defeat them. Cal Kestis killed the Ninth Sister inStar Wars Jedi: Survivor,Kanan Jarrus killed the Grand Inquisitor and the Eighth Brother inStar Wars Rebels, Ahsoka Tano destroyed an unnamed Inquisitor inStar Wars: Tales of the Jedi, and so on.If those Jedi could kill the Inquisitors but barely survive an encounter with Darth Vader, it’s highly unlikely the remaining Inquisitors could have survived, let alone prospered, in a fight against their Master.
How Powerful The Inquisitors Are Compared To Darth Vader & How Many It’d Take To Beat Him
The Inquisitors in Star Wars are a group of former Jedi devoted to hunting down remnants of their own Order, trained by and serving under Darth Vader.
This Would Be A Fitting End For The Jedi Hunters
If the Inquisitors were indeed eventually destroyed by Darth Vader, it would be a fitting, albeit tragic full-circle moment for their organization. The Inquisitors were the product of genocide – surviving, kidnapped Jedi were assaulted and tortured until they eventually turned to the dark side in anger and pain, hunting down their own kind in the process. They turned to the dark side out of desperation, just as Anakin Skywalker did. Of course, it’s fitting that the Jedi hunters were killed by the ultimate Jedi hunter, but the full picture is far more heartbreaking.
The Inquisitors turned to the dark side out of desperation, just as Anakin Skywalker did.
If Darth Vader did indeed kill off the remaining Inquisitors, they weren’t just destroyed by their Master – it would mean thatthe last remaining fallen Jedi were killed by the ultimate fallen Jedi.Anakin Skywalker was meant to be the last hope of the Jedi – they believed he was meant to bring balance to the Force, and instead, he turned and trained a group of former Jedi to become the very thing that would destroy them. He even turned one of the protectors of the Jedi Order – the Grand Inquisitor was formerly a Jedi Temple Guard – into a destructive force.
In the end, though, history repeated itself. Anakin Skywalker was (partially) responsible for the decimation of the Jedi Order. If he hadn’t given into his despair, if he hadn’t joined Palpatine, the Jedi may have been able to survive. Order 66 might not have been as efficient; Anakin wouldn’t have killed the younglings – the future hope of the Jedi – and the galaxy may have been a very different place.Anakin Skywalker was responsible for the death of one Force-wielding organization, and Darth Vader was responsible for the death of another.
At their core, the Inquisitors were another separate Force-wielding faction. They could never be full Sith, they were no longer Jedi – they became something in the middle. And yet, it seems that Darth Vader wiped them out at Palpatine’s behest as well, just as he helped to destroy the Jedi. The Inquisitors were doomed from the start. Though many were killed by the very Jedi they hunted, the organization probably fell the same way the Jedi did. Palpatine ordered it, and Vader took care of it. All in all,Star Wars’Inquisitors are actually some of the franchise’s most tragic characters.
Buy Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire on Amazon
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
