How Did Darth Vader Know Reva Would Try to Kill Him?

Episode 5 of Obi-Wan Kenobi gave us the biggest twist we had seen in the series yet when Reva talked about her past and how she was there when Anakin Skywalker slaughtered all of those younglings. She was merely trying to get close enough to Darth Vader so that she could kill him. However, when she did find the opportunity to strike the Sith Lord, Vader telegraphed her move and revealed that he knew what she was plotting. So, how did Darth Vader know that Reva would try to kill him?

Darth Vader is yet to reveal how he found out about Reva’s plot to kill him, but it could be connected to the fact that the Grand Inquisitor survived Reva’s attempt to murder him. Of course, there’s also the fact that Vader’s connection with the Force is strong enough for him to read a person’s feelings.

People often forget that Darth Vader is a smart individual with a connection to the Force that’s stronger than anyone at that point in history. In that regard, he had a lot of ways to find out what Reva had been plotting the entire time, and he must have recognized her as well. So, with that said, let’s look at how Vader found out about Reva’s attempt at his life.

How Did Darth Vader Know Reva Would Try To Kill Him?

The introduction of Reva into the Star Wars continuity made things a lot more interesting, considering that a good part of Obi-Wan Kenobi explores the Inquisition and how the Inquisitors were hunting the remaining Jedi and Force-sensitive individuals down. One of the Inquisitors was Reva, who showcased her headstrong and angry nature throughout the entire series.

At first, Reva was shown to be someone who simply wanted to hunt down the biggest Jedi bounty out there in the form of Kenobi so that she could rise through the ranks of the Inquisitors and become the Grand Inquisitor herself. She even went as far as killing the original Grand Inquisitor so that no one would get in her way of hunting Kenobi down.

However, in episode 5, the biggest revelation came when Obi-Wan Kenobi told her that she was too young to know that Anakin was Darth Vader unless she was there during Order 66. That was when Reva revealed that she was a youngling in the Jedi Temple when Anakin slaughtered all of them in the events of Order 66, as she witnessed him bringing down all of her friends without remorse.

Reva was only able to survive the attempt when she hid among the bodies of her friends. After that, she plotted her revenge and became an Inquisitor so that she could get close to Vader. And the only way for her to get close enough to the Sith Lord was to rise through the ranks of the Inquisitorius and earn Vader’s trust by bringing Kenobi to him.

Kenobi, however, convinced Reva to allow him to escape so that Darth Vader would be too focused on hunting him down and would drop his guard. This would have given Reva enough time to deliver a killing blow, but Vader telegraphed her moves and dueled with her, which led to her getting stabbed by a saber. That said, Vader revealed that he knew what Reva was plotting. But how did Darth Vader know that Reva was going to try to kill him?

The Grand Inquisitor

Early in the series, the relationship between the Grand Inquisitor and Reva wasn’t really that good. Reva was a mad dog that the Grand Inquisitor was trying to put on a leash but to no use. She was too headstrong for her own good that she was willing to disobey orders just so she could get to Kenobi. That didn’t sit well with the Grand Inquisitor, who Reva seemingly killed by stabbing him with her saber right in his abdomen.

After the apparent death of the Grand Inquisitor, Reva rose through the ranks and became Vader’s most trusted Inquisitor. This didn’t sit well with the other Inquisitors, who reluctantly followed her orders but were still wary of what she could do.

However, the Grand Inquisitor was revealed to be alive right after Vader defeated Reva in their duel. He told her that it was his quest for vengeance that kept him alive the entire time as she left Reva on the ground to cling on to whatever was left of her life.

It is possible that the Grand Inquisitor had recovered from his injuries earlier than expected and had been in contact with Darth Vader in secret so that they could work together to uncover what Reva was really planning all along. In that regard, he only revealed himself to be alive when Reva had already been defeated. As such, Vader was always on guard because the Grand Inquisitor had probably warned him beforehand about what Reva could do.

Vader’s Connection With The Force

There’s also the fact that Darth Vader was the strongest Force user during his time and had the strongest connection with the Force. A person who is strong in the Force could use this connection to learn more about what a person was feeling, especially if the person was overly emotional. That is why, when Anakin was still a Padawan, Obi-Wan always told him that his feelings betrayed him.

Meanwhile, Vader also used his connection with the Force to basically read a person’s mind through their feelings. He used this against Luke in the events of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi when he found out about his sister by searching through Luke’s feelings. Of course, the same could have happened in relation to Reva. 

Throughout the series, Reva always allowed her feelings to get the best of her because she was making headstrong and rash decisions due to her anger. She struggled to keep her anger in check the entire time, and the reason was revealed to be her anger for Darth Vader and her personal vendetta against the imposing Sith Lord.

It could be possible that Vader had known about her plans the entire time because he was searching through her feelings. Reva’s feelings might have betrayed her when Darth Vader used them to learn more about what she had been planning all along and why she was so obsessed with finding Obi-Wan Kenobi. As such, he only waited until Reva decided to put her plan into motion before confronting her.

Did Darth Vader Know Who Reva Was The Entire Time?

Of course, someone as strong as Darth Vader would have had the influence and power that allowed him to keep himself on guard against an assassination attempt from the inside. Regardless of how he found out about Reva’s plot to kill him, what was clear was that he actually knew who she was. In fact, after stabbing her, he said: “Did you really believe I did not see it, youngling?”

The fact that Vader referred to her as a youngling meant that he must have known that she was still a child at the Jedi Temple during Order 66. But did he really know who Reva was the entire time?

It is possible that Vader knew who Reva was the entire time because, let’s face it, Anakin Skywalker isn’t a dumb person. He was smart enough to have recognized people, and it was shown in Reva’s flashback seen that she came face to face with Anakin. It is possible that Darth Vader recognized her as the girl from before without even realizing that he made the mistake of not finishing her off.

Then again, it is also possible that he only found out about it through the Grand Inquisitor. Before he became the nameless Grand Inquisitor, he used to be a guard at the Jedi Temple. That meant that he might have also recognized Reva from his time working at the Jedi Temple. Or, at the very least, he must have known who she was when she joined the Inquisitorius.

This leads to the possibility that both Vader and the Grand Inquisitor were already aware of who Reva was from the start but neglected to do anything about it because she had joined their ranks as an Inquisitor. After all, almost all of the Inquisitors used to be Jedi Knights, padawans, or younglings.

Still, they must have already been suspecting her from the start, and that was why the Grand Inquisitor was always there to try to put her on a leash. Vader also allowed her to do as she pleased because he knew that she could lead him to Obi-Wan Kenobi. But when it was clear that she had betrayed him and was no longer of any use, that was when Darth Vader was quick to discard her.