Will the Third Sister Reva Become the Grand Inquisitor?
The Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries has only recently premiered, and while we have already seen both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader make proper appearances, we also had the opportunity to analyze and explore other characters, like Reva, the Third Sister. Now, we have already seen that Reva is a very ambitious character and that she is ready to betray her superiors to fulfill her ambition of becoming the Grand Inquisitor. In this article, we are going to analyze whether Reva will, ultimately, become the Grand Inquisitor or not.
If the stories so far are true, Reva never becomes the Grand Inquisitor. In fact, the (supposed) death of the original Grand Inquisitor contradicts the stories so far, so we’ll have to wait how that is resolved. Vader’s condition was that Reva helped eliminate Kenobi, but since we know that Kenobi ultimately survived, she probably won’t become Grand Inquisitor or, at least, not for a longer period, if she does so temporarily.
This article is going to be dedicated to Inquisitor Reva in the Star Wars universe. At this moment, we have to say that we know very little about her future, as she is an original character whose story is going to evolve over the remaining episodes, but we are going to give you as much as we can under the current circumstances, i.e., with the information we have.
What is the position of the Grand Inquisitor?
Grand Inquisitor was a title used by the highest-ranking Inquisitor of the Galactic Empire. The Pau’an male and former Jedi Temple Guard, known only as the Grand Inquisitor, held this title, and ranked above other Inquisitors such as the Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, Seventh Sister, and Eighth Brother. As Grand Inquisitor, he reported to Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, and hunted down Jedi who had survived the Great Jedi Purge.
To understand his Jedi opponents, he studied the records of the Jedi Archives of the Imperial Palace, which had previously been the Jedi Temple. This gave him an advantage in combat, as he was able to understand Jedi fighting styles.
The title of Grand Inquisitor is a very powerful one within the hierarchy of the Empire. It means respect, as well as fear, and it is understandable why lower-ranked Inquisitors would want to become Grand Inquisitor. He answered to Lord Vader himself and besides the elite of the Empire’s rulers, he answered to absolutely no one.
Why does Reva want to become the Grand Inquisitor?
Aside from the usual reason why someone would want to become head of a powerful organization and control powerful subordinates, Reva seems to have some personal reasons why she wants to become the Grand Inquisitor, and they seem much deeper than those of her fellow Inquisitors. And while we don’t really know her whole story yet, we do have some facts and speculations for you at this moment, and so far, they seem to stem from her hatred of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
As we have said, the story so far hasn’t revealed too many details about the background behind Reva’s relationship with Obi-Wan. There might be something there, but that would be a new fact that we cannot know about from this point of view. The same goes for Reva’s hatred towards Obi-Wan – it simply hasn’t been explained yet.
Now, what we can deduce is that her hatred is the result of her indoctrination, at least partially, seeing how all Inquisitors hate the Jedi, although some of them were former Jedi themselves. The training they are subjected to includes brainwashing and the Dark Side of the Force is manipulative enough as it is, so it is quite understandable that she garners hatred for Obi-Wan. On top of that, hatred is what actually fuels the Dark Side of the Force. Reva has shown, in Episode 4, that she is a loyal supporter of the Empire and that she will stop at nothing to help the Empire, and also herself in her ambitions.
And this is how things stand at the moment. We don’t really know whether the writers are going to provide us with a more profound explanation, save for this obvious one, so we’ll just have to wait and see how Reva’s character evolves. At this moment, we still know very little about her true motives and traumas that led to her being the way she is.
Is Reva going to become the Grand Inquisitor?
The answer to this question depends on whether Disney plans to retcon its own canon for the purposes of the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries. Namely, as we have elaborated before, the Grand Inquisitor seemingly dies towards the end of Episode 2 of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Third Sister locates Obi-Wan and a young Leia as they are about to escape. Obi-Wan sends Leia away as he hides from the Third Sister. Just as she is about to discover him, the Grand Inquisitor arrives at the scene. He questions the Third Sister’s capabilities to capture Obi-Wan and berates her for being too ambitious since she wanted to gain more favor with Darth Vader by bringing his former Master to him.
The Grand Inquisitor told her to step aside, as he was going to capture Obi-Wan and take all the credit for himself. The Third Sister seemingly listened to his orders, but then suddenly stabbed him in the stomach, seemingly killing him and telling him that she would certainly not allow him to take all of the credit for himself. Unfortunately for them, Obi-Wan Kenobi used the commotion to escape with Leia.
This leaves us with the question – is the Grand Inquisitor really dead? By all means, the Grand Inquisitor survives his altercation with the Third Sister. His story goes beyond the events of this series and we actually know, from the Legends universe, how he dies and this is not how he dies. Now, Disney might decide to retcon his story, that much is true, but that is something we cannot really predict; from what we know, he is not dead.
“Part I” of the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries is, in fact, set ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, which the official Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 19 BBY. Therefore, Obi-Wan Kenobi must be set in 9 BBY. The Star Wars: Galactic Atlas also dates Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, a canon work, to 5 BBY. As the Grand Inquisitor’s supposed death occurs in Obi-Wan Kenobi, which takes place prior to his appearance in Spark of Rebellion, it can be concluded that he in fact survived.
Now, the technicalities have not been explained but we assume that Disney wouldn’t really retcon its own canon for the sake of one supporting character from a spin-off miniseries. Maybe they would, which would give Reva good chances, but it doesn’t seem likely. On top of that, Vader’s one and only condition for Reva was to capture Obi-Wan. Since we know that won’t be happening, as Obi-Wan survives this encounter, it is debatable whether Reva would actually be given the chance.
It is possible that she might become an acting Grand Inquisitor or the sorts, but we don’t think that she’ll ever become the real thing.
