Gaming Club

Star Wars

‘Star Wars’: The encounter and battle between Luke Skywalker and the ghost of the Grand Inquisitor

Although his fate was sealed before the Rebellion broke out, the ghost of the leader of the Inquisitors survived in the service of the Sith.

After Order 66, Anakin Skywalker and the Clone Army storm the Jedi Temple and destroy the survivors, including the children. Soon after, Obi-Wan Kenobi and his former Padawan have a fratricidal duel. Darth Vader reappears in his armor, and the Emperor launches the Inquisitorial Program to destroy the few remaining Jedi in the galaxy. The Grand Inquisitor, a Pau’an resentful of the Order he once belonged to, joins the ranks of the Galactic Empire. As told in ‘Star Wars: Rebels’, he fell in a confrontation with Kanan Jarrus... but Vader’s punishment for his new failure would not remain unresolved even after his death.

Years later, Luke encountered the remnants of the Grand Inquisitor, as seen in Marvel’s ‘Star Wars’ comic book issue 6 (canon).

A Darth Vader Trap

Luke travels to Tempes, a planet in the Outer Rim, where there are the remains of an ancient Jedi outpost from the time of the High Republic. The young man uses the Force to open the gate and discovers a holocron and a lightsaber. His, the one given to him by Obi-Wan Kenobi, the one that belonged to Anakin Skywalker and that he lost in the duel with Darth Vader, so he had not yet built the green-bladed weapon. When he picks up the lightsaber - yellow, like the ones used by the Jedi Guards - an unexpected appearance appears: the specter of the Grand Inquisitor.

“I will be a Jedi,” Skywalker muses. “Careful what you wish for, boy,” the ghost replies. Of course, Luke has no idea who the Grand Inquisitor is, so the Grand Inquisitor explains that he was once a Jedi, then a vassal of the Emperor and Vader, and now a slave of the Sith. In reality, it is a neat trap designed by Darth Vader, which is activated as soon as an intruder crosses the threshold of the door. While the duel takes place, the Sith Lord prepares to leave for Tempes.

In the first few minutes of the fight, the Grand Inquisitor realizes that his rival has not yet mastered the lightsaber techniques to perfection, as the comic takes place just after The Empire Strikes Back, before he has completed his training. However, the boy has had a vision that allows him to imagine what he will become in the future, the first Master of the New Jedi Order. The Grand Inquisitor believes that the time of the Jedi is over, but Luke is convinced that his vision is real and so he surprises and defeats his opponent. When Vader arrives, he sees in disgust how events have unfolded and forces the Inquisitor to continue his work beyond death.

The next series in the ‘Star Wars’ saga is ‘The Acolyte’, which premieres June 4 on Disney+.