This is something that I do find interesting about the old EU. Originally, before the prequels, it was assumed that the Clone Wars happened much farther back in the timeline, years before the birth of the Empire and the fall of the Jedi Knights. The Clone Wars was not directly tied to either and was instead a separate event.
Serra Keto is definitely an underrated Jedi in my opinion, so I am curious how strong people think she might be comparitive to other characters.
Since I enjoyed the discussion about Fay, I thought I would start a discussion about another underrated Legends Jedi that I wish was in more stuff: Serra Keto.
I especially like her dynamic with Anakin and wish that it had been developed more.
I just realized something kinda funny.
Originally, the Order 66 montage in Revenge of the Sith was going to be longer. It would have shown the deaths of Barriss Offee, Luminara Unduli, Quinlan Vos, and Shaak Ti. I can understand why they were cut, since the scene already is as long as it needs to be in order to get the point across.
But what I find funny is that because those scenes aren't in the final film... all four of these Jedi survived Order 66 in at least one continuity.
Shaak Ti survived in Legends.
Barriss and Luminara survived in Canon.
Quinlan Vos survived in both.
I just realized something kinda funny.
Originally, the Order 66 montage in Revenge of the Sith was going to be longer. It would have shown the deaths of Barriss Offee, Luminara Unduli, Quinlan Vos, and Shaak Ti. I can understand why they were cut, since the scene already is as long as it needs to be in order to get the point across.
But what I find funny is that because those scenes aren't in the final film... all four of these Jedi survived Order 66 in at least one continuity.
Shaak Ti survived in Legends.
Barriss and Luminara survived in Canon.
Quinlan Vos survived in both.
Honestly, as misguided as the Snyderverse is, it's not the worse DC movie universe I've seen. No, that honor goes to the Tomorrowverse, which actually did start out promising... and then became some of the most mean-spirited crap I have ever seen.
Seriously, this series had heroes becoming villains three times in a row. It ended with the heroes LOSING and making you wonder what was the point of getting invested in the first place. It straight up feels disrespectful in some places.
Am I the only one who wishes we had more than one story with Fay? In the short time we saw her, she seemed like the ideal Jedi.
Genuinely curious. Does anyone think that Obi-Wan ever reached a point, either at the end of his series or by Rebels, where he surpassed Yoda? Or at least Yoda at that time?
I know that, as a general rule, the Legends versions of characters are more powerful than their Canon versions. There are a few reasons for this, such as the Legends versions having more feats. This is especially true for the Jedi Council members in Legends, since they don't get as much time to shine in Canon.
But are there any cases where the opposite is true and the Canon versions are stronger or have better feats? I can think of a few...
Canon Vader: I think this is generally agreed on that Canon Vader is stronger and that the suit didn't strip him of his potential as much as the Legends version.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: This might be my most controversial take, but I think Canon Obi-Wan from the end of the mini-series and afterwards is stronger than his Legends version. Canon Obi-Wan, at his peak, was able to defeat Canon Vader and swiftly defeat Maul.
Barriss Offee: Barriss from season five of TCW and onwards has some pretty impressive feats. Knocking out Ventress, defeating Ahsoka, fighting Anakin, defeating another Jedi and Lyn...
Eeth Koth: I don't think Eeth Koth has any strong feats in Legends, but in Canon he held his own against Grievous and Vader. He only lost the former because Grievous had his bodyguards intervene and the latter duel only ended because he was distracted by his daughter being taken.
What do you think? Do you agree with me? Can you think of any other examples?
I learned that Vader's appearance in Maul Shadow Lord was actually based on the cover art for Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which I have on my bookshelf.
And... yeah, I can see it.
So the Inquisitors in Star Wars have a bit of a rocky history due to their... inconsistent portrayals across media and I do have a few things to say about them. And since Maul Shadow Lord gave the Inquisitors arguably one of their best showings, there's no better time than now to get all my thoughts out.
But I'm not going to be entirely negative. In fact, let me start out by saying... I actually love these guys.
I'm serious. I've come to really love the Inquisitors because I think they help to explore a really interesting theme that's present in stories set between the prequels and the original trilogy: What does it mean to be a Jedi during the age of the Empire? And how much are you willing to sacrifice in order to survive?
The Inquisitors are broken Jedi. Some of them joined of their own violation, others broke down after isolation and torture, but all of them are a far cry from their former selves, their names literally replaced by numbers. The Ninth Sister said it best...
"Being an Inquisitor taught me that no set-back is too great. When you've already lost yourself... A limb's easy."
I think the best Inquisitor stories address this. In a time when the Jedi who survived Order 66 are struggling to hold onto their teachings and their identities, the Inquisitors represent the worst case scenarios of what a Jedi can become in this period.
So where does it all go wrong? Well...
While Star Wars Rebels might have been the introduction of the Inquisitors, in hindsight it really was one of their weaker showings. The whole 'Inquisitors being broken Jedi' thing? Not present here. The Grand Inquisitor is revealed to be a former Jedi, but only after his death. The Fifth, Seventh, and Eighth? They get no backstory at all. They really do only serve as enemies the heroes can fight on equal footing, since they're so outmatched by Vader. But there's not a lot of characterization. Especially in the case of the Eighth Brother, who literally dies in the same episode he's introduced in.
At least the Grand Inquisitor is still cool and died on his own terms, even if none of the Inquisitors in the second season of Rebels came close to matching him as a threat.
The next major appearance of the Inquisitors was the Ahsoka novel and then the Charles Soule Darth Vader run, but I want to focus on the latter... since it really did do a lot more to flesh out the Inquisitors beyond what we saw in Rebels. It established that they're all former Jedi, we saw what Vader training them looked like, and we got the first appearance of the Ninth Sister, a contender for my favorite Inquisitor.
The Mon Cala arc also introduced the first Inquisitor... who was a pre-existing character (yeah, the Grand Inquisitor was also technically a pre-existing character, but not really). The Tenth Brother was revealed to be Prosset Dibs, a Jedi introduced in a previous comic as one who became disillusioned with the Order during the Clone Wars and was arrested for treason after fighting Mace Windu. He was the first Inquisitor we got to know first as a Jedi... and he was killed immediately after we learned this.
And this does highlight what I think is some of the biggest missed potential of the Inquisitors. I love the idea that they're all broken Jedi... but we know very little about what they were like as Jedi and what might have started them on the path to becoming Inquisitors. Nearly all of them are new characters that we've never seen before and I can't help but feel like that is a bit disappointing.
After the Charles Soule Darth Vader run, the Inquisitors appeared in Jedi Fallen Order and... yeah, this is probably the best Inquisitor story. I literally used a quote from the Ninth Sister earlier, but I think this game emphasizes the tragedy of the Inquisitors as broken Jedi and uses them as foils to the Jedi survivors better than any other story with the Inquisitors in them. Trilla is a great, tragic antagonist and is the gold standard for what an Inquisitor should be.
...and then there's the Obi-Wan mini-series.
Yeah, the Obi-Wan series is probably the worst portrayal of the Inquisitors in Canon. From the Grand Inquisitor's lackluster live action design and him being taken out of commission for most of the series to the Fifth Brother and Fourth Sister not really contributing anything to Reva's whole thing being rather lackluster.
Now, I actually think there's a great idea with Reva. A Jedi survivor who joins the Inquisitors to get a chance at revenge against Vader, sacrificing her own ideals in the process, is a great idea for a story. I mean it. The problem is... the execution. Her actual plan is rather underwhelming, she has the weakest design of the Inquisitors, and her story really should have ended with Vader killing her rather than her going to Tatooine... and she doesn't even get in any cool lightsaber fights. None of the Inquisitors do.
Since the Obi-Wan series, Inquisitors made minor appearances in Tales of the Jedi and Jedi Survivor as opponents killed by the main characters, but their major appearances were in Tales of the Empire and the Rise of the Red Blade novel. The latter is GREAT, taking the Thirteenth Sister, one of the Inquisitors introduced in the Charles Soule run, and really fleshing her out, including her history as a Jedi, which is what I wanted more of. And Tales of the Empire takes Barriss Offee, a pre-existing character, and shows her induction into and eventual desertion from the Inquisitors.
I actually love Barriss. She's one of my favorite Star Wars characters. And I did enjoy Tales of the Empire, which finally explained what happened to her and actually matched up with my headcanon, so I am satisfied with how her story played out. I just think that it could have been fleshed out even more, since as a result of Tales being a series of shorts we only get the highlights and big moments rather than the full picture. For example, Barriss and the Fourth Sister apparently knew each other in the Order. How? Did Barriss influence Lyn in any way? We don't know. I like what we got, but I wish there was more.
And the most recent appearance of the Inquisitors was in Maul Shadow Lord, where Marrok and the Crow get rather impressive showings in multiple lightsaber battles across the series. They barely talk and we know nothing about who they were as Jedi... but in this case, I honestly don't mind. They're really effective as basically tracking dogs who are constantly on the heels of the main characters, giving them very little rest. The lack of dialogue and the non-expressive masks makes them more intimidating and gives them more mystique. They might not be interesting characters, but they're absolutely memorable as threats, showing that there are different ways to approach the Inquisitors.
So what's my point? I guess I just wanted to rant about why I love these guys in spite of their less impressive showings, the ways where I think they're being underutilized, and what I kinda hope to see in later appearances if we get any. I think the Inquisitors can make excellent threats like in Maul Shadow Lord, but I also think they can make for excellent characters like we see in Fallen Order.
But yeah, I wish they were more consistent.
Okay, so I was rewatching the first season and while on the fourth episode, I realized that the Martian Emperor never explained why they kept the sequids around despite the obvious risk. So I decided to check the comic and... yeesh, the Martians kinda brought it on themselves, didn't they?
Seriously, I disagreed with a guy about a scene and he accused me of being 'on the list.' Wtf?
Given that we've seen Inquisitors working in pairs (1st and 11th, 2nd and 9th, 5th and 7th, Tualon and Iskat) or even small groups, I am genuinely curious if any of these Inquisitors would be able to defeat a master/apprentice duo like Barriss and Luminara. Are there any combination of Inquisitors that would be a match for the two Jedi?