Did Obi-Wan Kenobi Create a Star Wars Plothole With Major Character Death?

The first two episodes of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi debuted last weekend, showcasing a previously-unseen chapter within the Star Wars universe. The start of the series has already made headlines for its connections between the prequel and original trilogies of films, as well as elements in the larger Star Wars canon. That connectivity has also created some interesting conundrums for the series — particularly with regards to a major twist in the second episode. In particular, some have wondered if that twist could create a plothole that counteracts the events of one of the franchise’s beloved animated series. Spoilers for Episode 2 of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi below! Only look if you want to know!

The episodes chronicle Obi-Wan Kenobi’s (Ewan McGregor) time in self-imposed exile following the rise of the Sith Order, which is further complicated when members of the Inquisitors begin hunting for him. Leading the charge is the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) — although by the end of the second episode, the Inquisitor’s fate seems a little uncertain. In a tumultuous fight scene, the Grand Inquisitor is stabbed in the chest with a lightsaber from Reva Sevander (Moses Ingram), and seemingly left for dead.

This creates a complication within the larger Star Wars timeline, as the Inquisitor is best known to fans for appearing in (and later dying onscreen in) the animated series Star Wars: Rebels — a series set several years after the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi. So, what’s up? The easiest explanation might be that the Inquisitor we ultimately saw in Rebels is the same one as in Obi-Wan Kenobi, but was able to get nursed back to health. The Star Wars universe has certainly had fun with that trope over the years, with everyone from Darth Maul to Fennec Shand to Darth Vader himself. There’s also a possibility that Rebels‘ Grand Inquisitor is actually a clone created by Vader, who happens to share similar personality quirks.

Ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see if the fate of Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s Grand Inquisitor is ultimately sealed, and whether or not that occurs in the show itself or in some other Star Wars media. Either way, it sounds like Friend took a unique approach to bringing the Inquisitor to life. 

“I really wanted to honor the character as I saw him, and so I almost deliberately did not see the animated interpretation,” Friend explained in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. “Myself and [director] Deb Chow and [writer] Dave Filoni and all of the guys really wanted to do something fresh that honored and was faithful to the spirit of the character without doing a kind of impression of anybody else’s interpretation.”

New episodes of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi will debut on Disney+ on Wednesdays. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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