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Star Wars: Explaining Jedi: Fallen Order's Villain
The upcoming video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will introduce Star Wars fans to a brand new hero named Cal Kestis, one of the few Jedi to survive the events of Revenge of the Sith. But it turns out the game's main villain is someone we've met before. Fallen Order will pit players against Second Sister, a member of the Jedi-slaying order known as the Inquisitorius.
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If you're not familiar with Second Sister and her fellow Inquisitors, here's everything you need to know about this branch of the Star Wars mythos before playing Fallen Order.
Warning: this article contains some spoilers for the first two seasons of Star Wars Rebels!
The Inquisitors: The Basics
There are only ever two Sith Lords at a time, but that doesn't mean there can't be more than two evil Force users. Even Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader need some help now and then.
While Palpatine was successful in wiping out most of the Jedi Order with three simple words - "Execute Order 66" - some Jedi survived this betrayal and went into hiding. Palpatine formed the Inquistorius shortly after the end of the Clone Wars. These elite warriors were tasked with hunting down and eliminating any surviving Jedi. And as these Inquisitors were once Jedi themselves, there's no one more qualified for that difficult task.
The Inquisitorius is led by the Grand Inquisitor, the strongest and deadliest of his order, with the rest carrying titles of rank like Second Sister, Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother. They have only one job, and business is always booming.
The Inquisitors: Powers and Abilities
The Inquisitors are strong in the Force, as they're all former Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters who fell to the Dark Side for one reason or another. Their Dark Side powers have been strengthened through training with Darth Vader. Vader drilled his minions in a deadly, offense-oriented fighting style that shows little regard for protection or finesse. This makes them terrifying opponents, though their aggressive style leaves them vulnerable to opponents skilled enough to exploit its weaknesses.
Most members of the Inquisitorius wield a similar double-bladed red lightsaber with a disc-shaped hilt. This saber can fold to become a single blade, and it can also be spun fast enough to allow the user to glide in the air. The Inquisitors also command elite legions of Purge Troopers. These clone soldiers are expert fighters and wield lightsaber-repelling staves similar to those once carried by General Grievous' MagnaGuard droids.
The Inquisitors: Origin and Background
While it was always assumed Darth Vader himself was responsible for hunting down and killing the Jedi who survived the Clone Wars, the animated series Star Wars Rebels showed otherwise. The series premiere introduces the Grand Inquisitor, a deadly hunter to whom Vader delegates the task of killing rogue Jedi Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger. The series later reveals that the Grand Inquisitor is but one of several Jedi killers who answer to Vader himself. Apparently the Dark Lord of the Sith is perfectly happy delegating the dirty work to his minions.
The Grand Inquisitor serves as one of the main villains of the first season of Rebels, before finally being defeated in battle by the combined might of Kanan and Ezra. Rather than slink away to his notoriously failure-averse boss, the Grand Inquisitor elects to commit suicide. The other members of the Inquisitorius become recurring antagonists in Rebels' second season, with Vader using them to hunt down Kanan's crew and his own former Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Several more Inquisitors are killed in a climactic showdown in the Season 2 finale, with even Vader himself barely surviving his reunion with Ahsoka.
What became of the Inquisitorius and its surviving members after that point is unclear, though their absence in the Original Trilogy-era stories suggests they were eventually phased out or killed off completely. However, the origins of the Inquisitorius were later fleshed out in Marvel's most recent volume of Star Wars: Darth Vader.
Set shortly after the events of Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Darth Vader shows a young, inexperienced Vader first discovering the existence of Palpatine's clandestine Jedi kill squad. Palpatine hands control of the Inquisitorius to his apprentice, and Vader wastes little time schooling his new minions in the true power of the Dark Side. He trains the Inquisitors to become even deadlier warriors. He accentuates their training by selecting a different body part to sever from each Inquisitor. Vader's goal is to teach them a lesson about pain and loss he himself knows all too well.
The Grand Inquisitor both hates and respects Darth Vader. (Image Credit: Marvel Comics)
The Inquisitors play a prominent role throughout the series, both executing Vader's orders and quietly scheming against their new master. The series is also notable for introducing several Inquisitors not seen in Rebels, including Second Sister.
How Jedi: Fallen Order Fits In
After playing a minor role in Marvel's Darth Vader series, Second Sister will go on to serve as the main villain in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The story trailer for the game shows former Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis trying to lay low on a remote world. But after Kestis' Jedi abilities are revealed, Second Sister and her Purge Troopers are dispatched to hunt him down.
We know that Fallen Order is set after the events of Revenge of the Sith, long enough for the Emperor to have established his legions of Purge Troopers (who are still clones rather than ordinary recruits like most Stormtroopers) and for Vader to have trained Second Sister and her comrades. Exactly how much time has passed since the Jedi Purge remains to be seen. It's possible the game may have new insight to offer about the final fate of the Inquisitorius, though the story would have to venture pretty close to the timeline of Episode IV. At the very least, the game may explain why Second Sister didn't appear in Rebels, revealing that Cal either kills her or manages to bring her back to the Light Side.
EA has teased that Cal's distinctive lightsaber plays an important role in the story, hinting that it may not have been originally built by Cal. It's possible he's carrying an important Jedi artifact. If so, Second Sister's mission may be as much about claiming the lightsaber and bringing it to Vader and Palpatine as it is killing Cal.
Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.