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Obi-Wan Kenobi includes surprise early character death

They weren’t supposed to die yet, were they? **CONTAINS SPOILERS**

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) in Lucasfilm's OBI-WAN KENOBI, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

LucasFilm

Published: Friday, 27 May 2022 at 10:12 am

**Spoiler warning for Obi-Wan Kenobi episodes 1 and 2**

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The first two episodes of Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi have arrived on Disney Plus, and fans are already reeling from the big character returns (Princess Leia! Bail Organa!) and callbacks to the prequel trilogy that littered the opening duology.

But one plot twist – and character return – has us scratching our heads a bit, with a certain figure falling into a role that doesn’t quite fit what we would have expected for this point in the timeline.

Read on to see exactly what we’re talking about, but beware – we’ll be dealing in spoilers for the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, so look away now if you’ve not seen the episodes yet.

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Has Obi-Wan Kenobi killed off the Grand Inquisitor?

Before the series started, much was made of the fact that the series would include some familiar villains from recent Star Wars history – the Inquisitors, Jedi-hunting Force-users trained by Darth Vader and who have played major roles in the animated show Star Wars Rebels and the recent Jedi: Fallen Order video game.

Chief among them is the Grand Inquisitor, a white-faced, red-eyed former Jedi voiced by Jason Isaacs in Rebels and now played by Rupert Friend in live action. Or at least, that’s what we thought.

Rupert Friend plays the Grand Inquisitor in Obi-Wan Kenobi

Rupert Friend plays the Grand Inquisitor in Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney

You see, in a surprise move towards the close of the second episode, something happened that shouldn’t be possible. After trying to rein in his subordinate Reva (Moses Ingram) in her hunt for Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), The Grand Inquisitor finally pushes her too far.

Rather than let him take her prize (and in revenge for his insults), Reva kills him in cold blood, leaving him on the ground before she starts hunting Kenobi again. The only issue is that the Grand Inquisitor from Star Wars Rebels shouldn’t be – isn’t – dead yet. He threw himself into an exploding generator after facing one of that show’s characters, in a different place and time period.

Star Wars: Rebels – The Grand Inquisitor

Star Wars: Rebels – The Grand Inquisitor Disney XD/YouTube

So how can he die twice? Well, it seems like Obi-Wan Kenobi (and Rebels creator Dave Filoni, who gets a “special thanks” in the credits) has pulled a fast one on fans. Clearly, there must be more than one Grand Inquisitor on the Empire’s books from this alien species (called Pau’an, if you want to get technical), and the Inquisitor that fans were familiar with was a different man.

We were led to believe this was the same one from Rebels, recast with a well-known actor like Homeland’s Rupert Friend, to make his death as shocking to hardcore fans as it would be to more casual viewers – more so, if anything. Though given how many of them were complaining that he looked too different to the animated version, maybe a few will consider themselves vindicated.

Anyway, it’s a good sign that even a prequel like this Obi-Wan Kenobi series, where we know how things eventually end up, can still be full of surprises. And with four episodes left to go, who knows what else they’ll slip by us?

The Obi-Wan Kenobi series will release new episodes on Disney Plus on Wednesdays at 8am GMT. You can sign up to Disney Plus now for £79.90 for a year or £7.99 a month. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide or visit our Sci-Fi hub.

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Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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