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Star Wars surprised fans with a brand new series on Star Wars Day (May 4), dropping a fresh show on Disney+ called Tales of the Underworld. But the excitement didn’t stop there, during the show, they also killed off a major Inquisitor just a few minutes after introducing him. The series continued the Tales anthology-style tradition, with two sets of three episodes that focused on Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane. The marketing had teased fans with the appearance of the 16th Inquisitor from Star Wars lore, showing him in trailers and on posters, so expectations were high that he’d play a significant role.
The first three episodes, which focused on Asajj Ventress, actually answered a big question fans had. Some were confused because Ventress had died in a canon novel, but was still appearing in shows like Tales of the Underworld and The Bad Batch, which happened after her death in the timeline. The first episode of Tales of the Underworld, titled “A Way Forward”, introduced the new Inquisitor, just like the trailers had promised.
In this episode, Ventress meets a young boy, later named Lyco Strata, and tries to help him escape the Empire on a desert planet. They head to a docking bay to catch a ship off the planet, but just as they’re about to leave, the Inquisitor appears, igniting his lightsaber. Ventress pulls out her yellow lightsaber, and a fierce duel breaks out between the two.
The marketing for Tales of the Underworld had hyped up the Inquisitor, making it seem like he’d be an important part of the storyline. But in a surprising twist, his role was very short-lived, he was killed off in just a few minutes. What was even more shocking was that Ventress wasn’t the one who finished him off. In a dramatic turn, when the Inquisitor had Ventress cornered and was about to strike the killing blow, Strata, the young boy, took matters into his own hands. He used Ventress’ lightsaber along with his own and stabbed the Inquisitor in the back, not once, but twice, killing him instantly.
So, despite all the buildup and marketing for the Inquisitor’s role, Tales of the Underworld didn’t keep him around long at all. This wasn’t the first time Star Wars has thrown in a twist like this, where a character gets a huge build-up, only to be killed off almost immediately after their big introduction.
If you’ve seen Tales of the Jedi, you might have experienced a bit of deja vu while watching the first episode of Tales of the Underworld. That’s because, in 2022, Tales of the Jedi did something very similar, introducing a brand new Inquisitor only to kill him off just moments later.
In Tales of the Jedi, Ahsoka has a confrontation with the Eleventh Brother, an Inquisitor who also gets a lot of attention in the marketing for the show. However, just like in Tales of the Underworld, he’s killed off in a lightsaber duel just a few minutes after being introduced. His storyline in Tales of the Jedi follows a very similar pattern to the Inquisitor’s arc in Tales of the Underworld. Both were promoted as key characters in their respective series, only for fans to see them quickly meet their end right after making their big debut.
One difference, though, is that viewers at least learned the Eleventh Brother’s name in Tales of the Jedi. In Tales of the Underworld, the Inquisitor’s name is never revealed, and in the credits, he’s simply listed as “Inquisitor.” So while Tales of the Jedi gave us some background, Tales of the Underworld kept things more mysterious.
Will tales of the Jedi’s Inquisitor show up in Star Wars again?
In the Star Wars universe, some Inquisitors have played massive, pivotal roles in the storyline, while others have been more background characters. For instance, Reva, the Third Sister, was a key figure in Obi-Wan Kenobi, whereas the Eleventh Brother from Tales of the Jedi had a more fleeting and less important role.
However, it’s possible that the Inquisitor from Tales of the Underworld could make a return in future Star Wars projects. His arc in the show was strikingly similar to the Eleventh Brother’s in Tales of the Jedi, and we’ve seen before that characters who have brief moments in one show can be brought back later. Fans might remember that the Eleventh Brother, despite dying early in Tales of the Jedi, was later featured in Tales of the Empire, although he had a minor role, it showed that even characters with quick exits can make a comeback.
Similarly, the Inquisitor from Tales of the Underworld could be reintroduced in another series or even in a completely different form. Now that he’s been introduced, there are plenty of opportunities for him to be used in upcoming Star Wars stories, whether that’s in TV shows, films, or even canon novels. Star Wars novels often expand on characters we’ve seen in the TV shows or movies, so it wouldn’t be surprising if this Inquisitor were explored further in an upcoming book, where fans could learn more about his backstory and motivations.
Plus, it’s worth noting that Asajj Ventress, a character who was thought to be permanently dead, was resurrected in later stories. So even though this Inquisitor was killed off in Tales of the Underworld, that doesn’t necessarily mean his story is over. Like many things in the Star Wars universe, death doesn’t always mean the end.