In Marvel’s Star Wars, Darth Vader just brought a fiery Star Wars: Rebels villain into Luke Skywalker’s life.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars #6 by Charles Soule, Jesús Saiz, Arif Prianto and VC’s Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
Marvel’s new Star Wars series finds Luke Skywalker struggling with his identity after learning that Darth Vader was really his father in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Now, Luke’s been called to Serelia thanks to the Force, and Star Wars #6 illustrates that his fate is tied closely to a former Jedi, Verla.
But rather than help him find the lightsaber he lost on Cloud City, she reluctantly points him to Tempes to find a new one. However, she warns Luke that the Force will chew him up and spit him out. No matter what, Luke is hellbent on saving the galaxy from Vader and Palpatine, but he falls right into Vader’s deadliest trap. And shockingly enough, it brings back a major villain from the Star Wars: Rebels series: the Grand Inquisitor.
Verla warns Luke of a coldness in the outpost that seems suspiciously like the Dark Side. As Luke traverses the area, he grabs the yellow lightsaber that belonged to a mysterious Sentinel, only to activate a mystical trap Vader laid down that allows the spirit of the Grand Inquisitor to attack Luke.
The villain immediately goes after Luke, telling him that he’s an expert Jedi hunter, even if he perished in Star Wars: Rebels Season 1’s “Fire Across the Galaxy” just before the Siege of Lothal. The Grand Inquisitor, a former Jedi and one of the Emperor’s main hunters, fought Karan Jarrus aboard the Sovereign cruiser, only to lose his lightsaber which caused a reactor up to blow up. Hanging from the ledge, the tyrant threw himself into the flames, after warning Kanan “there are things far worse than death,” suggesting he just couldn’t go back to Vader in failure.
Now, Vader has found a use for him beyond the afterlife by seemingly using the temple to harness his soul. He’s kept him as a prisoner, waiting to spring a trap on anyone who dares to come for the weapon. In the wake of Order 66, it’s also a smart way of killing older Jedi they would have missed out on, since they would know the path to Tempes. Verla only know it becauase she was once the Padawan of the experienced Jedi extremist Ferren Barr, which allowed her to guide Luke towards this location.
Eventually, Luke cuts the still-bruning Inquisitor down down, proving that he’s ready to become a better Jedi and promising that the Light Side of the Force will win. When Vader assesses the damage later on, he’s as unforgiving as can be, chiding the Inquisitor for his failure. The Inquisitor begs for freedom, but Vader indicates that he’ll remain his tool, leaving the despondent specter repeating his line about how this really is worse than death as he fades back into the shadows.