Star Wars keeps repeating the same trope with the Imperial Inquisitors, killing and then bringing them back. Found in both Legends and Disney canon, the Imperial Inquisitors are agents of Imperial Intelligence – and they often work with Darth Vader himself. They’ve become a staple of the Dark Times of the Empire’s reign.

Inquisitors are not Sith, and in canon they are all deliberately kept weaker by Darth Vader and Palpatine, who hope to avoid potential betrayals. Legends-era Inquisitors could come from any background, while all modern canon Inquisitors are former Jedi. They appear to have all died by the time of the first Star Wars movie – explaining why they never crossed paths with Luke Skywalker – but surprisingly, these deaths are increasingly fakeouts.

Star Wars Keeps Changing Its Mind About Killing Inquisitors

The pattern begins with Jedi: Fallen Order, wich Cal Kestis appeared to kill the Ninth Sister after an intense duel; but that situation was ambiguous, making her return – and explicit death – in Jedi: Survivor forgivable. False Inquisitor deaths became problematic when Reva apparently killed the Grand Inquisitor in Obi-Wan Kenobi, only for him to miraculously return from a lightsaber wound. He couldn’t be kept dead, of course, given his fate has already been revealed in Star Wars Rebels season 1. The Grand Inquisitor’s survival is dubious, especially considering his limited training, and the fakeout threatened many continuity snarls.

Equally perplexing is Kenobi’s choice to have Darth Vader impale Reva and promptly leave her behind. This is, notably, mere moments after The Grand Inquisitor implied that his dark side powers allowed him to survive the same wound (and Reva’s previous survival of impalement during Order 66). More recently, Tales of the Empire saw the Fourth Sister Force-tossed off a mountainside, only to return and impale former Inquisitor Barriss Offee… then attempt to save her, leaving Barriss’ fate ambiguous.

Even Dead Inquisitors Return In Star Wars Canon

Even canonically dead Inquisitors find ways to come back. The Grand Inquisitor’s spirit was bound to a Jedi Temple on an Outer Rim planet called Tempes, serving as a guard; he clashed with Luke Skywalker in Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz’s Star Wars #6. Ahsoka‘s Inquisitor Marrok is likely undead as well, with the green ichor released after he was struck by Ahsoka indicated his corpse was reanimated by Nightsister magick. It’s all getting a bit too much, and – as important as Inquisitors may be – Star Wars need to stop with the death fakeouts.