Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Inquisitors #1! When the Empire was first getting its footing in the Star Wars galaxy, there were two words that presented the most danger to its long-lasting success, and Darth Vader confirmed what those two words were himself. These weren’t Night Sister incantations or secret codewords launching an Empire-wide meltdown, these words were actually a name – one Darth Vader was all-too anxious to see written on a tombstone.
In Star Wars: Inquisitors #1 by Rodney Barnes and Ramon Rosanas, Darth Vader orders the Grand Inquisitor to prioritize one mission over all others. As most Star Wars fans know, the Inquisitors were an elite strike-force of Force-sensitive assassins whose one and only mission was to hunt down and kill Jedi that survived Order 66. And here, Darth Vader moved one Jedi to the very top of the Inquisitors’ hit list: Tensu Run.
Tensu Run is a relatively young Jedi Knight who survived Order 66, and since then, he’s been rallying other Jedi to come out of hiding and make a stand against the Empire. Run rose to fame and prominence after one mission in particular, where he flew head-first into an Imperial outpost and freed a great number of people wrongfully imprisoned there. With the widely-known success of that mission, plus his efforts in leading the Jedi against the Empire, the mere mention of Tensu Run’s name inspires hope across the galaxy – making him the Empire’s greatest threat.
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Darth Vader Relates Tensu Run’s Inspiration to the Seduction of the Dark Side
When Darth Vader is stressing the importance of finding and killing Tensu Run to the Grand Inquisitor, he relates the inspiration people feel upon hearing the young Jedi’s name to the very seduction of the dark side. Vader asks the Grand Inquisitor if he remembers how the dark side made him feel whole when he first succumbed to its influence, and when the Grand Inquisitor said he did, Darth Vader tells him that’s exactly the same sensation Tensu Run’s name is inspiring across the galaxy.
The call to the dark side is one of the hardest things to resist in the Star Wars universe. Even someone as pure of heart as Luke Skywalker fell to the dark side (in Star Wars: Dark Empire), and it was nearly impossible for him to see the light again. It overwhelms those who entertain it, and quickly becomes the only thing one can think about before taking them over completely. Therefore, the fact that Tensu Run’s name does the same thing for the citizens of the Empire, but with hope instead of darkness, means Darth Vader really isn’t exaggerating.
Tensu Run’s Threat-Level to Darth Vader is Why Star Wars Fans Have Never Heard of Him
It seems virtually unthinkable that the name of one Jedi (who isn’t Luke Skywalker) could inspire so much hope in the galaxy that Darth Vader names him as the most dangerous threat to the Empire, especially considering Star Wars fans have never heard it mentioned before. But, unfortunately, it’s because Tensu Run presents such a danger to the Empire this early in its reign that fans haven’t heard of him, as it’s all-too likely that this young Jedi put himself on Darth Vader’s radar way too soon, and will wind up dead as a result.
Hopefully, Tensu Run doesn’t die by Darth Vader’s hand, and will join the ranks of surviving Jedi in the post-Empire era of Star Wars canon right alongside Ahsoka, Grogu, and Luke Skywalker himself. However, while optimistic, that possibility doesn’t seem likely, as Darth Vader was hellbent on eradicating the Jedi during the early days of the Empire, and he’s made it clear that Tensu Run is too dangerous to be kept alive. So, while Darth Vader confirms the two most dangerous words in the Star Wars galaxy, it seems more than likely they won’t stay that way for much longer.
Star Wars: Inquisitors #1 by Marvel Comics is available now.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Conceived by the will of the Force itself, Anakin Skywalker was the prophesied Chosen One, destined to bring the Force into balance. Anakin struggled to balance competing attachments to the Jedi Order and his wife Padmé Amidala, and ultimately fell to the dark side, becoming Darth Vader. For years he served as Palpatine’s right hand man, but he was ultimately redeemed by the faith of his son, Luke Skywalker. Now a Force Ghost, Anakin continues to act as an agent of balance.
