The Star Wars franchise’s latest animated series, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, will be a sequel series to Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and can tie up loose ends left by its predecessor. One notable unresolved story is that of Barriss Offee, the rival Jedi of Ahsoka Tano. Barriss Offee was last seen in The Clone Wars’ season 5 finale, being taken into custody after a shocking betrayal of Ahsoka, the Jedi, and the Republic. Barriss Offee’s story did not end with The Clone Wars, and viewers have speculated her return to the franchise on more than one occasion. With The Bad Batch taking place in the immediate aftermath of The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, this may be the best opportunity yet to explain what happened to the fallen Jedi.
Barriss Offee was a Mirialan Padawan, apprenticed to Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, and a close friend of Ahsoka Tano’s. Ahsoka, as the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, casually ignored many of the Jedi Order’s principles (she notably was not one to suppress her emotions) and often disobeyed orders from Jedi she served under. This ultimately made her a better Jedi and a better person than she would have been otherwise. Barriss Offee, on the other hand, was an ideal padawan, dogmatic in her adherence to the Jedi Order’s often-flawed philosophies. This led her to become disillusioned with the Jedi and Republic. Falling to the dark side, Barriss bombed the Jedi Temple and attempted to frame Ahsoka as the perpetrator. Though Barriss was revealed as the true bomber, the fact that the Jedi had no faith in Ahsoka’s innocence, led her to leave the order.
Barriss Offee is last seen being taken away by Jedi Temple Guards, presumably to a Republic prison. As stated by Dave Filoni himself, Barriss was originally going to die in the season 5 finale, detonating her cell and taking her own life, but he changed his mind, deciding that he had further plans for her character. As shown in the trailer for The Bad Batch, the five members of Clone Force 99 appear to defect from the fledgling Galactic Empire. Considering Barriss’s disillusionment with the Jedi and dark side corruption, she may end up becoming an ally to Vader and Sidious, and a lethal opponent for the clone heroes.
Barriss’s fall to the dark side is notably similar to those of several Imperial Inquisitors, and many viewers believed she’d become one by the Age of the Empire. When a female Mirialan Imperial Inquisitor was shown in previews as a villain in the then-upcoming Star Wars Rebels season 2, many assumed her to be Barriss. The Seventh Sister turned out to be an original character, however. Similarly, the Second Sister, the main antagonist of Jedi: Fallen Order was theorized to be Barriss, but this too was debunked when the video game was released. Barriss was prime Inquisitor material, and her absence in both properties indicates that she might have died before they took place.
Barriss Offee’s reappearance in the Star Wars franchise would be a perfect opportunity to explain how the old Jedi Order, while flawed, was still preferable to the dark side’s organizations. Barriss was right to criticize the order, but she became far worse when she bombed the temple. Should Ahsoka return in The Bad Batch as well, a conflict between the two former padawans would be warranted. Should Ahsoka’s Jedi rival survive The Bad Batch, however, she could reappear in the live-action series Star Wars: Ahsoka, continuing the conflict between the two former padawans.
