Despite being set 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, the first episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi opens with a surprising flashback to Order 66 from the perspective of five known younglings within the Jedi Temple. While their Jedi Master tries to save them, she ultimately doesn't survive; and the scene ends with the five agreeing to run.
While the sequence was a stark reminder of the traumatic events of that night, it also left fans curious about its narrative purpose. The younglings and their Jedi Master aren't familiar to fans and seemingly have no connection to Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker or Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi. This has led to speculation that one of the kids is actually Reva, the Third Sister, played by Moses Ingram.
If so, and given rumors of more flashback scenes to come, fans are anticipating that Obi-Wan Kenobi may revisit this group of younglings again, but an Episode 3 Easter egg may have already confirmed their fate.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Hints at Jedi Younglings' Fate?
In Episode 3 of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the series follows Reva to the underwater Fortress Inquisitorious, which appears to have lightsabers and even Jedi youngling helmets on display as Inquisitor trophies.
These Easter eggs can be seen all around the room when Reva addresses the other Inquisitors.
While most of the items are saber hilts, carefully positioned on red-colored surfaces, at least two helmets are on display there as well.
These items are never addressed or acknowledged by the Inquisitors, but the helmets bear the same color and egg-shaped design as those worn by young padawans in training in Attack of the Clones; and, again, most recently in that Obi-Wan Kenobi Order 66 flashback where, if the theories are true, worn by a young Reva.
Which Younglings Survived the Fortress Inquisitorious?
In Obi-Wan Kenobi's Order 66 scene, there were five younglings struggling to escape. But in the Fortress Inquisitorious, there aren't five helmets.
While Revenge of the Sith confirmed that the younglings were killed in the Jedi Temple along with their masters, what's on display in the Fortress Inquisitorious didn't belong to those children or those fallen Jedi. Instead, the sabers and helmets on display are likely tallies of the Jedi, younglings, and any other Force-sensitive children who were brought to the Fortress to be tortured and either turned to the Dark Side or killed.
If this Easter egg is connected to those five children, and Reva was one of the survivors, it appears that two of those younglings were killed at the Fortress, while the fate of two others is still unknown.
It's also worth noting that the helmets weren't the only reference to Jedi younglings in Episode 3.
When Obi-Wan and Leia are taken to a safe house by Indira Varma's Tala Durith, Kenobi notices that one of the carvings belongs to Jedi Master Quinlan Vos who, as Durith explains, helps out by "smuggling younglings."
It seems that Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't just about the former Jedi Master and his fallen Padawan, but also the varying fates of the children of the Force.
Just how this plot point will contribute to Obi-Wan, Leia, and Darth Vader's story will be interesting to see; and since fans are already halfway through Obi-Wan Kenobi, the answers shouldn't be long in coming.
New episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere on Wednesdays on Disney+.
