Obi-Wan Kenobi has officially entered its second half as Episode 4 is now available to stream on Disney+. The show, which has featured Ewan McGregor's return to Star Wars as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, has been a major success for both Disney and Lucasfilm in terms of viewership numbers, and rumors that a Season 2 is already in the works have recently surfaced.
The first three episodes of the series focused on Obi-Wan being called back into action after a 10-year hiatus since the events of Revenge of the Sith. The Jedi Master was tasked with rescuing Vivien Lyra Blair's Princess Leia Organa, and just when he thought he was about to be on his way back to Alderaan with her, he was confronted by Hayden Christensen's Darth Vader. The Sith Lord was able to distract Kenobi and even injure him, which allowed Moses Ingram's Reva to capture Leia.
Warning - the rest of this article contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Episode 4 opens with Indira Varma's Tala and her droid, NED-B, rushing Obi-Wan to safety following his encounter with his former Padawan. He was placed inside a bacta tank on the planet Jabiim so his wounds could be healed, and while that was happening, Reva was en route to Fortress Inquisitorius with Leia. After Kenobi came to and got out of the tank, Tala introduced him to Roken, played by O'Shea Jackson Jr. The trio, along with a couple of others, devise a plan to infiltrate Fortress Inquisitorius and rescue Leia.
Since Tala is actually in the Imperial ranks as an officer, she offered to go with Obi-Wan and provide as much aid to him as she could. Once she arrived at the Fortress, she was able to get to a security terminal and guide him to where he could possibly find Leia. After a few minor setbacks with security droids and suspicious Imperial officers, Obi-Wan was on the right track to finding exactly where Leia was being held when he made a sinister discovery.
The Jedi Tomb in Obi-Wan Kenobi
Earlier in the episode, when Obi-Wan and Tala's crew were talking about their plan to break into the stronghold, they couldn't figure out why it was so large and traveled so deep into the water. That question got answered when Obi-Wan entered an exceptionally long hallway near the detention level of the fortress. He stumbled upon a large "tomb" that spanned the length of the entire hallway and served as the resting place for all kinds of fallen Jedi.
As he walked through the room, he looked to his left and right to see different Jedi frozen solid in an orange-colored substance. The big shock to him was that there wasn't just one or two of them, but dozens. As of right now, it appears as though Obi-Wan didn't see anyone he was particularly close to in his past life, but one of the Jedi that he came across may be recognized by fans of The Clone Wars animated series. This said Jedi is none other than Master Tera Sinube, who is best known for his appearance in Season 2 when he helps Ahsoka Tano get her lightsaber back and teaches her about the importance of patience.
Obi-Wan walked past others that had suffered the same fate as Master Sinube, but then came across a victim that stood out from the rest. With a look of horror on his face, Obi-Wan stared at the face of a youngling, still wearing their little Jedi robes and training helmet from the Temple on Coruscant. This little Force user turns out to be one of the younglings that appeared in the opening scene of Episode 1, adding more fuel to the theory that Reva was one of the younglings in that scene as well.
Why Are Jedi Being Held at Fortress Inquisitorius?
While there is not a lot of information about Fortress Inquisitorius due to the location still being relatively new in canon, the video game Jedi: Fallen Order can provide some insight into what the Empire may have done to these former Jedi before they were turned into trophies by the Inquisitors.
In the video game, former Jedi Cere Junda is talking to Cal Kestis when she reveals what the Fortress actually is. She says, “There's a fortress. Where they take Jedi. Where the Inquisitors come from. It's a place of torture. It's the place I escaped.” Cal also talks about what happens to Jedi at the stronghold, saying, “They broke them, beat them down, and turned them to the dark side.”
In Episode 2 of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Leia asks Ben about the Inquisitors. He tells her that the Dark Side got hold of most of them and that "many were former Jedi." From what is said in Fallen Order and Obi-Wan Kenobi, it would be safe to assume that the Inquisitors have found and captured Jedi, taken them back to Fortress Inquisitorius, and then killed them if they refuse to turn to the Dark Side. After they are killed, because the Inquisitors are as evil as they are, they just keep the bodies as trophies.
However, the theory that is most likely is that the bodies of these Jedi are being held for future use to attract other Jedi through the Force. It has been revealed many times throughout Star Wars that Force users can feel the life essence of other beings. It can range from a simple tingle where they know the location of another Force user to a strong bond known as a Force Dyad.
The sole purpose of the Inquisitorius Program is to hunt down and locate any Jedi that may have escaped Order 66. Because of the Jedi's overwhelming nature to do the right thing and help those in need, specifically members of their own Order, if they were to feel a strong presence of the Force coming from somewhere like the Fortress, they would undoubtedly go and see if they could help. This would lessen the Inquisitors' workload, and the Jedi would basically do their job for them and capture themselves.
This tactic of luring Jedi out through the Force isn't something unheard of, as it was previously used in Disney's first Star Wars project: Rebels.
Using Luminara Unduli as Bait
In Season 1, Episode 5 of Star Wars Rebels, Kanan Jarrus and the rest of the crew receive a distress signal that says Jedi Master Luminara Unduli survived the Clone Wars and is being held in a stronghold on Stygeon Prime. Believing that it is their duty to rescue her, the group sets off on a rescue mission. When they arrive at the Spire, Kanan can feel the essence of the Force, which leads him to a holding cell. After he and Ezra open the cell and see Luminara trapped, a hologram gets turned off to reveal that Luminara's body was actually mummified and it was all a trap.
The Grand Inquisitor had set everything up to draw Kanan and Ezra out, and it worked. Even though Luminara was dead, and had been for a long time, Kanan could still feel the Force radiating off of her. This goes back to the quote that Obi-Wan himself says to Luke in A New Hope when he describes the Force as "an energy field created by all living things." He also adds, "It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."
This meant that Luminara was still giving off a Force aura from her physical body even though her spirit had passed on, answering how Kanan was able to sense her.
Using a Jedi to Catch a Jedi
Since the Grand Inquisitor is the overseer of the Inquisitorius Program, it is no surprise that he is using the same tactic in Obi-Wan Kenobi that he did in Rebels. In the episode of Rebels that was previously mentioned, the Grand Inquisitor finds Ezra and Kanan in the detention cell where Luminara's body is. He says, "Yes, I'm afraid Master Luminara died with the Republic. But her bones continue to serve the Empire, luring the last Jedi to their ends."
With the bodies of so many Jedi at the bottom of Fortress Inquisitorius, it would cause the Force to radiate from there like beams of sunlight. If any Jedi were to get remotely close to its location, they would certainly feel it and then be obligated to try and rescue their former comrades. By doing this, the Jedi would be playing right into the hands of the Inquisitors. If, for some reason, a Jedi came along that was too powerful for the Inquisitors to handle, Mustafar is not far away and Vader could be at the Fortress in no time to deal with it himself.
While it is extremely sinister, it seems as though the Empire is two steps ahead of the remaining Jedi at the moment. They have put plans in place to make it as easy as possible to capture the remaining Jedi in the future, and if they do fall into the trap, they will likely be tortured for information and ultimately meet the same fate as the others that are now forever imprisoned in the depths of Fortress Inquisitorius.
Episode 4 of Obi-Wan Kenobi is currently available to stream on Disney+.
