Obi-Wan Kenobi villain twist confirms major fan theory

Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 5 spoilers follow.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (heavy) breathes new life into the greatest Star Wars villain of all time, but Darth Vader could soon have a run for his money if new developments in episode five are anything to go by.

Because yes, Reva has been a commanding presence from day one, but now in the show's penultimate episode, our Grand Inquisitor comes to the fore with some truly shocking revelations. Well, not so shocking if you're one of those fans who saw it all coming.

Episode one of Obi-Wan Kenobi opened with a flashback to Order 66, the moment when the Clones turned on the Jedi and killed countless force-sensitive younglings.

At the time, this all felt a teensy bit random, aside from establishing why Jedi like Obi-Wan are now hiding from the Empire. Unless, one of those younglings happened to appear as a pissed-off grown-up in the present day...

Plenty of Star Wars stories have established Inquisitors as ex-Jedi padawans in the past, and a number of clues have suggested that a younger Reva, specifically, could have been there during Anakin Skywalker's fatal attack.

We already knew she had personal beef with the Jedi – catching them will get her "what [she's] owed" – and The Grand Inquisitor also reveals at one point that Third Sister "came to us from the gutter".

Chapter Five finally confirmed all this though when Obi-Wan realised that there's only one way Reva could know Darth Vader's true identity. When confronted with this, Reva admitted that, yes, she was indeed there when Anakin attacked the younglings, back when she was but a youngling herself.

"We thought he was there to help us. I tried to help them but I couldn’t. I was too weak. When he left, I played dead. Hid with the bodies. Felt them go cold. They were the only family I knew and he slaughtered them."

It turns out that Reva's true game-plan is one of revenge, and it's been many, many years in the making. So naturally, Obi-Wan suggests an alliance, teaming them both up against Darth Vader, but Reva has beef with Ben as well.

"Do you really want Anakin dead? Where were you when he was killing my friends? Why didn’t you stop him? Why didn’t you save us?"

All fair questions, we're sure you'll agree. And this also explains why Reva wasn't too upset at the idea of Obi-Wan and other Jedi like him suffering as a result of this quest for revenge.

In the end, Kenobi uses all this to his advantage by distracting Anakin with Reva long enough for the rebels to escape. But Reva's thirst for vengeance doesn't pay off like she hoped for, even with the element of surprise on her side. Because, of course, nothing gets past Darth Vader.

After a stunning fight sequence, Anakin reveals that he knew all along about Reva's plan to betray him. "Did you really believe I did not see it, youngling?" he says, before telling Reva that she is "of no further use" as she bleeds out from a lightsaber strike to the torso.

The Grand Inquisitor then pops up to reveal that he's been alive all along, and that his supposed "death" was all part of this wider plan to keep Reva in the dark. "Revenge does wonders for the will to live, don’t you think? Your rage was useful. Now it is tiresome. We will leave you where we found you. In the gutter where you belong."

As if that wasn't salty enough, he also calls Reva "Third Sister" and then steals back her Grand Inquisitor badge. The audacity of doing all that and then leaving her to die gives us life though, even as Reva's own life fades.

Saying that, not all hope is lost. Whether these wounds turn out to be fatal or not, Reva still has enough strength left in her to discover that Anakin's other child, Luke Skywalker, can be found on Tatooine.

So if she can't kill Anakin himself, Reva can still exact some form of vengeance, albeit on a small, defenceless child... much like she herself once was when Anakin attacked.

While we already know that Luke Skywalker will survive this encounter, the ramifications of all this for Obi-Wan Kenobi's final episode have already got us heavy breathing with both fear and anticipation.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series will continue to stream every Wednesday on Disney+.

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David Opie

After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival. 

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends. 

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound. 

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