When the Mouse House was promoting Obi-Wan Kenobi a few months ago, the Grand Inquisitor was advertised as one of the most menacing figures on the tail of the titular Jedi Master, with Rubert Friend set to bring his live-action debut to fruition on the limited series.
Having watched the series, however, we can’t help but notice that the Grand Inquisitor was barely in it. That is, apart from his brief appearance in episode one to scare off a bunch of Tatooine farmers, the character had little to no screentime to accommodate all the hype and controversy surrounding his debut.
It seems that in their attempt to build up Reva as a real threat, and even give her some autonomy to terrorize Obi-Wan, the writers completely forsook the Grand Inquisitor. Even when he returned from the dead for the finale, he was basically there for the span of a minute to serve as an acting counterpoint to Vader on his Star Destroyer.
It’s a damn shame, too, because Friend’s version embodied that abject villainy in a much more compelling way than his animated alternative in Star Wars Rebels, which is perhaps why fans have recently been going over his character and debating if Obi-Wan Kenobi seriously dropped the ball with this opportunity.
A common sentiment is that fans wanted more of the Grand Inquisitor.
Even from an objective viewpoint, the Grand Inquisitor is probably the best Imperial villain Star Wars creatives have come up with since the days of the original trilogy.
Regardless of his measly screentime, some fans still think Jason Isaacs should’ve reprised his role from Rebels instead of Rupert Friend.
Simply put, the Grand Inquisitor didn’t get the chance to do… well, anything, really.
If Lucasfilm ends up developing a second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Grand Inquisitor could serve as the big bad now that Vader has had his go at killing Ben. Not that it would matter anyway. If Vader couldn’t defeat him, what chance would his lackey stand?