How Darth Vader Sentenced The Grand Inquisitor To A Fate Worse Than Death

We all thought the Grand Inquisitor’s story ended in Star Wars Rebels—defeated, falling into the flames, with that haunting final line: “There are some things far more frightening than death.” At the time, it felt like the end. But what if that line wasn’t just dramatic flair… but a clue?

Yes, we saw him again briefly in the Jedi Temple vision during Kanan’s trial—but after that, nothing. It seemed like his fate was sealed. But I’ve come across something most fans missed: the Grand Inquisitor’s story didn’t end there. His death wasn’t the end—it was just the beginning of something far worse. He was still bound to the Empire, not in body, but in spirit. Trapped. Still serving.

Before we dive into what happened to the Grand Inquisitor, let’s take a second to place this story in the Star Wars timeline—just so you’ll know exactly where it fits in canon and it’ll be easier to follow. This takes place right after The Empire Strikes Back—Luke has just lost his duel with Vader on Cloud City, and along with it, his father’s lightsaber. So in the time between Episodes V and VI, we follow Luke on a journey to find a new lightsaber as he continues training to become a Jedi.

In Star Wars (2020) #6 by Charles Soule and Jesús Saiz, we follow Luke as he continues his journey to become a Jedi. And during that search for a new lightsaber, we get a chilling reveal about the Grand Inquisitor’s fate.

Still reeling from the battle, Luke is more determined than ever to become a Jedi. He begins following mysterious visions, one of which leads him to a woman on the planet Serelia. She tells Luke she knew Anakin Skywalker when he was still a Jedi and confirms that something changed him into Vader: “Anakin was a hero of the Clone Wars. A truly great Jedi. And then… something happened to him, and he became Vader. That’s all I know.” She then points Luke toward a forgotten Jedi outpost from the High Republic era.

Luke travels to the abandoned temple, and inside, he finds a lightsaber hilt that looks like it once belonged to a Jedi Temple Guard. But the moment he picks it up, he’s attacked by the spirit of the Grand Inquisitor—still burning from the flames of his death.

Luke holds his ground and defeats the Inquisitor’s apparition with a precise, Force-enhanced strike. But the real twist comes next. 

We cut to the Grand Inquisitor speaking directly to Darth Vader, clearly in pain from his smoldering state. He begs Vader for release, asking, “Will there never… be a chance… of release?” And Vader, in classic Vader fashion, coldly replies, “You are but a tool, shaped to serve my purposes. You will… continue.”

The Grand Inquisitor fades, whispering, “There are worse things… than death.”

And now we know—Vader didn’t just punish the Grand Inquisitor. He imprisoned his spirit and bound him to a temple, using his former identity as a Jedi Temple Guard against him. 

The one thing I still can’t stop thinking about is how Vader actually managed to trap the Grand Inquisitor’s spirit inside that Jedi outpost. What we saw didn’t look like a normal Force ghost—it felt like some kind of Sith ritual. And if we go back to The Clone Wars finale, remember when Yoda visited Moraband and saw the vision of Darth Bane? That scene alone tells us the Sith have their own dark methods of binding spirits.

According to the Star Wars Fandom, “The Dark Lord was able to prevent the Inquisitor’s spirit from passing on, instead tying it down to a Jedi outpost on Tempes. Here his spirit remained, killing all those who sought Jedi knowledge.”

So yeah—whether it was Vader or maybe even Palpatine who performed the ritual, it’s clear they didn’t let the Grand Inquisitor move on. Instead, he was cursed to become a twisted guardian of a lost Jedi temple, forever bound to hunt down anyone trying to rebuild what the Empire tried to destroy.