There’s this one story where Grievous goes looking for Jedi secrets and ends up getting absolutely wrecked – by the Force itself. No lightsaber fight, no epic duel. Just the Force straight-up tearing him down, calling him out, and reminding him what he really is. It’s wild, kind of brutal, and says a lot about how far he’s fallen. Here’s what actually happened.
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Even Victory Wasn’t Enough for Him
Grievous was already winning, Jedi after Jedi were falling to his blades. He had built a name off fear and destruction. But still, he kept pushing. On the planet Ledeve, he kills a Jedi Knight who’s trying to protect her padawan, then hunts the apprentice down before the kid even gets a chance to escape. On the body, he finds a datapad with coordinates – and that’s what sends him off into the jungle alone.
This whole sequence comes from Age of Republic – General Grievous #1, and it paints a very different picture of him. He’s not just out for blood – he’s still chasing something. There’s something in that temple he needs to see for himself. The place is buried deep in the jungle, silent and overgrown. No guards, no backup, no droids. He climbs the stone with his bare claws, walks through hallways lined with ancient Jedi statues, and doesn’t hesitate to tear them down. He says those statues represent fake honor. He believes the ones of himself back on Vassek matter more – because he earned them through conquest, not peace.
The Deeper Grievous Went, the Less He Found
Inside the temple, the place is full of hidden dangers. Lava pits. Spike traps. Collapsing walkways. Grievous avoids all of it. His body is built to overcome things like this. He’s faster than the dangers, stronger than the crumbling ruins, and too stubborn to stop. Every step is another example of how much he’s gained by replacing what he was with what he’s become.
Eventually, he reaches a chamber with a waterfall glowing with light. He tries to grab whatever’s behind it. His hand goes through. Nothing. He tries again. Still nothing. So he throws himself into the water completely, not even hesitating. He thinks it’s a trick – some Jedi illusion or old defense system.
But once he’s inside, it all changes.
What He Found Wasn’t Power – It Was Judgment
Suddenly, everything around him is gone. It’s just darkness and floating lights, and then a voice starts speaking. It asks what he’s looking for. Power? Truth? Knowledge? Grievous snaps back, saying he needs nothing from the Jedi – just their destruction.
But the voice doesn’t sound impressed. It tells him straight: he’s soaked in destruction, but all he’s done is bring it on himself. And then something happens that no weapon can stop – his cybernetic body starts falling apart. Piece by piece, metal limbs come loose and drop away. Underneath it all, he sees the face he hasn’t worn in years: Qymaen jai Sheelal – the Kaleesh warrior he used to be.
He says he’s stronger now than he ever was. That this body is what made him powerful – the kind of power that even made the Jedi tremble. But the voice cuts through him. It tells him he doesn’t understand power. He only understands destruction. He gave up his connection to the Force willingly and replaced it with something empty. Something small.
And then it hits him with the line that sticks: “You are small. And that is all you will ever be.”
Grievous Didn’t Change – He Doubled Down
Back in the real world, he comes out of the waterfall furious. He pulls out all four lightsabers and attacks the waterfall like it personally insulted him. It doesn’t work. The light doesn’t fade, and the Force doesn’t respond.
So he does what he always does. He calls up a Separatist dreadnought and gives the order to fire on the temple. The bombardment turns the place into rubble, flames climbing into the sky while he stands and watches from a cliff above. He waits there for hours, watching it all burn. At the end, he says they all burn the same – Jedi, temples, legacies.
But even after the fire stops, the light from inside the temple is still shining. The one he couldn’t touch. The one that rejected him.
