Obi-Wan Kenobi Just Gave Us A Major Revelation About Reva
Warning: spoilers ahead for Part V of "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
If only one thing is true about "Obi-Wan Kenobi," it's that it's been an absolute treat for fans of the "Star Wars" prequels so far. The series is packed will callbacks to beloved Jedi from "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," including a flashback to Coruscant in the series' fifth episode. Still, as satisfying as it's been to get another glimpse of Obi-Wan's (Ewan McGregor) relationship to Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), "Kenobi" is wise not to make everything about these particular former Jedi. The series also incorporates the Inquisitors — a group of dark side-wielders who make a living hunting Force-sensitive beings — into the story very early, and positions the Third Sister, Reva (Moses Ingram), as a major threat to Kenobi himself.
For a while, it seemed like Reva was keen on hunting Obi-Wan in order to get on Darth Vader's good side (if such a thing exists). But the series' fifth episode has revealed that her intentions for Kenobi skew much more personal, and are in fact part of a long-festering mission for revenge.
Was Reva once a Jedi youngling?
Part V of "Kenobi" finds the titular former Jedi backed into a corner yet again, after Reva tracks him and his allies to the planet Jabiim. Reva, now Grand Inquisitor, is close behind, and she and her Imperial forces manage to capture the rebel cell before anyone has a chance to escape. In an effort to buy his friends a bit of time, Kenobi tries to negotiate with Reva, but not before asking the question on a lot of fans' minds: How does Reva know that Darth Vader is actually Anakin Skywalker?
Of course, Reva's initially tight-lipped with the truth, which leaves Obi-Wan to deduce some of it himself. She's obviously too young to have fought as a Jedi during the Clone Wars, but she's just old enough to have trained at the Jedi Temple as a youngling. If she had been there during the fall of the Republic, during Order 66, she would have seen Anakin/Vader there — but how could she have survived his attack on the Temple?
In short, she almost didn't survive. Reva was actually one of the many younglings that Vader attacked himself, and she only managed to evade certain death by hiding among the bodies of her friends. It's a seriously chilling backstory, one that puts her hatred for the Jedi Order into much clearer focus.
A Jedi's vendetta
It's clear that a lot of Inquisitors harbor a hatred for the Jedi for a variety of reasons. But Reva's distaste for them always seemed super personal, even from the very beginning. A lot of fans speculated that Reva was once part of the Jedi Order in some shape or form, especially after Part III, when the Inquisitor discovers the Path that Tala (Indira Varma) used to help smuggle force-sensitive beings to safety. When Reva notices the Jedi crest etched onto the wall of the safehouse on Mapuzo, her entire disposition changes.
Reva's conversation with Princess Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) in Part IV was similarly enlightening. Reva reveals quite a bit to Leia while interrogating her, so much so that we end up learning more from her than she does from her prisoner. It turns out that Reva's resentment for the Jedi runs deep. Not only does she warn Leia against trusting them at all; she even suggests that they left Obi-Wan to die on Mapuzo, just as they'll abandon Leia. In hindsight, this mirrors her own experience with the Order to a tee. Reva felt betrayed by the Jedi who had sworn to protect her (and rightfully so!), so it makes total sense that she'd be gunning for the people that she believes are responsible for her suffering — both directly and otherwise.
You underestimate her power!
Reva's plot to capture Kenobi carries much more weight now than it did before. Naturally, she blames him for Anakin's fall, at least in part — but more importantly, she holds Obi-Wan accountable for failing to stop Anakin at any point. Her plight as a Jedi youngling puts the failure of the Jedi into much clearer focus, and it also makes the tragedy of the Jedi Purge much more personal. It's always been hard to imagine Vader murdering younglings (again, for good reason), and it's always been an aspect of the Purge that most would rather forget. But introducing a character that survived an encounter with Vader firsthand — and as a child, to boot — forces Kenobi to deal with the consequences of his failure in a much more tangible sense.
Though Reva definitely has it out for Kenobi, Part V makes it clear that the former Jedi is but a means to an end. Reva will likely stop at nothing to avenge everything that was taken from her as a child. She even goes so far as to attack Vader after helping Kenobi escape — a really bold move, knowing Vader's "take no prisoners" attitude — and though he defeats Reva easily, he spares her life again. Honestly, that's a huge mistake on his part: If we've learned anything about Reva, it's that you can't underestimate her for a second. And now that she's discovered evidence of a mysterious child hiding out on Tatooine, it's clear everyone's mission just got a little more complicated.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi" is now streaming on Disney+.