Today saw the release of the fourth and final issue of Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: Inquisitors miniseries, and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this climactic installment.
Last month I complained that Star Wars: Inquisitors was already starting to feel a bit repetitive in its third issue. Well, I’m pleased to say that the fourth one ends that pattern, but unfortunately not in any way that I found satisfying or poignant. Inquisitors #4 begins with yet another flashback to Order 66, with Republic clone troopers carrying out Supreme Chancellor Palpatine’s plans to eliminate the Jedi Order– but this time it’s on the planet Zondula, home to the subsequently abandoned Jedi temple later used as a based for Tensu run and his comrades. Next writer Rodney Barnes and artist Ramon Rosanas cut to the “present” of this story (set between the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and the original Star Wars film, AKA Episode IV – A New Hope), with Sith Lord Darth Vader– formerly Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, of course– once again expressing disappointment that his Inquisitor underlings have failed to take out Run.
But for some reason he gives them one more chance to get the job done, and then we’re back on Zondula, where Tensu is having a chat with his buddy Pan about how he’s tired of all this war. Then the Inquisitors’ ships appear and the Jedi take to the sky, where Pan’s fighter is shot down. The third Jedi hiding out on the planet, somewhat confusingly named Jed, convinces Run to take refuge in the temple base, while Vader at long last decides that if he wants something done, he has to do it himself. So there’s a showdown between the Dark Lord of the Sith and our protagonist, but not before the Inquisitors have to battle through some of the Jedi’s security droids. Then Jed is cut down, and Tensu tries to use his words to convince the bad guys that theirs is a path not worth following. This confrontation ends with our hero surrendering himself to Vader and getting beheaded for the trouble.
So this four-issue story was about a Jedi who escaped the Purge, inspired hope around the galaxy, and then was chased by the Inquisitors and ultimately killed by Darth Vader. The artwork was nice but I can’t say that I really get the point. Vader’s last line in the final panel is about how nobody will ever know “the legend of Tensu Run,” and I suppose that’s true, as the Jedi’s name is not mentioned in any other Star Wars media, but I’m not sure what else I’m intended to get from this conclusion. That the Inquisitors aren’t very good at their jobs? There still don’t seem to be any consequences for them failing again here, despite Vader’s threats. At the end this yarn comes across as one of those comic miniseries that– like Tensu Run himself– will be forgotten over not much time, and can be entirely skipped without any real impact on the larger chronology, ongoing narratives, or insight into any notable character arcs. I think it’s what the kids call a “nothing burger”– do the kids say that? Either way, it’s disappointing because I had been looking forward to seeing what else Rodney Barnes could do with Star Wars outside of his recent Disney+ adaptations and 2018’s Lando: Double Or Nothing, and sadly the answer based on this material is “not a whole lot.”
Star Wars: Inquisitors #4 is available now wherever comic books are sold.