The Battle of two Fallen Jedi who later became Master and Apprentice.
Padawan Anakin as of Attack of the Clones, The Grand Inquisitor as seen in Star Wars: Rebels.
Canon versions for both, Neutral ground.
R1: Sabers
R2: Force
R3: All-Out
Bonus: They team up to fight RotS Kit Fisto. Do they win or lose?
Who wins and why?
I have been meaning to get back to you on this. I've tracked down those old ForceCast Interviews on the Inquisitors, which was rather useful in appreciating their role in Star Wars. Well, outside of Legends, that is.
It helps to regard the Inquisitors as the IG-100 MagnaGuards of the Galactic Empire. These opponents are significant and rare, representing a serious situation, wherein your heroes are in relative danger one way or another. They have what it takes to fight with trained lightsaber duelists and Force wielders. At the same time, it's a given that the MagnaGuards -- and Inquisitors -- are not in the same threat class as the major villains, such as General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, or the Sith Lords, so you don't expect as much. There's a balance to this particular variety of antagonist, in that it's perfectly reasonable for them to be swiftly bested in a fight, yet it's also possible for them to prove troublesome against their superiors. We can all remember instances of a MagnaGuard or Inquisitor getting trounced, or putting up a fight, often against the same characters.
There are marked limitations to Darth Vader's Inquisitorius, however. They aren't free range villains, with powers that have yet to be fully explored. They exist for a specific purpose, and are "locked" below certain thresholds of ability, with no acronym-based asterisk next to the aforementioned limits that might allow fans to sidestep this reality.
So then what...now S1 Kanan just suddenly jumped up to TCW Anakin after just briefly sparring with Ezra, able to fight the GI and impress him with his dueling skill?
Kanan Jarrus and the Inquisitor compliment each other as opposing characters, for they are both formidable yet fundamentally flawed. For the duration of the first season of Star Wars Rebels, Kanan is out-of-practice and lacking confidence in the Force. He does improve, gradually recovering his former skill and strength, and as a result proving more and more of a challenge, as you yourself note:
There's also the fact that Kanan, was able to also fight the Grand Inquisitor once he got back into the swing of things and sparred with Ezra. Even the GI noted that he was more impressive than before, now sure in their last fight Kanan didn't exactly outskill him and more or less destroyed his means of fighting. Which come to think of it, if the GI is suppose to be a good duelist, what he did was incredibly stupid from a fighting standpoint. But before all of that, you still had Kanan being able to fight a lot better against him in their next two duels.
...But even when Kanan Jarrus restores his former ability in the Jedi arts and ways of the Force, at the end of the day he never completed his Jedi training, and so he remains a limited fighter. He does not stack up to a full-fledged Jedi, Knight or Master. Whether in their very first encounter on Stygeon Prime, or in the later duels at Fort Anaxes, Lothal, etc, the balance between the two characters -- in favour of the Inquisitor -- owes as much to Kanan's lack of ability as to the Inquisitor's power:
Dave Filoni: But in this dark time, when the light side is really suffering, he, y'know, is a fairly powerful guy -- especially for someone like Kanan, who kind of lacks his own conviction and belief in his abilities at this point. Uh, if you do that, and you don't believe in yourself, how can you even fight someone like the Inquisitor? So, when he gets Force thrown, he really gets thrown, and that throw has as much to do with Kanan's own lack of belief in himself as it does the Inquisitor pushing him -- y'know, there's not a lot countering the Inquisitor in that fight. We thought it was important to show Kanan really struggling, uh, y'know, almost as if he hadn't really picked up a saber in a very long time -- he would still know certain things he could do with it, but the Inquisitor is gonna just greatly outmatch him.
~ Rebels Force Radio, October 31, 2014
Interviewer: Kanan is often outmatched by the Inquisitor, but does that have more to do with Kanan's limitations, or the Inquisitor's power?
Pablo Hidalgo: Well, I mean, it's obviously a combination of both, but I think what we can't forget about this timeframe is Kanan's level of Jedi training -- he never completed his Jedi training. You get the sense of that if you've read A New Dawn, but that's gonna become more and more apparent as the series progresses.
~ Star Wars Rebels Recon #1.08: Inside "Gathering Forces"
Dave Filoni: Y'know, Tarkin on some level doesn't seem to believe that Obi-Wan is alive in A New Hope, and we know now that Tarkin actually knew Obi-Wan, so that's interesting. So, he has some idea of who he is. I also like that we were able to write in that Tarkin doesn't believe Kanan's a Jedi, because Tarkin actually knew full-fledged Jedi Knights and Masters, so he's like, "You're not what you're pretending to be." So, y'know, it's interesting that we were able these types of little insights to these classic characters.
~ Rebels Force Radio, July 3, 2015
It's not that the Inquisitor is just so powerful. He is more powerful than those who are lacking in power, especially in an era where the galaxy is so dark. And, after their first battle, he does consistently find a challenge in Kanan Jarrus, even when the former Jedi was wounded and worn out from extensive torture:
Kanan Jarrus probably isn't exactly as capable as the Grand Inquisitor, when you really get down to it. As you say, ultimately, he didn't actually overpower or outfight the Inquisitor -- he just exploited a vulnerability in his opponent's equipment, which was a rather a foolish move for a villain who's supposed to be quite clever and well-studied.
He does prove himself a most worthy match, win or lose, and though the combat is initially back-and-forth, Kanan eventually presses the Inquisitor down the length of the hyperdrive chamber's walkways, right up to the edge. Granted, Kanan relied on the blaster function of his extra weapon in order to achieve most of his headway, and the Inquisitor was getting winded. Under normal circumstances, they could very well be even:
The takeaway here would be that it's not inconsistent or out-of-character for the Inquisitor to be challenged by Kanan Jarrus, because the Inquisitor was only the stronger of the two to begin with because of Jarrus' combination of doubt, atrophy, and unfinished training. As Jarrus strengthens his faith in the Force and regains his Jedi skills, he presents more and more of a match for the Inquisitor, who is strongest when his opponents are comparatively weak.
But then I'm still of the mind that the GI was retconned into the Grand Inquisitor later on, because I don't see the logical sense of putting the boss to go after a rusty Padawan(S1 Kanan) only to then later send in the lackies against a much better/stronger Kanan and his Padawan. Should have been the other way around if that's the case.
It would seem to be the case that, when the first season of Star Wars Rebels was being written, they had in mind just one villain serving as an Inquisitor. He's introduced and described, quite simply, as the Inquisitor. That there were more Inquisitors, and that he was the chief of their order, was evidently a later development. In both cases, he remains the Inquisitor.
Nevertheless, the Inquisitor was killed at the end of the first season because they didn't want to make him a mustache-twirling fist-shaking reoccurring villain. The rebels dealt some noteworthy damage to the Galactic Empire under his watch, and so if he survived -- which he could have -- his superiors would have executed him for that failure, no matter how tough and cunning he is normally. It is more-so out of respect for his character that the writers decided to kill him so soon. In killing the Inquisitor, the heroes have accomplished something very real, but in the process upped the ante in a very bad way, because now they've gained the attention of something far worse -- and it's not the other Inquisitors:
It isn't an indictment of the Grand Inquisitor for the other Inquisitors to challenge Kanan Jarrus in the next season, because Jarrus is not much better than he was in the first season -- to the contrary, he is more or less on the same level. As Dave Filoni himself put it, Kanan -- and his apprentice, Ezra Bridger -- maybe moved up from, say, level three to level four:
"Our guys are like level three, maybe they got to level four this season."
At the start of season one, Kanan Jarrus is a shadow of his former self -- at which point the Grand Inquisitor "greatly outmatchs him," in the words of Dave Filoni -- but he puts in the work and more or less regain his abilities over the course of the next episodes, and his improvement, his restoration, can be seen in his rematches with the Inquisitor. He's about as good as he's going to be the moment he starts legitimately contending with the Grand Inquisitor. We're not dealing with -- nor would we ever see -- a far stronger Kanan who has truly moved well beyond opponents like the Inquisitors (besides, of course, those moments in which he truly opens up to the Force, such as his defeat of Lord Maul and fatal self-sacrifice).
The character of Kanan Jarrus is that of an incomplete Jedi. He never finished his training, and this only becomes more apparent as the series progresses. He overcomes this source of insecurity through spiritual growth -- eventually being Knighted -- but he remains inferior to a full-fledged Jedi, whether in season one as he fights the Grand Inquisitor, or in season two where he fights several more Inquisitors. Perhaps in season three he achieves a greater enlightment that could transcend his typical limitations, but as far as seasons one and two -- when he is an active combatant, coming up against the Imperial Inquisitorius -- he's not quite a proper Jedi. He lacks the skill, the experience, the wisdom, the power, and the presence of a standard Jedi Knight.
Interviewer: Kanan is often outmatched by the Inquisitor, but does that have more to do with Kanan's limitations, or the Inquisitor's power?
Pablo Hidalgo: Well, I mean, it's obviously a combination of both, but I think what we can't forget about this timeframe is Kanan's level of Jedi training -- he never completed his Jedi training. You get the sense of that if you've read A New Dawn, but that's gonna become more and more apparent as the series progresses.
~ Star Wars Rebels Recon #1.08: Inside "Gathering Forces"
Dave Filoni: Y'know, Tarkin on some level doesn't seem to believe that Obi-Wan is alive in A New Hope, and we know now that Tarkin actually knew Obi-Wan, so that's interesting. So, he has some idea of who he is. I also like that we were able to write in that Tarkin doesn't believe Kanan's a Jedi, because Tarkin actually knew full-fledged Jedi Knights and Masters, so he's like, "You're not what you're pretending to be." So, y'know, it's interesting that we were able these types of little insights to these classic characters.
~ Rebels Force Radio, July 3, 2015
Dave Filoni: We always knew there was going to be a manifestation of this connection to these creatures, and that Ezra was going to summon a bigger creature, a mama version. But I really wanted to push the tension into this almost Akira-like moment, where he seems not himself, and is in a possessed state. It's an important moment which demonstrates his connection to the Living Force. Ezra is open to the idea that life is connected in a way that he doesn't understand yet. You have to be careful with that connection. What he's doing in that moment is active. He is guiding and directing the Force which in this case comes out of his fear and anger at the Inquisitor. The result is he brings up something that he doesn't have control over. That's why Kanan has the discussion with Ezra afterward and he brings up the dark side. You see where Kanan has maybe made a misstep. Ezra is advancing faster than Kanan would have thought possible because Kanan doesn’t have past experience teaching to compare it to having never become a Jedi Knight himself.
https://www.starwars.com/news/interview-dave-filoni-on-star-wars-rebels-part-2
StarWars.com: The blinding of Kanan is really a shocking moment in an episode full of shocking moments. When did you decide you wanted to do that? And I’m wondering if it was debated, because a character change like that is going to impact a lot of things. I think it’s going to impact how you tell stories in the future and how you approach the character, because, in theory, he’s not going to be able to do things like he used to be able to do them.
Dave Filoni: It’s interesting. We had decided that we were going to do something dramatic with Kanan very early on in the season.
Kanan’s an incomplete Jedi. As much as we have to track Ezra’s ascension, we have to parallel Kanan’s own wisdom and what he’s learning. Kanan’s hesitations this year, his reluctance to embrace the rebellion, and his unwillingness to commit to what they could gain out of the Temple all point to him not embracing leadership like he should. He doesn’t trust himself enough yet.
So, the blinding of Kanan really is symbolic in that he can’t see what the right thing to do is. He can’t see what he has to offer Ezra. It’s a constant problem for Kanan, so we take that one ability away. It has affected our storytelling, but not in the ways that people would think. There’s a lot of thought that’s gone into what does it mean for him to be blind and how he would react to that. People think, “Oh, but the Force will allow him to do things.” The Force is not a super power. It doesn’t work that way. It’s a matter of what you’re willing to believe. I think the story that we tell with Kanan and his blindness is simple -- you are as limited as you allow yourself to be. You’re going to be able to see if you believe you can see and this can open up new things you couldn’t see before. There’s an important character that Kanan will meet in Season Three that is going to help change his perception.
It ought therefore to be our expectation that Kanan Jarrus would continue to be challenged by the Imperial Inquisitorius. Now, since the season one finale depicts him as a seeming equal of the Grand Inquisitor, it's reasonable to think that Jarrus should be able to handle any of the other Inquisitors in lightsaber combat. This is more or less that we see in season two; the Fifth Brother always presses him hard -- and has overpowered him with the Force -- but Kanan consistently withstands and knocks him away blade-to-blade. The Seventh Sister has gotten the better of Kanan once, but to be fair, he as a character is not allowed to take her out -- she's his wife in reality, which is an inside joke for the creative team. The Eighth Brother is harder to say, as he dispenses with Ezra Bridger with greater efficiency than either the Fifth Brother or Seventh Sister, and initially holds the upper hand over Kanan, driving him back and scoring several blows -- several of which we hear off-screen, as Kanan shouts in pain. Nevertheless, eventually, Kanan is depicted as having turned the tide, forcing the Eight Brother back and back. He even manages to damage his opponent's weapon, although it's unclear in this case whether he took the Eighth Brother off-balance, who was last seen reeling away from Lord Maul's attack. Either way, it's plausible that Kanan could take out the Eighth Brother in a duel:
If we are to err on the side of caution, the most accurate representation as to how Kanan Jarrus normally compares to the Grand Inquisitor in combat would be their duel on Lothal. The Inquisitor has the upper hand in that he's driving Jarrus back, keeping his opponent on the defensive both with lightsaber skill and sheer physical strength, eventually ending the fight by pinning Jarrus with the power of the Force -- all the same, Kanan holds his own, countering with a successful kick, and even working his way out from having been backed up against a wall:
Thus, Kanan Jarrus is able to challenge the Grand Inquisitor, though he eventually loses. It is a similar situation with the Seventh Sister in regards to physical combat, and likewise with the Fifth Brother, only in terms of dominating use of the Force. But, Jarrus presents himself a tough match for any of these Inquisitors -- consistently, he could probably best any of them, except perhaps the chief Inquisitor -- and trains up Ezra Bridger to their level as well. Bridger, however, is not a match for Padawan Anakin Skywalker, who's much better trained -- and therefore, much more than a match for the Inquisitors -- which is reflected in their ability to handle the battle droids of the Separatist military:
Dave Filoni: Having worked in the prequel era for a long time, I know it really well. It was really interesting to see Kanan, Ezra, and Zeb dealing with it and, frankly, how dangerous some of it was. While the droids weren’t much of a match for Anakin Skywalker, they’re more than a match for someone like Ezra who’s not as well-trained. So, it gave a great perspective into what they’re capable of, too.
https://www.starwars.com/news/dave-filoni-interview-star-wars-rebels-season-three
Also wasn't in noted that the Inquisitor lightsaber design, was to make up for their lack of actual skill?
You are correct. All villains, to an extent, are vicious and ruthless, doing whatever they need to do to win, including fighting dirty against their superiors -- General Grievous in Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a good example -- and this is no less the case with the Imperial Inquisitorius. I again emphasize the fact that the characters of Kanan Jarrus and the Inquisitor compliment each other, for it's the same with Kanan's fighting style, in that both he and the Inquisitors have a certain way of fighting that speaks to their comparatively inferior abilities.
The Inquisitor -- he is quite intelligent and somewhat elegant, but not as powerful as you might think. While he is a combatant, he is not so strength or skill-oriented as Darth Vader; the Inquisitor, rather, is an intellectual, an academic, a strategist, prioritizing knowledge as a means of power. He is an investigator, a representative of the Imperial Inquisition, charged with scrutinizing reports that may lead to an individual with a tangible connection to the Force. His role is to determine the nature of this individual, and the threat he may or may not pose; is this but an amatuer who got his hands on a lightsaber, or just an especially skilled bounty hunter? Is there actually a Jedi to account for? And if there is, what sort of Jedi is this, how old is he, how did he survive, who taught him, and is he of any significance? To fulfill this duty, the Inquisitor has meticulously studied the fallen Jedi Order's records -- he is remarkably knowledgeable, able to quickly deduce much about his targets simply by fighting them for a bit; and once so informed, he is able to dissect and analyze his subjects, determining how best to handle them and their potential associates. He is very much a modern hunter, always backed by the Galactic Empire's innumerable resources, always retaining the advantage of foreknowledge, preparation, position, and surprise, as well as operating with specialized equipment. The lightsaber of an Inquisitor is designed for intimidation and fear, to cheat and compensate for abilities its wielder lacks, and to enable dishonorable tactics in combat. The Inquisitor is not nearly as skilled or powerful as Darth Maul or Darth Vader. The majority of opponents the Inquisitor will encounter are going to be untrained Force-sensitive children, amatuers who don't really know how to use a lightsaber, or Jedi younglings and Padawans who managed to escape the Galactic Empire. Against these opponents -- nobodies, essentially -- the Inquisitor can win. If, however, the Inquisitor encounters a Jedi of actual significance -- such as Ahsoka Tano, or Obi-Wan Kenobi, or somebody with ties to them -- he's going to back down, flee, and call in Darth Vader. He can handle insignificant targets, like novices and younglings, but if you pit him against, say, a member of the Jedi High Council, or a Master, the Inquisitor is in a lot more trouble, and probably won't make it out alive. Characters of that stature -- like Mace Windu -- are far, far, far beyond the Inquisitor. This villain is a specialist, a greater threat than standard Imperial officers, or the Security Bureau agents, but he's still considered an inferior minion who can lose to the lower level heroes here and there, so that the real villains can remain unblemished:
As I said, the situation is little different with Kanan Jarrus. Overall, he is considered a minor threat, unworthy of the attention of the main villains. When he first encounters the Inquisitor, he's really out of practice, and so while he can still fight, he's quite outmatched. Years ago, he was a traditionally trained Jedi Padawan, which means he should be better equipped for a lightsaber fight, but at that point in time it'd been too long since last he engaged in combat -- that, coupled with his lack of confidence and belief, meant that there wasn't really much for the Inquisitor to deal with. Yet, even the skillset Kanan is labouring to restore is nowhere near so accomplished as that of, say, Luminara Unduli; he doesn't measure up to a legitimate Jedi Knight or Master, let alone a member of the High Council. His character overview features a fighting style that is deliberately more grounded and less spectacular than that of the proper Jedi, closer to the original trilogy choreography -- not because he's comparable to the original trilogy's fighters, but to reflect his limitations, the fact that he doesn't actually know as much as he should, and never did. He's no Obi-Wan Kenobi. He and his associates are no challenge for Darth Vader whatsoever, and are far less progressed than Ahsoka Tano:
Kanan Jarrus is not nearly as capable as Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Luminara Unduli. The Inquisitor is not nearly as formidable as Darth Maul, Darth Vader, or the Emperor. Jarrus is vastly outclassed against Lord Vader, just as the Inquisitor is astronomically out of his league against Mace Windu. And likewise with Kanan's apprentice, Ezra Bridger, and the Grand Inquisitor's subordinates, such as the Third Sister, Fourth Sister, Fifth Brother, Seventh Sister, Eighth Brother, etc.
Now, for the Imperial Inquisitorius to rank well below various main characters isn't always too objectionable for many fans, who are often already comfortable with rating the popular characters far above pretty much everybody else in the universe. It's when we get to the why of this particular standing, that some fans tend to lose the plot.
Why can't the Inquisitor match or best Obi-Wan Kenobi? It's not just that Obi-Wan, as an individual, is exactly that powerful, independent of any broader detail. No, it's because Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master. You can infer a certain level of ability from this title -- that is, Jedi Master -- and those who carry it are too much for the Inquisitor to take on. You'd need Darth Vader to deal with a Jedi Master:
Dave Filoni: And so we have an Inquisitor that goes out and hunts these guys down. Now if he was to hunt a guy down, let's say he's somewhere on Tatooine and he runs into Obi Wan Kenobi, probably the Inquisitor won't survive that. But if he did, he would call Vader up and go "You better get out here."
Interviewer: He's a Jedi Master. This isn't nobody.
Dave Filoni: This is a Master. This is somebody significant, right. So I have to believe that, as it went along, Vader got entrusted with more and more important missions, hunting down those stolen data plans. Stuff like that. And the Inquisitor is left to be this kind of hunting dog.
https://www.slashfilm.com/533176/star-wars-rebels-interview-dave-filoni/
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Master, and therefore too powerful for the Inquisitor to challenge. Obi-Wan is an example of a Jedi Master, but he is not the only Jedi Master; we shouldn't accept that the Inquisitor can't beat Obi-Wan, then turn around and try to argue that the Inquisitor could beat a less popular Jedi Master like, say, Coleman Kcaj, or Halsey. Those Jedi are also Masters, and therefore, too powerful for the Inquisitor. If you put them in a fight with an Inquisitor, they would dominate.
Why isn't the Inquisitor comparable to Darth Vader in terms of power? It's not simply that Lord Vader, by himself, is just that outrageously strong. No, it is because Lord Vader is a Sith. The title of Sith Lord carries with it a certain level of power, and it is a level well above that of an Inquisitor. If you are a Sith, you can easily destroy the Inquisitors, but can't do the same to another Sith.
Interviewer: Let me ask a little more about the Inquisitors. There are some intriguing things about the name "Seventh Sister." Will we learn more about the hierarchy and how that works? Because there was a question of, "So are they Sith?" "No, they're not Sith." "But how are they found? Who are they?" Will we get into that?
Dave Filoni: You learn a little bit more about it. You definitely learn more about Jason Isaacs' Inquisitor this year through the two Inquisitors that we do have. Once you've got two Inquisitors, you never know, there's may be more. I mean, I don't know. She's at least the Seventh Sister, right? So the idea for that was we were always calling them "Inquisitors," which could be a little confusing. Then they became the "Male Inquisitor" and the "Female Inquisitor," which is much clearer but infinitely less fun. So we tried to decide like, what would they call themselves? Sith get names. They get cool names like Darth Sidious, Darth Vader, Darth Maul. These guys don't get that. It's a place of station for them to have less, right? They have powers, but Vader could destroy them -- easily, in fact. So I had this thought that maybe there's some kind of acolyte, monastic sensibility where they're stripped of their names, but they know, in order, which one they are.
Darth Vader is a Sith Lord, and therefore too powerful for the Inquisitor to challenge. Lord Vader is an example of a Sith, but he is not the only Sith; we shouldn't accept that Lord Vader is easily more than a match for the Inquisitor, then turn around and try to argue that an Inquisitor could beat, say, Darth Maul. In fact, Lord Maul and Darth Sidious are specifically named as examples of fellow Sith. Whether The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith, before, after, and between, so long as they're full fledged Sith, they are immune to certain defeat against Lord Vader, and command the power to easily dominate the Inquisitors.
Why is Ahsoka Tano on a much higher level than Kanan Jarrus? Why is she able to contend with Darth Vader? It's not because she alone is just so shockingly talented, having leapt to such planes of power through her own wisdom and practice in the years since leaving the Jedi Order. No, it's because of her training during the Clone Wars; Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi -- even Yoda -- trained her to that level of ability. Ahsoka, as a Padawan Learner, was equipped with the skill and knowledge to outclass the likes of Kanan, and go head-to-head with Lord Vader:
Interviewer: With the confirmation of the additions of Ahsako Tano and Rex, how much will we see of them in season 2?
Dave Filoni: Their story had to serve the story of Rebels. I couldn’t just haphazardly bring them in because I like them. I love the characters Ahsoka and Rex. It was hard to let them go after telling their stories. But it had to be purposeful... Ahsoka really helped serve the story as far as if you wanna have Vader in Rebels, you can’t just bring him into it because he’s going to crush them. They don’t stand a chance. Ahsoka has a personal connection to Anakin Skywalker that we believe people are interested in. Once that side of the story emerges, what’s Vader like before realizes his son is alive, so that became important. Plus she is a Force wielder that is way more progressed than Kanan. She’s had training from Anakin Skywalker, one of the greatest Jedi of all time, from Obi-Wan Kenobi, from Yoda, so she brings that lineage to the rebels, but a perspective of “that didn’t work for me, I walked away from it,” which is also challenging then when you get to Ezra because he is a kid, one of the first kids where there is no Jedi order.
https://geeksofdoom.com/2015/10/09/interview-star-wars-rebels-dave-filoni
Interviewer: When you look at someone like Ezra, and you have them meeting Vader, how tough is that? You hear "Vader's the biggest badass in the galaxy" and you've got this kid. How tough is that to make it feel realistic without saying, "Well, he's our hero, so he has to survive"?
Filoni: It would have been impossible without Ahsoka Tano; we just couldn't have done it, because they would just get destroyed. We pretty much showed that in the first episode that they were all on together, where Vader confronted Kanan and Ezra and pretty much dispatched them swiftly. It really isn't a competition, which I kind of like, actually. It gets you back to classic Star Wars, which is they run. In the first two episodes of season two, they're very much running out the door on the other side of the room which, if you remember, most of the time in the original trilogy, whenever you would see Vader, that's what the characters did.Oh yeah. They come to Echo Base, "Let's get out of Echo Base." You know, in the Death Star, "Luke, shoot the door, kid, so Vader can't come after us!" They really don't stick around. Han probably would have rather turned tail and run when he went into Lando's dinner, but the Storm Troopers cut him off. We tried to bring a bit of that back, which is, if you get caught in a room with Vader, you're probably going to lose that fight unless you have a Jedi that's equally trained — as in Ahsoka — that could really stand toe-to-toe with him. Then you have a little bit more logic to the confrontation.
Ahsoka Tano was trained by Jedi such as Anakin Skywalker, and is therefore much more formidable than Kanan Jarrus. That very same training is what allows her to contend with Darth Vader. Star Wars Rebels Ahsoka Tano is an example of putting that training to good use, but that is not the only version who's been so trained. We shouldn't accept that Lady Tano can dominate opponents like Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, and hold her own with Darth Vader, then turn around and argue that Padawan Tano cannot replicate any such combat feats. Ahsoka, as a Jedi apprentice, is already proficient and progressed enough to perform on that level. The training she received then is the very reason she can do what she does later on. Indeed, she does, disposing of Inquisitors with comparable efficiency, and battling Sith Lords on her own:
Ahsoka Tano does improve over the years, but not significantly so. Most of her growth is of a spiritual nature as opposed to martial, as she's a much less active fighter.
Andi Gutierrez: We finally get to see Ahsoka in her prime in this episode. How has she grown as a fighter since she left the Order?
Pablo Hidalgo: Ahsoka has a fighting style that is similar to where we left her in terms of having the two blades, but she's definitely much more controlled, she's less impulsive. Maybe less flashy, but it's certainly more impactful.
Henry Gilroy: She's extremely skilled, and I think over the years, she's probably had the opportunity to hone her abilities -- but there hasn't been as much day-to-day, ongoing battle as there used to be in the Clone Wars. So you could say on some level, while she's become more measured, her growth is more spiritual in nature.
~ Star Wars Rebels, "Future of the Force" Featurette
It is the same skillset, more or less, but employed by an older, more mature version of herself. Nevertheless, it is the training she received -- and put an end to -- during the Clone Wars that makes her powerful enough to fight with Darth Maul and Lord Vader, as well as greatly overmatch the Inquisitors, and Kanan Jarrus.
Either the dueling gaps in Canon are FAR smaller than what they want us to think, or the showrunners really just don't care
Well, in most cases they are, but here, how powerful one fighter is relative to another doesn't always translate into an actual confrontation the way fans might expect it to. I suppose a worthwhile example would be the tiering system crafted and employed by Nick Gillard, under George Lucas, for the last two films of the prequel trilogy. If you recall, Gillard was adamant that for a sword-fighter to advance to another level was a great accomplishment, a huge jump, for crossing even one level of martial prowess was quite the journey, comparable more-so to a Richter scale than the stereotypical colour-coded belt system. Nevertheless, a level eight (Obi-Wan Kenobi) could hold his own against, and even contend with, a level nine bordering on level ten (Anakin Skywalker), and a fighter on the border of levels six and seven (Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan, General Grievous) could do the same with a level eight fighter (Darth Maul, Obi-Wan). But, a level seven (Kit Fisto) could not fight a level nine (Darth Sidious), because two consecutive levels is too much of a gap to bridge. In this case, to simplify, the Imperial Inquisitors are maybe level six. Perhaps they can fight some of the level sevens and eights, though it'll often be a little one-sided, and they could easily go down like the level sevens who came up against the Emperor.
The Imperial Inquisitorius is an organization of hunting dogs who are set upon targets of little to no significance to the Sith Lords; children being born with a connection to the Force, untrained individuals who picked up a lightsaber, Jedi younglings and Padawans who survived Order 66. An Inquisitor should be more than a match for these kinds of targets. On the other end of the scale, an Inquisitor is not a match for Jedi of significance, such as Jedi Masters or Councilors. Such Jedi are out of the Inquisitor's league, and in that situation, the Inquisitor will run away and report back to the Sith. We also know that across the board, the Inquisitors appear more powerful than they actually are, and are equipped to cheat and intimidate their way through the fights they engage in, using special weapons and dishonorable tactics to compensate for a lack of ability. This puts an asterisk next to the opponents they might normally overmatch (the partially trained Padawans and novices), and speaks to just how much better the opponents they can't take on are (the Jedi Masters), since not even dirty fighting can turn the tide in those situations.
So, we've been informed as to how the least of the Jedi (Padawans and younglings) and the best of the Jedi (the Masters and Councilors) compare to the Imperial Inquisitorius. The missing category here would be the majority of the Jedi Order: the Jedi Knights. How might a full fledged Jedi -- like Nahdar Vebb, Finn Ertay, or Pablo Jill -- stack up to an Inquisitor?
It's always technically possible, as the Inquisitor fills an ambiguous role relative to the Sith Lords, not unlike that of Asajj Ventress, Pong Krell, or even Count Dooku. For the ruling Dark Lord -- Darth Sidious -- it's a manageable level of chaos to employ another potentially dangerous Force wielder, and the Inquisitor is sort of in that position, as a former Jedi, a separate Force wielder, who has made a deal with the Emperor to be spared in exchange for loyalty to the dark side:
Interviewer: So why wouldn’t they kill all the Jedi they had? Why would they take some prisoner? Is it all for malicious purposes like what we saw?
Dave Filoni: That’s kind of a wait and see scenario. For a Sith like Palpatine, he’s so aware of Siths taking out other Siths. He can’t really have a lot of force wielders around. Though he has this new inquisitor running around, but that’s nothing new in the way that he had Ventress running around or Dooku. It’s a manageable level of chaos for Palpatine at all times and I think that there would be Jedi that could serve purpose for him. Honestly, we’ve even discussed in our own continuity how he was using Pong Krell, the Jedi warlord in the Clone Wars. He was completely satisfied to let him wreak havoc among the clones for his own needs until he destroyed himself. So Palpatine’s always playing a game and moving pieces on the board. I would imagine that coming out of the prequel era -- fans might not believe this, but I think it’s true -- that there were some Jedi that were so effected by the Clone War that they would try to barter their life for loyalty to the dark side. I don’t think it’s out of the question. I think it’s perfectly in play, though we haven’t done that at this point. Mostly because it gets into kind of gray areas and I worry we’d have to be very clear about why and who is doing that.
The Grand Inquisitor was himself a Jedi Knight -- a member of the Coruscant Temple Guard. In cruel irony, where once he served as guardian over the Jedi Order's younglings and students, he now hunts them down with ruthless efficiency. In any case, if the Inquisitor is a former fully trained Jedi, surely it follows that he must be a match for the other Jedi Knights. Well, the problem becomes that, as we have already extensively covered, the Inquisitor meets his match in Kanan Jarrus -- and on principle, Ezra Bridger -- as do the Inquisitor's subordinates; Jarrus and Bridger, in that timeframe, are definitely not on par with full fledged Jedi.
We know what an Imperial Inquisitor absolutely cannot do, and that's face down a Jedi Master or Sith Lord. They aren't strong enough, they aren't skilled enough, and they can't cheat their way through opponents of that level. An Inquisitor is outclassed against a Master Jedi or Sith. Is the same true of a Jedi Knight? No, it is not. There is a rule in mediums such as Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- if you don't have a connection to the Force, and you're fighting with a lightsaber, it doesn't matter how well trained you are, how adept you've become, because at the end of the day you cannot match the lightsaber skill of a real Jedi or Sith. For this cause, General Grievous -- and Pre Vizsla, for that matter -- is incapable of equaling a full fledged Jedi or Sith in lightsaber combat. The cyborg commander is very good with a lightsaber, and he's been trained by a Sith, but ultimately he is no Sith -- and he's no Jedi, either. A real Jedi or Sith would have a shot at taking down Obi-Wan Kenobi or Asajj Ventress in a lightsaber duel, in a way that Grievous does not:
Yet, General Grievous -- and Pre Vizsla -- remains a highly adept lightsaber fighter, so he can contend with the full fledged Jedi Knights and Masters. Win or lose, the Separatist Supreme Leader -- and Death Watch commander -- can likewise compete with Ahsoka Tano, another fighter we know has been trained to a level far beyond the likes of the Inquisitors. In fact, through unorthodox tactics and dirty fighting, General Grievous and Pre Vizsla become even more of a threat, enough to overcome -- or come close to killing, at least -- their otherwise superior adversaries:
It is therefore evident that, in the storytelling, not only is a Jedi Knight in relative contention with Jedi Masters and Sith, but so are his inferiors, provided they fight more... creatively. You can be a lesser swordsman compared to a full fledged Jedi Knight, but still fight on a level significantly beyond that of the Imperial Inquisitorius. Thus, a real Jedi is stronger and more skilled than an Inquisitor.
However, if a fighter around the level of a Jedi Knight can punch above his weight class against Jedi Masters and Sith Lords by fighting dirty, it stands to reason that there can be a fighter around the level of a Jedi Padawan who can punch above his weight class against Jedi Knights and Sith apprentices by fighting dirty. And that would be where the Imperial Inquisitorius comes in.
As an organization, in their investigations and missions, the Inquisitors should be able to handle most of the Jedi. They essentially never fail in the course of their duty -- typically, only in cases that turn out to involve significant targets -- and so when an Inquisitor does fail, somehow, Darth Vader himself shows up to determine what the problem is. Generally speaking, in an overall sense, the Inquisitors are supposed to be capable of taking care of most Jedi. Especially in this era, where the light side is really suffering, and most of the targets they'll encounter are younglings and students. The Inquisitors are lacking in their abilities, and therefore come equipped to cheat and impose as a compensating strategy, seeming more powerful than they really are. An Imperial Inquisitor cannot truly match or outfight a proper Jedi Knight; they can win, because as villainous hunters, there's more to their arsenal than just dueling prowess, but they aren't actually on par with these targets. So, they wouldn't do as well in an era where they don't have as much of positional advantage, and the Jedi are in better condition -- e.g., the Clone Wars.
Interviewer: Um, and so at this point, also during the Dark Times, the early stages of the Rebellion, I was always lead to believe -- and this comes from the Star Wars novelization -- that Palpatine shut himself off from the rest of the public; he really let his stooges and bootleggers handle his agenda for him, while he, he kept himself shut off, and, y'know, I thought maybe he's practicing some Sith magic and stuff -- and I would assume his apprentice would be there right by his side while he's doing that, only dispatching Vader for Sith business, as opposed to Imperial business.
Dave Filoni:I think predominantly that's the case; I think that, y'know, there is a threat that Vader has -- that he keeps in some ways the military in line as well, um, when he has to -- but I think predominantly, Vader, y'know, is involved like, "Hey, on Lothal here, there seems to be a Jedi presence, and it got one of my star destroyers blown up. This is really bad. This looks bad, it makes us look weak -- you have to go do something about this personally. An Inquisitor died -- that doesn't happen." Y'know, so you send in Vader to make all those wrongs rights, uh, for the Emperor, and that's the way we decided to use him. And, y'know, in a show like ours it's very easy -- um, kind of in the Saturday morning tradition -- to have the villain on every week, uh, and then, all of a sudden they're very, y'know, impotent. They have nothing to bring to the table, uh, because you're like, "Oh, well, they'll figure out a way to beat him this week -- they figured it out last week." Y'know, you don't, you don't want that with Darth Vader. So, we always were set from the beginning to try to be very careful about when, and where, and how, to use, uh, Darth.
Interviewer: Well, I could see that, and, and so you incorporate the Inquisitors, and so they can, y'know, do Vader's dirty work for him, and he only needs to get his hands dirty when absolutely necessary.
Dave Filoni:Right. If they find Obi-Wan, they're, they'd call him in right away. There wouldn't be this prolonged, y'know, "Seek and feel things out, and, maybe we call Vader," because the Inquisitors should be able to deal with the majority of Jedi -- especially in the time period; probably in the Clone War they wouldn't have done as well.
~ Rebels Force Radio, July 3, 2015
Dave Filoni: Well, an Inquisitor lightsaber, y'know, it spins, and it's got kind of these multi-functions, and it's all about intimidation, fear, and, and, y'know, you throw it, which is not the most honourable seeming thing -- throwing a sword at someone is never really looked upon highly -- um, and that's why I call it a cheat. It, it's, it's a, it's a simple way to do something that Maul actually does with far greater skill -- spinning and twirling, and this guy can just kind of stand there in the middle of a helicopter blade; and so it's the mechanical element of it to me that says this guy isn't as powerful as you think. But, y'know, to the great many that *he* would encounter that might've picked up a lightsaber -- or been like, say, a youngling or a Padawan that survived -- he would be more than a match for any of them. For a member of the Jedi Council, y'know, if they survived, I think that, uh, the Inquisitor would be a lot harder pressed in that battle... y'know, like I would say that someone like Mace Windu is far, far, far above the Inquisitor that we see on Star Wars Rebels. But in this dark time, when the light side is really suffering, he, y'know, is a fairly powerful guy -- especially for someone like Kanan, who kind of lacks his own conviction and belief in his abilities at this point. Uh, if you do that, and you don't believe in yourself, how can you even fight someone like the Inquisitor? So, when he gets Force thrown, he really gets thrown, and that throw has as much to do with Kanan's own lack of belief in himself as it does the Inquisitor pushing him -- y'know, there's not a lot countering the Inquisitor in that fight. We thought it was important to show Kanan really struggling, uh, y'know, almost as if he hadn't really picked up a saber in a very long time -- he would still know certain things he could do with it, but the Inquisitor is gonna just greatly outmatch him.
~ Rebels Force Radio, October 31, 2014
This is where we circle back to the prequel trilogy tiering system; an Imperial Inquisitor might be a level five (at best, six) but they can cheat their way through superior level six or seven fighters. Level eight, however, is too high, even with cheating. General Grievous and Pre Vizsla are higher than the Inquisitors (level six or seven) and therefore can cheat their way through even higher levels (level seven or eight) despite also being inferior. At the end of the day, though, neither the Inquisitors nor Grievous and Vizsla are a true match for the Jedi Knights and Masters; the Inquisitors are by and large considerably lower on the scale than General Grievous and Pre Vizsla, though.
There is one partial exception within the Imperial Inquisitorius, and that would be the very finest of their ranks: the best Inquisitor is probably near Asajj Ventress in terms of power. This individual Inquisitor -- and he alone -- can thus be considered in legitimate contention with the Jedi Knights, to an extent the rest of the Inquisitors are not:
Interviewer: Well, I could see that, and, and so you incorporate the Inquisitors, and so they can, y'know, do Vader's dirty work for him, and he only needs to get his hands dirty when absolutely necessary.
Dave Filoni:Right. If they find Obi-Wan, they're, they'd call him in right away. There wouldn't be this prolonged, y'know, "Seek and feel things out, and, maybe we call Vader," because the Inquisitors should be able to deal with the majority of Jedi -- especially in the time period; probably in the Clone War they wouldn't have done as well. Um, y'know, uh, the, the best Inquisitor -- probably -- is *almost* like Ventress, but Ventress, I would think, is more powerful. That's just my opinion, but I would think so.
~ Rebels Force Radio, July 3, 2015
Of course, for one who is concerned with noting the fighting abilities of these characters, the question becomes: which incarnation of Asajj Ventress is being referred to here? For there are several. Well, when Dave Filoni references the character of Asajj Ventress in relation to the Inquisitors, it is because the latter closest resemble the former in terms of their function; an Inquisitor is a dark side practitioner employed by the two existing Sith Lords, but is not quite considered one of them. Filoni therefore ought to have in mind, well, classic Asajj Ventress -- the Separatist agent and acolyte of Count Dooku and Darth Sidious, not Ventress as a Jedi Padawan, Nightsister proselyte, or free-range mercenary. Classic Asajj Ventress has a dark side career spanning the first three seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars before she's cut loose, but she's always growing stronger throughout that time period -- which version of classic Ventress, then?
This too is a relatively straightforward matter. Not even the best Imperial Inquisitor is cut out to successfully face down a Jedi Master -- the popular example being Obi-Wan Kenobi -- yet, who is Asajj Ventress pitted against in the earliest episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars? Why, a Jedi Master; Luminara Unduli. Ventress engages and eventually overwhelms Master Unduli in their struggle aboard the Tranquility:
It can be pointed out that Luminara Unduli was the more skilled sword-fighter in that duel, and had underestimated her opponent's abilities, but Asajj Ventress still managed to take her down; and Master Unduli returns to the fight backed up by Ahsoka Tano in recognition of Ventress' power. The Imperial Inquisitors cannot hope to defeat a Jedi of Master Unduli's calibre, not even by fighting dirty. This is their marked limit, from the least of the Inquisitorius to the very best. It is this particular iteration of Ventress who is only somewhat ahead of the top Inquisitor.
There would also be the fact that Asajj Ventress is a Sith. Not a Dark Lord, sure, but a Sith apprentice nonetheless, operating under the guise of Count Dooku's personal assassin and top operative, but secretly serving as the disciple of Darth Tyranus with the aim of overthrowing Darth Sidious. Ventress isn't quite a Sith Lord, but she's being trained to harness that level of power -- the dark side strength that significantly overshadows an Imperial Inquisitor's command of the Force:
Asajj Ventress, from the moment she is introduced as one of the major villains in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is in a fundamentally more powerful position than that of the Imperial Inquisitorius, and can perform feats of strength, skill, and cunning that they cannot.
Asajj Ventress, at this stage, has her own limitations, which are useful in sorting out what form of challenge you might expect from the mightiest of the Imperial Inquisitorius. Ventress is dangerously powerful and adept, of course, but she's also ruthless. It is this quality -- her devious intelligence -- that comes to the fore in battle against Luminara Unduli; Ventress fights dirty on top of being quite strong, which proves critical against Master Unduli who, while the greater duelist, underestimates Ventress' abilities:
"Their battle really is, we likened it to a samurai against a ninja; the samurai who are the good guys, and the ninja are the back-stabbing killers."
It is little different against another Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who likewise proves the superior sword-fighter, withstanding Asajj Ventress' efforts and disabling, then disarming, at least partially, her weaponry -- Ventress presses him though, driving him back and back, and navigating a match with somebody as treacherous as her is quite the trial for Master Kenobi:
During the same mission, Asajj Ventress went blow-for-blow with Anakin Skywalker, too, as well as his apprentice, Ahsoka Tano; Ventress once again demonstrated formidable skills, holding her own both in one-to-one dueling and two-on-one combat -- at one point, Skywalker outfought her, breaking her saberstaff and depriving her of one blade, but she recovered smoothly and countered with a potent blast of the dark side:
Asajj Ventress is not truly as skilled as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, or Luminara Unduli, but she is adroit enough to put up a fight in that respect, with her overarching threat being the ferocious power and unscrupulous cunning with which she fights. This gave her the advantage over a younger, more brash superior (Skywalker), and helped her edge out an older but overconfident superior (Master Unduli), but ultimately proved futile against a superior who was older and had sufficient prior experience (Master Kenobi). Ventress has fought Master Kenobi -- and Skywalker -- before, predictably holding her own though on the back foot, and running through a series of somewhat less-than-honourable tricks:
Obi-Wan Kenobi knows what he's up against, so Asajj Ventress' approach to combat is unlikely to faze him going forward. And this we observe -- before the aforementioned duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Asajj Ventress on the bridge -- in the monastery on Teth, through the massive fight in which Master Kenobi is merely distracting Ventress, engaging in what somewhat amounts to a sporting spar, quite confident in his ability to handle Ventress, and rightly so -- Master Kenobi, ultimately, was unthreatened by Ventress in that battle, holding back in order to buy time for his partner's mission. This conveys two things: Master Kenobi has a solid advantage over Ventress in terms of strength and skill, to the point where her best efforts just aren't going to genuinely overwhelm him; and, Ventress is adroit enough to press Kenobi's abillties, for he visibly strains to hold her at bay, he is unable to directly subdue her, and he cannot risk revealing his plan, because he's not sure of his ability to prevent her from leaving and foiling Anakin Skywalker's assignment elsewhere. It is a balance between Master Kenobi being better than her at fighting, and Ventress representing a very real problem for him in combat:
On the bridge, by which time both combatants have sensed -- and acknowledged -- the success of Anakin Skywalker's mission, relieving Obi-Wan Kenobi of his obligation to hold back, his advantage becomes more apparent, yet it remains a good fight.
From the best Imperial Inquisitor, we can expect a respectable performance, but ultimately he'll remain at arms' length, in a manner of speaking.
As for the Imperial Inquisitorius as a whole, we can pivot from Asajj Ventress to Ahsoka Tano. When the Togrutan first steps onto the scene as a young Jedi Padawan, she is not an amatuer in terms of her combat abilities; she is a trained fighter, prepared and equipped to handle lightsaber duels specifically, with considerable skill. That doesn't mean she can truly compete with the elite fighters, but it does mean that she represents a competent adversary in such settings -- she can even leverage certain aspects of her skillset in order to put up more of a fight:
Dave Filoni: We had a really interesting situation where Ahsoka crosses swords with General Grievous. George very specifically said that, "She's a Padawan -- she wouldn't be afraid of Grievous". I remember that. She's very adept, she's very quick, her size is an advantage, uh--
Henry Gilroy: That doesn't mean she could stand up to him.
Dave Filoni: It doesn't mean that she would beat him, but she's been trained for these situations, to fight. He almost toys with her to an extent, because she is small, and he wants to kill her over a longer period of time. But it was very important that he, at one point, gets her, and has her at lightsaber-point. You show that she's not going to win this fight -- she's only going to be able to escape it.
Henry Gilroy: And she knows pretty quickly that she's gonna have to run to stay alive.
Dave Filoni: Buying time -- that's all she's doing, is buying time. She might very well die. It's just a matter of survival for that girl against an opponent like Grievous -- unless Anakin is there. They would fight him together. But of course, Anakin can't meet General Grievous.
~ Star Wars: The Clone Wars: "Duel of the Droids" Featurette
Now, fighters like Asajj Ventress and General Grievous would be much stronger than Ahsoka Tano at this point, and so they are capable of knocking her down in relatively swift fashion:
At the same time, Ahsoka Tano is adept enough to properly engage in lightsaber combat against her marked superiors, notwithstanding her inevitable defeat, and the admittedly one-sided nature of the affair:
It is in this realm of fighting prowess that the likes of Kanan Jarrus (and friends) find themselves. If you recall the character profile provided by Dave Filoni, Kanan's training background is pretty much the same as this version of Ahsoka Tano, and it is the recovery of that training that makes Kanan a match for the Inquisitor(s). Fighters like Padawan Tano (at age fourteen), Kanan, and the Inquisitor(s) are not nearly as advanced as the elite combatants, but they're proficient enough to handle themselves in lightsaber combat up to a certain point, and lean on various unique attributes of their own to relieve pressure -- where Padawan Tano might rely on her small size and limber figure, the Fifth Brother might emphasize his powerful physique and multi-function lightsaber.
So, what does this look like in action for the Imperial Inquisitorius, by and large?
Ahsoka Tano, in her fighting prime as an adult -- and as an equally trained apprentice of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi -- is much more powerful than Kanan Jarrus, as we've covered. She is absolutely capable of defeating opponents of that level -- the Imperial Inquisitorius -- rather quickly, as she's demonstrated time and again:
Nevertheless, on Takobo, Ahsoka Tano engages two Imperial Inquisitors -- the Fifth Brother, and Seventh Sister -- and a real fight ensues. Lady Tano displays her superior skills by dominating the Fifth Brother, but the Seventh Sister holds out for much longer, leaping about, going back-and-forth with her opponent, frequently alternating between her weapon's rotor-mode and standard configuration. Lady Tano outfights the Seventh Sister too, and in general was never truly in danger against those two Inquisitors, yet was strained to fight them off:
On Malachor, Ahsoka Tano is backed up by Kanan Jarrus, but it is the Fifth Brother who asserts himself, boldly engaging both duelists, succeeding in staving them off, and indeed, pushing them back through a combination of physical strength and his propeller-lightsaber. The Seventh Sister and Eighth Brother join the fray, and it becomes an extended three-on-two -- Tano and Jarrus eventually send their opponents reeling away, but not without a fight:
Later on, the Fifth Brother ambushes Ahsoka Tano and Kanan Jarrus, briefly occupying them while the Eighth Brother moves to join the fight, engaging Kanan while the Fifth Brother focuses on Lady Tano, pressing her back and back. A lengthy match proceeds, with Kanan and Lady Tano turning the tide and driving the Inquisitors back, but failing to make any decisive headway before the intervention of Lord Maul:
Lord Maul, of course, likewise demonstrates the expected ability to rapidly take down or beat away the Imperial Inquisitors -- whether they're alone, in pairs, or even trios:
All the same, Lord Maul does not just power his way through the Inquisitors as though they're but common soldiers -- even when he's backed up by Ahsoka Tano and Kanan Jarrus. The Inquisitors can fight him, however barely, and when he beats them away, it's with non-lethal physical blows, or blasts of the Force.
The constant balance, the consistent depiction, would be that an Imperial Inquisitor is adept enough to make things difficult, but also weak enough to be dominated. Generally, you could have a noteworthy fight that perhaps isn't too dangerous for the superior participant, or a trouncing that still isn't a full blown slaughter. That's where we come back to the IG-100 MagnaGuard comparison.
In general, an IG-100 MagnaGuard would be faster, stronger, more agile and coordinated, but an Imperial Inquisitor should be more dangerous overall, as they wield the power of the dark side and are equipped -- and inclined, by nature -- to fight dirty, and cut corners. In all likelihood, Darth Vader's Inquisitorius wouldn't have been as successful when the Jedi Order was in full operation, such as the Clone Wars -- General Grievous' MagnaGuards were in play then, but they were cut down with greater frequency, because droids are easier to dispose of from a storyteller's perspective, as the destruction of machinery isn't considered violence, per se. Normally, your heroes can't just cut their way through the Inquisitors, 'cause that's a bloodbath. In this respect, an Inquisitor's portrayal is inherently advantageous. Typically speaking, whenever you see a MagnaGuard sliced, that'd probably translate to kicking or Force pushing an Inquisitor. However, the finest showings from the MagnaGuards will outshine those of the Inquisitors, but their least impressive performances will be worse than the most decisive losses suffered by their Imperial counterparts. You get a lot of fights in between, though, and that's where the similarity is most prevalent.
Above Saleucami, for instance, Obi-Wan Kenobi finds himself at odds with two IG-100 MagnaGuards; they tag-team him initially, but he baits one into striking down the other and, after deflecting a few blows from General Grievous, he turns his lightsaber to the lone remaining MagnaGuard, who presses the Jedi Master back until there is no room left to retreat. Master Kenobi is able to destroy the droid bodyguard, and it wasn't a major battle, but it was a decent bout, in which the MagnaGuard backed its opponent up against the end of the chamber:
Anakin Skywalker challenged four IG-100 MagnaGuards to a fight; the first charged him head-on, and the two exchanged several blows before Skywalker cut him down, only to be followed by the next MagnaGuard, whose strikes pushed Skywalker back toward the hallway entrance, at which point it became a two-on-one; the pair of MagnaGuards flank Skywalker, and one of them succeeds in scoring a grazing cut to his shoulder before being cut down -- the fourth MagnaGuard steps in place of the third, but after a bit more fighting, Skywalker is able to destroy the fourth and second of his opponents, finally ending the combat. The majority of trouble in this fight for Skywalker is contained in the more extended two-on-ones, though he couldn't just instantly dismiss each individual MagnaGuard, and so he ended up fighting two at once. It is another difficult battle:
On Naboo, we are first introduced to Count Dooku's MagnaGuards, and Anakin Skywalker comes up against four of them. These MagnaGuards toy with Skywalker -- fighting him, tagging him, flipping around and circling him, eventually coordinating with Count Dooku to disarm the Jedi Knight, whose only real way to fend them off is the Force. An exceedingly dangerous skirmish for Skywalker, one he would have lost much sooner had the four MagnaGuards gone all in, instead of taking turns pressing him:
On Utapau, Obi-Wan Kenobi fights four IG-100 MagnaGuards; he cuts down one of them right out the gate, then combats the remaining three: the dynamics don't reflect the expected line of reasoning, which would be something like, "Well, if he can face three, he can certainly defeat two, and one is even easier." Master Kenobi eventually fells a second MagnaGuard, and has now reduced the number of opponents from four to two -- the remaining two continue to compete, both as a team and individually, scoring numerous blows on the Jedi Master, who ultimately just uses the Force to pin them:
That degree of challenge holds true throughout the film, as a dramatic two-on-two occurs aboard the Invisible Hand between the pair of MagnaGuards protecting General Grievous, and Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. IG-101 & 102 pose quite the challenge before eventually going down, keeping their opponents on the defensive for most of the struggle, in addition to scoring several hits:
Again on Naboo, Anakin Skywalker is faced with two of Count Dooku's MagnaGuards; he rushes and destroys the first one pretty quickly, and has the upper hand over the second, though it blocks and evades his attacks, scoring a hit of its own in beating down Skywalker's swordarm -- it then cocks back for quite the punch, but much to its surprise, Skywalker physically catches and overpowers the hit, then combines the Force and his lightsaber to finish off the droid bodyguard. A decisive but tough struggle:
On Utapau, Anakin Skywalker faces off against a dual-wielding IG-100 MagnaGuard, and the ensuing fight is quite well matched. Obi-Wan Kenobi has to remind Skywalker that they need to keep the MagnaGuards at least somewhat intact -- since their goal is to subdue and interrogate the droids -- much to a struggling Skywalker's frustration. Another MagnaGuard challenges Master Kenobi, driving in back and scoring a powerful kick that sends the Jedi flying and causes him to drop his lightsaber. Skywalker, meanwhile, remains stymied by his MagnaGuard, who eventually lands a glancing cut; Skywalker counters, managing to sever one of the droid's arms, then gives up and resorts to the Force out of anger. Master Kenobi, unarmed, has been forced to duck, weave, and tangle with his MagnaGuard for quite a while, eventually recovering his lightsaber, though it is a flying tackle from Skywalker that finally downs the droid. These dynamic duels are akin to Master Kenobi's bout with Asajj Ventress on Teth, and Skywalker's tussle with Barriss Offee on Coruscant, only even more difficult:
Further along the line, the positions are reversed in that an unarmed MagnaGuard evades, fights, and nearly kills an armed Obi-Wan Kenobi. Prior to that, Master Kenobi traded blows to no real conclusion with a MagnaGuard on a speeder, eventually disabling the droid's vehicle in order to defeat it. An unorthodox fight all around, but a good one nevertheless:
The best of the Imperial Inquisitorius -- the fellow who is probably almost as powerful as Asajj Ventress -- would likely be the Grand Inquisitor, but in terms of the best combat showing we've seen from the Inquisitors, the black knight known as Marrok would take centrestage; Marrok twice duels with Ahsoka Tano, holding his own and appearing to legitimately challenge her abilities across the board:
Whether or not Marrok is the best of the Inquisitors, it is reasonable to point out that such a performance would challenge most of the fighters who do otherwise outclass the Inquisitorius.
The various Imperial Inquisitors and IG-100 MagnaGuards on the big screen often come up against the elite Jedi fighters, and their performances vary within a certain range more often than not -- the exceptions being the best and least MagnaGuards, primarily. Most of these confrontations wouldn't merit the same attention, or constitute the same challenge as one of the major battles with the big villains, and in the case of the Imperial Inquisitorius they are supposed to be well beneath that level, with some partial grace in regards to their top member.
If the cutting edge of the Imperial Inquisitorius is almost as formidable as Asajj Ventress, and the aforementioned tip of the spear is the Grand Inquisitor, then it would be reasonable to expect a difficult, even dangerous bout. The outcome, however, short of some major foul play, would rest inevitably with Anakin Skywalker, for he is a much greater opponent than Kanan Jarrus, and can compete on a level beyond any Inquisitor.
Log in to comment