Moses Ingram’s Force Sensitive character, Third Sister Reva, has been the subject of speculation since the long-awaited Obi-Wan Kenobi series debuted last Friday. Who is she, and why does she have it out so bad for Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi?
If we believe the hints and context clues left to us by Lucasfilm and Disney+ in the Star Wars prequels recap that kicks off Obi-Wan Kenobi’s first episode, then Reva was one of the children to escape the massacre at the Jedi Temple. If so, she and her friends clearly didn’t stay lucky, as Reva winds up in the clutches of the Galactic Empire. From there, she was fast-tracked to a career as a Jedi-hunting Inquisitor.
Did Reva’s personal ties to the gruesome fate of many Jedi younglings motivate her to become a double-agent within the Empire, or a cold-hearted villain eager to bury her past with the execution of Obi-Wan Kenobi? Reva has a potential path to the Dark Side, and a way to the Light.
Did the Galactic Empire murder every Jedi youngling?
Other Star Wars properties set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, such as Rebels, The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch, and Fallen Order, confirm that not all Force-Sensitive youth were found by the Inquisitors. Ezra Bridger and Grogu, for example, narrowly escape their radar.
These Star Wars projects do not, however, confirm what the Empire winds up doing with all the younglings it hunts down in the years after Order 66. Even the scene in Revenge of the Sith where Hayden Christensen’s corrupted Anakin Skywalker unleashes his lightsaber on a group of frightened Jedi schoolchildren remains ambiguous. The likelihood of Anakin letting the youngsters go was slim, but we never actually saw those deaths.
The Empire may have simply killed off adult Jedi rather than trying to lure them with Sith propaganda, but Force-sensitive kids early in their training could have useful applications for the Empire. Reva could have been captured and swayed over to the Dark Side.
There’s also the possibility that Reva has been faking her allegiance for a decade, which means her ambitious and relentless pursuit of Obi-Wan could be for good. She may believe he’s the only one who can stop Darth Vader, or that he’s the key to reviving the Jedi Order.
Reva may also really just be a malicious character, a lawful evil figure with no desire to stray from the path of darkness until she reaches her ultimate goal: Recognition from Darth Vader and the title of Grand Inquisitor. This blind devotion doesn’t necessarily render Reva one dimensional, but it may explain her megalomania and why she’s fueled by her need to deliver Obi-Wan’s head on a platter.
Talk of limitless power and strength can be particularly persuasive language for a youngling on the run. Reva may have fallen under the spell of the Galactic Empire and become indoctrinated and brainwashed, but that doesn’t mean she can’t atone and return to the Light. After all, even Darth Vader was redeemable.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is streaming on Disney+.
