“Tensu Run must die.” With those words, Darth Vader orders the Grand Inquisitor to hunt down and kill the elusive Jedi Knight Tensu Run in Marvel’s Star Wars: Inquisitors #1, the first in a four-issue miniseries by writer Rodney Barnes (Star Wars: Ahsoka) and artist Ramon Rosanas (Star Wars: Age of Resistance). The new comic — set during the Reign of the Empire, between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope — will conclude with a final issue in October, and it promises a showdown between the Dark Lord of the Sith and an all-new Jedi of legend.
Marvel Comics has released Nick Bradshaw’s cover for Star Wars: Inquisitors #4, which sees Tensu Run stand alone against Darth Vader and the Jedi-killers Grand Inquisitor, the Fifth Brother, the Seventh Sister, and the Ninth Sister.
Like Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Cal Kestis, Tensu Run survived the execution of Order 66: Emperor Palpatine’s plot to purge the galaxy of the Jedi. Now his Inquisitorius — the Force-wielding dark side disciples seen on Star Wars Rebels, the live-action Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and the Star Wars Jedi video games — are scouring the galaxy to find and destroy Tensu Run, a symbol of hope who seeks to rebuild the Jedi Order.
A FEW ISSUES AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY…
Tensu Run “has become an idea, which is far more difficult to kill,” the Grand Inquisitor reports of the Jedi who was building a refuge among the Diagu people on the peaceful planet Targyon. “Order 66 has eliminated virtually all of the Jedi,” says Vader. “They now reside in the low places, wallowing in the dark crevices of the galaxy. Their only hope is hope itself. That one can rise from the ashes, offering faith — a guiding light.” And that is why Tensu Run must die.
Vader recalls the legend of Tensu Run was born at the conquest of Regis Kor, an Imperial outpost and black site until it was liberated by the Jedi. Meanwhile, on the agricultural planet Zayron in the galaxy’s Outer Rim territories, fellow Jedi in hiding Uhron and Pan Delesec tell Tensu: “The fate of the Jedi rests in your hands.” While he seeks to rebuild their fallen Order, Tensu says, “We are but a moment. The Jedi will last forever.”
His master, Jedi Master Elan, believes the Force chose Tensu Run to lead the Jedi “to the dawn of a new day.” After the sloth-like cargo salvager Pii-Lor informs the Grand Inquisitor that the Jedi docked his ship aboard The Voyager Dawn, Tensu Run feels a disturbance in the Force as the Grand Inquisitor slaughters Master Elan and his brethren.
From Fortress Vader on Mustafar, Vader dispatches the Fifth Brother to do what the Grand Inquisitor failed to do: kill Tensu Run. “The Empire casts a shadow over the galaxy. That shadow is dependent upon the suppression of the Jedi. For they represent hope, the most dangerous of sentiments,” Vader tells him.
The Jedi goes on the offense to confront the Fifth Brother on Gerrigon, an abandoned and overrun colony where a civil war ended with a massacre of most of the planet’s inhabitants after the Republic and Jedi Order failed to help. If Tensu’s purpose is to spark hope and rebellion, the Fifth Brother tells him, “The purpose of my existence is to fulfill the promise of Order 66. Nothing more.”
The Dogma of the Jedi is “rooted in faith,” and that is what he represents, Tensu says. Should he fail, “The Jedi will endure.” Tensu Run then defeats the Fifth Brother in a lightsaber battle, but refuses the request to end his existence. The Jedi spares his life with the words: “I need you to tell your master that Tensu Run still lives.”
Star Wars: Inquisitors #4 goes on sale October 2nd from Marvel Comics.
