Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire May Set The Stage For A Villain's Redemption
There will be spoilers for "Star Wars: Tales of the Empire," so beware.
First introduced in the limited "Obi-Wan Kenobi" TV series that debuted in 2002 on Disney+, the Fourth Sister was an early member of the Inquisitorius and helped hunt down Jedi for many years during the Dark Times. Little is known about her past, other than that she was once a Jedi who turned to the dark side and the safety of the Empire after the events of Order 66. A humanoid with greenish skin and head tails, the Fourth Sister remains largely a mystery. Thanks to the new "Star Wars: Tales of the Empire" animated shorts, we have some more details about her and her past — and also many hints about her future.
The other "villain" that features in these stories is Barriss Offee, the young Mirialan Padawan who framed Ahsoka Tano for murder in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Barriss turned on her friend and turned to assassination and terrorism to shine a light on the corruption of the Jedi. Imprisoned for it, she watched the start of Order 66 and the Jedi purge from a prison cell, and she also plays a key role in the Fourth Sister's story.
The Fourth Sister is a former Jedi
When Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger) is released from her prison by the Fourth Sister (Rya Kihlstedt), she refers to her in a familiar way by calling her Lyn. The interaction implied a past between the two of them, and it's clear that, like Barriss, Lyn had served among the ranks of the Jedi Order. However, based on the future we already know and her demeanor when meeting Barriss, she has left that life behind and has decided to embrace the darkness by joining the Inquisitorius. As she hunts down Jedi with the Grand Inquisitor in "Obi-Wan Kenobi" a decade later, we know that this is a path she walked for a long time.
Through the course of her professional relationship with Barriss Offee as an Inquisitor, Lyn found flaws with the younger Jedi hunter. She watched Barriss act more like a Jedi than an Inquisitor and forced her into uncomfortable situations, until finally Barriss could no longer sit idly by while Lyn killed people with abandon or left them to die.
But one last confrontation with Barriss offered Lyn a chance to atone for her crimes and witness the mercy of a Jedi.
Inside the labyrinth
As the Inquisitors are tasked with hunting down children that were sensitive in the Force — either to slaughter or recruit to the Inquisitorius — the Fourth Sister found herself once again facing Barriss Offee, this time as enemies rather than allies. At this point, Barriss was known locally as "the healer," no doubt a nod to her work in the old Legends universe as a healer amongst the Jedi. (For more about that, don't hesitate to read the Medstar Duology by Michael Reaves, it's essentially "M*A*S*H" during the Clone Wars with Barriss Offee and a team of trauma surgeons.)
Here, in this canon story, Barriss stands between the Fourth Sister and the child she would murder. To buy time for their escape, Barriss sends the child's family into a cavernous network of a maze while she confronts her old friend Lyn. They argue, but Lyn promises to return: her real objective is the child. Barriss warns her that she would never find her way through the maze, asking the audience to wonder if the cave is a place strong in the Force like the domain of evil on Dagobah, or the dark side cave on Ahch-To. But true to Barriss's word, Lyn's faith in the dark side prevents her from finding the child.
Lashing out with rage while Barriss promises to help her out of the caves, Lyn stabs the young healer in the chest...
A redemptive future
Holding Barriss beneath her, Lyn seems confused by the fact that Barriss is forgiving her. And showing her grace and kindness. The dissonance of the moment allows Lyn to resolve to save Barriss's life. Lifting up Barriss, Lyn comes to the light enough to make her way out of the cave and try to save Barriss's life.
For both, this seems to be an indication that they will have found some measure of peace and redemption in a world twisted into darkness by the Emperor. All of this fits into the central theme of the Skywalker Saga, particularly the story of Anakin Skywalker. If we learned anything from "Return of the Jedi", it's that no matter how far you lean into the darkness, there is always a chance to come back to the light. Lyn, seems to learn this lesson, offering her — and Barriss — a chance to redeem themselves in the eyes of the galaxy they've wronged, as well as the eyes of the audience.
The last episode of "Tales of the Empire" takes place at some point after "Obi-Wan Kenobi" (seen above) and probably sometime before "Star Wars Rebels." With so much storytelling being done in that area of time, it's very possible that we could see more of this potential redemption story for one of the coolest characters introduced in "Obi-Wan Kenobi" — and maybe also for the Padawan who was right about the Jedi but handled that knowledge in absolutely the wrong ways.
"Star Wars: Tales of the Empire" is available to stream in its entirety on Disney+.