LucasflmRight after the fall of the Republic, Darth Vader had some help in hunting down and destroying the Jedi who escaped Order 66. As first revealed in Rebels in 2014, the Inquisitors were tracking surviving Jedi from the end of the Clone Wars right up to the start of the true birth of the Rebel Alliance. But who were the first red lightsaber-wielding Inquisitors? Up until recently, the Wookieepedia-fueled answer to this question would probably lead you to say, the Grand Inquisitor, the character voiced by Jason Isaacs in Rebels and played by Rupert Friend in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Or when Tales of the Jedi debuted in 2022, you may have thought that the Clancy Brown-voiced Inquisitor with the scary bird-helmet was the earliest Inquisitor, since at one point, the 2024 book The Star Wars Encyclopedia called him “The First Brother.” But that was a mistake, because the real “First Brother,” and perhaps the earliest Inquisitor ever, has reappeared in Star Wars: Maul —Shadow Lord, which, in terms of the actual chronology, is his “first” appearance.Confused? Here’s why Marrok — who we first glimpsed in Ahsoka — is marking one of the earliest instances of the Inquisitors in Star Wars canon. Spoilers ahead for Shadow Lord Episode 6, “Night of the Hunted.” Who is Marrok? Marrok’s first appearance in Ahsoka was also his last in his own personal timeline. | LucasfilmAlso known as the “First Brother,” Marrok is the Inquistor who is featured heavily in Shadow Lord Episode 5 and Episode 6. He’s clearly sent by the Empire to track down the two Jedi we’ve been following throughout the show. This also makes him a huge headache for Maul, since Maul was, until the appearance of Marrok, the only character who was busting out a double-sided red lightsaber. The funny thing is, like many of the Inquisitors, we don’t know a ton about Marrok, and the first time we saw this character was in live-action during Ahsoka Season 1. And the odd thing about that fact is that Ahoska Season 1 takes place about five years after the fall of the Empire, and the version of Marrok we’re seeing in Shadow Lord takes place about 19 years before Ahoska. So, the Marrok in Shadow Lord is about 30 years younger than the version of him we see in Ahsoka.The thing is, in Ahsoka, Marrok’s demise makes it seem like he was being controlled by some Dark Side spell, because when his armor was pierced, it appeared that dark green mist was inside his armor, suggesting that Morgan Elsbeth perhaps used Dathomirian techniques to reanimate him. Either way, the Marrok we see in Ahsoka is basically working as a mercenary, whereas the Shadow Lord version of Marrok is this early Inquisitor in his prime. Shadow Lord Episode 6 Ending: Who is Marrok’s Boss?Marrok, reporting to an unseen supervisor in Shadow Lord. | LucasfilmAfter Maul and Devon escape from Marrok, we see the Inquisitor reporting his progress to an unseen person whom he calls “Master.” This person is communicating via hologram, and the episode ends before we get a glimpse of who it is. Now, if this turns out to simply be the Grand Inquisitor, then Marrok becomes just one more red-bladed warrior who follows orders. But, he could easily be taking orders from Palpatine directly, or even more likely, Darth Vader.We know Maul’s fate when it comes to the Rebels timeline, but what we don’t know is how many Inquisitors he fought before that point. And, it’s important to point out that in this part of the timeline, Darth Vader is just starting out as the Emperor’s right-hand man, and it’s possible, perhaps even likely, that before Shadow Lord is over, Vader and Maul might cross sabers, making the introduction of Marrok a bit of a Sith-y red herring. Star Wars: Maul —Shadow Lord airs new episodes on Mondays on Disney+.