Warning! SPOILERS for Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 4.
Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 4 finally explains an Order 66 mystery from Star Wars Rebels. Palpatine envisioned the Clone Wars as the ultimate Jedi trap, and Order 66 was the coup de grace. All across the galaxy, clone troopers turned on their Jedi generals and cut them down. Only a few survived, namely the most skilled, the most sensitive to the Force, and the luckiest. Even these few survivors were hunted down by the Empire, pursued relentlessly by Darth Vader and his Inquisitors.
The former Padawan who called himself Kanan Jarrus was one of these few. Years later, in Star Wars Rebels season 1, Kanan - who had taken on a potential apprentice of his own, Ezra - heard rumors a Jedi Master was still alive. There were reports Luminara Unduli had survived Star Wars' Order 66, and she was imprisoned in a cell on the Spire on Stygeon Prime. This turned out to be another trap. The Empire had heard the rumors of Luminara's survival, with her remains contained within a sarcophagus and the Inquisitors eagerly watching to see whether any Jedi or Rebels would attempt to rescue her. The Empire's plan had always seemed a little too convenient. They just happened to have Luminara's body in storage.
Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 4 finally explains this apparent plot contrivance. It seems Emperor Palpatine had the bodies of all fallen Jedi taken to a specially constructed tomb on the lower levels of the Fortress Inquisitorius on the moon of Nur in the Mustafar system, where the bodies of the Jedi were kept as trophies to the victory of the Sith. When rumors of Luminara's survival began to circulate, the Inquisitors swiftly decided to take advantage of them by retrieving Luminara's body and laying their trap.
It's one of the Empire's darkest traps, but it would surely have delighted Emperor Palpatine. He'd have loved the idea of the body of a fallen Jedi being used to draw others out into the open. The interesting question is whether this was the only thing the Empire did with the bodies of the Jedi. They could well have been using genetic samples to research the Force, in experiments that ultimately led to the creation of Star Wars' Supreme Leader Snoke and a cloned body for Palpatine himself. Luminara's body may have been put to other uses before being transported to the Spire.
Kanan and Ezra escaped, and they began to spread a counter-story - that this was all an Imperial trap. Given that's the case, it's likely the Grand Inquisitor had Luminara's body taken from the Spire again, although - given its desiccated condition by that point - it may not have been returned to the Fortress Inquisitorius. Obi-Wan Kenobi may have shown where Luminara's body was originally stored, but it's quite possible it was destroyed after Star Wars Rebels.
Obi-Wan Kenobi releases new episodes Fridays on Disney+.
