Star Wars has made the surprising reveal that a fan-favorite villain from the Clone Wars era is not dead, but is in fact still alive and operating during the Imperial Era!
(WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW!)
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 9 “The Harbinger” sees Clone Force 99 still waiting for the payoff from their brief alliance with Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). The Bad Batch needed Fennec to provide intel on why the Empire is hunting their ward Omega (Michelle Ang), and what “M Counts” are all about. Fennec didn’t know anything solid, but promised to send an operative the Bad Batch’s way who would be able to help.
In “The Harbinger” Clone Force 99 (and the Star Wars Fandom) learn that Fennec’s secret contact is none other than Asajj Ventress! The early marketing and press for Bad Batch Season 3 teased Ventress returning – but how is the seemingly dead Force warrior even back?
Who Is Star Wars’ Asajj Ventress?
(Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Asajj Ventress is a Dathomarian warrior who has had one of the most dynamic arcs in Star Wars. She was born to the Nightsisters, as part of the coven run by Mother Talzin on Dathomir. As a youngling, Ventress was given up as an offering to criminal (Hal’Sted) and enslaved for years, until her master was killed by pirates. A Jedi master named Ky Narec, rescued Ventress and trained her in the Force as his padawan; however, she started to turn to the dark side when Narec was also killed, using the dark side’s power to conquer the pirate lords and rule them. One warlord tricked Ventress and once again being enslaved as a gladiator, where she was discovered by Count Dooku (aka Darth Tyrannus) and trained to be a Sith assassin.
Ventress became a breakout character in the Clone Wars animated series, as we followed her journey of hounding Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi during the years the Clone Wars. However, Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious sensed Ventress’s growing power with the dark side and saw it (combined with Dooku) as a threat to his position as a Sith Lord, and ordered Dooku to kill her, which he nearly did. Ventress was healed by Mother Talzin and the Nightsisters; she sought revenge against the Sith through Darth Maul’s brother Savage Opress, but ultimately failed and was nearly killed again. She gave up her feud and rejoined the Nightsisters, but a wrathful Dooku sent General Grievous and the Droid Army to wipe Ventress and the Nightsisters out. Once again Ventress managed to survive; without a home or a clan, she took up bounty hunting as a trade near the end of the Clone Wars.
In the now-famous Star Wars (2015) novel Dark Disciple, Ventress partnered with (and fell in love with) Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, who had been assigned with assassinating Count Dooku. By the end of that mission, Vos had been captured by Dooku and turned to the dark side, making Ventress once again ally with her former master. However, when Dooku couldn’t turn Ventress back to the dark side, a conflict ensued and Ventress took a Force Lighting blast from Dooku to protect Vos. It seemed as though Ventress died from that attack; her “death” pulled Vos back to the light side, and she received honorary praise from the Jedi Council for her sacrifice. Ventress’s body was taken back to Dathomir and laid in the waters by her village.
Star Wars: Asajj Ventress’ Return Explained
(Photo: Disney+)
The ending of Dark Disciple may have set the story of Asajj Ventress’s return in motion. After Quinlan Vos and Obi-Wan Kenobi put Ventress into a murky pool close her Nightsisters village, there was a reaction from the water, as it turned green, and the spirits of the Nightsisters welcomed the fallen Ventress back home.
In the years since Dark Disciple, Star Wars has done a lot of work building out the mythos of the Nightsisters and their magical wielding of the Force. Resurrection and/or re-animation is well-established to be within the powers of the Nightsisters – while the Ahsoka TV series raised big new questions about the Nightsisters’ history and connection to the Mortis gods that embodied the Force.
That’s all to say: Asajj Ventres being alive isn’t as much of a stretch as it would’ve once been. And as one of the most knowledgeable people about Force Use and the true connection between the Sith and the Empire, she’s once again one of the most pivotal characters in Star Wars.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch is now streaming on Disney+.
