This article contnains spoilers for Ahsoka.
Ahsoka has rewritten the history of the Nightsisters, but Star Wars secretly set up one potential origin of their race 12 years ago. Originally created by Dave Wolverton in his 1994 novel The Courtship of Princess Leia, the Nightsisters of Dathomir have always been one of the most intriguing Force cults in the Star Wars galaxy. The Nightsisters possess powers that are strangely different to those of both the Jedi and the Sith, even more so after they were reinvented 12 years ago upon their debut in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
The Ahsoka Disney+ TV show has finally explained why Nightsister powers are so unusual. Ahsoka Tano and her allies (and enemies) followed the pathway to Peridea, a distant world on the outskirts of another galaxy. They learned Peridea is the original home of the Nightsisters, presumably meaning they originally learned to tap into the Force in a place where it manifests in a different way. The Ahsoka finale went one step further, revealing Peridea is also associated with the Mortis gods – avatars of the Force itself. Surprisingly, this may be the final piece of the puzzle in understanding the origin of the Nightsisters.
The Nightsisters Do Not Use The Force Directly
A powerful and ancient Force cult, the secrets of the Nightsisters have long been sought after by the Sith. Their magick is difficult for even the Sith to reverse-engineer, though, because Nightsisters do not actually access the Force directly. Instead, they use a substance called “ichor” as a tool to access the dark side of the Force. This is the reason Nightsisters have seldom been consumed by the egotism associated with the dark side; it means their magick is communal, with their powers enhancing one another, unlike the Sith who are always locked in rivalry with one another.
The concept of magickal ichor was iintroduced in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode “Nightsisters,” all the way back in 2011. It should really have served as an important clue linking the Nightsisters in some way to the Mortis gods, for one simple reason; in Greek mythology, ichor is the name for the blood of the gods. The clear implication is that the Nightsisters gained their power by taking the blood of one of the Mortis gods, likely the Son, who is associated with the dark side. This further explains the visual similarities between the Son and the Nightsisters.
Did The Son Create The Nightsisters?
The Mortis gods – also introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 3, back in 2011 – are powerful avatars of the Force. They are three in number: Father, Son, and Daughter, each standing for an aspect of the Force; the Daughter represents the light side wile the Son is the avatar of the dark side, and the Father stands for balance. According to the Father, millennia ago he and his children lived in the normal galaxy. They unleashed some terrible evils upon the galaxy, however, and he removed them to a mysterious planet rich in the Force called Mortis, the only place where he could maintain the balance of the Force.
It is likely the Nightsisters are one of the evils unleashed on the galaxy by the Mortis gods. Ahsoka seemed to imply they established an actual intergalactic empire, with both Peridea and Dathomir serving as key worlds in this empire. If the Son created the Nightsisters, or indeed if they simply learned how to wound the Son and claim his blood, it would certainly explain why the Father felt the galaxy was safer with the Mortis gods withdrawn to another plane of existence. All the threads of this Star Wars theory tie together perfectly, and they fit so well with the simple fact that, 12 years ago, Star Wars confirmed the Nightsisters use ichor.
All episodes of Ahsoka are streaming now on Disney+.
