The highly-anticipated series following the fan-favorite character has finally arrived, as Ahsoka has kicked off with a bang, pulling in some respectable viewership numbers with the premiere alone, where Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), the Force warrior who was apprentice to Anakin Skywalker, fought Darth Vader, and one of the most beloved characters in the whole franchise, is on the search for the Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), the mastermind of war who was lost a long time ago in a galaxy even farther away, and for the Jedi Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), her friend.
Ahsoka must find these two important individuals before Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), a former ally of Thrawn, finds them and reignites war in our galaxy. A minor character from another series we didn’t think we’d see again, we’ve learned a lot about her we didn’t imagine, like she’s a Nightsister of Dathomir, a witch using the magicks of the dark side of the Force. Newcomers or casual viewers will probably know very little about this character or the faction, or likely nothing at all. That’s why we’re here to help sort things out, like who is Morgan Elsbeth, what are the Nightsisters, and why do they matter in Ahsoka?
Morgan Elsbeth
First introduced in The Mandalorian as a villain-of-the-week in a side quest for Mando and Grogu, the mysterious Lady Morgan has taken the spotlight in Ahsoka as a fully-fledged villain who presents a real threat to Ahsoka and the whole galaxy. She previously helped form the Imperial fleet as an ally of Thrawn during the reign of Palpatine’s Empire, though when Palpatine went down the reactor shaft, so did the Empire. Then Morgan took over a small remnant of Imperial forces to take over a planet for herself.
Mando and Ahsoka fought Morgan on her small planet, freeing the population. Though Ahsoka questioned her in prison using very un-Jedi-like methods to extract info on Thrawn. But Morgan escaped, and we learn that she is actually a Nightsister and used her misty-green magicks to find a way to Thrawn. She’s spearheading the effort to bring him back. And she’s a lot more powerful than we believed.
The Nightsisters of Dathomir
Morgan’s powers are like those of the rest of her clan, the Nightsisters of Dathomir, witches who use the dark side of the Force to perform incredible magic, like resurrection. First introduced in the Legends novel The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton, the Nightsisters became more famous after their appearance in the beloved show The Clone Wars, and since appeared in other properties like the show Rebels, the popular game Jedi: Fallen Order, and were even referenced in the show The Book of Boba Fett.
While they are not an original creation for the show, Morgan in Ahsoka marks the first time these non-Sith dark side users have appeared in live-action.
An Ancient Cult
There’s not much history about the Nightsisters, especially in the current canon, but in the pre-Disney Legends, there is some history. A coven of witches ruled the dark planet of Dathomir, a world bathed in dark energies and were so powerful that the Republic and Jedi left them alone for thousands of years.
An ancient cult formed around a fallen Jedi, banished from the Order for using the dark side, the Nightsisters have had an important place in Star Wars history. Palpatine himself turned to Dathomir when he wanted a new apprentice. Taking an infant Nightbrother, the male who serve at the whims of the witches, Palpatine trained him to become Darth Maul.
Destroyed in the Clone War
Another seemingly minor character from The Clone Wars was later revealed to be a member of the Nightsister clan, Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman), apprentice to Count Dooku. After Dooku betrayed and tried to kill her off, Ventress returned to her homeworld and was reinitiated into the Nightsisters by Mother Talzin (Barbara Goodson), the spiritual leader of the Nightsisters and a powerful witch.
Ventress convinced Talzin to kill Dooku, so she led a small group of assassins to do so, but when the attempt failed, Dooku responded by sending General Grievous and a whole army of battle droids to wipe out the clan. The only survivors were Ventress and Talzin, who would both later die. Many thought that the Nightsisters died out with them, but Morgan in Ahsoka shows that they, or at least their powers, still exist.
How Nightsisters Differ From Jedi and Sith
Morgan has only used a little bit of her Nightsister powers in Ahsoka so far. Nightsister magick is very powerful, as we’ve seen before, where Talzin even brought Maul back to full strength after he was cut in half, essentially bringing Maul back to life. The Nightsisters can use their abilities to conduct feats other Force cults would consider impossible, with powers of teleportation and transmutation, described as “magick” to show how different it is.
The most impressive act by the Nightsisters was when they were most desperate. When being slaughtered by Grievous, Talzin reanimated the dead corpses of felled Nightsisters, becoming like zombies in a last failed effort to fend off destruction. Even though they lost, they were still able to exist as ghosts decades later, trying to inhabit and take over the bodies of the living.
While possessing powers stronger and stranger than those of the Jedi or Sith, the ability of the Nightsisters is dependent on many outside factors, such as much of their magick was tied to the planet Dathomir, and they were stronger when together or weaker when apart.
So for Morgan in Ahsoka, considering she’s the only known Nightsister left and far away from Dathomir, she likely won’t be showing much, but we can’t be ever sure about the unusual magicks of the Nightsisters.
Ahsoka releases new episodes Tuesdays at 6 pm PT / 9 pm ET on Disney+.
