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The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Nightsisters
Episode No.: 56 (Season 3, Episode 12)
Original Air Date: January 7, 2011
Production No.: 308 (Season 3, Episode 8)
“The swiftest path to destruction is through vengeance.”
Written by Katie Lucas
Directed by Giancarlo Volpe
Cast:
Nika Futterman as Ventress
James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi/Pirate #1
Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
Dee Bradley Baker as clone troopers | Ratch
Barbara Goodson as Mother Talzin
Corey Burton as Count Dooku | Ky Narec
Cara Pifko as TJ-912 | Naa’leth
Tom Kane as the narrator | Yularen
Ian Abercrombie as Darth Sidious | Pirate #2
Catherine Taber as Karis
Matthew Wood as battle droids
Synopsis: Troubled by Asajj Ventress’ growing prowess with the dark side of the Force, Darth Sidious commands Count Dooku to eliminate her. But Ventress survives Dooku’s assassination attempt, and the jilted former apprentice vows to take revenge, enlisting the aid of her kinswomen — the mystical Nightsisters — in her sinister scheme.
Mother Talzin, leader of the Nightsisters, veils Asajj and her fellow assassins in a cloak of invisibility, and they infiltrate Dooku’s palace on Serenno. Though they fail to kill the Count, their use of captured Jedi lightsabers leads Dooku to mistakenly believe that the Jedi have tried to kill him. Interested in protection, he requests a new apprentice from Mother Talzin.
Returning Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2-D2, Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, Darth Sidious, Admiral Yularen
New Characters: Mother Talzin, Naa’leth, Ky Narec, TJ-912, Ratch, Karis, Talia, Hal’Sted
Worlds Visited: Dathomir, Serenno, Rattatak
Secrets Revealed
- Asajj Ventress began life as concept art by Dermot Power for a potential female Sith Lord during the development of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (2002). When the character was abandoned in favor of Count Dooku, the female Sith warrior was repurposed as a “Separatist commander” for the Clone Wars spin-off material developed by Lucas Licensing in toys, comics and novels in 2003-2005.
- Asajj’s costume at the start of the episode is a direct recreation of the costume she wore in her initial concept art and early EU appearances.
- Author W. Haden Blackman developed Asajj’s Expanded Universe backstory for the Star Wars: Republic comic. An early draft of her character was named Juno Eclipse, a name that would be discarded and resurrected as an Imperial pilot in The Force Unleashed. Ventress’s backstory tied her to the planet Rattatak and revealed her to be the student of Jedi Knight Ky Narec.
- For The Clone Wars series, writer Katie Lucas preserved much of this EU backstory for this authoritative depiction of Asajj and her history. In the flashbacks seen in the episode, young Asajj is handed over by her Dathomirian mother to a Siniteen criminal named is Hal’Sted. The flashbacks then move to Rattatak, where she is discovered by Ky Narec after Hal’Sted dies from an assault by Weequay raiders.
- Another Expanded Universe concept is the planet Dathomir and its Nightsisters. Though the idea of witches in Star Wars has been around since the ’80s (the Ewoks live action movie and cartoon both featured witches), these in particular debuted in the 1994 novel, The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton. The planet and the Nightsisters have made numerous appearances in publishing since then, but it was their inclusion in the The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance videogame that prompted their appearance in the series.
- Mother Talzin’s look is derived from a Sith Witch concept first developed by concept artist Iain McCaig for Episode I. Before Darth Maul was defined as Episode I’s principal Sith Lord, McCaig explored several nightmarish witch concepts.
- When in their spectral forms, the Nightsisters do not cast shadows
- In addition to Talzin, Naa’leth and Karis, a there is another named Nightsister in this episode, Talia.
- This episode sees the return of the Geonosian fanblade starfighter as Asajj’s vehicle. It was originally designed for the pilot Clone Wars micro-series. Its distinctive shape was inspired by a Japanese fan.
- This episode marks the debut of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s new Season Three character model.
- At the start of the episode, the Republic cruiser Resolute is destroyed, though Admiral Yularen did escape.
- The tactical droid TJ-912 acknowledges an order by quoting a classic Battlestar Galactica line often uttered by Cylons: “By your command.”
- The scavenger vessel is called the Raider. It is a re-use of the Vulture’s Claw model from Season One, but with a distinct paint job and some other modifications. Though his name is not spoken in the episode, the Twi’lek scavenger who finds Asajj is named Ratch.
