In episode three of the acolyte, we have an extended flashback to Osha and Mae's (Leah and Lauren Brady) childhood on the planet Brendock. We see that they were the only children raised by a coven of witches, led by mother Aniseya (Jodi Turner-Smith), who apparently “created” them through supernatural means. It appears that Aniseya's partner, mother Koril, carried the twins for her, but how and why remains a mystery. These witches, whose seal is a dotted white circle painted on their heads, see the Force differently, referring to it as something no one can use. Instead, they see it as “a thread that can be pulled.” Although they never name this coven, they are they are certainly not the first Force users, mostly women, to use the term “witch” to describe themselves War of the galaxies.
The witches of the first force War of the galaxies canon
The notion of Force witches started decades ago in non-canon War of the galaxies tradition “Mind Witches” tainted Luke Skywalker War of the galaxies comics in the early 1980s. However, the most famous Force witches first appeared almost thirty years ago, in the Legends novel Princess Leia's courtship. That 1994 book by Dave Wolverton was about Han Solo and Leia's marriage after return of the jedi, and was the first introduction to the Night Sisters of Dathomir, not to mention the planet Dathomir itself.
In Legends lore, the Nightsisters were founded by an exiled Jedi, some 600 years earlier. A New Hope. When this ex-Jedi woman was exiled to Dathomir, she trained the planet's Force-sensitive women into a coven of witches, neither Sith nor Jedi. A handful of Expanded Universe merchandise even featured what the Nightsisters looked like. Some of this later informed his look at the canon. However, for the time of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, George Lucas decided to canonize the concept of innately powerful witches in the Force. He pretty much threw the backstory of the Nightsisters into the novels and made it his own.
The sisters of the night a The Clone Wars i The Mandalorian
In the Clone Warsthey finally reveal Count Dooku's dark side apprentice, Asajj Ventress, a main villain of the series, was a Night Sister from the planet Dathomir. During this prequel era, the Nightsisters channeled the dark side of the Force into something akin to magic. They felt its power most strongly on their homeworld. So they rarely, if ever, left Dathomir. This changed when the coven came under the rule of Mother Talzin, who collaborated with Darth Sidious during his rise to power. Talzin actually gave her son to Sidious to train as a Sith. That boy grew up to become Darth Maul.
In the Clone Wars episode “Massacre”, we witness the genocide of the Sisters of the Night, orchestrated by Count Dooku and General Grievous. Almost all of the Sisters of the Night die in this brutal attack. Even when the Nightsisters cast spells to raise their dead as warriors, they all fall in battle. We later find out that at least two girls survived the genocide. One was Asajj Ventress, and the other would grow up to become Elizabeth Morganh. Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) would appear for the first time in the second season of The Mandalorian, as the planet's warlord in the New Republic era. He would later play a central role Star Wars: Ahsokawhere they further explored their ties to the Nightsisters.
The great mothers of Peridea
In the first season of Ahsoka, Elsbeth is back, as we learn that the witches of Dathomir actually originated in another galaxy, on the planet Peridea. The members of his sect traveled to the main War of the galaxies galaxy, presumably through Purgill, thousands of years earlier. There, they established a clan of night sisters in Dathomir. Although they massacre Dathomir's clan, the descendants of the original witches still live on this planet. Morgan is trying to jump to another galaxy to find his master, Grand Admiral Thrawn. When he finds it, he is not alone. He is accompanied by several great mothers on the planet The Great Mothers try to help Grand Admiral Thrawn return to his galaxy.
The Witches inside the acolyte They are a new breed of force witches
So does the guy the acolyte Are you connected to the Nightsisters? They don't look particularly dark at the moment. Even though they have facial markings, they don't look as creepy as the Nightsisters. Mother Aniseya mentions that the coven was exiled to the planet Brendock. But exiled by whom? This is pre-Empire after all. The Nightsisters of Dathomir seem to co-exist more or less with the other clans, since we saw a Tales of the Empire. Perhaps they identified Mother Aniseya's clan for unknown reasons, forcing them to leave Dathomir. It is possible that they fought the Sisters of the Night with light side magic and lost, leaving them with no choice but to flee.
Similar to the Nightsisters, there seems to be a visual component to using their powers. When Jedi or Sith use the Force, it is invisible. When the Nighsisters and Brendock's coven cast spells, there is a visual element. We see it as a green mist for the Nightsisters. And for Brendock's coven, it's more like vibrations in the air, like ripples in the water. Have more than one coven of witches in the War of the galaxies galaxy makes sense though. Other cultures perceived the Force differently and would use it in different ways. The galaxy is a big place after all. Even though we see this coven destroyed, we get the feeling that they are not the only coven of witch-like in the galaxy. Or maybe even Brendock. I'm sure we'll learn more in the remaining episodes the acolyte
