The Big Picture
- Dave Filoni’s work on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels has expanded the Star Wars mythology and added layers to the galaxy far, far away.
- Abeloth, a malevolent being from the Expanded Universe, could potentially make a return in future Star Wars projects, possibly including Ahsoka.
- With the Mortis Trilogy’s influence and Filoni’s tendency to incorporate characters from the Expanded Universe, Abeloth could serve as a major antagonist and a significant threat to unite heroes in upcoming movies or series.
As the Star Wars universe has expanded over the years, so has its mythology. The prequel trilogy revealed that the Clone Wars were actually fought with stormtroopers cloned from Boba Fett’s DNA. The Jedi Knights and Sith Lords have had their history expanded upon, too. Of course, the nature of the Force has also been visited, both in its spiritual nature and the abilities it grants people who are connected to it. No one has expanded upon this lore more than Dave Filoni; his work on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels has added layers to the galaxy far, far away — and Ahsoka continues to build upon that by touching on a forgotten element of the old Legends continuity.
Prior to Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, the Star Wars universe continued to be built upon a number of novels, comics, and other media projects referred to as the “Expanded Universe.” These installments included deep dives into the nature of the Force, as well as its avatars. One of them, Abeloth, is perhaps one of the most malevolent beings to ever be introduced in a Star Wars story. Worse than Emperor Palpatine. Worse than Darth Maul. Worse than Kylo Ren. In fact, Abeloth would plague multiple Star Wars characters and stories over the years.
Abeloth Originally Battled Luke Skywalker in Star Wars’ Expanded Universe
Abeloth began her life as a simple human woman until she became part of the Force trio consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Daughter. As The Mother, she kept the peace between the Son and the Daughter — in effect, bringing balance to the Force. However, she was still mortal. So in an effort to transcend her human body, Abeloth drank from the spring known as the Font of Power while also bathing in the Pool of Knowledge. This had an unfortunate side effect: Abeloth became corrupted, and now was locked in an eternal battle with the Son and the Daughter. It wasn’t until after the original Star Wars trilogy that she became involved with the Skywalker clan.
Abeloth was freed from her prison when Jacen Solo — the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia — fell to the dark side and became Darth Caedus. She started to prey upon Jedi and Sith alike, luring multiple Force users to the Maw — the cluster of black holes where she had been imprisoned. She even takes on the form of a Galactic Senator and wins election for Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance. Finally, Luke Skywalker joined forces with a number of Sith and Jedi to crush Abeloth. She survived their encounter, targeting Luke’s son Ben and his Sith lover Vestara Khai as replacements for the Son and Daughter. Luke was finally able to defeat Abeloth by simultaneously striking at the host bodies she possessed, banishing her to the shadows — though they were not convinced of her ultimate defeat.
Abeloth’s Origins Are Tied to the Popular Mortis Arc of ‘The Clone Wars’
Fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars may have noticed the importance of the Father, the Son, and the Daughter. The three Force aspects made their appearance during the Season 3 episode “Overlords,” and begin to influence Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein). The Father (Lloyd Sherr) intends for Anakin to take his place, while the Son (Sam Witwer) seeks to tip the balance between light and dark in favor of darkness. To that end, he makes some rather aggressive moves; first he kills the Daughter, then he shows Anakin visions of his eventual future as Darth Vader. Finally, the Son corrupts Ahsoka and pits her against Anakin, leaving the Father to sacrifice his life to set things right.
“Overlords,” along with “Altars of Mortis,” and “Ghosts of Mortis,” form what is known as the “Mortis Trilogy.” It is also the first example of Filoni delving deep into the nature of the Force, tapping into the same spiritual elements that he would later revisit in Rebels. For an animated series to delve this deep into philosophical matters, let alone an animated series based on one of the most popular movie franchises of all time, was unheard of — but it worked.
‘Ahsoka’ Could Hint At Abeloth’s Return to Mainstream Star Wars
The Mortis Trilogy has gone on to play a role in Filoni’s other Star Wars projects; Rebels features a sequence where Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray) discovers a mural depicting the Father/Son/Daughter at the Jedi Temple in Lothal. Ahsoka encounters a similar mural in the Ahsoka series premiere, “Master and Apprentice,” when she discovers the map that leads to Ezra’s location. With these characters making a prominent appearance, surely Abeloth could play a major role in Ahsoka or future Star Wars projects. It wouldn’t be the first time a character from the old Expanded Universe made it into the new canon: Grand Admiral Thrawn served as the antagonist of a trilogy of novels before being brought into Star Wars Rebels. There’s also the bounty hunters Durge and Beilert Valance; Durge was originally on Gennedy Tartakovsky‘s Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series, while Valance appeared in the original run of Marvel’s Star Wars comics. Both have made appearances in the Star Wars: Bounty Hunters comic.
Abeloth could make for an impressive antagonist, as she is literally malevolence incarnate. She also isn’t easy to kill — she managed to take control of multiple bodies during her tenure in the Legends arc. With Filoni slated to direct a movie that will tie together events from Ahsoka as well as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, it would require a major threat to bring these heroes together. You don’t get much more major than the living embodiment of the dark side of the Force, and it makes sense that Filoni would continue to pull from his sandbox of established characters
