Star Wars fans were shocked to see the character of Asajj Ventress alive and well in the new trailer for the final season of The Bad Batch. Surprised, but elated, as she remains a popular character who suffered an ignoble death off-screen. But who is this Force-wielding warrior? Although debuting outside the official Star Wars canon, Asajj Ventress was conceived for the big screen, way back in 2000.
Asajj Ventress Was Created for Attack of the Clones, But Debuted in the Expanded Universe
Asajj Ventress has a complicated history in the Star Wars universe. Lucasfilm originally conceived her as a Sith villain for Attack of the Clones. Before they invented Count Dooku as the new Sith for that film, Lucasfilm artist Dermot Power created a new female Sith apprentice for Darth Sidious. Her original name was Juno Eclipse. Although she didn’t make it into the film, George Lucas didn’t discard her. He resurrected her for the original 2003 Clone Wars animated micro-series, where she was Count Dooku’s dark side assassin. Although technically, she’d first appear in a Dark Horse Comics issue of Star Wars: Republic. She’d later appear in various expanded universe novels and comics, fighting Jedi in many battles during the prequel era.
The Clone Wars Brings Asajj Ventress into Star Wars Canon
Thanks to the 2008 The Clone Wars animated series, Ventress really developed as a character, and became an official part of the Star Wars canon. Voiced impeccably by actress Nika Futterman, Ventress was once again portrayed as a dark side warrior under the command of Count Dooku. She fought our heroic lead Jedis several times in the first two seasons, leading Separatist forces against many Republic clones and their Jedi generals. But as the series continued, fans got new insights into Asajj, and her popularity continued to rise. Eventually, she became a more complex character than just a tool of the Sith.
The Origin Story of Asajj Ventress
In season three of The Clone Wars, Asajj gets a proper origin story. We learned that she was born on the planet Dathomir, home of the witches known as the Nightsisters. Eventually, while still a child, the Nightsisters sold her to a band of criminals. She almost certainly would have died during a pirate attack as a youngling, but a Jedi named Ky Narec saved her life, after crashing on the planet Rattatak. Narec instantly sensed her Force potential and began her informal Jedi training.
The Twin Red Lightsabers of Asajj Ventress, the Sith’s Assassin
Sadly, Asajj’s training was cut short when warlord Osika Kirske killed Narec before Ventress could truly become a Jedi. She believed the Jedi abandoned her beloved master, and ignored the plight of her planet. This bitterness resulted in pure hatred for the Jedi Order. As she grew older and more hateful, she fell under the sway of Count Dooku, who recruited her as his new apprentice. She wields two crimson lightsabers with a curved handle, just as in her original concept art for Attack of the Clones. At the dawn of the Clone Wars, she became Dooku’s principal weapon.
Asajj Ventress Becomes a Nightsister of Dathomir
As Ventress grew more powerful, her existence threatened to the Sith “Rule of Two,” which proclaimed there could only be two Sith at any given time. Darth Sidious ordered Dooku to assassinate her, but she survived. Hellbent on revenge, Ventress returned to her birth world of Dathomir. There, she became a fully fledged Nightsister. When General Grievous later murdered her sisters, Ventress once again found herself the sole survivor of a massacre. She became a bounty hunter, and even helped mentor a young Boba Fett. Although never a true “good guy” by the end of The Clone Wars, Asajj Ventress helped Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker clear Tano’s name when she was framed for murder.
Asajj Ventress Falls for Jedi Quinlan Vos, Dies Saving His Life
Lucasfilm planned a final arc for Ventress in The Clone Wars, however they canceled the series in 2013. That unproduced arc became the basis for Asajj Ventress’ storyline in the 2015 novel Dark Disciple by Christie Golden. In that canon book, Asajj Ventress teams up with undercover Jedi Master Quinlan Vos for a mission to kill Count Dooku. During this adventure, Ventress unexpectedly falls in love with Vos. In the novel’s climax, Dooku kills her with Force lightning. Vos then returns Ventress’ body to her homeworld of Dathomir so she may rest with her fellow Nightsisters, who also lost their lives to Dooku’s forces.
The Bad Batch Sees the Return of Asajj Ventress, as a Jedi?
No one’s ever really gone! As The Bad Batch season three trailer showed us, Asajj Ventress survived the events of Dark Disciple. Or maybe she did really die, and someone (or something) resurrected her. How and why this happens is still a mystery. Yet her new look comes straight from designs created for The Clone Wars arc that became Dark Disciple. So for the first time, we see Ventress with hair, and not her usual bald-headed self. She also fights with a yellow-bladed lightsaber, a blade usually reserved for Jedi Temple guards (and later, Rey Skywalker).
Does Asajj Ventress Have a Future in The Mandalorian or Ahsoka?
So what does this mean for the future of Asajj Ventress? If she survives the events of The Bad Batch season three that is. But it seems nonsensical to bring her back only to kill her off again. Dave Filoni could have big plans for her going forward. We might even see our first live-action Ventress. Imagine Din Djarin fighting against (or with) Ventress in a future season of The Mandalorian. Or maybe Ahsoka encountered her old enemy as an adult. After all, Ventress is a Nightsister, and they are a big part of the Ahsoka series. From dead and gone to a wide-open future, Asajj Ventress may have a larger role in the unfolding Star Wars saga.