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. It looks like the tides are turning for Asajj Ventress though, as Star Wars is teasing that her story will continue to be told even beyond The Bad Batch in “future content.” But who is Asajj Ventress, the Force-wielding warrior? Although debuting outside the official Star Wars canon, Asajj Ventress was conceived for the big screen, way back in 2000.
Jump to: Asajj Ventress’ History // Asajj Ventress in The Bad Batch // How Is Asajj Ventress Alive? // Asajj Ventress’ Star Wars Future
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 Lucasfilm 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 the company 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
No one’s ever really gone! As The Bad Batch season three trailer showed us, Asajj Ventress survived the events of Dark Disciple. 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 as 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).
An article from Star Wars‘ official website shares more about Ventress’ role on The Bad Batch‘s final season. It notes that in The Bad Batch season three’s ninth episode, “The Harbinger,” “Ventress pays a visit to the titular squad of heroes, sent to deliver them intel on the nature of M-count research (i.e., midi-chlorian count, and measuring one’s Force potential) and why it relates to the young clone Omega. The Batch don’t trust Ventress, and become hostile when they realize who she actually is. But this is the new Asajj, and she goes easy on the elite clones — stopping short of killing them. She even hangs around to test Omega, acting as something of a mentor, and ultimately saves her from a giant sea creature by connecting with it through the Force.”
Fans of Ventress will be delighted to see this side of Asajj Ventress highlighted in The Bad Batch. The episode showcases not only her great power as a warrior but her mental strength as well. Asajj Ventress’ voice actress Nika Futterman shares, “I thought what was really cool about this is, it shows that she’s closer to the [light side of the] Force than she is, really, to the evil part of power — that there’s some part of her that is really more like the good guys, that she’s very capable of using her mental powers for good.”
We do love an anti-hero.
How Is Asajj Ventress Alive in the Star Wars Universe?
But glorious return aside, how is Asajj Ventress back from the dead in Star Wars: The Bad Batch? Did Asajj Ventress somehow cheat death? Or did Ventress really die, and someone (or something) resurrected her? We have many curiosities but few answers because The Bad Batch doesn’t actually explain how Asajj Ventress is still alive in the Star Wars world.
So, how the warrior escaped death remains a mystery that still needs to be solved. Fortunately, it looks like future Star Wars stories will give us the answers we seek about Ventress’ fate.
Does Asajj Ventress Have a Future in the Star Wars Universe?
So what does this mean for the Star Wars future of Asajj Ventress? Dave Filoni could have big plans for her going forward. We might even see our first live-action Asajj 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 the Nightsisters are a big part of the Ahsoka series.
For now, what we know for sure is that Dave Filoni did have a hand in bringing Ventress back. The official Star Wars website reveals, “For all intents and purposes, Ventress met her demise in Star Wars: Dark Disciple, a novel based on unused scripts of The Clone Wars. Still, series creator Dave Filoni, executive producer Brad Rau, and executive producer/head writer Jennifer Corbett had a plan.”
But what that plan is exactly, we’ll have to wait and see. But it sounds like Asajj Ventress will return to the Star Wars universe again and we’ll get more of her story in a future series or movie. Corbett notes, “We had several discussions about the book and how her story could continue. How she survived will be revealed in future content, but for this story, we were thrilled to include her and explore her unique connection to, and compassion for, Omega.”
Futterman further notes of Ventress’ Star Wars journeys to come “I think we’re going to find out a lot of things about a lot of things… And I think we’re going to have all kinds of fun adventures.” And that Asajj Ventress could “do anything and become anything.”
From dead and gone to a wide-open future, Asajj Ventress may have a larger role in the unfolding Star Wars saga.
Originally published on January 23, 2024.
