Star Wars Just Retconned a Devastating Clone Wars Episode
A new glimpse at a historic battle.
Star Wars has given pop culture several iconic villains, but some of its antagonists have felt undercooked. The upcoming short anthology series Tales of the Empire will finally tell us more about two of its most underrated baddies: Mandalorian and Ahsoka antagonist Morgan Elsbeth, and Clone Wars Jedi turncoat Barriss Offee. With the entire series dropping in a little more than a week, we’re getting our first glimpse at what’s coming, and it includes the reveal that one of these characters was present at a Clone Wars tragedy.
In a new clip released by IGN, we get a look at a Tales episode set during Season 4, Episode 19 of The Clone Wars, “Massacre.” That episode depicted General Grievous' attack on Dathomir and focused on the Nightsisters Assajj Ventress and Mother Talzin as they resisted the invasion.
Now, Tales tells us a young Morgan Elsbeth was also present, and she seems able to hold her own against Grievous himself. In “Massacre,” Grievous seemingly slaughtered the Nightsisters while facing little resistance, but this clip is a harsh reminder that each had their own story, and one would grow up to assist Thrawn decades later.
It’s a new angle on the story that shows what the original Clone Wars episode ignored by focusing on Ventress. Now we know other important Nightsisters were involved in the battle, and some survived.
We’re getting a new perspective on the Nightsisters who fought off Grievous.
While Morgan Elsbeth met her end in Ahsoka, she’s still a crucial part of the current Star Wars landscape. She was key to helping Thrawn plot his return and a tireless henchman of the Great Mothers. Given her importance, it’s surprising she’s only been featured in the Star Wars universe for three and a half years. We may even see more of her, given that Nightsister magic can transcend the mortal coil.
That’s what makes Tales of the Empire important to Star Wars. Just as its predecessor, Tales of the Jedi, gave some much-needed backstory to Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano, this series can do the same with villains who seemingly came out of nowhere. We’ll finally learn what happened to Morgan that drove her to become a pawn of the Empire, and what happened to Barriss after she turned to the Dark Side. These villains may have played second fiddle to the heroes that defeated them, but now they’ll finally get the screen time their complicated stories deserve.
