Is Morgan Elsbeth’s Nightsister Backstory Problematic For ‘Star Wars’ Canon?

Star Wars

Oct 6

Morgan Elsbeth is the first Nightsister to be portrayed in live-action. But is her appearance going to cause problems with the established canon?

Morgan made her debut in the second season of The Mandalorian when she went toe to toe with Ahsoka Tano. It’s revealed in Ahsoka that Morgan is a Nightsister, and working to bring back a stranded Thrawn via visions she’s received from another galaxy.

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Ahsoka seems to recognize the force witch in The Mandalorian, telling Din Djarin that Morgan’s people were massacred during the Clone Wars; Elsbeth survived and her anger fuelled an industry that built the Imperial Navy. Seems like a simple enough plot to follow. But there’s one massive problem with that.

Ahsoka’s description of Morgan’s past is almost in line with canon, but she’s left out one vital piece of information. The Nightsisters were killed by Palpatine.

The Nightsisters

The leader of the Nightsisters, Mother Talzin had been an unwilling ally of Palpatine’s after he kidnapped her son, Darth Maul. The Nightsisters didn’t exactly have warm-fuzzy feelings for the guy to begin with. Not content with that, Sheev told Dooku to kill his second Dathomri recruit (Asajj Ventress). Talzin had enough and turned her back on the Sith Lord.

Sheev ordered that all the Nightsisters were now too dangerous to live. General Grievous and Count Dooku led an assault on Dathomir with a large droid army. The entire planet was decimated. In Ahsoka, Morgan Elsbeth is trying to uphold the legacy of the man who canonically destroyed her homeworld. Palpatine and Grevious dispatch Mother Talzin in a battle that takes place in part 4 of the Darth Maul -Sons Of Dathomir Comic Book Series. In Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno, it is written that Maul knows that Palpatine is Sidious, so it’s a fair bet that Mother Talzin and the rest of the Nightsisters do too. It’s unlikely that Morgan Elsbeth hasn’t connected the dots.

The Battle of Dathomir is established canon, created by David Filoni himself. The Nightsisters and brothers in the animated series are wilful. Darth Maul was so stubborn he survived being cut in half. An intergalactic order from another clan shouldn’t be enough to make Morgan Elsbeth overlook a thirst for vengeance, unless there was something in it for her.

The Empire

Morgan Elsbeth spent the time after the Battle of Dathomir building up the Imperial Navy, while being mentored by Thrawn. It’s her whole backstory. If she was that close to the Chiss Grand Admiral during the height of the Empire, then she was definitely around Palpatine. At least close enough for him to sense her abilities.

Why would Sheev let a dangerous force witch hang around the upper ranks of the Empire, after just murdering most of them? When Sheev decided to eradicate a threat, he didn’t normally change his mind. The Sith had plenty of people capable of doing it. Darth Vader, Inquisitors. He’s killed people with less reason.

Other Force Users

The Nightsisters had their fair share of battles with the Jedi, including Ezra Bridger and Cal Kestis, so they are always suspicious of anyone with a lightsaber, dark or light. It’s highly unlikely that Morgan Elsbeth would work with Baylan Skoll or Shin Hati without planning their deaths. Ezra Bridger destroyed a key religious artifact/source of power on Dathomir in Star Wars: Rebels, and Morgan doesn’t appear bothered that he is around.

Morgan Elsbeth doesn’t match up with what we know of the Nightsisters from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but it’s likely we will see more of them. Hopefully, the story will twist and turn in such a way that the gaps will be filled. The last thing Star Wars needs is to create a Marvel, levels of canon situation.

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