7 Interesting Facts About Asajj Ventress
Slave, Sith, Nightsister, Bounty Hunter. The life of Asajj Ventress - a recurring antagonist in The Clone Wars series - has been a long and varied one, but never dull. In this article, we’ll take a look at the life of the deadly lady of the Sith, and maybe shed some light on just who this mysterious assassin was.
1. The Slave
Asajj Ventress was originally born on Dathomir into the Nightsisters, a group of force-sensitive witches, under Mother Talzin, who used the magicks of Dathomir to manipulate the living force. To protect the clan from criminal and bounty hunter Hal’Sted, Ventress’ mother was forced to give up her daughter to Hal’Sted at a young age, who took her with him to the planet Rattatak where Ventress became his slave.
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Hal’Sted planned to raise Ventress, grooming her to be a living weapon that he could use in his nefarious activities. Despite this, the criminal treated Ventress more like a daughter, caring for, and protecting her from the Weequay raiders that blighted Rattatak. Hal’Sted was killed however then those same Weequay raiders instigated an uprising on Rattatak.
2. A Second Chance
After Hal’Sted’s death, she was found by Jedi Master Ky Narec who was marooned on Rattatak. He took the child and raised her, training her in the ways of the force - a move that the Jedi council disapproved of. The Master and Padawan remained on Rattatak for the next twenty-one years, battling the Weequay raiders and becoming heroes to the populace. Local Vollick warlord Osika Kirske wished to have Narec’s Padawan become a gladiator in the arena he oversaw, however, and commanded the raiders to have Narec killed. During the struggle Narec was shot in the back by the raiders, which caused Ventress to pick up Narec’s lightsaber and in a fit of anger, strike down those responsible for her Master’s death, starting her down the path to the Dark Side of the Force.
3. An Unwitting Pawn
After deposing the local warlords, Ventress was captured and forced to fight in Kirske’s arena, where she was discovered by Darth Tryanus: Count Dooku, who took Ventress with him as his acolyte and trained her in the ways of the Sith. To Ventress, Dooku was the master she had been looking for since Narec’s death and would try to be the best student she could for her new teacher. Despite the use of Force lightning, Dooku would inflict on her to punish her when she failed him, Ventress remained faithful, using her talent for the force and skill with a lightsaber as an assassin for her master
On his part, however, Dooku was manipulating Ventress for his own end. Under the Sith rule of two, there could only be one Master and one apprentice. Dooku was apprenticed to Darth Sidious - Chancellor Sheev Palpatine - and could not take an apprentice himself. Dooku played Ventress, allowing her to believe she was his student, planting the seeds in Ventress’ mind that it was the Jedi Order who marooned Ky Narec and herself on Rattatak. It was during this time that Ventress discovered it was Narec himself that had killed her master Hal’Sted on Rattatak, and not Weequay raiders as she had originally believed. This caused Ventress to refuse to listen to the voice of her deceased mentor Narec, and succumb to the Dark Sire, believing the Jedi to be her enemy.
She did not realise that Dooku himself was manipulating her until Dooku was commanded by Palpatine, wary of Ventress’ growing power, to eliminate her before she became a problem. Dooku did as he asked and betrayed her - ordering his forces to execute her during the Battle of Sullust.
4. The Jango Connection
Though it has not been revealed how Ventress received her lightsabers in current continuity, a previous tale - now considered Legends continuity - tells the story of how a lone bounty hunter, caught up in galaxy-spanning events, would lead to Ventress’ gaining her distinctive weaponry. The video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter details the life of Jango Fett leading up to his appearance in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. During the events of the video game, Jango has to track down the leader of the crime organisation Bando Gora, who is revealed to be Komari Vosa, an old apprentice of Count Dooku. Jango defeats Vosa at the end of the game, with Dooku taking Vosa’s lightsabers - modeled after his own. Several years later, in the events of the now de-canonised Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated mini-series, Dooku encounters Rattataki native Ventress, beating her in combat, and destroying her lightsabers. Dooku then takes Ventress on as an apprentice, presenting her with Vosa’s old weapons. Ironically enough, Ventress would then go on to slaughter thousands of Jango’s clones during the events of the Clone Wars.
5. Nightsisters
After Dooku’s final betrayal left her for dead, Ventress made her way back to Dathomir and to her old clan of Nightsisters to heal and seek refuge. She vowed revenge on Dooku for his attempt to have her assassinated and, together with her newfound coven, Ventress conspired to have Dooku killed. After an initial failed attempt the Nightsisters attempted to place an agent in Dooku’s court that would accomplish the deed. To this end, the coven took a Zabrak Nightbrother and enhanced his abilities. This Nightbrother: Savage Opress was gifted to Dooku as a replacement for Ventress, to kill the Sith lord. However, Opress betrayed Ventress as well as Dooku, and eventually rejoined his brother Darth Maul in an attempt to gain power.
6. Ventress: Bounty Hunter
Insulted at Ventress’ attempts on his life, Dooku dispatched General Grievous and his army to Dathomir, wiping out the Nightsisters in an attempted genocide, and causing Ventress to flee the planet.
After escaping with her life, Ventress searched the galaxy for purpose. Alone and with enemies on both sides of the Clone Wars, she turned to bounty hunting. In a twist of fate, this new career path led her into an alliance with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi against the Sith Lord Darth Maul, and his new apprentice, Savage Opress - the very creature she had helped inflict on the galaxy, as well as coming to the aid of Ahsoka Tano when the Jedi Padawan was wrongly accused of treason to the Jedi Order.
7. The End?
The 2015 novel Dark Disciple ends Ventress’ story with a tale originally intended for the seventh season of The Clone Wars animated show. In it, Ventress joins forces with Jedi Quinlan Vos to take down Count Dooku once and for all. Though Vos’ Master Tholme was previously killed in battle with Ventress, Vos falls in love with the ex-Sith apprentice - succumbing to the Dark Side - and they vow to kill Dooku.
Adopting a yellow lightsaber, rather than the red dual sabers she held previously, Ventress and Vos attempt to remove Dooku, only for the plan to go awry, with Dooku attacking Vos with force lightning. To save his life, Ventress sacrifices herself, dying in the arms of Vos, who - because of her sacrifice - returns to the light side of the force.
Although apparently dead, Ventress was initially supposed to have survived in a plan that would see her return in the animated show Star Wars: Resistance, though with the cancellation of that show, her resurrection was postponed, perhaps indefinitely.
Is Ventress still out there when the First Order rises to power? As of yet, we don’t know. All we do know is that the life of Asajj Ventress helped shape the galaxy in ways she couldn’t have imagined as a child back on Rattatak, and if anyone deserves a transition from animation to live-action, Asajj Ventress is at the top of that list.
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Source(s): StarWars.com, Screenrant.com