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Continuity & Analysis

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Nightsisters (2011) [S3E12]
The swiftest path to destruction is through vengeance.
"Galactic showdown! In a fierce battle for survival, the Republic and Separatist armies
have clashed in the distant Sullust system. Count Dooku's most cunning assassin,
Asajj Ventress, leads the vicious attack..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Monster (2011) [S3E13]
Evil is not born, it is taught.
"A bid for revenge! Betrayed and left for dead by Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress has begun
a deadly game with her former Master, launching a secret assassination attempt against him
with the help of her kin, the mysterious Nightsisters. Deceived into thinking the Jedi were
behind the recent attack, Dooku has traveled across the galaxy to enlist the Nightsisters
in his quest for vengeance..."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Witches of the Mist (2011) [S3E14]
The path to evil may bring great power, but not loyalty.
"Mysterious deaths! Unknown to the Jedi, a new threat has unleashed on the galaxy:
Savage Opress, a pawn in the dangerous game between Count Dooku and his former assassin,
Ventress. The victims of his brutal massacre on the planet of Devaron are being returned to the Jedi
Temple for evaluation. It's up to the Jedi Council to find this mysterious killer, and eradicate him..."




CONTINUITY
These three episodes form a single storyline about Ventress, Savage, and the Sith. The chronological order of episodes is as given
by Lucasfilm, and follows their release order. The planets Dathomir and Serenno are seen for the first time, as is Sullust, but only
from space. Rattatak is also seen, but only in a flashback vision. These episodes take place on five worlds:


- Sullust is a planet in the Sullust Sector, within the Brema Sector, in the Western Reaches of the Outer Rim, along the important Rimma Trade Route.
While its surface is not seen, it is known to be inhabited and to be host to a native ecosystem, as it is the homeworld of the Sullustans,
who are members of the interstellar community. In legends, it is a well-developed planet with extensive high-tech industry.


- The planet Serenno is located in the D'Astan Sector, in the New Territories region of the Outer Rim, near the Hydian Way, a major galactic hyperspace
lane. It is ruled over by the Count of the Serenno family, who at this time is Count Dooku, who resides at the palatial Castle Serenno. It is a lush and
pleasant world, featuring mountains, hills, and plains, rainforests, rivers, seas, and oceans. It is orbited by a pair of moons.


- Sidious' growing dislike of Ventress' increasing power, and the bond between Dooku and Ventress, finally leads to Sidious ordering her termination.
He rightly expects that Dooku is secretly training his own Sith apprentice to destroy him, and fully understands as that is a natural and correct
motive for a Sith to have. Sidious wants to eliminate a potential future threat, and make clear to Dooku that he is still the greater Sith, as Dooku
would not dare stand against him without a powerful ally. Dooku has no choice but to obey his master.

- Ventress' final confrontation with the Jedi as a Separatist and a Sith is an inverse of her first meeting. In both instances, she went up against a force
led by Obi-Wan and Anakin, flying her Ginivex-class fighter against her Jedi opponents flying Aethersprites. Again she goes after one Jedi leading
to a confrontation with lightsabers, but this time she singles out Obi-Wan, and this time Anakin and Obi-Wan are working together, leading to
her defeat. Her dire situation allows Dooku to present his betrayal of her as punishment for this and past failures.

- The planet Dathomir is a mysterious world orbiting a red star in the Quelii Sector, in the New Territories region of the Outer Rim. It is a moist planet,
featuring thick vegetation, swamps, forests, as well as drier rocky regions. Dathomir is renowned for its thick fog, red sky, and its strong connection
to the dark side of the Force. It has long been colonized by Zabraks, who have developed a unique and specific culture on the planet. According
to supplementary material, the unique appearance of Zabrak females from Dathomir is the result of breeding with Humans.


- Dathomir's strong connection to the dark side of the Force is utilized by the Witches of Dathomir, including the powerful Nightsisters clan.
In this era they are led by Mother Talzin, a powerful Force-wielder who uses Magick, also known as Force sorcery, to use the dark side for
a wide variety of applications. This is made possible by the Waters of Life, or spirit ichor, which appears as a glowing green mist. This makes
their abilities and powers intrinsically linked to the planet, although through the Force some aspect of that power can be wielded elsewhere.

- Some highlights of Ventress' backstory are shown through the visions given by the waters of life. We see Jedi Knight Ky Narec on Rattatak,
fighting pirates, when he encounters Ventress and discovers her Force abilities. Ventress apparently spent many years as Narec's student,
becoming old enough to be his Padawan learner, and had developed the most basic skills of the Jedi arts. It is unclear if Narec was on
Rattatak this whole time on assignment, or if the two spent time elsewhere. Since the Jedi do not recognize her name, it is possible that
he was on a longer assignment, and never officially registered her with the Order, although she does age at least a few years during their
time together. One way or another, the two are on Rattatak fighting Weequay pirates again, when Narec is killed, and Ventress lashes
out in anger with both her saber and her master's, taking revenge on those who killed her master and father figure. She earns a place
as Dooku's apprentice when he comes to Rattatak to search for a new assassin in Clone Wars 'Chapter 6', and is seen to be armed with
two Jedi lightsabers. These are likely meant to be the same sabers, although in the first series she has one green and one blue, and in
this vision both sabers are green, one of the first instances of the creators of this series not strictly observing continuity with that series.


- Dooku's incredible power is shown by Ventress' first assassination attempt against him. He is able to effectively combat and defeat Ventress
and two nightsisters after being awoken from sleep by a drugged dart that blurred his vision. His training as a Jedi in lightsaber and Force
combat, as well as his Sith abilities, make him a match for three skilled warriors even after being significantly disadvantaged.

- Mother Talzin and Dooku are revealed to have had a prior association many years prior, during which Dooku chose to help Talzin. Based on her
referring to it as "long ago", it is possible Dooku was still a Jedi when this occurred. The Sith of old also had extensive dealings with Witches
of Dathomir, who are natural allies as fellow practitioners of the dark side. Dooku refers to it as "the Old Alliance".

- Male Zabraks live apart from the women on Dathomir, in locations that supplementary material describes as on the other side of the planet.
The men are subordinate to the women on this planet, and it seems that specific groups of men have symbiotic relationships with specific
clans of women. The Nightbrother's village is assumed to be inhabited by those men subordinate to the Nightsisters, and the leader of
the village certainly seems to automatically accept Ventress' authority without questioning which clan she is from.


- Those who wield the dark side use family and friends against the honorable, as a means to gain their fealty, then tests the power of their
loyalty by turning it against their family or friends. Love and compassion limit one's ability to realize power through the dark side, as
Ventress teaches Savage, "Learn to draw your strength from your emotions. Hate will feed you. Never sympathize with the enemy,
not even for a moment." Ironically, the good deep down in Ventress has probably limited her advancement as a Sith.

- Dooku tests Savage with trial by combat, the only true Sith version of the Jedi trials. The Sith believe in the survival of the fittest, the rule of
the strong, the irrelevance of the unworthy, and the power of the will of the Force. One who cannot win is therefore of no value.


Obi-Wan was under the impression Darth Maul's homeworld was Iridonia, which is the homeworld of the Zabrak.
Maul is from Dathomir, a world long settled by Zabraks, as Mace indicates before going on to say that Iridonia is where
"the rest of the males dwell". The male-female division is on Dathomir, where the males dwell on the other side of
the planet. Iridonia is where much of the rest of the Zabrak species dwell, of either sex. This is shown when Ventress
takes a landspeeder to reach the male village, and doesn't leave the planet. Mace's statement is therefore inaccurate.
Perhaps he misspoke, otherwise this is a continuity error because it isn't accurate, and doesn't make sense.


- Sith training also involves focusing to lift heavy objects, however Sith priorities are emphasized. Learning to slowly increase one's power through
patience and practice is a waste of time to the Sith, who use the Force to do things the easy way, and gain great power quickly. The Sith instead
focus entirely on their negative emotions, as Dooku tells Savage to "connect with your hatred", and "your anger is your strength." Savage is
able to lift many large stones soon after his lesson begins by becoming as angry and hate-filled as possible, teaching him the most fundamental
cornerstone of Sith abilities. Mastery of the dark side requires discipline just as the light side does, only a diametrically opposed approach to
generating power. The Sith generate theirs through passion, while the Jedi generate theirs through calm and subtle understanding of the Force.


- Jedi are clearly aware of Mother Talzin, the Nightsisters, and the Witches of Dathomir. They aren't exactly friends, but they do seem to have
a cordial relationship and a mutual respect. Talzin tries to remain on relatively good terms with the Jedi, as there is no point in being antagonistic.
The Jedi are a powerful organization that could defeat her if they chose, but they are neither aggressive nor intolerant. The existence of an order
of dark side practitioners which doesn't usually pose a galactic menace, on a planet strongly connected to the dark side, is not a Jedi concern.

- Dooku plans to take revenge on King Katuunko of Toydaria for joining the Republic instead of the Separatists in 'Ambush' (S1E1). Dooku wishes to
take him alive as part of a scheme, likely aimed at Separatist control of Toydaria. It is a priority as an independently minded planet as well as
homeworld of the Toydarian people. There is likely also an element of petty revenge at play, as Dooku doesn't like to lose without taking revenge
on those who defeated him. Katuunko is unlikely to have negotiated under threat, so would probably have been killed by Dooku eventually.

- Savage's reckless and unpredictable techniques make him initially more of a threat to the Jedi than his power with the Force would have otherwise.
His lack of training and combat methods are made up for by his raw emotion, as well as his unnatural strength and abilities.

- Ventress springs her trap to eliminate Dooku, as Mother Talzin knows that Savage will not remain under the influence of their Magick forever.
Dooku takes advantage of Savage's lack of knowledge of the Force, targeting him in the battle, allowing Dooku to focus on fighting Ventress.
Savage breaks Ventress' hold over him, likely through some combination of his own will and repeated electrical shocks, and is now at odds
with both Dooku and Ventress. Ventress isn't powerful enough to defeat Dooku alone, but she is powerful enough to escape him.


- Mother Talzin reveals that Savage's brother Maul is still alive, living in exile in the Outer Rim. She has seen through the Force that Savage has
a destiny which is intimately connected to his brother's, and does everything she can to encourage him to seek that destiny. Everyone in
this storyline who mentions Maul is convinced of his death during events seen in Episode I, so Talzin is likely the only one who knew.

ANALYSIS
The Battle of Sullust began as a significant naval battle in the Western Reaches, threatening both the homeworld of the Sullustans and
the entire Rimma Trade Route. The assault was an attempt to seize space and air dominance over a significant Republic world, as
part of Grievous' expanded campaigns in the southern and southeastern regions of the Rim. After orders from Sidious to Dooku,
orders are given to abandon the mission priorities in favor of destroying the Separatist's own command ship, in an effort to eliminate
Ventress and the two Jedi who were pursing her. The result is a Republic victory following the Separatist withdrawal with the aim of
preserving the bulk of their forces. While expendable to take out Jedi or important Republic assets, battle droids and large warships
are ultimately an expensive and finite resource, and thus are only sacrificed for strategic gains, however obscure they may be.

Jedi attacks against Dooku are increasing, as war has become somewhat more orderly and predictable. This gives the Jedi the opportunity to
more carefully evaluate their approach, and take the initiative against targets that could result in shortening the war, the most significant of
which are Dooku and Grievous. Dooku has also been deceived by Ventress and Mother Talzin into believing the Jedi are getting closer to
him than they actually are. As a result Dooku is in need of a new personal assassin, and having lost Ventress and all the progress he had
made in training her, is hoping to find someone worthy of becoming his new apprentice. Having tested an untrained Savage against Jedi,
and seeing his potential power, plans to train him until they are powerful enough to defeat Sidious.

The Temple of Eadit on Devaron is an important Jedi installation in the Core, and a high value target for Dooku and Sidious. Dooku tells
Savage that it "serves only as a front for the military operations of the Republic", which is an exaggeration but an accurate assessment of
the value of Jedi outposts to the Republic's strategic security. This is the second Separatist invasion of Devaron, although once again
the Separatists goals seem limited to a strategic objective rather than a full-scale occupation of this heavily populated world. In their
prior assault, Cad Bane was tasked with capturing Master Ropal and the kyber memory crystal. In this assault, the Separatists are
attempting to seize the Temple of Eadit. Master Halsey and his Padawan Knox are killed by Savage, and he declares the temple to
be taken, although he does not enter it. It is unclear if the Separatists forces enter the facility to access its computers or not,
of it they destroy the temple. The Republic is shown to have been able to return to the site a short time later to recover the bodies
and access a recording, so it seems likely the installation was intact, even if its systems were accessed.

The intrigue amongst the Sith is a normal by-product of being an order of self-serving dark side practitioners, and is the very reason the Sith
adopted the 'Rule of Two'. Ancient Sith Lords were many in number, and commanded forces of Force wielding Acolytes. As a result there
was fierce competition for dominance, and in nearly every era the Sith posed a greater threat to each other than their enemies. The plan
to destroy the Republic from within first begun by Darth Bane necessitated the Rule of Two, as the Sith needed to remain hidden, but
the primary reason there can only be two Sith is to prevent them from self-destructing. These events are a perfect example of the unstable
balance which the Sith maintain, as at this point there are only two Sith Lords and one Sith Acolyte, then a second Acolyte when Savage
begins his training, and yet they are already greater threats to each other than the Jedi Order and the Republic. At the same time,
the Sith do need Force wielding operatives to provide a counterbalance to the numbers and abilities of the Jedi.


FURTHER ANALYSIS
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