Ahsoka‘s fourth episode ended in the World Between Worlds, a place of great importance introduced on Star Wars Rebels. That strange dimension is also intimately tied to another surreal Star Wars realm. The World Between Worlds has deep ties with Mortis, a mystical place where powerful Force users known as the Mortis gods once called home. Who were the Mortis gods and why are they so important to Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and the Force itself? They might hold the key to understanding why Ahsoka is so important to the galaxy far, far away.
Where Is Mortis Located?
Mortis, spoken of only as legend for millennia, defies normal description. It’s technically located in uncharted space, but not really. Mortis is an ethereal, dream-like dimension unto itself that sits outside of normal space and time, just like the World Between Worlds.
Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano’s story on Mortis began when they answered an ancient Jedi distress signal in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. When they arrived at the call’s signal a nearby Republic ship couldn’t locate them on radar. A giant black and red monolith, resembling two pyramids stacked opposite each other, appeared. It pulled them into Mortis, which serves as a “conduit” of the entire Force. (Some believe the Force itself came from Mortis.) During the day the world appeared as a paradise. At night everything died as it transformed into a dark nightmare.
Mortis is ultimately better understood by who once ruled there.
Who Are Star Wars’ Mortis Gods from The Clone Wars?
Some call us Force-wielders
Known as “The Ones,” the Mortis gods were a family of three immensely powerful Force-wielders. The Clone Wars indicated they were at least 2,000 years old, but their real age was likely at least 25,000. Jedi images of them date that far back, to the Order’s founding.
Together the three Mortis gods represented the living embodiment of the Force.
Who Was Mortis’ The Father?
The wise, immensely powerful Father loved both of his children equally. His Daughter represented the light side of the Force, while his Son represented the dark side. The Father represented balance between both. His need to control his kids brought them all to Mortis. There he could keep their outsized power in check and protect the galaxy.
His children also gained their power and immortality through his own.
Who Was Mortis’ The Daughter?
The kindly Daughter could transform into a massive griffin. She did so when kidnapping Obi-Wan as part of her Father’s test of Anakin. (The Son kidnapped Ahsoka.)
The Daughter, a great Force-using warrior, tried to stop her equally powerful dark side-embracing sibling from killing their Father. She died when her brother accidentally stabbed her while attacking their dad.
Who Was Mortis’ The Son?
The Son, who could change into a giant flying gargoyle, had begun to embrace the dark side even more. That led him to try and escape Mortis and rule the galaxy. It also led him to trick others by disguising himself as their loved ones. The Son also possessed and then killed Ahsoka Tano as part of his efforts. (We’ll get to how she survived later.)
His attempt to kill his Father resulted in the Son accidentally killing his sister, whom he loved. Her death left him heartbroken.
The Son lost his power and then his life after the Father killed himself so he could stop his child from bringing darkness to the galaxy. As the Son screamed out in pain, Anakin stabbed him with a lightsaber, killing the last Mortis god.
The Mortis Gods Star Wars History on The Clone Wars and Rebels
The Mortis gods only appeared as living creatures during a three-episode arc on The Clone Wars. Yet that didn’t stop the from making their presence felt on Star Wars Rebels.
What Happened With the Mortis Gods on The Clone Wars?
The Father lured Anakin Skywalker to Mortis after hearing rumors Anakin was the Chosen One. Since he was dying, the Father needed someone to take his place and keep his children in check. Anakin passed the Father’s test and proved he could take up his mantle and keep the Force in balance. Anakin refused, setting the Mortis gods’ deaths in motion.
During the Mortis arc the Father made Anakin forget the vision the Son showed the Jedi. The Son had revealed the possible future where Anakin became Darth Vader, a path Anakin ultimately followed. But the three Jedi remembered everything else that happened to them on Mortis.
What Happened With the Mortis Gods on Star Wars Rebels?
Ezra Bridger traveled to the World Between Worlds via a portal created by a painting of the Mortis gods. The ancient mural at the Jedi Temple on Lothal, a planet with a strong connection to the Force, showed the three gods along with Loth-wolves. The painting began to light up and move when Ezra touched the Daughter’s open hand and connected with the Force. The painting’s Loth-wolves then began moving along the rock wall, eventually creating a magical doorway for Ezra—and Ezra alone—to travel through.
He wasn’t alone when he got there.
Ahsoka Tano’s Connection to Mortis and the World Between Worlds
The Daughter’s last act was to help save Ahsoka Tano’s life. After her brother’s fatal blow, the Father and Daughter let Anakin transfer the Daughter’s last remaining life force into the dead Ahsoka. It worked. Anakin resurrected his Padawan.
The metaphorical connections between Anakin (dark side) and Ahsoka (light side) and the Son and Daughter were obvious. They then became far more tangible on Star Wars Rebels.
How Does Morai Bind Ahsoka Tano and The Daughter From Mortis?
Ahsoka had a companion in Star Wars Rebels, the convor named Morai. The little green-feathered sidekick seemed to watch over the Jedi even before it became clear Morai was no normal animal.
Morai—whose name comes from the three Fates of Greek mythology—appeared in ancient images alongside the Daughter, including the painting on Lothal. She was either the Daughter’s servant or a manifestation of the Mortis god. Either way, Morai represents the light side of the Force.
She was also there when Ezra Bridger arrived in the World Between Worlds.
How the Mortis Gods Connect to the World Between Worlds and Ahsoka
Inside the World Between Worlds, Ezra found Morai atop a portal. That doorway then opened to show the moment years prior when Ezra wrongly believed Darth Vader had killed Ahsoka Tano. Viewers knew she’d survived, but not how. She lived because Ezra pulled Ahsoka into the World Between Worlds before Vader’s deadly blow.
When the two left the dimension—itself a conduit of the Force, like Mortis—Morai rejoined Ahsoka. The bird then immediately led Ahsoka back into the World Between Worlds. (The specifics of that journey, only shown via canonical Topps Trading Cards Dave Filoni designed, remains a mystery.)
Why did Morai join Ahsoka in the first place? Why did the bird then usher Ahsoka in and out of the World Between Worlds? Did Ahsoka take the Daughter’s place when Anakin transferred the Mortis god’s essence into his Padawan? Is that why Ahsoka didn’t die when she fell from that henge in Seatos? Is she a God of the Force? At least have god-like powers? An unbreakable connection with the World Between Worlds and the Force so strong it saved her?
And if we’re right and that’s not really Anakin she met in there, is it really the Son returned in disguise once more? The World Between Worlds has been called a conduit between the living and the dead. By using the timeless World Between Worlds and light side Ahsoka Tano, can he find his way back to the living?
Whatever answers Ahsoka gives us they’ll reveal even more about the intimate connections between Mortis, the Mortis gods, the World Between Worlds, and Ahsoka Tano, the Daughter the galaxy far, far away might need again.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
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