The Importance of the Mortis Gods in Star Wars

Ever since Dave Filoni started working on Star Wars, these three have appeared time and again. They go by many names in both versions of Star Wars canon: the Mortis Gods; Celestials, Architects, and the Ones. Even after all these years, though, they largely remain an enigma. However, the ending to the first season of Ahsoka has made them more prominent than ever. Therefore, now seems an appropriate time to go over everything that we know about the trinity known as the Mortis Gods.

For those who don’t know, the Mortis Gods only appeared in person in a three-part arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It’s recommended that you go back and watch it on Disney+ before reading this. Otherwise, this will be a good recap. In addition, this will only be covering the Disney canon.

Summoned to Mortis

This whole story started in the middle of the Clone Wars. As the Republic and Separatists were slugging it out for control of the Galaxy, the Jedi received a mysterious transmission on the edge of known space. The issue was they were using a code the Jedi hadn’t used in two thousand years. The Council decided to send three Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, his Padawan Ahsoka Tano, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, to investigate. However, they couldn’t contact their forces when they arrived at the place the message came from. Things got even stranger when this giant monolith appeared out of nowhere and started pulling their ship inside. 

The next thing the trio knew, they were waking up in a place that defied all logic. A world that would blossom with light and life in the day only to become a land of death and destruction at night. This was Mortis, and it was a place unlike any in Star Wars history.

As Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan tried to get their bearings alone and together, they met with the planet’s sole inhabitants, the Ones. There was the Daughter, kind, selfless, and a bringer of life to Mortis during the day. There was the Son, selfish and steeped in the darkness that would destroy everything his sister created at night. Lastly, there was the Father, who maintained the balance between his children and kept them on Mortis, where they couldn’t threaten the universe. 

Having learned of Anakin’s existence and status as the Chosen One, the Father had arranged everything to bring him to Mortis. As he felt his life beginning to end, he thought that only the Chosen One would be powerful enough to watch over his children. Ultimately, Anakin did prove himself the Chosen One by subduing both the Son and the Daughter at once. However, he declined the Father’s offer. He had a war to fight in, a student to teach…and a secret wife he didn’t want to leave. The Jedi opted to leave Mortis behind.

The Son, though, wasn’t happy about this.

The Fall of the Mortis Gods

Having aligned with the Dark Side, and thus, his darker impulses, the Son longed to be free of Mortis and partake in the Galaxy at large. And since they had the only ship, he couldn’t let the Jedi leave. Capturing Ahsoka to use her as bait, the Son proceeded to forcibly corrupt the young Jedi with the Dark Side, turning her into his pawn. To counter this, the Daughter gave the Jedi her Father’s trump card, a dagger powerful enough to control them. The Force wielders clashed at the Son’s tower with Ashoka as his dark power. However, the duel ended not only with the Son taking the dagger but killing Ahsoka when she served no further use. As the Son attempted to strike down his Father, the Daughter stepped in, taking the blow herself.

The Daughter was now dying, mortally wounded by the dagger’s power. However, as her last act, she transferred her life force to Ahsoka, returning her from the dead. It was little comfort, though; with the Daughter dead, the Force was unbalanced on Mortis, and it would only worsen.

Now convinced that the Son couldn’t be allowed to escape to the Galaxy at large, Anakin sought to confront the Dark Side entity. Instead of fighting the Chosen One, though, the Son took a more insidious approach. Using his powers, he gave Anakin visions of his future and what he would become. And Anakin was horrified at the broken man that he would become. Desperate to stop the nightmare from coming, Anakin fell easy prey to the Son’s manipulations and agreed to help him leave Mortis.

Realizing how disastrous this would be, the Father had to wipe Anakin’s memories to break the Dark Side’s hold on him. After that, everyone confronted the Son at the Father’s Monastery one last time. In the skirmish that followed, the Father killed himself with the dagger to strip the Son of his immortality, allowing Anakin the chance to kill him for good. Having brought balance back to Mortis, the Father proclaimed to be the Chosen One truly but warned him of his inner darkness lest he bring doom to the Galaxy. With that, the Mortis Gods died, and when the Jedi awoke, they were back on their ship in space. 

Also, no time had passed since their adventure had begun; the whole place had run on Narnia time. 

The Role of the Mortis Gods in the Future

So, even though the Ones had seemingly died during the events on Mortis, their impact continued to be felt throughout the Star Wars universe. The Jedi Temple on Lothal that held the portal to the World Between Worlds? The portal could only be accessed by an image of the Mortis Gods. More recently, though, the finale to Ahsoka saw Baylan Skoll standing atop a massive statue of the Father, flanked by one of the Son and the Daughter. 

It’s been twelve years since their introduction, yet there are still so few fans that know about the Ones. What is their true purpose? Where did they come from? Are they truly dead? We still don’t know yet, but it looks like Dave Filoni has long-term plans regarding them. 

There is one theory about the Mortis Gods, though, that might explain where Filoni’s going with this. It involves an ancient evil from the old EU, and if it’s true, then the Empire, First Order, and even Darth Sidious himself will be the least of the Galaxy’s concerns. But that’s a story for another post.

If you want to see the full story of the Mortis Gods, then watch season three of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Disney+.