Dathomir

"Warrior-like men, witches—this place is all kinds of fun."

―Anakin Skywalker^[15]

Dathomir, nicknamed the "rancor planet," was a remote, neutral, and obscure planet in the Dathomir system of the Quelii sector in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. The dark side of the Force had an immensely strong presence on Dathomir, which allowed for the nurturing of many malevolent Force wielders native to the planet. Several witch clans were prominent on the planet and practiced the Force-based abilities of magick. These clans included the Nightsister, Blue Coral Diver, Singing Mountain, and Howling Crag clans. Under the rule of the Nightsisters were the Nightbrothers, a group of male Dathomirian warriors who were kept as breeding partners. The planet, bathed in blood-red light by its sun Domir, had numerous continents that were overrun with vegetation, forests, and swamplands. It was also the homeworld of the semi-sentient rancor species.

During the Clone Wars, Dathomir would come under attack multiple times due to the machinations of Mother Talzin and her rival Darth Sidious, leading to the destruction of most of the Nightsisters and settlements on the planet by the Confederacy of Independent Systems after conquering it. Asajj Ventress, a Nightsister trained by Count Dooku, returned to Mother Talzin after her master betrayed her. This drew Dooku's attention to Dathomir, resulting in the slaughter of the Nightsisters. This left Talzin, Ventress, Merrin, Shelish, Jerserra, Morgan Elsbeth, Yenna, and the three Great Mothers as the only known survivors.

In 2 BBY, Maul returned to Dathomir with the Jedi rebel Ezra Bridger to conduct a ritual that involved summoning the spirits of fallen Nightsisters in order to reveal fragments of a holocron vision. As a result, Maul and Ezra learned that the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi held the key to destroying the Sith and that he resided on a planet with twin suns.

Description

"Dathomir is a dangerous world inhabited by a number of deadly creatures, such as the chirodactyl, an apex predator."

―Darth Sidious^[26]

Nightfall-DC — Being home to several predators, such as the rancor and the chirodactyl, Dathomir was an extremely dangerous place.

Dathomir was a remote and uninviting world,^[28] although it was temperate and verdant, with a comfortable atmosphere despite its challenging ecosystem and dangerous predators. The Dathomirian subspecies of Zabrak was native to the planet.^[9] Perpetually bathed in a red mist, its terrain was one of contrasts, ranging from the murky swamps the Nightsisters lived in, to the harsh, barren rocks where the Nightbrothers found residence.^[18] Not many of Dathomir's residents left the planet, and those elsewhere in the galaxy rarely visited it.^[29]

Besides the rancor, other native creatures included bane back spiders, large and aggressive arachnids that spat corrosive acid, and nydaks, bipedal predators with powerful arms that allowed them to easily traverse the landscape. Among the most distinctive creatures native to Dathomir, however, was the chirodactyl, a species of gigantic bat that used its massive wings to fly to high heights and swoop down on unwary prey. One example of this species, Gorgara, was known by the native Nightbrothers as "the winged daemon of the canyon" and was particularly feared by them.^[11] Dathomir also had aquatic life, such as the Burra fish.^[21] Fishing families on the planet Batuu cooked and cultivated the foreign Burra fish for consumption.^[30] Another aquatic creature, the Sleeper, was an ancient mollusk with two large lavender eyes, a carapace-covered body, antennae, and four appendages, and lived deep in the murky blue water within the Nightsister lair. The Sleeper was very important in Nightsister tradition as it had an ingredient vital in the Water of Life.^[21]

History

Offworlder arrivals

"My friend, I have never been one to shy away from the pursuit of knowledge, but the shadow of the dark side lies heavy in this tomb. I've uncovered Kujet's legacy: a ruthless leader who destroyed the Astriums and lives of any who opposed the sage's rule. These Zeffo were once Kujet's enemies, brave rebels who stood against tyranny. F-forgive me. I've spent too many rotations on this planet. My mind is beginning to slip. I can go no further. I must return to Zeffo."

―Eno Cordova^[11]

RiftValleyDathomir-WotF — The Rift Valley, site of a battle that took place on Dathomir.

Hundreds of years before the Clone Wars,^[31] the six-armed Fromprath species lived on^[23] the planet that one day would be named Dathomir,^[31] where they exploited the natural resources of the planet.^[32] However, the Nightsisters^[31]—an ancient order of witches from Peridea that had learnt extragalactic travel from their galaxy to the galaxy^[33]—came to arrive on the planet, dubbing it "Dathomir" in honor of their Dathomiri origins and forcing out the Fromprath to claim the planet for themselves.^[31] In order to drive out their rivals, the Nightsisters formed a symbiotic alliance with rancors.^[32] Fromprath were successfully exiled from the planet^[23] by the Nightsisters.^[32]

Centuries before the fall of the Galactic Republic, the Zeffonians, an ancient technologically advanced species native to the planet Zeffo, were interested in the planet that one day would be named Dathomir. The Zeffo Sage Kujet built a large, imposing palace on the planet which acted as his secluded seat of power. While in power, Kujet was known as a ruthless and merciless ruler. He promised his followers power over the Life Wind, what the Zeffonians called The Force, and in a bid to gain power over the Zeffonians, Kujet ordered the destruction of all astriums apart from one astrium that only he would possess. He also staged a massacre of his enemies at his palace where he casted his enemies into pits below his throne room to ensure that no one could challenge him. When Kujet died, he was placed in a sarcophagus in his palace with one of the very few remaining astriums. At some point, the palace and the planet was abandoned by the Zeffonians leaving behind a shadow of the dark side.^[11]

Caldoth-Nightsister conflict

According to legend, there was a Sith named Darth Caldoth who stole a Nightsister burial pod on the planet to learn the secrets of the Nightsister reanimation process. Because of this, the Nightsisters patiently waited and plotted till Caldoth was defeated at a Jedi Temple on Bathoris. After Caldoth's defeat by Jedi Master Bran Ath'Morath, the Nightsisters called for a gathering on the planet at night time. During the gathering, six Nightsisters were chosen and bound to pillars while they were attacked by the spirits of dead Nightsisters. One Nightsister called Zeldin successfully managed to survive through the night. Then the very next night, the Nightsister coven gathered and added their voices to support Zeldin as she enacted a ritual to persuade and influence Caldoth into doing the Nightsisters bidding.^[34]

The ritual worked and Zeldin, while in a deep trance, slowly and carefully influenced Caldoth. The Nightsisters later enacted a ritual of prognostication for a glimpse into the future. Learning that Caldoth would take a male Twi'lek named Ry Nymbis as his apprentice, Zeldin infiltrated Caldoth's mind in the hopes that Nymbis would betray and kill Caldoth. This failed however leading to the Nightsisters performing another ritual of prognostication on Dathomir. Because of this, the Nightsisters were aware of an old totem guarded by the guardian spirit of one of the ancient monks of a temple on the Unknown Regions moon Obsidia. Knowing that the Guardian spirit could obliterate Caldoth, Zeldin carefully extended her influence in Caldoths mind and pointed him towards an ancient tablet containing the location of the old totem. However once again, Caldoth managed to escape his demise by using the Nightsisters binding ritual to trap the Guardian spirit.^[34]

Annoyed, the Nightsisters performed a final ritual and gained insight into the future of Caldoth where Caldoth was seemingly killed by his enemy, Morath. Armed with this knowledge, Zeldin once again steered Caldoth into seeking revenge on Morath for beating him on Bathoris. The plan failed however and Morath was instead beheaded by Caldoth in the city of Pundith on the world of Kizan. Frustrated, the Nightsisters attempted to perform a ritual to turn Caldoth into a prisoner of the Nightsisters. Instead Zeldin, while attempting to break the mental barriers of Caldoth's mind, became trapped in Caldoth's mind. From that day onwards, the Nightsisters did not come to Zeldin's aid and instead put Zeldin's body in a Nightsister burial pod. It was later hung in the exact same spot as the previous burial pod taken by Caldoth. After the incident, Caldoth visited Zeldin time to time to hear her screams.^[34]

Early Republic Era

The Galactic Republic was known to have dropped off it prisoners and criminals on the planet.^[16] In 600 BBY,^[35] The Jedi Allya was said have been exiled to the planet Dathomir where, she taught the women there the ways of the Force.^[16]

Late Republic Era

"Long ago, Sidious came to me on Dathomir. We exchanged secret wisdom—mingled dark side abilities with Nightsister Magicks. He promised to make me his right hand, but instead he stole what was most dear to me…my own flesh and blood. My son!"

―Mother Talzin^[36]

YoungDarthMaulSidious — Talzin's son Maul, abducted by the Sith.

Prior to the Battle of Naboo, Sith Lord Darth Sidious went to Dathomir where he traded secrets of the dark side of the Force with the Nightsisters' leader, Mother Talzin. He took Talzin's oldest son, the Nightbrother Maul as his apprentice.^[36] One of Talzin's fellow Nightsisters also had a child, Asajj Ventress, and was forced by Talzin to give her up to the criminal Hal'Sted in order to protect their coven.^[8]

Prior to the Clone Wars, OteroaCorp created their twentieth settlement on Dathomir. Oteroa Zero-Twenty was located in a jungle near the Nardithi Cluster. An OteroaCorp ship called the The Oteroan Sky crashed after it was sabotaged by the Nardithi Nightsisters and it crashed into the city, destroying it.^[13]

Sometime prior to 14 BBY,^[37] Jedi Master Eno Cordova explored the planet for relics of the Zeffo civilization and discovered the Tomb of Kujet. Supposedly overcoming a trial of some description, Cordova made it inside the Tomb.^[11]

OpressWarriorTest-Monster — Savage Opress in the Selection

Darth Maul's R3-series astromech droid R3-B0017, was programmed to scavenge the planet.^[38] During the Clone Wars, Ventress returned to Dathomir and her coven's village following Count Dooku's assassination attempt at the Battle of Sullust at the order of Darth Sidious as proof of his loyalty since her growing power caused a great Disturbance in the Force that threatened his life. Ventress was then healed and accepted the Nightsisters' help in assassinating Dooku for revenge. Despite Ventress' failure, Talzin was able to reach out to Dooku and offer him a new assassin to replace Ventress as a Plan B to start her plan for revenge on Sidious by helping the former Separatist get vengeance on the Count of Serenno.^[8]

Dooku traveled to Dathomir to the Nightsisters' village where he proposed an alliance between his Confederacy of Independent Systems and Talzin's coven. Talzin refused his offer but agreed to supply him with a Nightbrother similar to Maul. Dooku accepted her offer and departed. Ventress traveled to the Nightbrother village, where she chose several to participate in tests in their arena. After killing and wounding several of the chosen Nightbrothers, Ventress chose Talzin’s younger son and Maul’s brother Savage Opress to be her replacement. Ventress then took Opress to the Nightsisters' village, where they used their magick to increase his strength and power. After Opress demonstrated his loyalty by killing his brother, he was given to Dooku.^[18]

Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker went to Dathomir to speak with the Nightbrothers about Opress' whereabouts. Brother Viscus told them one of Talzin's Nightsisters took Opress as a mate to their village. Kenobi and Skywalker went to the Nightsisters, where Talzin told them that Opress was on Toydaria. After Opress' role was discovered, he returned to Dathomir. There, Talzin told him that his last surviving brother, Maul, was in exile somewhere in the Outer Rim. Opress left to find him, promising to return.^[15]

BattleOfDathomir-Massacre — The Nightsisters summon their Army of the Dead to defend against the Separatists.

Ventress returned to Dathomir, where she was fully accepted into the Nightsisters. However, Darth Sidious and Dooku decided to send General Grievous and his Droid Army to Dathomir to wipe the Nightsisters out for their attempts on Dooku's life and because they were a threat to Sidious’ new evil Empire. At first, the Nightsister and their Army of the Dead were able to hold out against Grievous' forces. However, Dooku was able to subdue the Nightsisters when Grievous killed Old Daka. All the Nightsisters, except Ventress, Talzin,^[17] Merrin,^[11] Shelish,^[39] and Yenna were eradicated.^[10] While Ventress became a bounty hunter,^[40] Talzin continued to guide Opress to his brother from the village.^[25] Opress later returned to Dathomir with Maul. At the village, Talzin was able to restore Maul's sanity and gave him a new pair of cybernetic legs before she disappeared back to the spirit world.^[41] Ventress returned to Dathomir with undercover Jedi Master Quinlan Vos to teach him to use his emotions to strengthen his bond with the dark side.^[21]

Maul returned to Dathomir with Dooku to the Nightbrothers' village. There, Talzin attempted to use Dooku in a ritual that would restore her physical form. However, Grievous, Sidious and their forces then arrived to Dathomir and proceeded to decimate the Shadow Collective, with a newly restored Talzin perishing at Grievous' hands in the process of saving her son. Maul and what remained of his forces fled,^[27] and Dathomir was left to the conquerors.^[28] After Ventress^[21] appeared^[42] to be killed, Vos and Kenobi returned her body to Dathomir for a funeral, where her body was claimed by the waters of Dathomir to rest with her fallen sisters.^[21]

Imperial Era

TaronMalicos-SWGoH — Due to Dathomir's dark influence, Jedi Master Taron Malicos gave in to the dark side and became the leader of the Nightbrothers.

Prior to the end of the Clone Wars, an elite Separatist unit shot down Jedi General Weren Dal over Dathomir.^[43] Fel Trech crash landed on the planet, becoming mentally ill with survivor's guilt. He lived in a cave located in a mountain range and had a distress beacon that generated a detectable signal.^[13] During the Great Jedi Purge, the Jedi Master Taron Malicos crash landed on the desolate planet. Though he survived the crash, the strong presence of the dark side of the Force drove him insane and he eventually usurped control of the surviving Nightbrothers by killing Brother Viscus.^[11]

At some point, a female Inquisitor came to Dathomir, where she discovered Jerserra, a survivor of the Battle of Dathomir, and trained her secretly to use as a weapon against the other Inquisitors. Before leaving, Jerserra took a shard of the Nardithi Cluster. Jerserra eventually killed her master and became a mercenary.^[13]

At some point before 3 ABY,^[44] Doctor Chelli Aphra and Just Lucky traveled to the planet. Lucky was left behind on Dathomir by Aphra during the visit.^[45]

Around 0 ABY,^[46] Lieutenant Thom Hudd took Dathomiri spider-silk, which were used as shrouds, from a burial site on Dathomir, not knowing it was cursed.^[47]

In 14 BBY,^[37] instructed by a hologram left by Cordova through his droid BD-1, Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis arrived on Dathomir with his companions, former Knight Cere Junda, Cordova's former Padawan, and Captain Greez Dritus, their pilot. Kestis was confronted by Nightsister Merrin, one of the last of her kind. Merrin blamed the Jedi for the massacre that decimated her people, and did everything in her power to impede Kestis. On his way to the tomb, Kestis encountered a mysterious wanderer who warned him about the dangers the tomb posed. Ignoring him, Kestis proceeded onward, and after being forced to fight the undead Nightsisters brought back to life by Merrin, he eventually made it into the tomb. Within, he experienced a flashback where he remembered his Master Jaro Tapal sacrificing himself to protect him from the clone troopers during the Purge, Kestis was attacked by a manifestation of Jaro's spirit, resulting in his lightsaber being destroyed. Kestis soon learned that the mysterious wanderer he had encountered earlier was former Jedi Taron Malicos, who sought to learn the power of the Nightsisters and manipulated them against the Jedi. Malicos offered to teach Kestis how to handle the dark power of Dathomir against Merrin's wishes. Kestis refused and fled Dathomir when Merrin attacked.^[11]

Cal shows Merrin the Astrium — In 14 BBY, Merrin, a Nightsister who survived Grievous' attack, left Dathomir along with Jedi survivor Cal Kestis and his ship's crew to explore the galaxy.

After constructing a new lightsaber, Kestis returned to Dathomir to complete his trials. He faced Tapal's spirit again, defeating him by overcoming his feelings of guilt over his death. Malicos again attempted to sway Kestis to the dark side, and he attacked when he refused him. Merrin helped Kestis defeat Malicos by using her magick to bury him alive, and afterward she decided to join the Stinger Mantis crew.^[11]

Maul led the criminal syndicate Crimson Dawn^[48] from his room in the Nightsister fortress on Dathomir.^[49] In 10 BBY, after the death of his minion Dryden Vos, Maul summoned Qi'ra, another of his underlings, to his homeworld, warning her they would be working more closely.^[48] When Qi'ra arrived on Dathomir, Maul brought her to the fortress, explaining to her everything about the Sith and he planned to destroy them for revenge since took everything from him by killing his mother and his brother.^[49]

SabineKananPossessed-VisionsandVoices — In search of flesh and blood to rebuild their clan, ghosts of the Nightsisters possessed Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus and Mandalorian Sabine Wren.

Sometime later in 2 BBY,^[50] Maul would again return to Dathomir, this time accompanied by Padawan Ezra Bridger. There, Maul showed Bridger the remnants of his homeworld and finally, brought the young Jedi to the Nightsister village to partake in a ritual that would give each other the knowledge they sought from holocrons. However, when Bridger's companions Knight Kanan Jarrus and Sabine Wren were possessed, Bridger left Maul to help them, causing Maul to leave Dathomir and dismiss his attempt to take Bridger as his apprentice as a failure.^[12]

By that time, Dathomir was a dead planet in terms of civilization: no sentient beings called the world home, due to many survivors living elsewhere. However, the Empire had apparently established a presence on Dathomir in the form of a garrison. Light cruisers and exploratory craft were known to have made secret visits and the Empire had taken a quiet interest in Dathomir, despite a lack of information on Imperial records. Despite the rumors of the Empire maintaining a garrison on Dathomir, there were no known logistics or personnel records to support the rumors.^[6]

During the Battle of Yavin, the force ghost of Kenobi stated to Anakin’s son Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker that Dathomir, as well as many other planets, would be freed from the Empire's grip.^[51]

New Republic Era

"Greetings from Dathomir, home of the rancor. Speaking of which, our friend over there could use a good old teeth-cleaning, wouldn't you say."

―Aree^[52]

Eye-of-Sion-Dathomir — Bringing Thrawn and the Great Mothers, as well as the Star Destroyer Chimaera, the Eye of Sion went to Dathomir after returning from another galaxy.

In 9 ABY^[53], the Eye of Sion and the ISD Chimaera under Grand Admiral Thrawn traveled to Dathomir from the Nightsisters’ ancient homeworld Peridea. There, they delivered coffins to surface for the Great Mothers.^[54]

Between 34 ABY and 35 ABY,^[55] the adventurous chef Strono "Cookie" Tuggs traveled to Dathomir during a culinary tour of the galaxy that he took and unearthed the ingredients necessary to cook Dathomirian Noodles. Tuggs would later include the recipe for the Noodles, as well as a retelling of his journey to Dathomir, in his cookbook, The Ultimate Cookbook,^[56] published in 35 ABY.^[55]

During or after that year,^[57] the safari droid SF-R3 and his companion cam droid CAM were sent by Galactic Society of Creature Enthusiasts on a mission to Dathomir in order to research how to clean a rancor's teeth. However, Aree was eaten by the rancor. Waking up in the mouth of the rancor, Aree tickled part of the mouth, causing the rancor to spit out Aree. He used a bone to tickle the nose of the rancor, causing it to open it's mouth. Aree stuck the bone in the rancor's mouth, however, it was quickly snapped in half by the rancor. Aree detached his arm and stuck it in it's mouth, this time in success, and began to work on cleaning the teeth. The process was tedious, and by the end Aree had only cleaned one tooth. Disturbed by bird, Aree shooed it away, causing the rancor to sneeze the safari droid back again. The birds then rushed to clean the rancor's teeth naturally in a quick and easy process. Aree came to the conclusion that the best way to clean the rancor's teeth is to let nature take its course.^[52]

Locations

Nightsister lair

Main article: Nightsister lair

NightsisterFortress-Nightsisters — Talzin's Nightsister village

The Nightsister lair was the stone fortress of the Nightsisters. Built into the side of a mountain, the Nightsisters lived in the many stone structures inside. The opaque pools in the lair contain water vital to the Nightsisters magicks, as well as many life-forms: from tiny single-celled organisms to moderately sized fish and crustaceans, and creature known as The Sleeper.^[21] The Hidden Cave inside the structure was the home of Daka.^[16]^[17]^[21]

Nightbrother villages

Main articles: Nightbrother village and Unidentified Nightbrother village

Unidentified Nightbrother village from JFO — The Nightbrothers second village

The Nightbrother village was the home of the Nightbrothers until its destruction in 19 BBY^[58] during the Second Battle of Dathomir.^[27] The village was out in the open in a natural defensive position on top of a mountain.^[16]^[15] After the destruction of their first village, the Nightbrothers built another village, where they were reigned over by the fallen Jedi Taron Malicos.^[11]

Kujet's Tomb

Main article: Tomb of Kujet

DathomirRuins — The Tomb of Kujet, a Zeffo Sage.

The tomb of the Force-sensitive Zeffo Sage Kujet, the palace was located at the mouth of the Treacherous Approach. Designed for sacrifice and death, Kujet would cast his enemies into the pits below his Throne Room.^[11]