When Asajj Ventress somehow returned in The Bad Batch, her story glossed over exactly what that somehow was, after Asajj had perished during the novel Dark Disciple. Now, as she prepares to co-lead the latest Star Wars anthology series Tales From the Underworld, we’re ready to get right into it.
Shown to fans at Star Wars Celebration Japan as part of a panel celebrating 20 years of Lucasfilm Animation, the first episode of Underworld, “A Way Forward,” is cut into two distinct acts. The first is set immediately after the climax of the ending of Dark Disciple, as Quinlan Vos and Obi-Wan Kenobi prepare to lay Ventress’ body to rest in the Nightsister pools on Dathomir. After a tearful farewell, Vos places Asajj’s veiled body into the waters… only for her to immediately come back to life, at least from our perspective.
Able to see Vos and Kenobi as they prepare to leave above her, Ventress goes to reach out of the water and to Quinlan, only to find that she is enshrouded in spectral smoke and flames—she can see them, but they can’t see her, as she is no longer of the physical world. She’s told this by the familiar voice of Mother Talzin, the Nightsister leader, who offers Ventress a choice: stay with the spirits of Talzin and her deceased sisters, or return to the mortal world. The cost? Her heart’s desire.
The choice is seemingly easy for Ventress. She steps forward, stumbling back into the land of the living, which is now itself emptied and decayed, with neither Quinlan or Obi-Wan in sight.
The episode then cuts in time and location to a busy port city on an unknown world—but we know it’s during the rise of the Empire, as the busy market streets are littered with patrolling Stormtroopers. We find Ventress (now sporting her hair from Bad Batch) running security for a small transit station, scanning passenger tickets and then getting decidedly more Ventress-y when passengers try to make it through without one. After a Rodian passenger tries to pull a blaster on Ventress’ boss, she violently beats him up, much to the owner’s concern.
A little later on, Ventress walks in on a young boy trying to secure passage on a shuttle. When he lacks the funds to pay, Ventress watches with concern and intrigue as he attempts to use a Jedi mind trick on Ventress’ boss… and it fails spectacularly. Just as Ventress is about to toss him out however, she spots an approaching Stormtrooper patrol, and decides to try and hide him instead.
Using a mind trick herself on the Stormtroopers, everything looks like it’s going well, only for her station boss to realize that there could be a reward on the boy’s head. Chaos ensues as both Ventress and the boy pull out their lightsabers, easily carving through the troopers.
As they try to escape through town, the boy explains that he’s searching for the Path, the hidden ex-Jedi network introduced in Obi-Wan Kenobi, mentioning Quinlan Vos’ connection by name, getting Ventress’ attention. Later on, as Ventress is ready to get the boy on a transport, they’re interrupted by the arrival of an Imperial Inquisitor, who goes to stop the boy only for Ventress to draw her lightsaber and duel him. The fight is short, but impressive, the Inquisitor noting that Ventress doesn’t fight “like a Jedi.”
However, it’s not enough. The Inquisitor bests Ventress, getting her lightsaber (and even the boy’s) away from her. As he prepares to strike the killing blow however… both lightsaber blades burst through his chest from behind, leaving his lifeless body to fall out of the way and reveal the young boy standing there, lightsabers now unignited.
Eager to have found a living Jedi, the young boy begins babbling, only for Ventress to snap back act him, introducing herself properly. She’s a former commander of the Separatist armies, as she tell the boy, the closest personal bodyguard of Count Dooku: Asajj Ventress!
It’s a promising start to what is set to be a promising branch of the Tales series. Audiences finally get to bridge the gap between the events of Dark Disciple and her appearance in The Bad Batch, while Lucasfilm Animation gets to keep fleshing out one of the Clone Wars‘ most mysterious, and often unexplored, characters.
We’ll find out more when Tales of the Underworld returns to Disney+ May 4.
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