Tales Of The Underworld Reveals A Key Star Wars Book Scene We Never Thought We'd See

This article contains spoilers for "Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld."

"Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld" is the latest entry in an animated anthology series composed of mini-episodes that more deeply explore the backgrounds of some of our favorite "Star Wars" characters. Sometimes, it bridges gaps, while at other times, it reveals secrets. The first season, "Tales of the Jedi," provided us with more insight into Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton). The second season, "Tales of the Empire," similarly gave us a closer look at Barris Offee (Meredith Salenger) and Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto). 

In that same vein, "Tales of the Underworld" brings Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman) and Cad Bane (Burton) into focus. Asajj is a curious character at the moment, as she has had a very interesting gap in her history that hasn't exactly been explained until now. The canonical 2015 novel "Star Wars: Dark Disciple," written by Christie Golden and based on unused scripts from "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" due to the show's cancellation, concludes with Asajj's death near the end of that particular galactic conflict. Just last year, however, she showed up in "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" alive and well in the era of the Galactic Empire. How did she come back to life?

At the time, we weren't sure. Now, however, "Tales of the Underworld" has given us a clear answer — one that takes us back to the events of "Dark Disciple" in a surprising way.

"Dark Disciple" tells the story of Quinlan Vos, a Jedi who was already close to the edge between the dark and light side of the Force, and his assignment to assassinate Count Dooku. This, in turn, inspires him to seek out Asajj, Dooku's former assassin and apprentice, in the hopes that she will help him. Asajj was already seeking revenge against Dooku for betraying her and had taken up the mantle of a bounty hunter, so the idea of her teaming up with Quinlan makes sense enough to both of them.

Over the course of the novel (which had originally been intended to be two four-episode arcs of "The Clone Wars" and had even made it to the pre-visualization stage), Quinlan and Asajj fall in love. Unfortunately, Asajj ultimately chooses to sacrifice herself in order to save Quinlan's life and their mission to assassinate Dooku fails, with a heartbroken Quinlan returning to Coruscant with Asajj's body. He then vows to bring her back to her home on Dathomir and give her a proper funeral, teeing up the events in "Tales of the Underworld."

The final chapter of "Dark Disciple" shows Quinlan — accompanied by Obi-Wan Kenobi — traveling to Dathomir to return Asajj to the pool that had once renewed her life after her betrayal at Dooku's hands. In the book, Vos and Obi-Wan have a lengthy conversation prior to bringing Asajj into the surrounding cave, which is strong in the dark side. There are certainly differences in the interpretation of events, but they are undoubtedly the same moments. She's brought into the cave and Quinlan has this moment:

Vos gently stroked her cheek. "Rest, now, my love. I brought you to Dathomir. Your sisters don't have to wait any longer. You told me you were reborn, here, in this pool. I hope it's all right for me to return you to its waters."

At that point, Quinlan and Obi-Wan see the green mist swallow Asajj, knowing she's gone home.

There was never any expectation that we would see this scene animated, let alone that it would start off "Tales of the Underworld." Thankfully, the first episode of the season shows us what happens after Obi-Wan and Quinlan leave, with the voice of Mother Talzin (who was played by Barbara Goodson on "The Clone Wars") offering her a terrible choice: give up her love for Quinlan and return to the mortal realm, or keep it and stay in the netherworld forever.

This is, notably, an inverse of Luthien's choice in the tale of Beren and Luthien from J.R.R. Tolkien's work in "Lord of the Rings." Tolkien's work has, of course, long served as a source of inspiration for "Star Wars" chief creative officer and animation head honcho Dave Filoni, and Asajj's choice here is a fitting dark side sacrifice for a Witch of Dathomir.

"Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld" is now streaming in its entirety on Disney+