15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Mother Talzin & The Nightsisters Of Dathomir

The Nightsisters didn't fare well as a result of the Clone Wars and the Imperial rise to power. This was primarily due to the fact that Mother Talzin involved herself and her clan in Darth Sidious's affairs, which led to the Nightsisters' downfall. For the most part, every member of the group was killed, with few surviving into the Age of the Empire. One who did survive, Merrin, managed to make a mark on galactic history.

In the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Merrin is revealed to be one of the last surviving Nightsisters. Initially, she embraced the dark side of the Force, though this was due to the intervention of Jedi Master Taron Malicos, who fell to the dark side following the execution of Order 66. When she met Cal Kestis, she realized Malicos's trickery and embraced the light side of the Force to aid the young man. Eventually, she allied with the young Jedi, joining his crew aboard the Stinger Mantis.

Darth Sidious was easily the most powerful Force user in the Star Wars galaxy, as he wasn't afraid of embracing the dangers of the dark side of the Force. This made him an exceptionally powerful being, but he wasn't the only person with that level of power. By the time Mother Talzin and Darth Sidious's working relationship ended via betrayal, both parties were relatively equal in strength.

This was something each of them knew, and as a result, Darth Sidious feared the danger Talzin represented. When they finally did come to blows, it was only through the intervention of Darth Tyranus that Mother Talzin failed to destroy her foe. Ultimately, while putting up a defensive wall of power against Sidious and Tyrannus, General Grievous managed to walk straight through and impale Mother Talzin with two lightsabers.

While Talzin did perish in the exchange, there's little doubt she would have defeated her enemy had things gone a little differently. Given a chance to go up against one another one-on-one, it's entirely possible Sidious would have died. This is especially true given the power Talzin had on her home planet of Dathomir.

The Nightsisters practiced a number of traditions regarding their dead. They would mummify their fallen before placing them inside pods made of animal skin. They would then be hung from elaborate structures made from branches, animal skins, bones, and shells. They would remain there, rotting, for as long as they remained undisturbed. This type of graveyard effectively mimicked the way Dathomirian plant life appeared, so the graveyards had a way of blending in with the background.

Death, for a Nightsister, isn't as permanent as it is for others in the Star Wars universe. They don't return as Force spirits or anything like that, but they can be raised from the grave. During the Clone Wars, an attack on Dathomir pushed Mother Talzin to weave a complicated spell. She raised the deceased Nightsisters hanging about the planet's surface via Dathomir's magical ichor. When they came back to life, they were little more than angry zombies, crazed and intent on destroying whichever invaders disturbed their slumber.

Long ago in the Nightsisters' history, the clan came together via the Book of Law as they learned to use the magical ichor of the planet to become adept dark side users of the Force. Eventually, the planet was attacked by the Fromprath, a snakelike alien species that exploited Dathomir's natural resources. This pushed the Nightsisters into an unusual alliance, which they formed with the planet's rancors.

The Dathomiri rancors were more intelligent and stronger than their counterparts spread across the galaxy. Their intelligence was key to the Nightsisters' ability to tame them, though it was less of a taming and more of an alliance of mutual benefit for both species. The Nightsisters mounted their Dathomiri rancors and drove the Fromprath from the planet. Interestingly, the Dathomiri rancors are matriarchial, just like the Nightsisters, and the largest female guides the pack as its herd mother.

Years after Darth Sidious took Maul from Mother Talzin; an event pushed the leader of the Nightsisters to reunite her stolen son with his brother. This came when Asajj Ventress returned to the planet following the betrayal of Count Dooku. Seeking her clan's help in getting revenge, Mother Talzin went to the Nightbrothers and found her son Savage Opress, already a great warrior, and enlisted his aid. 

She used her magick to alter his form, enlarging him physically while also increasing his rage. Savage Opress became a dominant dark side user, and after some time, he managed to find his long-lost brother. The two eventually reunited, but in the end, Opress wasn't able to destroy Count Dooku. This failure brought about the destruction of the Nightsisters, as Dooku sent General Grievous to the planet, where he destroyed their fortress and slaughtered most of the clan.

Unlike most Force users, the Nightsisters have access to a unique form of power called the magical ichor. This extraordinary power is also known as the Waters of Life and exists as a bright green mist that comes from the very depths of the planet Dathomir itself. The Nightsisters learned how to call and manipulate the magical ichor to their needs, and it proved incredibly powerful and versatile.

Using their magick, the Nightsisters could summon the magical ichor from the planet's depths and use it to create physical objects. It could be used to create just about anything, including a liquid called blackroot. This could be used to pervert a kyber crystal's connection to the Force, making it into a Tainted Nightsister Crystal. Using these crystals in their weapons enabled the Nightsisters to create weapons comparable to a Jedi or Sith lightsaber.