Star Wars: Asajj Ventress’ Return Sets Up an Even Bigger Mystery

This Star Wars article contains spoilers.

The return of Asajj Ventress in Star Wars: The Bad Batch is an intriguing new mystery for fans, especially those who read of her death in the 2015 novel Dark Disciple by Christie Golden, which is set during the Clone Wars, right before the events of Revenge of the Sith. In that book, she sacrificed herself to save her lover, Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, from Count Dooku’s Force lightning, but just an in-universe year after her death, she’s somehow back and meeting up with Clone Force 99 on The Bad Batch.

So, what’s behind her resurrection? It’s a mystery with no answer from Star Wars. But plenty of theories…

How Is Asajj Ventress Back?

Unsurprisingly, the prevailing theory regarding her return from the grave goes back to a specific moment in Dark Disciple. In the book, she and Vos team up to try and kill Dooku. But first they train together on Dathomir, and Ventress essentially forces Vos to tame and kill an ancient creature known as The Sleeper to prove that he’s capable of tapping into the Dark Side without losing control. 

Flesh from The Sleeper was used by the Nightsisters for generations in order to create the Water of Life, which helped young sisters tap into their potential as well as heal injured Nightsisters, even bringing back the recently slain. Some fans speculate that when Vos killed The Sleeper, its essence likely fused with the waters of Dathomir – the same waters where Ventress was laid to rest in.

It makes sense that Ventress didn’t come back as a zombie, which is how resurrection via Nightsister magick usually works, not only because of her strong connection to the Force but because this version of the Water of Life may have been more potent. She has the faintest of scars on her face, indicating that her revival may have taken some time. Who knows how long she may have spent in those waters before coming back to life.

This potential connection to The Sleeper makes her appearance in The Bad Batch even more important to her entire arc, because we get to see her use the Force to tame a massive beast, as Vos did. Only this time, she’s tapping into the light rather than the dark side. That scene at the end of the episode “The Harbinger” shows just how much Ventress has grown since last we saw her. Where she would have previously chosen to slay the monster, this time she chooses to connect with it and handle the situation peacefully.

There are some fans who are upset that The Bad Batch didn’t immediately address how exactly Ventress came back to life after being laid to rest by Vos on Dathomir. However, leaving things unanswered beyond a vague and mysterious “I’ve got a few lives left” reply as she leaves the Bad Batch behind isn’t a bad thing.

The Bad Batch isn’t Ventress’ story. “Harbinger” is about Omega and the others learning why the Empire is after her and deciding what to do with that knowledge, not about why and how Ventress has somehow returned. Ventress’ story is obviously complimentary to Omega’s, as they’ve both had bad people seek them out for their potential, but that doesn’t mean that this episode owes us a force-fed explanation right off the bat.

Talking with StarWars.com, executive producer and head writer for The Bad Batch, Jennifer Corbett, explains, “How she survived will be revealed in future content, but for this story, we were thrilled to include her and explore her unique connection to, and compassion for, Omega.”

Corbett is explicitly saying that this is not the last time that we’ll see Ventress. Even if she doesn’t appear on The Bad Batch again this seems to only be the start of a new chapter for the reformed villain.

“I think we’re going to find out a lot of things about a lot of things,” Ventress voice actor Nika Futterman says. “And I think we’re going to have all kinds of fun adventures.”

When Will We See Asajj Ventress Again?

As for where Ventress could appear next, there are several options – all of which would make this Ventress fan very happy. The characters featured in season 2 of the animated anthology Tales of the Jedi, have yet to be announced, and given her connection to both of the characters featured last season – Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano – Ventress is a logical choice to follow given the gaps in her history.

Speaking of Ahsoka, we could also see Ventress in live-action for the first time in season 2 of Ahsoka. Given Ahsoka and Ventress’ past, the fact that they both have complicated relationships with the Force and the organizations that seek to control it, as well as the re-introduction of the Nightsisters and Dathomir, an appearance from Ventress isn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility. 

On The Bad Batch, it’s unclear where her loyalties lie, but Ventress has spent too much time forging her own path for her to automatically side with the Great Mothers just because they are her ancestors. Even though Ventress isn’t nearly as selfish as she once was, she still holds her loyalty to herself above all else (as she should).

Another possibility that Ventress absolutely deserves is getting her own animated series. There are many fans who have theorized that a series centered around her and Quinlan is a logical next step after The Bad Batch. A series like this could follow her and Vos tracking down Force-sensitive people, especially younglings, and helping them find refuge along the Hidden Path – an underground network dedicated to keeping Force-sensitive people safe and out of the clutches of the Empire. Thanks to Obi-Wan Kenobi, we already know Vos is a part of this network, so it would make a bit of sense that he’d Ventress to the cause at some point.

The Path is also an important part of the video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which also happens to feature one of the few surviving Nightsisters we know about from this time period – Merrin. With Ventress’ past, and her brief time as a bounty hunter, it makes sense that she would want to help keep kids like her from being exploited by the Empire and forced into the dark side. The M-count bounties introduced in The Bad Batch are the perfect cover, especially for someone with her more checkered past, to find out information and help get people to safety.

Though her appearance in The Bad Batch offered mere crumbs of Ventress badassery, the prospect of seeing more of her soon is enough for now.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch is streaming now on Disney+.