Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld finally explains how Ventress survived her death in Dark Disciple

Asajj Ventress returned in The Bad Batch after her canon death in the Dark Disciple novel, but now with Tales of the Underworld here, we finally know how she survived her encounter with Count Dooku.

They say no one ever stays dead in superhero comics, and the same goes for Star Wars. “Somehow, Palpatine returned,” Darth Maul survived getting chopped in half and falling hundreds of feet, Boba Fett crawled out of the Sarlacc pit, Chewbacca wasn’t in the ship… (basically, I’d be here all day trying to list them all).

But the resurrected character we’re here to talk about today is Asajj Ventress, the Clone Wars-era assassin-turned-bounty hunter. Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld arrived on May 4, and the first three episodes caught up with her, giving a brief flashback to how she survived her death in Dark Disciple.

How did Ventress die in Dark Disciple?

Ventress died after being electrocuted by Count Dooku’s Force Lightning in the Dark Disciple novel.

Star Wars

In the book, the Jedi Council sends the Jedi Quinlan Vos to assassinate Count Dooku, and he’s joined by Ventress. The two fall in love along the way, but Vos is captured by Dooku and tortured, eventually falling to the dark side.

She manages to bring Vos back to the light side, then Dooku tries to kill him with Force Lightning. Ventress pushes him out of the way and is killed by Dooku instead.

At the end of the story, Quinlan and Obi-Wan travel to Dathomir to bury Ventress and place her body in a pool of water. It turns green, and the dead Nightsisters welcome Ventress back.

Dark Disciple’s storyline was originally intended for the Clone Wars series, but after its cancellation (before Disney brought it back), it was turned into a canon novel published in 2015.

When did Ventress die?

Ventress died in 19 BBY, towards the end of the Clone Wars.

According to the official Star Wars Timelines book, Dark Disciple starts in 20 BBY. However, since she has lost her red lightsabers by the time the novel starts, it has to be set after the 19 BBY-set Clone Wars episodes ‘To Catch a Jedi’ and ‘The Wrong Jedi’, where she loses them. It’s all quite confusing.

How did Ventress survive?

Asajj Ventress is resurrected by Darksister magic after her death at the hands of Count Dooku.

Disney+

Tales of the Underworld kicks off with Quinlan Vos and Obi-Wan returning her body to Dathomir and placing it in the pool. Before he puts her in, a single tear falls from his face into her hand (with a sound cue to say “this is important!“), and he says, “I will always love you.”

Once in the water, she wakes up, but the Jedi can’t see or hear her. Mother Talzin’s voice tells her, “You are dead, but this need not be so.”

“The Jedi’s words are a gift to you,” says the voice, and she’s given a choice: join the dead Nightsisters, or return to the land of the living. She can only return by giving up her heart’s desire (Vos), and she does.

So, Tales of the Underworld doesn’t retcon Dark Disciple, it just continues the story in the same way Boba Fett still fell into the Sarlacc pit and Maul was still bisected.

For more on Star Wars, you can check out Andor’s full release schedule, all the upcoming Star Wars projects, and the full timeline.