Star Wars‘ newest TV show, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, just brought one realm of the Force to the screen for the first time, 42 years after George Lucas introduced the idea. Tales of the Underworld is the newest addition to Star Wars movies and TV shows, although it generally follows the same structure that its other Tales of counterparts (Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi and Star Wars: Tales of the Empire) did, with a three-episode arc for two main characters. In this case, the stories center on Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane.
Ventress’ story begins in a particularly interesting way given her canon death in the book Star Wars: Dark Disciple, written by Christie Golden. Specifically, Jedi Quinlan Vos is shown bringing Ventress’ body to the Nightsister of Dathomir’s Water of Life, which has long been said to have the ability to bring one back from the dead. Now, Asajj Ventress’ resurrection has become living proof of that, but this scene in Tales of the Underworld also showed something that had never been seen on screen before in Star Wars: the Netherworld of the Force.
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Tales Of The Underworld Finally Shows The Netherworld Of The Force
This Was Set Up By George Lucas More Than 40 Years Ago
After Vos brings Ventress’ body to the Water of Life in Tales of the Underworld, the Water glows green, and then Ventress’ spirit emerges. It is at that point that Ventress learns she can either join her sisters in the afterlife, or she can give up her heart’s desire and become resurrected. In the end, Ventress chooses to give up her heart’s desire, which has its own interesting implications, but the language Mother Talzin, leader of the Nightsisters of Dathomir, uses at this point is particularly revealing.
As the leader of the Nightsisters (even after death), Mother Talzin is the one who must explain to Ventress what her options are. In so doing, Talzin tells Ventress, “You may join me and your sisters in this realm, or you may return to the land of the living.” This phrasing alone suggests that what we are seeing on the screen at that point is the Netherworld itself.
Talzin tells Ventress, “You may join me and your sisters in this realm, or you may return to the land of the living.”
What also sticks out about this scene is the fact that there is a clear point of connection between the Netherworld of the Force and the physical realm. After all, Ventress is able to see Quinlan Vos fully during this scene, so much so that she believes he will hear her when she calls out to him. Ultimately, he did not hear her, nor did he react, because he could not see or feel her, but it’s clear that Ventress is simultaneously in the Netherworld with Mother Talzin and also physically in the same area as Quinlan Vos.
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George Lucas Began Setting Up The Netherworld Of The Force 48 Years Ago
Return Of The Jedi Was Originally Going To Have A More Direct Connection To The Netherworld
Long before Tales of the Underworld, George Lucas had plans for the Netherworld of the Force going back to the original trilogy. In fact, Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays for Return of the Jedi explains the following:
“In the rough draft Luke is asleep and struggling with thoughts of Vader and the dark side. Yoda and Ben are also present in the dream, and Luke berates Ben for not telling him that Vader is his father. Yoda explains that he’ll soon be joining Ben in the Netherworld, and therefore he’ll become stronger and will be better able to help Luke. Vader’s voice reappears, and Luke awakens.“
This means that 42 years ago, George Lucas was already planning to incorporate the Netherworld on the Star Wars screen.
Surprisingly, though, that isn’t what ultimately happened. On the contrary, entire decades passed without the Netherworld of the Force ever being depicted on screen. However, that doesn’t mean this was the last time the Netherworld was mentioned; this realm was actually name-dropped in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, making it the perfect connection for Revenge of the Sith’s 20th anniversary.
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Although the Netherworld still wasn’t depicted on screen in Revenge of the Sith, it was mentioned. When Master Yoda was preparing Obi-Wan Kenobi to eventually be trained to become a Force Ghost by his former master, Qui-Gon Jinn, he said:
“An old friend has learned the path to immortality. One who has returned from the Netherworld of the Force.”
This again reinforces that spirits pass into the Netherworld after death, but interestingly presents the concept that those who become Force Ghosts can actually return from beyond the Netherworld. This is seemingly not all that different from Ventress’ exposure to the Netherworld, although she returned as a fully resurrected person, not a spirit or ghost of any kind, in Tales of the Underworld.
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Now, 20 years after this reference in Revenge of the Sith, we have finally seen the Netherworld on the Star Wars screen in Tales of the Underworld. Of course, this look into the realm was very limited, so hopefully, in time, more will be revealed about it. In the meantime, though, it is absolutely thrilling to know that George Lucas’ 42-year-old Force realm, the Netherworld of the Force, has finally been shown on screen in Star Wars, in Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld.
