Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episode 9, "The Harbinger"
Summary
- Asajj Ventress returns in The Bad Batch with a new yellow-bladed lightsaber, solving a four-year lightsaber mystery.
- The new lightsaber hilt design for Ventress in The Bad Batch seemingly retcons the unexplained and shared design with Maul in Clone Wars season 7.
- Ventress' curved hilt makes sense given her past, finally providing more unique hilts for both Ventress and Maul.
The Bad Batch season 3 during the Dark Times. Furthermore, her new lightsaber features a key change that's much bigger than it may seem on the surface.
In The Bad Batch season 3, episode 9, Clone Force 99 comes face to face with Asajj Ventress who reveals key insights into M-counts and why the Empire is targeting Omega. No longer the Sith assassin she once was during the Clone Wars, Ventress wields a new yellow-bladed lightsaber she had by the Clone Wars' end, as seen in the canonical novel Dark Disciple by Christie Golden. However, Ventress' specific lightsaber design resulted in some confusion following Darth Maul's appearance in 2020's The Clone Wars season 7, one the Bad Batch season 3 has finally smoothed over.
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Disney Created A Bizzare Lightsaber Mystery Involving Ventress And Maul
They Had The Same Lightsaber Hilt For Four Years
Before the return of The Clone Wars with its seventh season, the scripts for unreleased episodes starring Ventress and her romance with Jedi Master Quinlan Vos were turned into the novel Dark Disciple. In it, it was revealed that Ventreess gained a new yellow-bladed lightsaber on the black market, featuring a unique perforated section of the hilt near the emitter. Originally designed by concept artist Wil Nicholds to be shown in the animated series itself, the Ventress lightsaber design was reused for Maul's return in Clone Wars season 7 during the Siege of Mandalore, making up a new half of Maul's double-bladed lightsaber.
However, Lucasfilm bizarrely committed to the original Ventress design with Disneyland's Legacy Lightsaber replicas at Galaxy's Edge, even though it was only ever referenced in the Dark Disciple novel and hadn't been seen in a visual medium. This meant that Ventress and Maul had the same lightsaber hilt, the only difference being the blade color. As such, it's not hard to guess why this led to questions about whether there was some unrevealed connection, such as Maul potentially claiming Ventress' lightsaber following her supposed death at the end of Dark Disciple. It certainly would have worked based on the Star Wars timeline.
Asajj Ventress
Hailing from the Nightsisters of Dathomir, Asajj Ventress became Count Dooku's apprentice during the Clone Wars. Betrayed by her master, she sought revenge - even forming a surprising alliance with Jedi Master Quinlan Vos at one point. Asajj has reinvented herself as a bounty hunter, and survived into the Dark Times of the Empire's reign.
- Created By
- George Lucas, Genndy Tartakovsky
- Cast
- Nika Futterman, Grey DeLisle
- First Appearance
- Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003)
- Alias
- The Bald Banshee
- Alliance
- Sith, Bounty Hunters
- Race
- Dathomiri
- Franchise
- Star Wars
The Bad Batch's Yellow Lightsaber Retcon Is So Simple
It Makes Perfect Sense For Ventress
Now, Ventress wields a yellow-bladed lightsaber in her exciting Bad Batch season 3 return, albeit with a brand-new curved hilt rather than the perforated one that has since been co-opted by Maul. As such, this is very likely a very minor retcon, allowing Ventress and Maul to finally have their own unique hilts rather than inexplicably having the exact same lightsaber design as it has been since 2020. Likewise, Asajj Ventress having a curved hilt makes all kinds of sense considering her past serving Count Dooku and the twin curved sabers she originally wielded as an agent of the Sith.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 episodes are available now on Disney+. Future episodes release Wednesdays at 12:00 a.m. PT, 3:00 a.m. ET, and 8:00 a.m. GMT.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch is an action-adventure animated series set after the events of The Clone Wars, following Clone Force 99 (a.k.a. the Bad Batch.) Finding themselves immune to the brainwashing effects of Order 66, the Bad Batch become mercenaries for hire while outrunning the empire, now seeing them as fugitives of the law.
- Cast
- Dee Bradley Baker, Michelle Ang, Noshir Dalal, Liam O'Brien, Rhea Perlman, Sam Riegel, Bob Bergen, Gwendoline Yeo
- Showrunner
- Dave Filoni
- Directors
- Brad Rau, Steward Lee, Nathaniel Villanueva, Saul Ruiz
- Writers
- Jennifer Corbett, Dave Filoni, Matt Michnovetz, Tamara Becher, Amanda Rose Munoz, Gursimran Sandhu, Christian Taylor, Damani Johnson
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
- Seasons
- 3
- Creator(s)
- Dave Filoni, Jennifer Corbett
- Where To Watch
- Disney+
