Meet the Mortis Gods Before Ahsoka Season 2 Puts Them in Live Action

Three Beings Who Embody the Force

The Mortis gods are a family of three: the Father, the Daughter and the Son. Fans also call them the Ones. The Daughter is the light side of the Force, the Son is the dark side, and the Father exists to keep his two children in check. They live on Mortis, a realm outside normal space where day and night and the seasons change in minutes and the Force is stronger than anywhere else in the galaxy.

George Lucas created them for The Clone Wars, and Filoni told Empire the idea surprised him when Lucas first brought it in.

A tall, otherworldly figure with a crown gestures with a pointed finger toward a younger man in a dimly lit setting, surrounded by stars.

What Happened in The Clone Wars

The gods appear in a three-episode arc in season 3: “Overlords,” “Altar of Mortis” and “Ghosts of Mortis.” Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano follow an ancient Jedi distress signal and end up stranded on Mortis.

The Father is dying and wants Anakin, the Chosen One, to take his place and hold his children in balance. Anakin passes the Father’s test by subduing both the Son and the Daughter at once, then refuses the job.

The Son spends the rest of the arc trying to escape Mortis. He corrupts Ahsoka, turns her against Anakin and then kills her. He tries to stab the Father with the Dagger of Mortis, the one weapon that can kill the Ones, and the Daughter takes the blow instead. With her last strength she lets Anakin channel her life into Ahsoka, which brings Ahsoka back.

The Son then shows Anakin his future as Darth Vader and nearly recruits him. The Father erases that memory, and finally stabs himself with the dagger so the Son loses his power. Anakin kills the Son. All three gods are dead by the end of the arc, and Mortis vanishes.

A character with unique facial markings and a large headdress, wearing a dark cloak and looking upwards, set against a futuristic background.

Why Ahsoka Is Tied to Them

Ahsoka has carried a piece of the Daughter since that revival. Star Wars Rebels kept the thread going with Morai, an owl-like convor linked to the Daughter that watches over Ahsoka. Rebels also put a mural of the three gods in the Jedi Temple on Lothal, where it served as the doorway to the World Between Worlds. Ahsoka visited that place again in season 1 of her own show.

Where Season 1 Left Things

Season 1 ended with Ahsoka and Sabine Wren stranded on Peridea, a planet in another galaxy with giant statues of the Mortis gods carved into its cliffs. Baylan Skoll, the former Jedi who spent the season chasing a power he could feel calling him, was last seen standing on the outstretched hand of the Father’s statue, which points toward a light in the distance. Morai showed up on Peridea in the same episode.

A giant stone statue of a figure with a crown, extending an arm forward, surrounded by misty mountains and rocky terrain.

The season 2 trailer picks that up. Anakin’s Force ghost, played again by Hayden Christensen, tells Ahsoka that the power Baylan is after could “end all wars.” Rory McCann takes over the role of Baylan following Ray Stevenson’s death in 2023.

What Filoni Is Saying About Season 2

Filoni described the Mortis story to Empire as a question of belief. The characters have to decide whether the gods are real, and face what it would mean if they are. Empire calls it a test of Ahsoka’s own beliefs. He also said that translating Mortis and the World Between Worlds from animation into live action has been a challenge.

How the gods appear is still unknown. Lucasfilm has not said whether the Father, the Son or the Daughter show up as characters, and no casting for them has been announced. A popular fan theory holds that Anakin, Ahsoka and Baylan are being set up to fill the three empty roles. Filoni has not confirmed that.