A Hint in Star Wars: The Clone Wars Changes the Course of Sith History
A seemingly unimportant event in Star Wars: The Clone Wars has a hidden relationship to a Legends Sith Lord that could change the course of the Sith Order's history. In the third episode of Season 3, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano travel back in time more than 2,000 years to find Mortis, a planet that is pulsating with the Force, by following an old Jedi distress code. They come upon the Mortis gods there, which are entities that stand in for the Force itself.
The Mortis Gods' Mysteries
The age of the Jedi distress code is a significant feature that is sometimes disregarded in the ongoing discussion about the true nature of the Mortis gods. As suggested in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the Mortis gods had previously dealt with the Jedi. This raises important issues regarding the Jedi Order and the Force during that time, as it reveals the Mortis gods encountered the Jedi for the first time some two thousand years before the Skywalker Saga.
Darth Ruin and the History of the Sith
Although the Star Wars canon generally ignores the Jedi Order's 2,000-year history, delving into the Legends realm presents intriguing possibilities. A Jedi by the name of Phanius turned evil during this time and became Darth Ruin. He adopted a self-centered mindset, thinking that his will was more important than everything else. Though he was named as the Sith Order's creator in Terry Brooks' novelization of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Phanius was actually the Order's re-founder. Together with Darth Bane, the mastermind behind the Sith Rule of Two, he discovered Sith Holocrons and revived the Sith, making him a crucial character in Legends.
Are the Mortis Gods and Darth Ruin Related?
The circumstances of Darth Ruin's downfall are still mysterious. It is a startling coincidence, though, that the last time the Mortis gods—a representation of the never-ending conflict between the light and evil sides—interacted with the Jedi at the same moment Phanius revived the Sith. One of the Mortis gods, The Son, represents the dark side and actively works to disperse its power across the cosmos. Moreover, there are runes on Mortis written in the Sith language.
One could speculate that Phanius wanted to control Mortis's power because of his self-serving philosophy. It's possible that he became aware of the Sith and their dark side doctrines after discovering the Son. This presents the intriguing idea that the Sith's comeback may actually be the Son's doing, rather than Phanius'. This would drastically change the history of the Sith if it's true that the Son influenced everything the Sith did, including Palpatine's ascent to power. This is a rewrite of Sith History, subtle yet deep.
The Impact of the Mortis Gods: Going Beyond Darth Ruin
Current Star Wars narratives have emphasized the Mortis gods' link to the Sith, even though it is unclear if Darth Ruin exists in Canon. Dark Jedi Baylan Skoll asserts in Star Wars: Ahsoka that the conflict between light and dark originated on the extraterrestrial planet Peridea. The statues from the Ahsoka finale provide more evidence connecting Peridea and the Mortis gods.
The Sith language, popularly known as the "Old Tongue," has undergone a fundamental review as well. These runes are corrupting because they are filled with the dark side, according to Delilah S. Dawson's Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade. Ahsoka links these runes to a dark side, Peridean-based interstellar dominion that existed before even the Jedi.
The Mortis gods have a significant and unmistakable impact on the Star Wars galaxy, regardless of whether Darth Ruin is considered Canon or not. The Mortis gods continue to have a significant influence on the fate of the galaxy because of their ties to Peridea, the Sith, and the Sith language.
