Altar of Mortis (episode)

"He who surrenders hope, surrenders life."

- Moral

"Altar of Mortis" is the sixteenth episode of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series' third season. It aired on February 4, 2011.

Official description
"Before the Jedi can leave Mortis, the Son takes Ahsoka captive in an attempt to entice Anakin into joining him to use their combined strength to overpower his Father and Sister. To this end, the Son casts Ahsoka under the spell of the dark side.

''Meanwhile, the Father attempts to stave off a disastrous showdown between his children and maintain the Force's increasingly precarious balance on the planet. Fearing that the Son may be unstoppable, the Daughter does the forbidden by taking Obi-Wan Kenobi to the Altar of Mortis, wherein is kept the Dagger of Mortis, a weapon capable of killing a Force-wielder. The Son steals the weapon, and attempts to use it against his Father to steal his power and end his rule, but the Daughter sacrifices herself, placing herself in front of the blade. ''"

Plot
As Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are about to leave Mortis' world, Anakin, while resting from this morning's ordeal, has a disturbing dream in which he finds himself back in the planet. What appears to be a mirror image of himself approaches him, only to reveal itself as Son, who asks Anakin to join him on the Dark Side of the Force and restore peace and balance in the galaxy. When Anakin refuses and turns away, Son turns into a monster and attacks him, jerking him awake. But just as Anakin prepares to join Obi-Wan at the controls, Son suddenly appears behind them, kidnaps Ahsoka and jumps out of the shuttle.

Taking over, Anakin chases after him into a canyon of mist-shrouded rock spires, but loses Son's trail and instead comes upon a strange tower supporting a huge glowing sphere. Just narrowly avoiding a collision with the structure, Anakin is unable to control the shuttle, and it crash-lands back on the planet, in an area dominated by darkness. With no other clue to Son and Ahsoka's whereabouts, Anakin prepares to go for the tower, but Obi-Wan holds him back, desperately cautioning him not to let himself get lured into an obvious trap lest it would yield catastrophic consequences. He suggest consulting Father about how to proceed, but Anakin nevertheless leaves for the tower. While Obi-Wan ponders how to reach the Father in the first place, he suddenly finds himself very close to the monastery.

Inside her prison cell within the tower, Ahsoka finds herself in the company of a creature which addresses her innermost doubts and fears. It releases her from her chains, but bites her in the arm right afterward. As Ahsoka collapses on the floor, the creature reveals itself to be Son; his bite has infected Ahsoka with the Dark Side, and she undergoes a horrifying change.

Son thereafter joins his father and sister; Mortis expresses worry about his son's descend into the Dark Side and implores him to let go of it, whereupon Son lets loose with his anger and blasts Father with Force Lightning just as Obi-Wan arrives. Upon Mortis' sickbed, Obi-Wan implores Daughter to assist him in stopping Son before he escapes the planet, but Daughter, her being defined by the Light Side of the Force, refuses to raise her hand against her brother. Upon his suggestion that she and Anakin should combine their powers to stop him, Daughter instead leads him to a cavern which contains an altar holding a blade formed by pure Force, which Obi-Wan is meant to wield against her brother.

In the meantime, Anakin manages to scale Son's tower and find Ahsoka, only to discover her corrupted by the Dark Side Son infused her with, and her own insecurities and resentments. While she viciously attacks him, Obi-Wan and Daughter confront Son in his inner sanctum, but he manages to separate them by directing Obi-Wan into assisting Anakin. Son and Daughter begin to fight each other, only to be interrupted by the recovered Mortis, who hurls them among the Jedi. Son turns his anger against his father, who is unable to prevail against him in his still-weakened state. Obi-Wan throws the dagger to Anakin, but it is snatched by Ahsoka and given to Son. Son kills Ahsoka by snuffing out her life force and prepares to plunge the dagger into his father, but Daughter leaps between them, taking the blade instead. Screaming with sudden anguish, Son flees the scene.

With Daughter dying, the balance of the Force is upset, and the planet begins to descend into darkness. Anakin refuses to leave his Padawan behind, however, and Daughter uses Anakin as a conduit to channel the last of her life force into Ahsoka, bringing her back to life leaving her with no memory of what had happened. Mortis implores the Jedi to leave before Son can take their ship to escape the planet, and warns them that with the balance disrupted, the Dark Side and the Sith will gain the upper hand in the galaxy. Unable to do anything else, the three Jedi leave the mournful Father by the side of his daughter.

Cast

 * Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker
 * James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Sam Witwer as the Son
 * Adrienne Wilkinson as the Daughter
 * Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano
 * Lloyd Sherr as the Father
 * Tom Kane as the narrator