Father (Mortis)/Legends

"It is only here that I can control them. A family in balance. The light and the dark. Day with night. Destruction, replaced by creation.''" "Then why reveal yourselves to us?" "There are some who would like to exploit our power. The Sith are but one. Too much light or dark would be the undoing of life as you understand it. When news reached me that the Chosen One had been found, I needed to see for myself." "The Chosen One is a myth." "''Is it? I should very much like to know. Why don't we find out together? Pass one test and I shall know the truth. Then you and your friends may leave."

- The Father and Anakin Skywalker

The Father was a being who was the head of a powerful family of Force wielders, known as The Ones. The Father maintained the balance between his Daughter and his Son who expressed affinity toward the light and dark sides of the Force, respectively, in order to keep the universe safe from unpredictable consequences. At some point, the Father was forced to withdraw from the temporal world with his children to a realm known as Mortis after his mortal wife, the Mother, became the infamous dark side user known as Abeloth. During the time of the Clone Wars, the Father received word that the Chosen One had been found, and decided to meet him in person. When the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano visited the planet Mortis, Skywalker encountered the Father on his monastery, and was tasked by him to pass one test, in order to find out whether he really was the Chosen One. After he successfully passed the test, the Father asked Anakin to take his place on Mortis to keep the balance of the Force, because he was dying.

However, his Son had his own plans, as he tried to turn the Chosen One to his side to unleash the dark side of the Force in the galaxy. As the Father tried to stop him, he was betrayed by his Son, who tried to kill him with the Dagger of Mortis, a weapon with enough power to kill a Force wielder, but was saved by his Daughter, who sacrificed herself in an act of selflessness. With the balance tipped toward the dark side, the Father warned the Jedi to leave the planet, before his Son could use their ship, but unknown to him, his child turned Skywalker to his side, after showing him a vision of his future self. Upon discovering this, the Father decided that if there was going to be balance, Anakin needed to forget what he saw, and then proceeded to take him back to his monastery, but once there, his Son arrived, and claimed that Mortis was not his destiny.

The Father tried to convince him to stay, but to no avail; the Jedi proceeded to restrain the Son, but they proved no match for him. The Father, seeing that the only way to stop his child was to commit suicide, impaled himself with the Dagger of Mortis, and as a result, his Son's powers weakened, and was then killed by the Chosen One. Dying, the Father was confident that Anakin would bring balance to the Force and warned him about his heart; after that, he died, vanishing from existence, sending the Jedi back to their world.

Biography
"My children and I can manipulate the Force like no other, therefore it was necessary to withdraw from the temporal world and live here as anchorites.''" "As a sanctuary?" "''And a prison. You cannot imagine what pain it is to have such love for your children and realize they could tear the very fabric of our universe"

- The Father and Anakin Skywalker



The beginning
The Father was the leader of the all-powerful God-like group known as The Ones, a family of Force wielders, more powerful in the Force than any known Sith or Jedi, capable of using the Force in ways no known mortals of the galaxy could, wielding enough power to tear the entire universe asunder. Originally a Celestial, the Father became a Force wielder, which is what his original species aspired to become. After that, the Father and his children emerged from a geyser on a jungle planet more than a million years prior to the Clone Wars. His Son and his Daughter expressed an affinity toward the dark and light side of the Force respectively, and it was his duty to keep them in balance; also, his children's strength flowed through him, as they were directly tied together. He told his children to never drink from the Font of Power, or bathe in the Pool of Knowledge; however, they eventually disobeyed him, with the Daughter bathing in the Pool and the Son drinking from the Font. The two siblings then proceeded to fight with each other, while the Father did his best to keep the peace.

The coming of Abeloth
One day, a stranger came to the Ones' world. The woman initially became the Servant of the family, but eventually became the Mother doting on the Father, and patching up the relationship between the Son and Daughter. For years, everything was well; however, the Mother was still mortal, and as a result she grew older and became unable to maintain the peace between the two children. One day, while the others were fighting in the home's courtyard, she quickly snuck a drink from the Font, then bathed in the Pool. The Father pulled her out using the Force, but it was too late. The Font and Pool restored the Mother's youth and bestowed on her great power and immortality, but it also corrupted her. From that moment on, she was no longer the Mother, but Abeloth, the Bringer of Chaos. She attacked the Son and Daughter, beating them into submission until the Father came to their aid. He then took his children and left the world, stranding Abeloth behind where she would remain until she resurfaced in 40 ABY.

The Ones come to Mortis
At some point in his life, the Father was forced to withdraw from the temporal world with his children to a realm known as Mortis, located in the Wild Space system known as Chrelythiumn, in order to live there as anchorites. After that, few in the galaxy still knew about their existence, among them Mother Talzin, Darth Plagueis, Luke Skywalker and Darth Sidious.

At an unknown point after this, the Father encountered Xendor on Mortis, with Xendor speculating that the Father may have been the manifestation of the Force itself. Xendor purportedly spoke to the Father, the Son, and the Daughter. When later asked by his apprentice, Arden, Xendor claimed that their presence had no more bearing on the reality of the Force than the Ashla and the Bogan, or anything Xendor taught her.

Although they had withdrawn from the galaxy, the legend of Mortis was well known in 7000 BBY, as Sorzus Syn made mention of the Prophecy of the Chosen One on her accounts. Darth Plagueis as well was well aware of the legend, but treated it as mere superstition. In addition, the Jedi Order included the prophecy of Mortis on The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force as early as 990 BBY.

The discovery of the Chosen One
"Cannot sleep? To strike an unarmed man is hardly the Jedi way.''" "You're a Sith Lord!" "You have a very simple view of the Universe. I am neither Sith nor Jedi. I am much more, and so are you." "''I see through your spells and visions, old man. Tell me what is going on here!"

- The Father and Anakin Skywalker

In 21 BBY during the time of the Clone Wars the Father received news that the Chosen One had been found, and since he had longed for this moment so long, he decided to meet him in person, and send a 2000-years-old emergency distress call, which was intercepted by the Admiral Tenant, who was patrolling space beyond the Outer Rim. Upon receiving this message, the Jedi Council had a meeting in which they decided to dispatch the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. On their way to the coordinates indicated in the distress signal, the Jedi were to meet with a heavily armed cruiser, fearing it to be a Separatist trap, but the Father separated the Jedi from their escort, and attracted them to a monolith, in which he landed their ship.

Upon arrival, the three Jedi were received by the Daughter on behalf of the Father. During their way to meet him, the Jedi were separated by the Son, who had set a trap for them. After separation, the Daughter told Anakin Skywalker to stay where he was, and to wait for her return. Anakin refused and went to find a way off the planet, until he found a monastery, in which, he thought, would be the answer for his escape.

When Anakin entered the temple, the Father greeted him, and offered him a place to stay the night, but when Skywalker was sleeping, the Son appeared to him in the form of his mother, and he assumed it was the old man. After the experience, Anakin Skywalker accused the Father of being a Sith Lord, and held his lightsaber to him, but the Father merely grabbed the blade and forced it on its hilt, deactivating it, much to Skywalker's surprise. He then proceeded to explain to Anakin the nature of his children, himself, the Force, and his beliefs on the Chosen One, to which he suggested a test, in order to find out if Skywalker was indeed the Chosen One.

The morning of the next day, the Father had ordered his children to capture and kill Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano, to begin with the test. Skywalker, terrified, tried to refuse to "play", but the Father told him that only he could make his children release his friends. Then Anakin embraced the Force within Mortis, and forced both the Son and the Daughter, light and dark, to free his friends, then he forced them both to kneel before him. Convinced of Anakin being the Chosen One, the Father asked him to stay and take his place, and revealed that he was dying and that only the Chosen One could tame his children when he died. Skywalker refused and Father warned him that his selfishness would haunt him and the galaxy, but nonetheless, the Father respected Skywalker's decision and allowed for him to leave Mortis with his companions.

Losing control
"You are growing stronger, my son.''" "Am I, father?" "Vanity, however, is getting the better of you." "How so?" "You have done what is forbidden. You have chosen the dark side and allowed it to feed your anger and desire for power." "By bringing the Chosen One here, you've shown me my potential. You've only yourself to blame." "Do not do this, son. Do not become what you should not. Be strong, I implore you, or else I will be forced to contain you." "You look frail, Father." "I am not dead yet." "''Well, perhaps I am tired of waiting! I hate you!"

- The Father and the Son, as the latter attempts to kill him

Unknown to both the Father and his Daughter, the Son wanted to stop the Chosen One from leaving the planet in order to use him to escape and wreak havoc in the galaxy. To do so, the Son kidnapped Ahsoka Tano, and turned her to his side, by poisoning her with the dark side of the Force. After that, the Son went to the monastery with his Father and Sister. When the Son arrived, the Father commented on his growing strength, but warned him that vanity was getting the better of him, and that he had done what was forbidden; he had allowed the dark side to feed his anger and desire for power. Displeased, the Son commented on his Father's frailness, and then proceeded to electrify him, nearly killing him. While faint, his Daughter attempted to heal him while Obi-Wan Kenobi inquired a way to stop the Son. Then the Daughter took Kenobi to an altar in which they would find a weapon called the Dagger of Mortis, with enough power to kill the Son.

After getting the dagger, the Daughter and Obi-Wan went to see the Son to his cathedral, in an attempt to stop him, but the Jedi was driven away to help his apprentice fight his padawan, while the Daughter stayed to fight against her brother. As the battle between light and dark raged, the Father awakened and flew to stop the battle between his children, hurling them amongst the Jedi; his son, furious, turned against him and unleashed a wave of lightning against him, debilitating his strength. The Son then asked the possessed Ahsoka to give him the dagger to kill the Father, but before he could do so, the Daughter interposed herself between the Son, saving the Father; the son, enraged, went flying away. With the balance of the Force broken, Mortis began to descend into darkness. However, amidst the situation, Anakin Skywalker asked the Father to help his padawan live, but the Father replied that there was no balance, and that the darkness would consume her. But to the surprise of everyone, the Daughter offered herself to give what was left of her life to bring Ahsoka back from death. The Father then proceeded to help Anakin to serve as a conduit to channel the last remaining of his Daughter's life, into the Chosen One's apprentice.

The last showdown
"What did he show you?''" "I've seen what I become and I cannot let that happen." "And for this you join him? Your destiny can change just as quickly as the love in one's heart can fade. Nothing is set in stone." "But I will cause so much pain!" "If there is to be balance, what you have seen must be forgotten''."

- The Father and Anakin Skywalker, as the former erases the latter's visions.

After the conflict with his Son, the Father sealed his Daughter into a mausoleum with the Dagger of Mortis resting upon her breast, but as soon as he closed her tomb, he was approached by Anakin Skywalker, who desired help in defeating Son. The Father told him not to underestimate his Son, as he would try to use him to escape isolation and sow terror in the universe, and that it was his duty to stop him. Anakin offered him his help, but the Father replied that it was no longer his choice to make; instead, he advised the young Jedi to go, look and ask for answers. As Anakin Skywalker tracked Son to the Well of the Dark Side, he was given a glimpse of his dark future and briefly joined the Son, in an attempt to prevent those visions from happening.

While the Son flew off to retrieve the Dagger of Mortis, the Father approached Anakin Skywalker and asked him what his Son had showed him. Skywalker replied that he saw an apocalyptic vision of his future self. The Father then said that the future is not set in stone, then proceeded to erase Anakin's vision, and took him back to his monastery. Once there, Anakin woke up, and asked the Father what had happened, and the Father said that his Son had broken the laws of time, and showed him what he should never have seen; then, Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano arrived at the monastery, followed by the Son in person. Upon his arrival, the Father tried to convince him to restrain himself and stay, but his Son refused, and was immediately attacked by the Chosen One, followed by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano, but they were not strong enough to stop him.

Seeing that the only way to restrain his Son was to commit suicide in order to take away his Son's powers, the Father took the dagger that served to kill his Daughter, and impaled himself. Terrified, the Son implored his Father not to die; the Father, moved, told his Son that he always knew there was good in him, but from behind, the Father motioned Anakin Skywalker to stab his Son with his lightsaber; realizing that, the Son tried to move away, but it was too late, as the Chosen One's saber impaled the Father and the Son. Dying, the Father was confident that Anakin would bring balance to the Force, but warned the young Jedi about his heart. The Father then died, vanishing, only leaving his clothing behind. After that, the whole planet Mortis began to shatter, and the crystal at the top of the monastery collapsed and turned into a bright flash of light. The three Jedi finally woke up again in their shuttle, while Captain Rex awaited their orders.

Legacy
"I went back and checked the archives for anything on the Mortis monolith.''" "And?" "I found confirmation in a report from Obi-Wan. It was just as Yoda told me. Obi-Wan seemed to think that he and Anakin had been drawn to Mortis because the Father was dying and he wanted Anakin Skywalker to take his place as the Keeper of the Balance." "Chosen One indeed. What happened?" "''Obviously Anakin didn't accept, the Son ended up murdering the Daughter with a special Force-imbued dagger and the Father tricked the Son by sacrificing himself with the same dagger, so that Anakin could kill the Son."

- Luke Skywalker and Jaina Solo

Obi-Wan later submitted a report to the Jedi Order regarding the events of the Mortis incident, which was then placed into the Jedi Archives.

As a direct consequence of the Father's death, as well as that of the Son and the Daughter and Anakin's refusal to take the Father's place as the maintainer of balance of the Son and the Daughter, there was no one left to oppose Abeloth when she was inadvertently released from her prison by Anakin's grandson Jacen Solo due to his actions as Darth Caedus. After Abeloth's death, Anakin's son, Luke studied the archives relating to the Mission to Mortis and learned of the full story in addition to Yoda's story to him regarding the events, and likewise informed his niece, Jaina Solo, as much.

Personality and traits
"Do you feel your destiny? You must see it now. I am dying, and you must replace me.''" "Replace you? I can't stay here." "But this is yours. It has been foretold. The Chosen One will remain to keep my children in balance." "No." "''I cannot force you to do this. The choice must be yours. But leave and your selfishness shall haunt you and the galaxy."

- The Father and Anakin Skywalker

The Father was a wise and powerful being who loved both of his children dearly. As a paragon of balance in the Force, the Father, while benevolent, was also quite practical, and was willing to do anything in order to maintain the Force's balance both on Mortis, and in the universe at large. Recognizing that he was dying, and that only the Chosen One could take his place, in order to keep the balance of the Force, the Father orchestrated a plan to bring Anakin Skywalker to Mortis, in an attempt to determine whether or not he was the legendary Chosen One. Upon the arrival of Anakin Skywalker to his monastery, the Father cordially received the Jedi and even invited him to stay for the night on his place. The same night, the Chosen One was visited by an apparition of his late mother, and upon realizing that it was a trick, Anakin Skywalker went to attack the Father with his lightsaber, accusing him of being a Sith Lord. The Father, relaxed, merely lectured the Chosen One, stating that he wasn't either Sith or Jedi, and forced Anakin's lightsaber back to its hilt. After that, the Father talked Anakin about his nature, and expressed his feelings of finding out whether or not he was the Chosen One, and proposed Skywalker to pass a test, in which they would find an answer for that. The morning of the next day, the Father had ordered his children to kill the Chosen One's friends. Terrified, Skywalker initially refused to take the test, but the Father told him that only he could make his children release his friends. After successfully passing the test, the Father revealed his true intentions; he was dying, and he wanted Anakin Skywalker to fulfill his role as the Chosen One and replace him. Although Anakin refused, the Father respected his choice, but warned him that if he leaved Mortis, his selfishness would haunt him and the galaxy.

After the departure of the Chosen One, the Father had problems controlling his Son. The Father, trying to contain his Son using arguments, was attacked and almost killed by the latter. Although his Son almost killed him, his Daughter nevertheless attended him while he was unconscious, healing him with the Force. While unconscious, his Son and Daughter engaged in a fight against each other; the Father, enraged, woke up and went to stop them, throwing them out of a window. His son then tried to kill him with the Dagger of Mortis, but his Daughter interposed herself between him and the Son, sacrificing her own life in order to save the Father. The Father, regretful, mourned that there was no balance, and that the Sith would gain power in the galaxy. But amidst the situation, the Chosen One asked the Father to help him save his padawan; initially the Father said that darkness would consume her, and that there was nothing that could be done to prevent it, but his Daughter offered herself to give the last remaining of her life, to help the Chosen One. The Father accepted his Daughter's last wish, and helped Anakin to revive his apprentice. After that, the Father stayed at his Son's cathedral to mourn his Daughter's death.

After his Son showed the Chosen One a vision of his future self, the Father stated that the future could change as fast as the love in one's heart can fade, then he erased Anakin Skywalker's vision. But not much later, his Son showed up, in an attempt to murder him a second time. Although the Jedi including the Chosen One himself tried to defend the Father, they were no match for the Son. The Father, realizing that the only way to stop the Son was to commit suicide in order to take away his child's power, stabbed himself with the dagger of Mortis. The Son, horrified, begged the Father not to die, and although the Son had tried to kill him twice, the Father hugged him, saying that he always knew that there was good in him.

Powers and abilities
"In that room, my mother came to me. But it was not her. It was something else.''" "''Ah. My son, I suspect. We can take many forms. The shapes we embody are merely a reflection of the life force around us."

- Anakin Skywalker and the Father

The Father was a Force wielder, a species of god-like beings capable of using the Force in ways no other mortals could. The Father was the most powerful of his family, and was the most powerful Force-user in history. The shapes he and his children embodied were merely a reflection of the life force around them. As the head of The Ones, the Father had a direct control over his children during many years; however, age was weakening him. When the Jedi attended the distress call he sent, he was able to hide the Jedi's shuttle from their Star Destroyer although both vessels were on the same coordinates. Once the Jedi had set foot on Mortis, the Chosen One came to the Father's monastery in search of answers. Upon his arrival, the Father offered Anakin a place to stay the night, but during the Jedi's stay, the Son appeared to Anakin in the form of his former mother. Anakin Skywalker, enraged, accused the Father of being a Sith Lord, and pointed his lightsaber toward his forehead. The Father touched the lightsaber by its blade, and forced it back to its hilt, much to Anakin's surprise. The Father also demonstrated an ability to teleport himself from one location to another in a matter of seconds, during Anakin's test.

While Daughter and Son could transform, into a Griffin and a Gargoyle respectively, the Father also possessed the ability to fly, as he could make a pair of wings appear from his back on a whim. During his children's fight, although he had been electrified and had been unconscious before, the Father was able to stop both his children from fighting by pushing them with the Force, throwing them out of a window in the process. His Son, enraged, unleashed a wave of Force lightning on him, and though he was able to stop it at first, the Father was quickly overwhelmed by his Son's mastery of the dark side. The Father was also capable of using Force lightning himself, hurling it at both his children, when they began to quarrel.

When his Son showed the Chosen One a vision of his horrific future, the Father was able to erase the specific set of memories Anakin had regarding with those events. After his death, the Father literally vanished from existence, leaving only his clothing behind, and the planet on which he died began to shatter, creating a bright light that teleported Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano back to their ship. In addition, when the Jedi returned to their world, time had not elapsed, as only a few moments had passed since the Jedi went to Mortis.

Behind the scenes
"The Core of the Force. I mean you got the Dark Side, the Light Side, one is selfless, one is selfish, and you want to keep them in balance."

- George Lucas

The Father was created for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, and was first featured in the third season episode "Overlords," basing on a story laid out by George Lucas himself. When Lucas discussed the nature of the Force wielders for the first time, Dave Filoni was out of the room during the first minutes of George's speech about the topic.

After the meeting, the writer's team discussed the subject, and in the end, the "Mortis Trilogy" was written by Christian Taylor. While discussing how to bring to life these episodes, Filoni told Taylor: "You have to think of it like, these are three entire episodes that take place in the tree when Luke is on Dagobah.

Ultimately, the Father was voiced by Lloyd Sherr throughout the entire "Mortis Trilogy". According to the episode guide for "Ghosts of Mortis," the fact that the Father was the only member of The Ones to fade into the Force upon his death, as did Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, was intentional.

When the Complete Season Three of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released, Dave Filoni and Christian Taylor decided not to release a lengthy documentary revealing the mysteries about the "Mortis Trilogy", as they stated that it would mean robbing the art of making the fans wonder and speculate about the answers. However, he affirmed that the answers about the "Mortis Trilogy" would be discussed in a future season.

When the Mortis Trilogy was released for the first time in 2011, Troy Denning was writing Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse at the time, and felt that he needed to include Abeloth into the concept of the Force wielders, so he adapted elements from The Clone Wars into his novel, and thanked Dave Filoni about the episodes.

Appearances

 * Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse
 * Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse
 * Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse
 * Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse