Malachor Sith Temple

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"A place of worship for some. To others, an engine of destruction."

―Maul^[1]

The Malachor Sith Temple was a Sith temple located on the planet Malachor, in a large cavern covered by a crust of stone and surrounded by extensive ruins. Inside the temple, in a chamber that could be reached only through the combined efforts of a Sith master and apprentice, was a Sith holocron containing an entity called the Presence. The temple also contained a superweapon, which could be activated by placing the holocron in the obelisk at the top of the building and was, according to the Presence, powerful enough to destroy life.

History[]

Ancient weapon[]

Millennia before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Sith constructed a pyramidal temple on the bleak world of Malachor.^[3] Created by Darth Tanis,^[2] an infernal machine at the heart of the Sith temple, a superweapon, was powered by a giant kyber crystal,^[3] was capable of destroying life. The Jedi soon caught wind of the Sith's plan and launched an assault on the temple. During the battle, the superweapon fired, killing and petrifying all combatants—Jedi and Sith.^[1] This event later became known as the Great Scourge of Malachor.^[4]

Mission to Malachor[]

"My apprentice is activating the temple, or more precisely, this battle station, which I shall use to exact my revenge on all my enemies!"

―Maul to Ahsoka^[1]

Malachor-sith-temple — The pinnacle of the temple.

Three years before the Battle of Yavin,^[5] the temple was visited by Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, his Padawan Ezra Bridger, and former Jedi Ahsoka Tano as they sought knowledge for how to defeat the Sith Lord Darth Vader and his Inquisitors. While there, they encountered the former Sith Lord Maul, who also sought to destroy the Sith. Maul and Ezra worked together to enter the temple and ultimately retrieved a Sith holocron, which was essential to reactivating the temple.^[1]

When Kanan and Ahsoka were attacked by the Inquisitors known as the Fifth Brother, the Seventh Sister, and the Eighth Brother, Maul and Ezra arrived and assisted them in driving the Inquisitors away. He then convinced the group to work together in order to venture into the Temple and find the knowledge necessary to destroying the Sith. The Inquisitors regrouped and attacked the four travelers. After having killed the Seventh Sister, Maul sent Ezra to place the holocron inside the temple's obelisk. After they had dealt with the rest of the Inquisitors, Maul turned on Kanan and Ahsoka. He was able to blind Kanan but was stopped from killing him by Ahsoka. Once Kanan had recovered, he proceeded to fight Maul and managed to throw him off the edge of the temple. During their confrontation, Ahsoka went to look for Ezra.^[1]

Darth Vader Decending TotA — Ezra watches as Darth Vader decends towards the temple.

Meanwhile, Ezra had arrived at the top of the temple and placed the Sith holocron into the central obelisk. He encountered the voice of the entity called Presence, who revealed that the temple was in fact an ancient Sith superweapon capable of destroying all life. When Ezra refused to use the weapon, the Presence announced the arrival of Darth Vader. Before Vader could finish Ezra off, Ahsoka arrived and fought with her former master. Kanan and Ezra managed to remove the holocron, which triggered a chain reaction that led to the temple's explosion. As the Temple began to close them in, Tano, resolving to stay and battle Vader, Force pushed Bridger back from trying to help her before continuing the duel.^[1]

Bridger and Jarrus managed to escape with Chopper on the Phantom before the temple imploded.^[1] This experience proved to be a turning point for Ezra. His grief over what had transpired on Malachor allowed him to access the Sith holocron that he had discovered on Malachor, and with its influence, he began to unlock the secrets contained within it.^[1] This temptation of power began to corrupt him, leading to a strained relationship with his master Kanan. It was not until the intervention of Bendu that their relationship finally managed to repair itself.^[6]

Ahsoka Tano's journey[]

AlterFate-SoH — Bridger's hand reaches out from the World Between Worlds and grabs Tano

After she pushed Bridger away,^[1] Tano continued to battle Vader in the crumbling Temple and struck at the floor to break it under Vader's feet. The move left her open to attack, and she was nearly struck down by her former master. However, the Malachor temple was connected to the mythical realm known as the World Between Worlds:^[7] in 1 BBY,^[5] Bridger entered the World via its portal within the Lothal Jedi Temple. Within the realm, he was guided to a portal linking to the Malachor temple^[7] in 3 BBY^[5] by Morai, a Convor with ties to Tano and the Force wielder known as "the Daughter." Bridger reached out to save Tano before Vader could strike her, pulling her into the World Between Worlds. After Tano vanished before him, Vader tumbled down as the floor finally broke. Within the World Between Worlds, Tano recognized she would need to return to her own time instead of leaving with Bridger through his portal. Tano and Bridger would then be forced to flee from the World Between Worlds when Darth Sidious, the Sith Master and Galactic Emperor behind the Empire, tried to use them to access the realm. Both returned to their own times, with Tano leaving with Morai after promising to find Bridger again one day.^[7]

Tano and Morai found themselves outside^[7] the damaged^[1] Malachor Temple.^[7] After Morai watched an injured Vader depart the temple, she joined Tano in venturing into the depths of the Sith temple,^[1] where they entered a flooded room.^[8] As Morai flew above her,^[9] Tano treaded through the water^[10] until she found a stairway^[11] and another entry into the World Between Worlds.^[12] Morai, meanwhile, flew out from the temple to the outside, where Vader watched the bird fly away.^[13]

Behind the scenes[]

The Malachor Sith Temple first appeared in the Star Wars Rebels episode "Twilight of the Apprentice."^[1] The temple, just like everything from Malachor's surface, was sketched out by Dave Filoni. Chris Glenn later created the chamber's final look and Pat Presley painted wide views from the city surrounding it.^[14]

In an interview with IGN, Star Wars Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni provided some insight into what he saw as the backstory of the Presence. In his mind, the voice of the Presence is the voice of the ancient Sith Lord who built the Malachor temple. Filoni said that he liked the idea of an ancient and powerful woman, who had domination that the audience has not yet heard of, who was creating the weapon when it was attacked by the Jedi Order and everyone is turned to stone. Filoni further said that he has a name for the character, but he could not yet reveal it.^[15]