In the year 2 BBY, a short battle unfolded on the planet of Dathomir. Involved were the Jedi rebel Ezra Bridger, Maul – formerly a Sith, and the spectral forms of the Nightsisters. These spirits seized control of Kanan Jarrus and Sabine Wren, both rebels. After the brief conflict, Maul and Ezra made their escape from the cave, though they soon went their separate ways. Maul, having performed a magick ritual, was driven to hunt down and eliminate his longtime adversary, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ezra, however, was determined to rescue his friends. He returned to the cave, freed Sabine, and then persuaded the spirits to release Kanan by offering himself in exchange. Subsequently, Ezra shattered the magick altar, obliterating the spirits' power source and permanently ending the Nightsister threat.
During the Clone Wars in 20 BBY, Count Dooku, a Separatist leader and Sith Lord, dispatched a droid army under the command of General Grievous with the mission to eradicate the Nightsisters. Despite putting up a strong resistance, the Nightsisters were decimated, with only Mother Talzin, Asajj Ventress, Shelish,Yenna, Morgan Elsbeth,Jerserra andMerrin surviving. By 2 BBY, the Nightsister base was nothing more than ruins, haunted by the echoes of those who had fallen.
Maul, a former Sith apprentice, also survived. After the Clone Wars concluded, he reappeared on Malachor around the year of 3 BBY, seeking a Sith holocron that held the secret to the Sith's destruction. It was there that he crossed paths with Ezra Bridger, a young rebel and Jedi apprentice, whom he encouraged to explore the Dark side of the Force. Though Maul and Ezra were separated, Ezra became intrigued by the Sith holocron.
In 2 BBY, Maul aimed to merge the power of the Sith holocron with the holocron belonging to Kanan Jarrus, Ezra's Jedi master, in pursuit of "hope." He abducted the Ghost's crew, compelling Ezra and Kanan to retrieve the two holocrons in exchange for their friends' safety. Seeking to take Ezra as his apprentice, Maul persuaded the young man to assist him in combining the holocrons. While Maul glimpsed an old foe, and Ezra saw a planet beneath twin suns, their vision remained incomplete because Kanan convinced Ezra to close his eyes.
Despite his escape, Maul could not access the holocrons' knowledge, as they were destroyed in an explosion. Due to their incomplete connection, Maul and Ezra gained access to each other's knowledge and secrets. Upon discovering the location of the Phoenix Cell's Chopper Base on Atollon, Maul employed his Dark Side abilities and knowledge of Nightsister magick to torment Ezra, successfully terrorizing the young Jedi apprentice. Meanwhile, Maul gathered artifacts from his past in a cave near the ruined Nightsister lair, including the Darksaber, to aid in a magick ritual that would merge his mind with Ezra's.
After destabilizing Ezra's mind, Maul traveled to Atollon, where he stalked the young Jedi. Ezra and Kanan consulted with the Bendu, an ancient Force wielder. The Bendu identified Ezra's visions of Maul as a result of the connection formed when they combined the Jedi and Sith holocrons. Despite the Bendu's warning against turning to the dark side, Kanan and Ezra turned to find Maul standing on a hill behind them.
Following a tense exchange, Maul threatened to activate a homing beacon that would reveal the rebel base on Atollon to the Empire, convincing Ezra to accompany him and complete the ritual. Kanan allowed Ezra to leave but attached a tracker to his wrist comm, enabling him and the Mandalorian weapons expert Sabine Wren to locate Maul and Ezra at the Nightsister lair on Dathomir.
To unite their minds, Maul and Ezra consumed a potion made from magick water, causing their eyes to glow green and emit beams of light that formed a cloud. Unbeknownst to Ezra, this ritual involved summoning the spirits of fallen Nightsisters, and Maul had secretly agreed to trade their flesh and blood. As a result of the ritual, Maul and Ezra learned that Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was hidden on a planet with twin suns and that he held the key to destroying the Sith. After the ritual, the cave darkened, and the altar radiated with the spirits of two Nightsisters demanding their flesh and blood as payment.
Before Ezra and Maul could leave, Kanan and Sabine arrived. Despite Ezra's warnings, they opened fire on the apparitions. The Nightsister spirits then took control of Kanan and Sabine's bodies and used them to attack Maul and Ezra. Following a brief battle with lightsabers and blasters, Maul and Ezra escaped the cave. Because the magick water was their source of power, the spirits could not leave the cave. Maul attempted to persuade Ezra to join him as his apprentice, intending to seek out Kenobi.
However, Ezra refused to abandon his friends to the Nightsisters. Maul, regarding Ezra as a "disappointment," left on his ship Nightbrother without harming him. Ezra returned to the cave and confronted Sabine, who was possessed by a spirit. After a struggle, he managed to force her out of the cave and exorcise the spirit. Ezra then returned and convinced the spirit possessing Kanan to leave his friend's body in exchange for his own. The spirit accepted Ezra's offer, demanding that he defeat Kanan's body in combat.
Ezra agreed and fought the possessed Kanan. After defeating Kanan, the spirit left Kanan's body and attempted to enter Ezra's. However, Ezra used his green lightsaber and the Darksaber to destroy the altar, obliterating the Nightsister spirits' source of power and destroying them with screams.
After defeating the Nightsister spirits, Ezra informed Kanan and Sabine about the information he and Maul had acquired. He revealed that Master Kenobi held the key to destroying the Sith and that Maul was pursuing Kenobi. Ezra, Kanan, and Sabine resolved to find Kenobi before Maul to prevent him from jeopardizing their chance to learn how to destroy the Sith. Additionally, Sabine claimed the Darksaber, an ancient Mandalorian weapon and symbol of leadership.
The skirmish on Dathomir forms the climax of the Star Wars Rebels episode "Visions and Voices," which premiered on Disney XD on December 10, 2016.