Son

Biography

Origins

The Son was a male being belonging to the mysterious Force wielder species, and a member of the family referred to as the Ones. He was the son of the family's leader, the Father, and the sibling of the Daughter. The Son was an ambitious practitioner of the Force, and, akin to all Force wielders, possessed potent Force-sensitive capabilities. In contrast to his sister, however, the Son gravitated towards the dark side of the Force, embodying selfishness.

The Father endeavored to preserve equilibrium within the Force, recognizing that his children could potentially tear apart the very fabric of the universe. Together, the Ones retreated to the Wild Space planet of Mortis. There, by forsaking the material realm, the Father managed to exert control over both the Son and the Daughter, maintaining balance between the siblings. Following the Son and his family's adoption of the Mortis realm as their new abode, only a select few retained knowledge of their existence.

While Mortis served as both a refuge and a prison for the family, it was theorized that the realm was the genesis of the Force itself, functioning as a conduit for all elements interconnected through it. This allowed the Father to oversee the balance in the Force throughout the galaxy. During this period, the Son grew weary of awaiting his turn to succeed his father and persisted in succumbing to the allure of the dark side. Upon the Father receiving word that the Chosen One, a prophesied Jedi figure, had been discovered, he initiated his plan to bring the Chosen One to Mortis, a prospect that intrigued both the Son and the Daughter.

The Clone Wars

Seeking the Chosen One

To entice the Jedi Knight believed to be the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, to Mortis, the Father dispatched a 2,000 year-old distress signal amidst the Clone Wars. This signal was intercepted by Galactic Republic Admiral Nils Tenant, who relayed it to Skywalker and two other Jedi, his Padawan Ahsoka Tano and the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. As Skywalker attempted to converge at the location of the distress signal, he and his Jedi companions instead encountered the Mortis monolith, which disrupted their communications and transported them into the realm of Mortis. There, the Daughter approached the trio and extended an invitation to escort them to the Father. However, the Son intervened, triggering a rockslide and separating Skywalker from Kenobi and Tano as they navigated a mountainous terrain. The Daughter instructed the group to await her return, cautioning them that her brother's actions endangered them all and that they required shelter before nightfall.

Skywalker, however, insisted that Kenobi and Tano return to their shuttle and attempt to transmit a distress signal, while he would follow the Daughter. The Son, in accordance with his father's scheme to ascertain if Skywalker was truly the Chosen One, concealed the Jedi's shuttle and confronted Kenobi and Tano upon their arrival in search of it. The Force wielder, with curiosity, inquired if Skywalker was indeed the Chosen One, prompting the two Jedi to brandish their lightsabers against him in suspicion. The Son entreated the group to wait and informed them that they could not yet depart Mortis, employing the Force to effortlessly deactivate their lightsabers. When Kenobi accused the Son of being a Sith, the Son responded that he both was and was not, and that the Chosen One's trial was imminent regardless of their efforts to prevent it, as a thunderstorm commenced. Prior to departing the duo, the Son cautioned Kenobi and Tano that the storms on Mortis were lethal, compelling them to seek refuge in a nearby cave as he transformed into his gargoyle form and soared away.

By nightfall, Skywalker had already arrived at the Father's monastery and had reluctantly remained as his guest, owing to the storm outside and the absence of alternative lodging. While Skywalker slept, the Son disguised himself as the Jedi's deceased mother, Shmi Skywalker Lars, and awoke Skywalker with the promise of a secret. Skywalker, despite being wary of the Son's form, confided in the Force wielder and admitted that he believed he had failed both Shmi and the Jedi Order when he indulged in vengeance the night his mother died. The Son assured Skywalker that he was destined to surpass being merely a Jedi, but that he could only realize his destiny if he renounced his affection for Padmé Amidala, his wife, whom the Son termed the "poisoner." Skywalker, discerning the Son's disguise, confronted the Father about encountering his deceased mother, accusing him of being a Sith Lord. The Father indulged Skywalker with his family's origins and elucidated that they revealed themselves to him to ascertain if he was truly the Chosen One, as part of an endeavor to maintain equilibrium in the Force.

Unbeknownst to Skywalker, the Father intended to subject the Jedi to a trial to determine if he was indeed the prophesied one. Under the Father's directives, the Son and the Daughter transformed into their gargoyle and griffin forms, respectively, and pursued Kenobi and Tano the following morning, seizing them as they emerged from the cave in which they had sought refuge the previous night. The siblings transported the two Jedi to the monastery arena, where the Father and Skywalker were already present. The Father then disclosed that Skywalker was to select which of the two Jedi to save, as the Son and the Daughter had been instructed to kill them both, implying he could only save one. Skywalker rejected the ultimatum, however, instead employing the Force to overpower both the Son and the Daughter, thereby proving he was, in fact, the Chosen One. After the Son and Daughter were compelled to kneel before Skywalker, they both reverted to their humanoid forms. Subsequently, the Father informed Skywalker that the Chosen One's destiny was to remain on Mortis to preserve the balance between his children, but Skywalker disregarded the Father's warning of dooming the galaxy and opted to depart Mortis instead.

Embracing the Darkness

Later that morning, the Son manifested in Skywalker's dream as a mirror image of the young Jedi Knight. During the dream, the Son attempted to entice Skywalker into embracing the dark side and restoring equilibrium to the Force. When Skywalker refused and turned away, the Son morphed into the form of a monster and attacked the Jedi, jolting Skywalker awake. Shortly thereafter, before Skywalker and his companions could depart Mortis, the Son entered their ship and abducted Ahsoka Tano. He then leaped out of the shuttle and morphed into his gargoyle form, while taking the captive Tano with him. Skywalker and Kenobi pursued the Son in their ship into a canyon of mist-shrouded spires. However, the Son managed to outpace his Jedi pursuers and vanished into the mist.

The Son then transported his captive Tano to his cathedral, a towering structure in the wilderness. There, he morphed into the form of a small alien creature that taunted the chained Padawan by claiming her master would never return. When Tano insisted that Skywalker would return for her, the creature released her from her chains. After unsuccessfully attempting to persuade Tano to forget her master, the Son bit her on the arm, infecting Tano with the dark side of the Force. As Tano collapsed on the floor, the Son changed back to his humanoid form. Meanwhile, his Jedi pursuers split up. While Kenobi traveled back to the monastery to seek assistance from the other Force-wielders, Skywalker resolved to scale the tower and rescue Tano.

Later, the Son rejoined the Father and the Daughter at their monastery. When the Father entreated the Son to relinquish the dark side, the enraged Son struck him with Force lightning just as Kenobi and the Daughter entered the chamber. The Son then departed the scene while the Daughter tended to her Father's wounds. When Kenobi entreated the Daughter to assist him in preventing the Son from escaping offworld, the Daughter sprung to his defense, asserting that it was not his fault since it was his nature. She also declined to lay a hand against her brother. Instead, the Daughter revealed to Kenobi a potent Force weapon known as the Dagger of Mortis, which was the sole instrument capable of harming a Force-wielder.

Back at the tower, Ahsoka Tano, under the influence of the dark side, assaulted her master Skywalker in a lightsaber duel. Meanwhile, Kenobi and the Daughter confronted the Son in his inner sanctum. During the fight, Kenobi was separated from the Daughter and forced to assist Skywalker in parrying against Tano, whom they were unwilling to harm. The Son and his sister parried against each other with their Force powers before morphing into their gargoyle and griffin forms respectively. However, their fight was interrupted by the arrival of the Father, who used his Force powers to forcibly separate his children and hurled them among the Jedi.

The Son attacked his weakened Father with Force lightning, causing the older Force-wielder to fall to the ground. Kenobi then attempted to pass the Dagger of Mortis to Skywalker, but Tano intercepted it. After handing the Dagger to the Son, the Force-wielder thanked Tano and told her that she had outlived her usefulness. Touching her forehead, the Son drained her off her life force, causing her to die. Enraged, Skywalker attempted to attack him, but the Son easily repelled him with the Force. The Son then attempted to stab the Father but was blocked by the Daughter, who took the brunt of the blade and was mortally wounded as a result. Horrified that he had killed his sister, the Son fled from the scene. Despite the Daughter's mortal wounds, she used her last life force to resurrect Ahsoka Tano from the dead.

Downfall and reconciliation

As a result of the Daughter's death, Mortis was plunged into darkness. The Son then turned his attention to corrupting Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, by showing his future as a Sith lord so that the Son could escape the planet and return to the galaxy. The Son later met Skywalker in the Well of the Dark Side, a volcanic place in the bowels of Mortis that was strong in the dark side. There, the Son sought to bring the young Jedi to his side by revealing glimpses of Anakin's future including the death of his secret wife Padmé Amidala, the Great Jedi Purge, the rise of Darth Sidious' Galactic Empire, the destruction of Alderaan and his transformation into Darth Vader. With Anakin overcome by fear and anguish, the Son offered to help him change the future. When Skywalker asked whether they would bring peace, the Son claimed this was so. As a result, Skywalker decided to join forces with the Son, who also deceived Skywalker into believing that the Jedi were a threat to peace.

When Kenobi and Tano learned that the Son had succeeded in winning over Skywalker, Tano sabotaged the Jedi starship in order to prevent the Son and Skywalker from leaving Mortis. Worried that the two Jedi would join forces with the Father, the Son traveled to the Daughter's crypt where he stole the Dagger of Mortis. Meanwhile, the Father succeeded in erasing Skywalker's memories to break the hold of the dark side on him. The Son then made his way to the monastery where he was confronted by the Father and the three Jedi. The Son proved too powerful for the three Jedi and his weakened Father to overcome. In order to strip the Son of his Force powers, the Father sacrificed his own life by stabbing himself. Shaken by remorse, the Son reconciled with the Father just before he was impaled by Skywalker's lightsaber. Through the deaths of the Son and the Father, Skywalker succeeded in fulfilling his role as the Chosen One by restoring balance to the Force on Mortis. The monastery and the temple vanished in a bright flash of light and the three Jedi found themselves back in their shuttle.

Legacy

The Son's prophecy that Anakin would fall to the dark side came true at the end of the Clone Wars, as Anakin became Darth Vader and Darth Sidious' Sith Apprentice. However, the Father's prophecy that Anakin would bring balance to the force would also be true, when Vader sacrificed himself to save his son Luke Skywalker in the battle of Endor.

The Son, along with his sister and Father was depicted on a painting inside Lothal's Jedi Temple. The painting served as access point to create a portal to the World Between Worlds. The painting was discovered by the Empire during its excavation of the Jedi Temple. In 0 BBY, Spectre-6, Ezra Bridger was able to open the portal and enter the world between worlds. After leaving the world between worlds, Bridger was then able to use the force to close the portal. As he closed it, Bridger heard the Son's voice saying that the future could be changed by its own nature. Despite this, Bridger was able to close the portal and the painting, as well as the temple, sunk into the ground.

Personality and traits

The Son was a male Force wielder who stood at 2.2 meters in humanoid form, and 4.79 meters as a gargoyle. He had red with black sclera, and white skin with red markings.

The Son was a selfish and manipulative Force wielder who embodied the dark side of the Force. According to the Daughter, it was in his nature to be selfish, manipulative, and deceptive. The Son chafed under the Father's authority and sought to break free of Mortis and dominate the galaxy. While he fought with his sister, who embodied the light side of the Force, he still loved her and felt greatly distraught and burdened by the guilt of his role in her death. Unlike his relatives, the Son preferred to dwell in places strong in the dark side like his cathedral and the Well of the Dark Side. Despite his great evil, he self-deceptively defines himself as an entity that wants the best for the galaxy and will bring peace. However, he respects the different points of view between whether what he does is good or bad.

Like the Father and Daughter, the Son believed that Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force. However, he wanted to corrupt and bring Skywalker over to the dark side; a goal that put him at odds with both the Daughter and the Father. While he succeeded in corrupting Skywalker by showing him a vision of his future as Darth Vader, he was thwarted by the Father, who erased Skywalker's memories of the vision. The Son came to his senses and abandoned his ambitions after witnessing the Father stab himself with the Dagger of Mortis. At that point, the Son realized that he loved his Father.

Powers and abilities

As a Force-wielder, the Son had the power to change into different forms including that of a gargoyle, Shmi Skywalker Lars, and even a small alien creature that bit Ahsoka Tano. He was also capable of infecting sentient beings with the dark side by biting them and could also harness a red-colored Force lightning. While the Son was extremely powerful in his own right, he ultimately was no match for the powers of the Chosen One Anakin Skywalker until he fully succumbed to the Dark Side and was therefore able to easily best Skywalker in terms of power. The Son was also capable of conjuring up powerful Force visions, and appearing within Skywalker's dreams. He was also capable of entering physically secure structures, like buildings and starships, unhindered by appearing and disappearing at will without alerting others to his presence. The Son was also able to use telekinesis as well as a powerful Force push. He was also able to use Force speed and can also fly without being in his Gargoyle form. The Son also had the power of Tutaminis, as he was able to turn off the lightsabers of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano. One known weapon capable of harming him was the Dagger of Mortis. The Son could float and shoot lightning (but not kill Obi-Wan with it) and float up and down, also lost his immortality when the Father stabbed himself with the Dagger; allowing Skywalker to kill him. The Son also very persuasive and was known for his trickery and foreknowledge.

Behind the scenes

The Son's first appearance was in the Mortis trilogy of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series' third season, back in 2011. He was featured in each of the three episodes of that story arc: "Overlords," Altar of Mortis," and "Ghosts of Mortis." Sam Witwer provided the voice for the character, having previously done voice work for Star Wars Legends properties before his role in The Clone Wars. When the Son was disguised as other characters, their original voice actors from The Clone Wars performed the voice acting, with the exception of Shmi Skywalker, who was voiced by Pernilla August, the actress who originally played her in the 1999 movie Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.

George Lucas, the original creator of Star Wars, conceived the Son and the storyline of the Mortis trilogy. The original idea was that the specters of Darth Bane and Darth Revan, two Sith Lords from the Legends continuity, would be the ones responsible for the Son's corruption and complete descent into the dark side. However, this concept was ultimately removed from the Mortis arc because both Lucas and Dave Filoni, the supervising director of The Clone Wars, felt that the idea of Sith Lords existing beyond death or outside of the Force was inconsistent with the established meaning and aspects of the Force within Star Wars canon.

Randy Bantog was responsible for creating some of the initial character designs for the Son and his gargoyle form. In Star Wars Rebels, the spinoff television series of The Clone Wars, Filoni and lead character designer Kilian Plunkett developed a character, the Grand Inquisitor, a Pau'an villain, who bore an unintended resemblance to the Son. Filoni considered the similarity to be appropriate, as the Son's story arc in The Clone Wars was intended to represent both the past and the future of Star Wars lore in a metaphorical way.