Theory: Is Peridea actually the planet of Mortis?
Could Peridea be a planet that was already introduced in Star Wars canon? Peridea is a new planet introduced in Ahsoka that is in a different galaxy. Peridea may look like a wasteland now, but it was once the ancient home of the Dathomiri people. Now, Peridea is nearly deserted, apart from the Noti and some scavengers. However, evidence suggests that Peridea was once inhabited by a great civilization, a civilization that may have worshipped the Gods of Mortis. The statues of the Mortis Gods are on Peridea. Baylan Skoll‘s belief that he’ll find a power great enough to end the struggle between the Empire and Republic suggests that there’s more to Peridea. It might be another name for a planet we’ve already seen in Star Wars. Peridea might be the lost realm of Mortis, a planet Ahsoka has already been to.
What is Mortis?
Mortis is a planet introduced in The Clone Wars Season 3 in the episodes “Overlords,” “Altar of Mortis,” and “Ghosts of Mortis,” and then later again in the Season 6 episode, “Voices.” Mortis is also mentioned in Star Wars Rebels Season 4 as an image of the Mortis Gods in the Jedi Temple on Lothal.
Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Obi-Wan Kenobi were called to Mortis by the Father. Upon landing there, the trio learned that the planet was inhabited by three entities: the Father who represented balance in the Force, the Daughter who represented the light side, and the Son who represented the dark side. The Father wanted Anakin to take his place since he was the Chosen One. By the end of this arc, the Father, Daughter, and Son are all killed. During the struggle between our Jedi trio and the Mortis Gods, Anakin uses the Daughter’s life force to resurrect Ahsoka after the padawan was killed, leading many fans to believe that Ahsoka may be immortal and a literal embodiment of the light side.
Mortis’ connection to Jedi Stories
According to Wookieepedia,
"“Mortis was an ethereal realm within the Force which was whispered over in legends and stories passed down through the millennia by Jedi, Sith, and the average spacer alike. It was believed to have existed outside any star system, and potentially the galaxy or even the universe. Some believed that the origins of the Force came from Mortis.”"
Based on this definition, the legends and stories Baylan Skoll tells Shin Hati in Ahsoka might be about Peridea. One of the stories about Peridea, known as the Pathway to Peridea, states, “Peridea is a legendary planet outside of the main galaxy, which could be reached by following the Pathway starting from the planet Seatos on the Denab system.”
Perhaps, after years of legends being passed down from one Jedi to another, the story of Mortis came to be known as the story of Peridea. As Mortis is a conduit through which the Force flowed, and Baylan Skoll is in search of a power greater than anything the galaxy has ever seen, maybe Baylan Skoll wants to find the origins of the Force. He believes that Peridea holds the key to finding its origins and ending the struggle between the Empire and Republic forever.
What Peridea’s connection to Mortis means for Ahsoka:
The stories about Peridea and the statues of the Mortis Gods on Peridea suggest that there’s something very powerful there. At the end of Ahsoka Part 8, Baylan Skoll can be seen standing on the statue of the Father, looking in the distance at a dim light coming from a beacon. This beacon looks very similar to what Anakin sees in the distance on during the Mortis episodes in The Clone Wars. This is another hint that there’s a connection between Peridea and Mortis. If this is the case, what does it mean for Ahsoka?
Ahsoka nearly died on Mortis, but Anakin helped save her life after killing the Son and transferring the Daughter’s life force into Ahsoka. In many ways, Ahsoka is the Daughter and represents both peace and the light side of the Force. Anakin was always destined to take the Father’s place. As he’s seen on Peridea at the end of Episode 8, it may signify that the Daughter and the Father are both present on Peridea, which means that there’s only one missing piece and that’s the Son.
Is it possible that Baylan Skoll is the Son and represents the dark side? Perhaps this is all a stretch, but the presence of the statues of the Mortis Gods, as well as the presence of Ahsoka, Baylan, Shin, and Sabine Wren, means that something big will happen there. Ahsoka knows that she’s exactly where she’s supposed to be. Ahsoka has already been to Mortis. Even though she doesn’t remember anything that happened to her there, maybe she’s about to relive those events in some manner to save the galaxy from an even bigger threat than Grand Admiral Thrawn. Perhaps, Anakin will once again be there to help her just as he did on Mortis.
Mortis was destroyed after the death of its Gods and, perhaps, it ended up as the wasteland of Peridea. Maybe Peridea is another planet that has a connection as strong as Mortis does to the force. While Peridea may be a completely different planet, it seems to be almost certain that it has a connection to the realm of Mortis. That’s why it’s probably a good idea to watch The Clone Wars Season 3 and understand its significance to Star Wars canon and Ahsoka as a character.
Ahsoka is streaming now on Disney+.