Mother Talzin

"I assume you are The Great Mother. No. I am a simple witch. Not worth the trouble or attention of the great Jedi Order."

- Mother Talzin to Mace Windu

Mother Talzin is a neutral character acting sometimes as antagonist in the Star Wars The Clone Wars Series, Season 3-6. She is the leader of the Dathomirian Nightsisters and the Frangawl Cult and the mother of Darth Maul and Savage Opress. She is voiced by Barbara Goodson.

History
A Dathomirian female, Talzin was a member of the Nightsisters prior to the Clone Wars. While birthing her first daughter, Talzin was struck with a fatal affliction, but was enlightened by the spirits of her culture and survived the incident. She subsequently became a shaman of the Nightsisters and eventually united the various Nightsister covens following the death of Mother Zalem in 31 BBY. Whereas previously, competing Nightsister covens had been ruled by a clan mother and a shaman, Talzin, holding both titles, was able to unite her warring people into a single coven, which thrived into the time of the Clone Wars. Talzin's coven also had a close relationship with a clan of Nightbrothers. At one point, Talzin gave birth to her sons Darth Maul and Savage Opress.

Mother Talzin was forced to take the infant, Asajj Ventress, from her mother and give her to the Siniteen criminal Hal'Sted as payment sometime prior to the Clone Wars in order to protect her clan. Sometime later, Dooku helped Talzin out of some manner of predicament. It is unknown if he was a Jedi Master or a Sith Lord at this stage.

Talzin rarely traveled off-world, but when she learned that one of her witches, Kycina, had given up her infant, whom she dubbed Maul, Talzin took a small group of witches and headed for Orsis to find the Nightbrother. She was told by Meltch Krakko, a Mandalorian instructor from the Orsis Academy where to find him. After subduing Maul, she attempted to convince him to return to his home and face the Nightbrother challenges. Maul refused and said that he only answered to one Master, which Talzin thought was the Falleen headmaster, Trezza. After a brief firefight on an orbital station, Talzin was shot in the thigh, and her witches, along with Maul helped heal her until the Zabrak found Darth Sidious. Sidious told Talzin that the body of a fallen Nightsister was on board and that Maul belonged to him. Talzin and her witches boarded the ship and set off for Dathomir where Talzin was able to heal herself.

At some point during the Clone Wars, Talzin wrote a short chapter, entitled Wild Power, which explained the role of the Nightsisters and their usage of the Dark Side of the Force in the galaxy.

Reuniting with Ventress


During the Clone Wars, Asajj Ventress, having being betrayed by her Sith master, Count Dooku under the orders of Darth Sidious, returned to Dathomir. Talzin prevented the uncertain Nightsisters from killing her, recognizing and revealing Ventress as one of them and ordered the Sisters to take her to the village. Later Talzin led her coven in a healing ritual using magicks on Ventress recounting how her clan had been forced to give her up. After she and her sisters healed Ventress with a spell, Talzin then promised to help Ventress in her quest to get revenge upon Dooku for betraying her.

The attempt on Dooku's life


Talzin encouraged Asajj to strike Dooku at his home and and selected two of the coven's strongest warriors to accompany her. Using her magicks, Talzin and the Sisters performed a spell that conjured magical ichor mist that gave the three assassins the ability to be invisible to most, as well a special poisoned dart to Ventress to dull the Count's senses. She also gave them each Jedi Lightsabers to make Dooku believe that the Jedi were attacking him and not suspect the Nightsisters.

Their plan eventually failed, but Talzin reassured her that she had proved Dooku was vulnerable, and there were other ways of exacting revenge against him. She contacted the Count, and offered him a new assassin to replace Ventress. Although somewhat suspicious at first, Dooku agreed.

Dooku himself made a journey to Dathomir, with the ulterior motive of enlisting the Nightsisters in his Separatist movement, though Talzin quickly rejected the prospect, opting to remain neutral in the galactic conflict—as well as insisting that she was only aiding Dooku because of his help earlier. She promised him a male Zabrak Nightbrother (while enticing him with the revelation that the new assassin would be linked by blood to the late Sith warrior Darth Maul) and Dooku left the planet. Ventress met with Talzin shortly afterward, and the clan mother asked Ventress to travel to the Nightbrother village to choose the most powerful male warrior she could find, under the pretense of merely selecting a mate.

Ventress returned with a Nightbrother named Savage Opress. Impressed with Savage's physique, Talzin rendered him unconscious in an enchanted sleep.

Talzin then led her sisters in a magic incantation and used dark magicks to enhance the abilities of Savage Opress, amplifying his rage, and his physical appearance, giving him a far more muscular bulk and lengthening his cranial horns—an additional spell, however, was set in place to ensure Savage would ultimately be loyal to Talzin. As a final test of Savage's strength and loyalty, the now-monstrous Zabrak was ordered to murder his younger brother, Feral, which he did without remorse.

Satisfied, Talzin presented Savage with an enchanted blade, summoned from the spirit realm, and afterward, Talzin brought Opress to Dooku via a Separatist shuttle to Serenno. The Count gladly accepted his new assassin, and Talzin returned to Dathomir.



Later, two Jedi, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi traveled to her village, seeking information on Savage due to an attack on a Jedi outpost caused by him and recognized the assassin as a Nightbrother. Though Talzin denied it at first claiming her clan lived as exiles, she was eventually persuaded to tell them his locations by using her divining orb and the Jedi left in search of him.

After the Jedi had left, Talzin convinced Ventress the time had come and to put her plan into action, while Ventress considered that Savage was not yet ready, she left with luck from Talzin.



But the plan failed and Savage returned to her, wounded and exhausted and collapsed in her chamber. Telling her of his escape from both Dooku and the Jedi and that he and Ventress had betrayed each other, he stated that he was not yet strong enough. The Clan Mother helped Opress to his feet and told him of another way to become more powerful. Talzin revealed to him that his brother, Darth Maul, had survived and was living in exile in the Outer Rim. She gave Savage a talisman imbued with the power of the Nightsisters to use as a compass and told him to find him to teach him the ways of the Sith. Savage departed, promising that he would return.

Dooku's revenge
Ventress later returned after Opress betrayed her and seeked refuge with the Nightsisters. Talzin accepted her and made her an official Nightsister, although she neglected to inform Ventress that Opress had briefly returned. The witch coven gathered in the village for a baptism for Ventress to join the clan led by Talzin and her spellcasters. Asajj was bathed in the waters of life and Talzin proclaimed she was born a Sister of the Night and called for a feast to celebrate.

During their celebration, General Grievous, at the behest of Count Dooku, attacked Dathomir to destroy Talzin, Ventress, and the Nightsisters. Recognizing the war had come to her home, Talzin rallied the Sisters for defense of their lives and home. During the battle, Talzin joined her sisters on the front lines used her dark powers to conjure a protective green bubble and unleashed a blast of destructive lightning to destroy numerous battle droids. Realizing the witches were outnumbered, she retreated from the front lines early on, so as to ask the elder witch Daka for assistance. She joined Daka in the hidden cave deep within the Nightsister fortress where she asked her to raise their Army of the Dead, as well as inflict retribution upon Dooku for ordering the assault.

While Daka performed her spellcraft, Talzin had two witches retrieve a silver orb from her chambers that contained a piece of the Count's hair. Using the lock of Dooku's hair, Talzin fashioned a Voodoo doll from totem magick in Dooku's likeness, and used it in conjunction with her magic to torture Dooku to feel far away on his home to the point of near-death. The witch dropped the doll in the cauldron causing blisters to appear and hurting the Count tremendously.

Talzin later used magick to communicate with Dooku as a ghostly specter of herself to appear out of his chest. She ordered him to call off the attack and leave Dathomir but the Sith Lord refused. However, Grievous, ordered by Dooku to destroy Talzin, followed the green mist trail of magick to the inner sanctum of the village, where Talzin and Daka were performing their spells. Grievous killed the few guard witches present and murdering Old Daka.

Before she could also be executed, Talzin teleported to safety in green smoke, but with Daka dead, the undead army also perished, and the Nightsisters were virtually destroyed. The wounded Ventress retreated into the Dathomiri forest for seclusion. In the wake of the massacre, Talzin appeared to Ventress as a spiritual specter telling the only other survivor of the onslaught that, although the most recent chapter of Ventress' life had ended, she must seek a new path and her destiny would always be tied with that of the Nightsisters. With that, Talzin disappeared, leaving Ventress alone. The battle had decimated the Dathomir Witches and destroyed the lair and most of her power, the Clan Mother remained in the ruins of her village consolidating what remained of her power.

Living in Ruined
After the massacre destroyed most of her sources, Talzin remained in contact with Savage Opress as he searched the Outer Rim for his brother. Savage's talisman had lead him to the planet Stobar where he found some dust that caused the talisman to glow, reporting the find to the witch. Mother Talzin monitored his journey by using her magicks from afar on Dathomir. She commented that Savage was getting close and foresaw that he and his brother will be reunited. Talzin then began making the necessary preparations for their arrival.

The Rebirth and Return of Darth Maul
Sometime later, Savage and Maul returned to Dathomir, where Mother Talzin materialized from wisps of green mist. Talzin explained to Savage that Dooku had ordered the massacre but assured him that the Nightsisters will survive as they always have and led them to her village. Talzin placed Maul on the Font by placing him in an enchanted sleep, removed the spider-like cybernetics and used magicks and some of her own life energy to create a brand-new pair of cybernetic legs from the destroyed bodies of super battle droids, as well as restore Maul’s sanity and memories. When her work was done, she disappeared once again in green smoke before Maul regained full consciousness.

She succeeded in restoring Maul's mind and body but with the amount of life magick used to heal him, it took a great toll on Mother Talzin. By sacrificing a portion of her life energies she could not maintain a full physical body and retreated into the spirit realm watching the Nightbrothers' journey.

The Disappeared and the Defeat of Talzin
In 20 BBY, Mother Talzin gained the allegiance of the Frangawl Cult on Bardotta, who worshiped her as "the Great Mother." The cult leader had been driven by images of Talzin. Under her direction, they abducted the Dagoyan Masters one by one, draining the Living Force within them into a containment sphere.

Talzin later rendezvoused with the cult, who had captured Queen Julia, on Zardossa Stix, she revealed her intention to use a ritual to drain the Living Force from the Queen and absorb it mixing with her dark magick, making her more powerful than the Jedi and Sith combined, as well rejuvenating her fading physical form. However, Jedi Master Mace Windu and Senate Representative, Jar Jar Binks were hot on their trail and arrived at the temple.

Talzin engaged the Jedi by first unleashing a torrent of deadly green energy from her fingertips then summoned a blade that she conjured from spirit ichor and crossed blades with Windu, but her distraction allowed Binks to free Julia, disrupting the ceremony. The Gungan also accidentally destroyed the containment sphere, causing a massive explosion that killed all the cultists. With her plans destroyed, Talzin shrieked in pain as her physical body disintegrated into green mist and vanished.

Son of Dathomir
Although only thirteen of an intended full twenty-two episodes were produced for the sixth season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, further events following The Disappeared were related in the Dark Horse four-issue comic series titled Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir. The fates of both Mother Talzin and Maul were included in the comic, which was released as part of the Clone Wars Legacy line in 2014. All four issues were based on unproduced scripts that were intended for the sixth season, before its cancellation by Disney, making them canon to the Star Wars universe. The episodes were originally titled as The Enemy of my Enemy, A Tale of Two Apprentices, Proxy War and Showdown on Dathomir, which were largely unused in the comics.

In Son of Dathomir 1, Maul is incarcerated on Stygeon Prime, having been captured by his former master Darth Sidious. Sidious reveals to Maul that Count Dooku has replaced him as his apprentice, later revealing to Dooku that he has kept Maul alive to lure Mother Talzin out into the open - he sees her as a threat to his future empire. As Maul is Talzin's son, whom Sidious took in a reluctant deal many years earlier, he reasons that Maul will be the right bait to lure Talzin to her end. Maul is later rescued by Mandalorians from his Shadow Collective and launches an assault against General Grievous on the swamp moon of Zanbar.

In Son of Dathomir 2, Maul flees Zanbar after a terrible defeat from Grievous and implored Mother Talzin for help and her image materialized from his chest in the form of green mist, just as Sidious and Dooku were hoping. She anticipates that the Sith Lords are laying a trap for her, so she sends Maul to Ord Mantell, where he will battle the CIS forces and ultimately capture both Dooku and Grievous, paralyzing their armies without a commander. Although Talzin does not travel to Ord Mantell herself, she directs the Nightbrothers, led by Brother Viscus to assist Maul. They fight Dooku and are defeated, but Viscus is spared when members of the Pyke syndicate and Black Sun intervene, allowing their capture of the Sith Lord. Up in space Maul captures Grievous aboard his command ship and informs Mother Talzin of their success. She promises her son that with the two captured, Sidious will soon follow and they will finally have revenge against him.

In Son of Dathomir 3 following the success of the assault on Ord Mantell, Maul retreats to a hidden base on a meteor where Talzin appears to Dooku from Maul's chest and reveals she has a history with Sidious and was betrayed by him, as Maul was and Dooku will be when his master finds a new apprentice. Dooku agrees to fight on Maul's side, though this is by the command of Sidious. After a fight with the Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Tiplee and Aayla Secura - in which Dooku kills Tiplee - Maul and Dooku retreat in a shuttle, where they travel to Dathomir to meet up with Mother Talzin. The Jedi are led to believe that Dooku is the Sith Lord, which Palpatine (the true Sith Lord) allows them to believe. He now knows where he can find the Nightsister.

The events surrounding Talzin and Maul come to a conclusion in Son of Dathomir 4, which is billed as being the "conclusion to Darth Maul's saga". Maul travels with Dooku - who has now been incarcerated by Maul, knowing he remains faithful to Sidious - to a monastery on Dathomir, where they meet up with Viscus and the other Nightbrothers, who are preparing for a ritual in which Mother Talzin will return to a true body from the spirit world.

Talzin's spirit appears out of a carved block of stone and enters Dooku's body, draining the force from within in that will allow the Nightsister to become corporal once more.

As Dooku is subject to Talzin taking over his body, Darth Sidious and General Grievous arrive undetected on Dathomir and blast their way through the wall of the monastery. With the ritual still incomplete, Talzin attacks and duels Sidious possessing the Count's body, while her son fights Grievous with the dark-saber. Maul overwhelms the Kaleesh warlord uses a Force push to throw him through the wall, but Sidious overpowers Talzin and bombards Dooku's body with Sith lightning, forcing her to relinquish him. She has, however, drained enough from Dooku to become corporal again.

Final Confrontation and Demise
Mother Talzin appears before Sidious embodied once again from the spirit world. She uses her Nightsister magick to attack the Sith Lord, who retaliates with his own lightning attack. Maul urges Talzin to take his strength in order to overcome his former master, while Dooku recovers from his possession - able to retrieve his lightsaber and add his own lethal lightning to that of his master. Talzin fends off both Sith by placing a magick shield around herself and Maul, but General Grievous returns during the fight.

Maul again urges Talzin to escape with him, but she says he will be killed if she lets down her defences. Maul protests, but Talzin uses telekinesis to force him away from the fight, where Mandalorian troopers drag Maul onto a shuttle leaving Dathomir.

Maul screams in horror as he sees Grievous return and ignite two lightsabres, while Talzin falls to her knees, weakened by rebuffing Sidious and Dooku's attacks. The Kaleesh warlord then proceeds to fatally impale Mother Talzin through the chest, after which her magick fades from her body as she turns to stone. Maul escapes after witnessing her death, just as CIS troops arrive to take control of Dathomir.

Dooku apologizes to Sidious for allowing Maul to escape again, but Sidious assures his apprentice that with Mother Talzin's death Maul's destiny has been destroyed and neither he nor the Nightsisters cult remain a threat to his plans.

Personality
Mother Talzin was a manipulative witch and showed different aspects of her personality depending on who she interacted with. As the Shaman of the Dathomir Witches, Talzin taught them to be loyal to no one but themselves and their sisters and as their leader they obeyed her without question. Acting as a mother figure she was very sympathetic with Asajj Ventress aiding her and giving her hugs. Although showing she had a sympathetic and compassionate side, Mother Talzin was also lying to Ventress to further her own goals helping Savage Opress after he betrayed her and sending him on a quest to find his brother. Ultimately, Talzin's greatest attachment was to her 'beloved son' Maul. She loved him very deeply and ultimately sacrificed herself to save him from Sidious and his minions.

She acted boldly when the Confederacy invaded her home and fought for her clan, but when she saw the massacre wiping out the witches she fled. Talzin was a sexist who believed females were dominant and the men, the Nightbrothers, were below them. She also displayed a snarky and dismissive side when confronted by Mace Windu, sarcastically telling him that she was a "simple witch" and beneath his attention. In her lust for power she was also willing to sacrifice innocent Bardottans including Queen Julia, in order to enhance her own powers.

Magick Abilities
Mother Talzin was a dark and powerful witch and mistress of the dark magicks able to wield spirit ichor that flowed from the depths of Dathomir. She had a strong different connection to the Force. As Clan Mother she led the Nightsisters when they casted incantations when they transformed Savage Opress and made Asajj Ventress into a Nightsister and the spell that disguised the Sisters and Ventress invisible. She had mind power as well being able to put someone to sleep with the touch of her finger. She could do divination able to locate anyone by looking into her crystal ball. Talzin could do voodoo using her powers to torture Count Dooku on a far away planet. Talzin displayed the ability to dematerialize her body, transforming into smoke and appearing from wisps of green mist before Savage when he returned.

Using her magicks, she was able to repair Darth Maul's damaged mind and created a fully functional set of new legs formed from scattered droids. When fighting Talzin could create a protective bubble and launching green Force lightning while holding the shield. She could produce her own version of a lightsaber from magick and spirit ichor and held her own against Mace Windu and the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious with her magicks against his dark side abilities, showcasing that she is a skilled duelist, though she is not trained like one. Mother Talzin could use telekinesis able to lift objects such as her crystal ball and levitate herself. She could create items and incinerate them such as the silver orb and set things on fire as shown with the cauldron that contained the voodoo doll and conjured a drinking cup of black root for the Count when he visited.

Talzin's magicks were the mightiest when she remained on Dathomir but when she went off world she could vanish and appear into the spirit realm just by walking such as she did when she traveled to Zardossa Stix. Talzin for a time survived without a body. In the Nightbrother village in a secret lair stood a single stone column which was said to be the heart of her power. It was there that her spirit possessed Dooku, draining his life energy to regain her lost bodily form, but upon the stone's destruction she died.

Quotes
Mother Talzin's speech was both deep and eerie backed by an otherworldy echo. She spoke spells and other manipulative sentences to gain her way. "Where one sees failure, others see opportunity"

- Talzin to the Sisters. "You have an important destiny to fulfill, Savage Opress. You, and your brother"

- Talzin

"Do you pledge yourself to the sisterhood, to the magicks, and the old ways? Do you abandon your old life for this new one? Your loyalty, your life. You are now reborn a Sister of the Night! Welcome."

- Talzin baptizing Ventress

"He should be more careful when making deals with witches."

- Talzin

"You're going to die either way, it's only a matter of how painful it will be."

- Talzin torturing Dooku

"It is over, Sister. This chapter is over. Your destiny will always be linked with ours, but you have your own path to follow now."

- Talzin tells Asajj to start a new life

"Yes, Savage, you are getting closer and closer. Soon you and your brother will be reunited. I must make the necessary preparations."

- Talzin

"Shall we? Dooku sent his minions to destroy us, but we will survive. We always have."

- Talzin stating the Nightsisters will always live

"Come. Let us fix what has been broken. Come to me. Come to me. Follow us, son of Dathomir. Follow me, lost one. Come, child of Dathomir. Follow me."

- Talzin luring Maul with magick to Savage

"Arise, Maul, reborn son of Dathomir."

- Talzin after healing Darth Maul

"It may help you to know however, that I am not a natural Force wielder like the Jedi or Sith. I use dark magic to achieve power."

- Talzin to Queen Julia

"As a Bardottan, you possess a strong connection to the Living Force, a connection that will now be mine. With the combined power of your spirit and my dark magic, I will become more powerful than any Sith or Jedi."

- Talzin to Julia