Star Wars: The Clone Wars will return next month with its seventh and final season, offering the creators the opportunity to finish out the beautiful story arcs they set up throughout the series. One of the best characters in the show was Asajj Ventress, and the show's last season might give fans the chance to see her become the galaxy's greatest bounty hunter.
At the start of the series, there was not a lot to differentiate Asajj from many of the other Sith previously seen in Star Wars canon. Apart from being a woman, she had the same sinister sneer and commitment to evil that her allies did, but over the course of the show, she became a wholly unique character. In accordance with the Rule of Two that controls the Sith, Palpatine ordered Dooku to slay his apprentice, but the plan didn't work.
Asajj survived and returned to her home planet of Darthomir, where her witch-like sisters tried to aid her in a path of revenge. The arc ended up being some of the best episodes that Clone Wars ever had, as eventually Dooku was forced to invade Darthomir with a droid army led by General Grievous. Despite all the mayhem and conflict, neither side ultimately saw the death of their enemy come to fruition. Lost and without anyone on her side, Asajj became a bounty hunter, quickly rising in the ranks.
The rest of Asajj's appearances in Clone Wars showed her steadily learning the ropes of bounty hunting, but along the way discovered a morality that made her a perfect anti-heroine. On a mission where she teamed up with a teenage Boba Fett, Asajj even ultimately betrayed Boba in order to save an innocent life. Boba's own revenge on Asajj was not seen, nor were the other toes Asajj stepped on along her way to pave her own path.
While Boba's reputation as an adult is well-established, the title of "Best Bounty Hunter in the Galaxy" sits up for grabs in the time between current events and Boba's adulthood. While Cad Bane may be a top contender for the spot, it seems clear that he is not as deserving of the title as Asajj.
As the only one of the three trained in the Force and as familiar with stealth and subterfuge as blunt force tactics, it's hard to see how either man could compare to her raw skills. While Cad Bane has been a recurring villain throughout the series, and Boba himself goes on to infamously serve the Empire in the Original Trilogy, Asajj is actually a bounty hunter that the audience can root for. She brings with her all of the skills and talents of the Sith, but with a heroic streak that neither Cad nor Boba can claim.
Asajj's story is almost certain to receive some focus in the last season of Clone Wars given its similarity to two other characters' arcs. When Asajj was last seen, she lost her lightsabers to Barriss Offee, a young Jedi who betrayed the Order under the belief they turned to the Dark Side. For that same crime, the series' sidekick, Ahsoka Tano, was banished from the Order when she was framed and decided to stay away even when her innocence was proven.
All three women represent a grey area between the Light and Dark Sides, and none of them had stories that ended conclusively in the series. While the novel Dark Disciple delves into Asajj's ultimate fate, just how her story intertwines with the two former Jedi and how that involves her rise through the criminal underworld remains an intriguing mystery.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 premieres Feb. 17 on Disney+.