The Ones

"We are the ones who guard the power. We are the middle, the beginning, and the end."

―The Daughter^[6]

The Ones,^[2] also known as the Mortis gods,^[7] were a powerful family of Force wielders that resided on the planet Mortis.^[2] They consisted of the Son, who aligned with the dark side of the Force, the Daughter, who was aligned with the light side of the Force, and the Father, who represented the balance of the Force.^[6] Both the Son and the Daughter were immortal^[8] so long as the Father remained alive.^[9] They could only be killed by the Dagger of Mortis.

In 20 BBY, the family encountered the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padawan Ahsoka Tano. During that encounter, the Father attempted to convince Skywalker to assume his role as the balance between the Son and Daughter.^[6] However, the Son attempted to prevent Skywalker from assuming that role, leading to a conflict that ended with the deaths of the Daughter^[10] and the Father, who killed himself to allow Skywalker to defeat the Son.^[9]

The family was depicted in a painting on the Lothal Jedi Temple, which served as a portal to the World Between Worlds.^[3] The Ones were also depicted as sculptures on the extragalactic planet of Peridea, carved into the face of a rocky mountain, overlooking a valley towards a starry peak.^[11]

History[]

Background[]

MysteriesOfTheForce-SoH — The legend of the Ones, as depicted on Lothal

The Ones resided in the ethereal realm of Mortis, which existed on the spiritual plane in the remote Chrelythiumn system of Wild Space. The family was Force-sensitive and embodied the different ways of tapping into the Force.^[6] Both the Son, who embodied the dark side of the Force, and the Daughter, who embodied the light side of the Force, were immortal^[8] so long as the Father lived and kept the Force from tipping out of balance.^[9] The Son and the Daughter were capable of shapeshifting into a gargoyle and a griffin, respectively.^[6]

While Mortis served as both a sanctuary and prison for the family,^[6] there was a belief that it was the origin point of the Force^[8] and acted as a conduit for all things connected to it, which allowed the Father to keep watch over the balance of the Force throughout the entire galaxy.^[6] However, midi-chlorians, which bound all living things to the energy field and its will, originated at the Wellspring of Life near the center of the galaxy. Although the Daughter remained loyal to the Father, the Son succumbed to the dark side's corruption and sought to supplant his Father, threatening to upend the balance.^[10]

Prior to the Imperial Era, The Ones were depicted in a painting on the Lothal Jedi Temple, which served as a portal to a spiritual realm known as the World Between Worlds.^[3] In addition, the Ones were also known on the extragalactic planet of Peridea in the Far galaxy. There, sculptures in their image were carved into the face of a rocky mountain, overlooking a valley towards a starry peak.^[11]

The Chosen One[]

FatherAnakin-Overlords — Anakin Skywalker meeting the Father.

During the Clone Wars, news reached the Father that the Chosen One, a prophesied figure in Jedi legend who would bring balance to the Force, had been found. The Father lured the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, to Mortis, which intrigued both the Son and the Daughter. Putting his plan into action, the Father used a 2,000 year old Jedi distress signal to lure Skywalker and his comrades Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padawan Ahsoka Tano to the Chrelythiumn system. There, the Jedi's shuttle was pulled into a gigantic crystal-shaped structure known as the Mortis monolith.^[6]

Shortly after landing, the Daughter revealed herself to Skywalker and his Jedi comrades and offered to take him to the Father. On the way, the Daughter and Skywalker were separated from Kenobi and Tano by a rock sent by the Son. Though the Daughter asked him to wait, Skywalker instead decided to send Kenobi and Tano back to their ship to call for help. Kenobi and Tano returned to their landing side only to discover the shuttle gone. The Son introduced himself to the two Jedi, asking Kenobi if Skywalker was indeed the "Chosen One."^[6]

Later that night, Skywalker traveled to a monastery where he encountered an old man, who turned out to be the Father. After Skywalker, Kenobi and Tano received separate visions (of his mother Shmi, the Force Ghost of his late master Qui-Gon Jinn and a future version of herself respectively), Skywalker confronted the Father, who introduced himself and his Children. After explaining the identity of the Ones, the Father told Skywalker that he and his Jedi comrades were free to leave once Skywalker had undergone a test to prove that he was indeed the Chosen One and for Skywalker to confront his own guilt.^[6]

The following morning, Skywalker faced this test: the Son and Daughter had kidnapped Tano and Kenobi, and Skywalker was forced to choose whom he would save. Skywalker used Mortis' Force-amplifying properties to force the Son and Daughter to release their hostages and assume their humanoid forms. After commending Skywalker for passing the test, the Father invited the Jedi Knight to assume his true role as the balance between his children but warned that he would endanger the galaxy if he chose to leave. Despite his strong misgivings, Skywalker chose to leave.^[6]

The Son goes rogue[]

TheOnesDaughterDeath-AOM — The Daughter sacrificed herself to save the Father from the Son.

Before the Jedi visitors could leave in their starship, the Son put his plans into action. After failing to convince Skywalker to embrace the dark side in a dream, he kidnapped Tano and spirited her away to his cathedral. There, the Son infected Tano with the dark side, corrupting her. While Skywalker headed to the cathedral to rescue his Padawan, Kenobi sought out the Father. Meanwhile, the Father argued with the Son, urging him to let go of the dark side. The Son refused and attacked the Father with Force lightning before fleeing.^[10]

Kenobi arrived at the Mortis monastery and attempted to convince the Daughter to help him stop the Son from leaving Mortis. Though the Daughter refused to raise her hand against her brother, she showed Kenobi the Dagger of Mortis, the only weapon capable of harming the Son. At the Son's cathedral, Skywalker was forced to fight a corrupted Tano, who had been turned into a pawn of the Son. Kenobi accompanied the Daughter to confront the Son. The Daughter resolved not to let her brother leave the planet. While Kenobi went to help Skywalker, the Daughter faced down the Son in a contest of Force powers. Despite his weakened state, the Father also entered the fray and ended the fight between his children. The Son gained the upper hand over the Father, overwhelming him with Force lightning.^[10]

During the fight, Tano managed to take the Dagger from Kenobi before he could hand it to Skywalker. The Father was horrified that the Daughter had revealed the existence of the Dagger to the offworlders. Tano then passed the Dagger to the Son. Having outlived her usefulness, the Son then drained her life force, killing her. An enraged Skywalker attacked the Son but was repelled by the powerful Force wielder. Before the Son could stab the weakened Father with the Dagger of Mortis, the Daughter threw herself between, taking the blade meant for her Father. Overcome by the guilt of fatally wounding his sister, the Son fled.^[10]

In her final moments, the Daughter used Skywalker as a conduit to resurrect Tano from the dead, while also purging the darkness with her. Due to the death of the Daughter, the balance of the Force was upset, and Mortis begin descending into darkness. The grieving Father implored the Jedi to leave before Son can take their ship to escape the planet. He also warned them that with the balance disrupted, the dark side and the Sith would gain the upper hand in the galaxy. He warned the Jedi to escape before the Son could escape offworld in their starship. The Jedi then left him to mourn his fallen Daughter.^[10]

Fall of the Mortis Gods[]

SonsDeath-GhostsOfMortis — The Father and the Son embrace each other in their final moments.

While laying the fallen Daughter to rest in her crypt, the Father expressed regret for believing he could control the future. He also laid the Dagger of Mortis on her chest. After sealing her tomb, the Father was met by Skywalker, who offered to help. The Father declined Skywalker's offer, fearing that his Son would use the Jedi Knight's Force powers to tip the balance of the Force, wreaking havoc in the galaxy. The Father resolved to kill the Son in order to stop him from endangering the galaxy. Before Skywalker left, the Father told him that the Force would not decide their fates and to search inside himself for the answer to what must be done.^[9]

After receiving guidance from the Force ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn, Skywalker travelled to the Well of the Dark Side in the depths of Mortis to confront the Son. The Father later traveled to the Jedi starship and told Kenobi and Tano about Skywalker's whereabouts. Despite the Father's warning not to interfere, Kenobi departed on his speeder bike to aid Skywalker and tasked Tano with guarding their ship. The Son tried to convince Skywalker not to fight him and showed him a vision of the future. In that vision, Skywalker witnessed his fall to the dark side, the death of his wife Padmé Amidala and transformation into Darth Vader. The Son appealed to Skywalker to join him to prevent this vision from coming to pass.^[9]

Kenobi reached the Well only to discover that Skywalker had been corrupted. Skywalker tossed Kenobi's speeder bike into the magma and warned Kenobi that the Jedi would be an obstacle to ending the Clone Wars. The Son struck Kenobi with Force lightning. After Skywalker left on his speeder bike, the Son told Kenobi that Skywalker was his now. Under the Son's influence, Kenobi returned to the Jedi shuttle. However, Kenobi had warned Tano about Skywalker's fall to the dark side and told her to disable the ship. Tano then stole Skywalker's speeder bike and rescued Kenobi from the Well of the Dark Side.^[9]

Skywalker briefed the Son about the situation. Fearing that the Father and the other two Jedi would be too powerful for them, the Son departed to recover the Dagger of Mortis from the Daughter's crypt. The Son confided his familial love for his fallen Sister. In the Son's absence, the Father confronted Skywalker, who explained that he had joined forces with the Son to prevent the terrible vision of the future from happening. Fearing that this vision would destroy balance and affect the future, the Father purged Skywalker's memories of the vision stating that his Son "broke the laws of time" and showed him what he never should have seen.^[9]

The Father brought Skywalker to the Mortis monastery and explained that he had erased his memory of the future vision. Shortly later, Skywalker was joined by Kenobi and Tano. Skywalker resolved to stop the Son. The Father agreed but warned that they had only one chance. The Son soon arrived at the monastery. The Father pleaded with the Son not to leave for the last time. The Son countered that Mortis was not his destiny. The Father warned that the Son's actions would destroy all that is good. Unwilling to reason with his Son, the Father told him that he must do what was necessary.^[9]

The Jedi attacked the Son but he swept them away easily with his Force powers. The Father then proceeded with his plan to stop the Son by plunging the Dagger of Mortis into his own chest. The Son was horrified by the Father's suicide. Mortally wounded, the Father explained that his Son's powers were connected to his mortality. In the Father's final moments, the two Force wielders embraced each other. This moment allowed Skywalker to kill the Son with his lightsaber, with the Son exclaiming that his father had betrayed him. With his dying breath, the Father told Skywalker that he was the Chosen One who would save the galaxy. Subsequently both the Son and the Father fell to the ground, with the latter disappearing, leaving behind only his robes. ^[9]

The death of the Father caused the realm of Mortis to disappear, bringing the Jedi back to their galaxy. Skywalker, Kenobi and Tano learned that only a moment had passed since they had lost contact with Rex's Jedi cruiser.^[9]

Legacy[]

MonumentToTheOnes-Ahsoka-PartEight — Sculptures of the Father, the Son and a damaged Daughter on the extragalactic world of Peridea.

Prior to the Liberation of Lothal, Imperial and Mining Guild forces led by Minister Veris Hydan discovered a painting of the Ones (whom he called the "Mortis gods") during their excavation of the Lothal Jedi Temple. Emperor Palpatine believed that this painting served as a portal to a mystical realm known as the World Between Worlds. Hydan also believed that the painting could help unlock the secrets of the Lothal temple. With the help of the Mandalorian rebel Sabine Wren, the Jedi Ezra Bridger was able to unlock the painting, which created a portal to the World between Worlds.^[3]

Hydan captured Wren and interrogated her about unlocking the portal. During their interrogation, Hydan also discussed the Mortis gods, describing them as prominent figures in Jedi history. Hydan and Wren realized that the figures of the Ones held the key to the gateway's locking mechanism. Inside the World between Worlds, Bridger saved Tano from being killed by Darth Vader on Malachor by pulling her through a portal. The two then escaped Palpatine, exiting through different portals. Back on Lothal, Bridger sealed the gateway with the help of fellow rebels Garazeb Orrelios and Chopper. Their actions caused the Lothal Jedi Temple to collapse back into the planet, locking away its secrets from the Empire. Hydan also perished during the collapse.^[12]

During the New Republic era, the former Jedi General and mercenary Baylan Skoll sensed something stirring on the extragalactic world of Peridea.^[13] During his quest, Skoll came across two sculptures of the Father and the Son carved into a mountain. While standing on the outstretched arm of the Father, Skoll stared at the mountains beyond towards the apparent source of the power calling to him; a flashing beacon of light off the farthest mountain.^[11]