The Path of Fear

"The Path of Fear" is the seventh episode of the Disney+ Star Wars series Tales of the Empire. It premiered on May 4, 2024, and is the first episode of the second season.
==Synopsis==
Young Morgan Elsbeth seeks revenge after losing everything.
==Plot==
The Separatist droid army is decimating the Nightsisters on Dathomir. Young Morgan Elsbeth looks around at the destruction while her mother, Selena, imbues her handheld sickles with Nightsister magick to take on General Grievous. The two duel while Morgan watches from a distance in the chaos of war. Selena fights valiantly. Still, Grievous ultimately finishes her off, instructing his army of battle droids to wipe out the rest of the Nightsisters. Morgan hides out in a tree while the droids scour the forest for survivors. A commando droid walking underway spots her, however, and she is forced into combat. After a quick, fierce battle, she manages to get the upper hand by stabbing the commando up through its head. Completely drained and exhausted, she closes her eyes as the war rages around her.
When Morgan awakes, she is in the presence of strange women. She quickly learns this is Dathomir's mountain clan, more peaceful residents of the planet. They explain to her that the Nightsisters' magick is fading away, which is evident in the young Elsbeth's facial markings disappearing. The Matron takes Elsbeth to the edge of the mountain cliff, where she can see the decimation of her clan's land. Since she has nowhere left to go, she is invited to stay as a guest of the mountain clan. She accepts, but she hears the whispers from the young clan members who worry the same fate will befall them. After, the young women of the mountain clan are gathered for a hunting excursion. Morgan is paired with the Matron's daughter, Nali who she attempts to sway in her favor. After a droid ship flies over them, Morgan gives her the details of the Separatist attack on her sisters and how she watched her mother die, telling her they are right to be scared. Morgan Elsbeth pleads with Nali that they should learn to protect themselves should the droids find them, rather than live as pacifists. Back at their home, Nali brings her concerns up to her mother, who ensures her their way of pacifism will work and to not heed the words of Morgan.
After convincing a few mountain clan members that she knows where to get some weapons to defend them, Morgan and the girls recruit Nali to their cause. The group heads out toward the jungle where they enter a Nighsister armoury, but they are spotted by a probe droid on their way in. At the same time, the Matron looks for Nali in her room but cannot find her. Back at the armoury, the group is ambushed when they exit and the inexperienced mountain clan fighters are quickly overwhelmed. Morgan Elsbeth fights valiantly but is eventually overrun. Before the droids can finish them off, the Matron appears out of a portal of bright light. With a large, concentrated blast of white energy, she dispels the hoard of droids that had descended upon the group. After reminding Morgan that just because someone does not want to fight does not mean they cannot, she looks around for her daughter. Nali, badly injured, finally admits to seeing the mountain clan pacifism as the correct path before dying in her mother's arms. Before returning to the mountain clan with her daughter's lifeless body, the Matron tells Morgan that she pities her, for she can see that her dark path is set.
==Cast==
*Matthew Wood as General Grievous
*Lydia Look as Matron
*Cathy Ang as Morgan Elsbeth
*Daisy Lightfoot as Nali
*Diana Lee Inosanto as Selena
*Suzie McGrath as Witch #1
*Meg Marchand as Witch #2
*Gina Hermosillo as Witch #3
==Trivia==
*This episode takes place within the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Massacre".
*The Mountain Clan is from Star Wars Legends, having first appeared in Dave Wolverton's The Courtship of Princess Leia.
**The Nightsisters first appeared in The Courtship of Princess Leia as well.
*General Grievous quotes Darth Sidious from The Phantom Menace while commanding his droids: "Wipe Them Out...All Of Them".
*Subtitles reveal that Nightsister spells are spoken in an "alien language". The Ahsoka series established that the Dathomiri originated from another galaxy, so this language could very well be extragalactic in nature.
==Gallery==
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File:TOTE - 2x01 - The Path of Fear (3).png|Selena
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==External links==
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Category:Tales episodes