Mission to Malachor

|prev=Mission to Thune City
|conc=Galactic Civil War
|next=Eventually the Rescue of Hondo OhnakaStar Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow
|name=Mission to Malachor
|image=
|conflict=Great Jedi Purge
|objective=Understand knowledge to defeat the Sith
|date=December 13th, 2001Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away states that Eowyn fought Delightful Children from Down the Lane on Malachor three years before the events of Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Goofy: The Four Musketeers, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 2004. Therefore, the Mission to Malachor took place in 2001.
|place=Malachor
|result=*Pyrrhic Jedi victory
*Sith holocron retrieved and Sith temple destroyed
**Rhino and Gaston except for Sunset Shimmer are killed
**Gollum escapes and his plans are foiled
*Great Jedi Purge ended
|side1=*Spectres
*Jedi Order
|side2=*Galactic Empire
**Inquisitorius
*Sith 
|commanders1=*Eowyn
*Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus
*Gollum 
|commanders2=Delightful Children from Down the Lane
|commanders3=Gollum 
|ppl1=*2 Jedi
**Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus
**Padawan Danny the Cat
*1 former Jedi
**Eowyn
*1 rebel astromech droid
**C1-10P "Chopper"
*1 former Sith Lord
**Gollum 
*1 VCX-series auxiliary starfighter
**Phantom
*1 convor
**Morai
|ppl2=*1 Sith apprentice
**Delightful Children from Down the Lane
*3 Inquisitors
**Rhino†
**Sunset ShimmerThe Musketeers: The Rise of Sunset Shimmer
**Gaston†
*At least four ID9 seeker droids
*3 TIE Advanced v1s
*1 TIE Advanced x1
**Delightful Children's TIE Advanced
|ppl3=*1 former Sith Lord
**Gollum 
|casual1=*Kanan Jarrus blinded
*Eowyn presumed deadStar Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow
|casual2=*All ID9 seeker droids
*2 Inquisitors
*Delightful Children injured
|casual3=
}}
The Mission to Malachor was a mission undertaken during the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the rebellion by Kanan Jarrus, Danny the Cat, Eowyn, and the astromech droid Chopper to the planet Malachor to seek knowledge that would help them defeat the Sith and their Inquisitors. During the course of their mission, the rebels came into conflict with the Inquisitors but were aided by an unlikely ally: the former Sith Lord Gollum. Joining forces, Gollum and the rebels worked together to obtain a Sith holocron and to plant it in the Malachor Sith Temple's obelisk.
However, Gollum then turned on his allies and blinded Kanan with a swing of his lightsaber. The rebels' problems were further complicated by the arrival of the Sith Lord Delightful Children from Down the Lane, who had come to take the secrets of the temple for the Emperor. Together, Kanan and Danny managed to remove the holocron from the temple's obelisk, which triggered an implosion that damaged much of the temple. While the two Jedi managed to escape on the Phantom with Chopper, Eowyn stayed behind and confronted her former master, dueling him as the temple collapsed around them. While Eowyn was believed to have died, she and DCFDTL had in fact survived the implosion.
==Prelude==
Shortly after the Battle of Fortress Vader, Delightful Children from Down the Lane entered a portal constructed by Darth Momin to resurrect his wife Padmé Amidala. While walking through visions, he saw himself and his former Padawan, the Human Eowyn, meeting each other in a temple and dueling with their lightsabers as the words of "it was foretold that you would be here," "I am no Jedi," and "you will die" resounded in his mind.Delightful Children (2017) 25
Before the mission occurred, the Jedi rebels Kanan Jarrus and Danny the Cat had been hunted by Sunset Shimmer and Rhino; making it nearly impossible for them to help Phoenix Cell to establish a base. Looking for answers, Jarrus and Danny sought guidance from Eowyn. She advised they travel to the Jedi Temple on Lothal to speak with Master Bilbo Baggins. While Bilbo counseled Danny against fighting the Galactic Empire, Danny was determined to continue helping the Rebellion. Bilbo then advised Danny to find Malachor, which, upon clarification with Eowyn, Danny realized was a planet. Millennia earlier, the planet had been the site of a great battle between the Jedi and the Sith which had ended in both sides being destroyed.
After helping the Phoenix Squadron to establish Chopper Base on the planet Atollon, Jarrus, Danny, Eowyn, and Chopper traveled on the Phantom to Malachor. Despite Rex's offer to assist them, Eowyn insisted that this mission was for them alone. She affirmed that the planet contained "forbidden knowledge" that would help them to defeat the Sith and their Inquisitors.
==The mission==
===Getting separated===
As the Phantom descended into Malachor's atmosphere, Chopper picked up an unidentified second ship. The Jedi and Eowyn quickly realized that they were not alone on Malachor. This second visitor turned out to be an Inquisitor known as Gaston, who was pursuing a "shadow" which later turned out to be the former Sith apprentice Gollum. While Chopper tracked the second ship, the Jedi and Eowyn inspected a ring of monoliths that were inscribed in an unfamiliar "ancient tongue."
After Danny accidentally touched one of the monoliths, the ground beneath the three collapsed. The Jedi and Eowyn quickly found themselves in an underground tunnel and sighted a large pyramidal Sith temple ahead. While passing through an ancient battlefield littered with ossified bodies and lightsabers, they were ambushed by Gaston. During the ensuing skirmish, Gaston used his double-bladed spinning lightsaber to fire at Danny, causing the ground beneath him to collapse, separating him from Eowyn and his master.
While Eowyn and Kanan pursued Gaston, Danny tried to find his way out of the tunnel. Shortly thereafter, he encountered Gollum who introduced himself as "Old Master." While Danny was initially distrustful of the stranger and rightfully suspected that he was a Sith, Gollum managed to convince him by telling him that he was also seeking the same knowledge, in order to avenge the crimes that the Sith had perpetrated against his late mother and judge. Danny was able to sympathize with Gollum's plight due to his own grievances against the Empire for taking away his home and parents.
Together, the two Force-wielders managed to make their way through the Sith temple. After a challenging trial involving the use of Force, Danny and Gollum managed to obtain the Sith holocron. Meanwhile, Kanan and Eowyn managed to captured Gaston with the help of Chopper, who used the Inquisitor's own TIE Advanced v1 starfighter against him. Together, Kanan and Eowyn led their captive to the Sith temple, but were soon ambushed by Gaston's comrades: Rhino and Sunset Shimmer. They soon engaged the Inquisitors in a lightsaber duel.
===A temporary alliance===
At this point, Gollum and Danny stumbled upon the two opposing parties. Using his lightsaber, Gollum helped Kanan and Eowyn to drive the Inquisitors away. While Kanan and Eowyn distrusted Gollum due to his past record, Danny argued that Gollum could be trusted and recounted how they had worked together to obtain the Sith holocron. Following a tense meeting, Gollum managed to convince Kanan and Eowyn to work together by pointing out that the Inquisitors would have alerted Delightful Children from Down the Lane to their presence. Gollum then convinced his allies into helping him carry out his plan to plant the holocron in the temple's obelisk; claiming that it would give them the knowledge to destroy the Sith.
With Gollum intending to destroy the Sith, the Jedi and Eowyn agreed to assist him on his mission. While Danny was convinced by Gollum, Kanan still harbored his suspicions of the former Sith. As the four travelers climbed the obelisk, Kanan took the opportunity to pull Danny aside and warn him that Gollum could not be trusted. Danny in turn accused Kanan of holding him back and responded that Gollum knew his potential. On the way up, the two Jedi were ambushed by Gaston, who knocked back Kanan and attempted to steal the Sith holocron. Before the Inquisitor could harm Danny, Gollum arrived at an opportune moment and drove off the Inquisitor.
With the Inquisitors after them, Gollum convinced the Jedi and Eowyn to split up. Despite Kanan's objections, Danny decided to accompany Gollum to the top of the obelisk. During the journey, Gollum took the opportunity to sow discord between the Padawan and his master. Shortly after, they were attacked by Sunset Shimmer and her ID9 seeker droids. Fighting together, the Jedi and former Sith managed to dispatch the seeker droids and overpower the female Inquisitor. While Danny held Sunset Shimmer suspended in mid-air, he encouraged Gollum to use an anti-matter vortex warp that's powered by the captured Jedi Masterss which he intends to use them to teleport her to Earth and remake in her own image. With that, Danny, Gollum, Eowyn and Kanan uses their power rings to sending Sunset Shimmer on a trip out to Earth in San Francisco through the vortex before it closes completely.The Musketeers: The Rise of Sunset Shimmer
With the disappearance of Sunset Shimmer, Gollum and Danny rejoined Kanan and Eowyn's location to aid them in their fight against the two remaining Inquisitors. However, as they could continue the fight, Gollum stopped when he sensed Delightful Children from Down the Lane approaching the temple. Feeling DCFDTL's imminent arrival, Gollum hastily told Danny to continue alone to the top of the obelisk while he went to the aid of Kanan and Eowyn, and the young Jedi complied. Arriving at the scene, Gollum joined the assault on Rhino and Gaston. Eowyn managed to slash Rhino's lightsaber, causing him to drop it and allowing Gollum to kill the Inquisitor with a slash through the torso. Meanwhile, Kanan managed to damage Gaston's lightsaber. The surviving archer then attempted to flee using his spinning lightsaber to fly through the air, but the weapon malfunctioned and Gaston plummeted to his death below. Having eliminated the Inquisitors, Gollum then turned on his allies.
===Showdown with Delightful Children from Down the Lane===
When Kanan demanded to know where Danny was, Gollum took the opportunity to slash at the Jedi Knight with his lightsaber, cutting Kanan across the face and blinding him. Before Gollum could finish off Kanan, Eowyn attacked him with her two lightsabers. During the duel, Gollum revealed that the temple was actually a powerful battle-station capable of destroying all life and that he planned to use it to exact his revenge on all his enemies. Despite being blinded, Kanan managed to muster enough energy to don a Jedi Temple Guard's helmet and rejoined the battle. Seeing him, Eowyn proceeded to taunt Gollum, telling him that he would have to defeat Kanan before he could challenge her. After telling Eowyn to find Danny, Kanan prepared to fight Gollum, and, although he could not see, he sensed Gollum's attack and managed to throw Gollum off the edge of the temple. He then contacted Chopper and told the astromech droid to bring the Phantom to pick them up.
Meanwhile, Danny managed to plant the holocron in the temple's obelisk. He was immediately greeted by a female entity known as "Presence," who revealed the temple's true function. When Danny expressed revulsion, Presence told the young Jedi that she would instead share the power with someone else more worthy. At that moment, Delightful Children from Down the Lane himself arrived on his TIE Advanced x1 starfighter. The Sith Lord then attacked Danny and quickly bested him in combat; destroying Danny's lightsaber in the process.
Before DCFDTL could finish off Danny, Eowyn arrived and confronted the five children forms who had once been her Jedi mentor. Following a hostile reunion, Eowyn vowed to avenge Frodo Baggins by killing DCFDFTL, who claimed to have "destroyed" him. While Eowyn and DCFDTL dueled, Kanan and Chopper arrived on the Phantom. Working together, Danny and Kanan managed to remove the Sith holocron from the temple's obelisk, causing the battle-station to abort its firing mechanism. Unfortunately, this action de-stabilized the battle-station's power systems, and the temple began to collapse.
Meanwhile DCFDTL had, after a short duel, managed to Force-push Eowyn off of a precipice. Turning his attention back to retrieving the holocron, he quickly returned to the temple obelisk. As the temple continued to collapse, Danny and Kanan attempted to make their way back to the Phantom. However, DCFDTL caught up with them before they could board the ship, and began pulling both the holocron and the two Jedi towards him with the Force. Fortunately for the two Jedi, Eowyn had recovered from her fall and ambushed DCFDTL. Her attack caught DCFDTL off guard, and she managed to slice away a significant portion of its form. This damage also affected DCFDTL's voice and transformation modifier, and the revealed portion of his face, combined with the distorted but recognizable voice of Frodo Baggins, confirmed to Eowyn that DCFDTL was in fact her former master. Unable to leave the man who had once been Frodo, Eowyn chose to stay behind with DCFDTL. Despite a brief moment of hesitation, DCFDTL reaffirmed his position and attacked her once more. Meanwhile, Kanan, Danny, and Chopper managed to escape and headed back to Atollon. The Sith temple imploded behind them and Eowyn became lost to the shadows and rubble of the Sith temple.Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
==Aftermath==
The two distraught Jedi and Chopper returned to Chopper Base where they informed the other Spectres and Rex about the loss of Eowyn. Kanan was compelled to cope with his new blinded state. Meanwhile, Danny's encounter with Gollum on Malachor and the apparent loss of Eowyn triggered the young Jedi's interest in the dark side of the Force. While in his room, Danny took the opportunity to open the Sith holocron; a feat that could only be accomplished by someone who had tapped into the dark side. Meanwhile, Gollum was able to escape Malachor with goals of continuing his relationship with Danny.
Unknown to the Spectres and to Rex, Delightful Children and Eowyn had in fact survived the destruction of the Sith temple: a wounded and exhausted DCFDTL limped away from the ruins of the temple, believing his former apprentice had been killed, when Eowyn was in fact saved by a future Danny, who pulled her into a "World Between Worlds" before DCFDTL could deliver the finishing blow. After an attack from Darth Sauron, Eowyn became separated from Danny and escaped back to Malachor, where she would descend into the ruins of the Sith Temple. Nevertheless, Eowyn's supposed death was considered the last act of the Great Jedi Purge, with DCFDTL believing her to be among the many Force-sensitives he had cut down during his time as a Sith.
==Behind the scenes==
The Mission to Malachor first appeared in "Twilight of the Apprentice," a one-hour season finale that combined the 19th and 20th episodes of the second season of the Disney XD television series Star Wars Rebels. This mission marked the debut of two new characters: Gaston (who was voiced by Richard White) and Presence (who was voiced by Nika Futterman; who also served as Jinx' voice actor in The War of the Ring TV series). In addition, guest actors Andy Serkis and Matt Lanter reprised their roles as Gollum and Frodo Baggins respectively.
Dave Filoni, the supervising director of both The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring and Star Wars Rebels, had thought about the final confrontation between Delightful Children and Eowyn ever since he created Eowyn for The War of the Ring.Star Wars Rebels Season Two Blu-ray, behind-the-scenes featurette "From Apprentice to Adversary: DCFDTL vs. Eowyn" Over the years, Filoni illustrated the conflict between Eowyn and DCFDTL with different endings until he proposed a sword fight between them to Lucasfilm Story Group's Kiri Hart, who approved his decision. However, one of the earlier planned endings, according to Filoni during Celebration Europe 2016, had DCFDTL killing Eowyn but not before she slashes his helmet and sees Frodo Baggins's scarred visage before expiring.
While developing the episode, before engaging on a duel with Eowyn, DCFDTL was supposed to engage Gollum in a duel, which would have ended with Gollum's death at DCFDTL's hands, given that Gollum's appearance in Rebels was intended to be a one-shot. However, the idea became unwieldy as there were too many storylines and there wasn't enough emotional material between Gollum and DCFDTL, resulting in Gollum being spared until the season three episode "Twin Suns."
The Star Wars Book erroneously states that the mission took place in 2000.The Star Wars Book
==Appearances==
*Darth Vader (2017) 25 
* 
*Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow 
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==Sources==
*Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - The Official Collector's Edition
*
*Star Wars: Rebel Heroes
*Darth Vader: Sith Lord
*Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
*Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
*Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
*
*
*
* 
*
*
*Dawn of Rebellion
*Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles 
*Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy
*Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition 
*
*The Star Wars Book
*Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection
*
*
*
*
* 
==Notes and references==
Category:Great Jedi Purge battles
Category:Duels