#85 Season 4 Episode 19

“One must let go of the past to hold on to the future.”

Count Dooku is determined to have revenge against the Nightsisters of Dathomir after their betrayal. General Grievous launches an all-out droid attack against the magic-wielding witches, and Mother Talzin and Asajj Ventress lead the defense with all the dark powers at their command.

Massacre Preview and starwars.com Episode Guide.

Original Airdate: 24 February 2012

Writer: Katie Lucas

Director: Steward Lee

Concept Art and Trivia

Dooku’s order to Grievous (“Wipe the witches out. All of them.”) closely echoes Darth Sidious’s command prior to the Battle of Naboo. “Wipe them out. All of them.”

The graveyard of the Nightsisters is meant to resemble the trees found in the forests. The actual structures are built from branches, bones, animal skins and shells. The Nightsisters hang their mummified dead in a pod of animal skins that resemble the pods that hang from the living trees. Illustration by Pat Presley.

Be careful with the following incantation, because you might just raise an army of the undead: “Choono slalem denni tay’lori olee-ay. Lucheno vadem klavlane. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Villos susko kono lamal! Vlemon tagoo!”

In a reversal of what happens in Episode I, the battle droids look around as their opposing army — the undead Nightsisters — drop to the ground, no longer animated by a central controlling influence.

Longtime viewers of The Clone Wars will recognize the Defoliator tank, an experimental vehicle first seen in “Defenders of Peace,” an episode from the first season.