Warning: SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett episode 3, "The Streets of Mos Espa."
The Book of Boba Fett's passing mention of the Witches of Dathomir suggests that a lost chapter of Star Wars mythology may once again be canon. The Witches of Dathomir were created in 1994 and were developed throughout many of the tie-in materials created before the release of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. However, much of this history was retconned by the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, consigning most of the lore regarding the Witches of Dathomir to Star Wars Legends.
After their attempt to assassinate Boba Fett in The Book of Boba Fett episode "The Streets of Mos Espa" failed, the Hutt twins and their clan attempted to pay reparations by offering the bounty hunter a pet rancor and the services of a professional rancor keeper as a gift. The rancor keeper advised Fett on how to properly care for the beast, noting that rancors were far more intelligent, loving and peaceful than most people realized. The rancor keeper then told Fett that the Witches of Dathomir were said to have trained rancors so that they could be ridden through the forests and fens of their homeworld.
While this seemed like a simple line meant to add depth to an unexplored aspect of the Star Wars universe, the rancor keeper's tale of the Witches of Dathomir served far more purpose than giving Boba Fett the idea of riding a rancor to show his strength. The tale of the rancor keeper (played by Danny Trejo in a cameo role) also paid homage to one of the more popular groups from the classic Star Wars novels. However, the specific mention of the Witches of Dathomir, rather than the more famous Nightsisters clan, suggests that some of the old lore might have been restored by The Book of Boba Fett.
The Witches Of Dathomir In Star Wars Legends Explained
The Witches of Dathomir first appeared in the Dave Wolverton novel The Courtship of Princess Leia. Set four years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the novel found Leia Organa considering a political marriage with Prince Isolder of the wealthy Hapes consortium. This would have cemented a key alliance for the New Republic and provided a home for her people following the destruction of Alderaan. Desperate not to lose the love of his life, Han Solo abducted Leia and took her to the remote world of Dathomir, which he had won while gambling and hoped to give to Leia. Unfortunately, Dathomir was not quite as undeveloped as Han had been informed, with the wilds being populated by a number of human tribes ruled by the Witches of Dathomir.
Also known as the Daughters of Allya, the Witches of Dathomir were said to have been established by the rogue Jedi Knight Allya, who had been exiled to Dathomir 600 years before the Battle of Yavin. Allya was surprised to find that Dathomir, which had been used in the Old Republic era as a penal colony in the same way the British Empire utilized Australia, had developed a modest population of humans. Allya established a tribal society, comparable to the Amazons of myth, in that in was matriarchal in nature, with Force-wielding women acting as the nobility. Using the Force, Allya domesticated the native rancor and developed a ritualized system of spells to better teach her daughters and granddaughters how to wield the Force. Allya also wrote a Book of Law, loosely based on the Jedi Code, which instructed her followers on how to properly use their "magic," with the final entry being based on Allya's final words, "Never concede to evil."
Witches who gave into the dark side of the Force, using what Allya had called "night spells," were cast out into the wilds of Dathomir. They rarely survived, until a Witch named Gethzerion united the outcast witches into a new clan, dubbed the Nightsisters, and began writing her own Book of Shadows detailing the spells and rituals she had created. Thankfully, Gethzerion's wild magic could not match the power wielded by Luke Skywalker and the Witches of Dathomir who held to the Book of Law. Dathomir would later join the New Republic after Han Solo gave the planet to the Witches and he and Leia were wed shortly thereafter.
How The Clone Wars' Nightsisters Link To The Witches Of Dathomir
The history of Dathomir and the Dathomiri people were changed radically following the release of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which introduced Dathomir into the Star Wars canon. Rather than being populated by refugee humans, Dathomir was retconned to have been populated by a subspecies of the Zabrak, who were native to the planet Iridonia. The Nightsisters were also presented as the dominant culture of Dathomir, with no indication of there being other tribes of Dathomir witches who rejected the use of the Dark Side of the Force.
The Nightsisters' first canon appearance came in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 3, episode 12, "Nightsisters." This episode established that Count Dooku's acolyte Asajj Ventress was a native of Dathomir and the daughter of a Nightsister. Ventress swore revenge on her former master, who had betrayed her at Darth Sidious' urging, and allied herself with the Nightsisters' Clan Mother Talzin, who had her own score to settle with Darth Sidious, who had abducted her son and trained him to become the Sith Lord Darth Maul.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars saw the Nightsisters turned into an infamous guild of assassins and mercenaries under Talzin's leadership. However, most of the Nightsisters were killed by General Grievous during what became known as the Battle of Dathomir. While several Nightsisters (including Asajj Ventress) were said to have survived, there is nothing in the canon Star Wars lore to suggest the order was reformed, nor much information on Dathomir and its people following the Clone Wars.
How Boba Fett's Witches Of Dathomir Reference Fits With Legends
The canon lore regarding Nightsisters and rancors is limited and contradictory. One book, Star Wars: The Dark Side, claims the Nightsisters formed an alliance with the rancors to prevent the snake-like Fromprath from colonizing Dathomir hundreds of years before the Battle of Yavin. Yet Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary claims that the Nightsisters domesticated the rancors. By contrast, the Witches of Dathomir in the Star Wars Legends reality were famed for their connection to the rancors. Each Witch was said to have formed a symbiotic relationship with the rancor who acted as their mount, with the Witches' superior senses augmenting the rancor's strength to make them both more efficient hunters. While this symbiosis was facilitated through the Force, the bonding process between Witch and rancor seems identical to the imprinting which Boba Fett underwent with his new pet.
What Boba Fett's Witches Of Dathomir Reference Means For Canon
With The Book of Boba Fett establishing the Witches of Dathomir as famed rancor riders, it has also raised the possibility of tribes besides Nightsisters existing in the New Republic era. This would offer an interesting area of exploration for future Star Wars projects, as the idea of a matriarchal society that wields the Force in a different way than the Jedi Knights would be something new. Certainly, the setting could benefit from having more female Star Wars characters and a Dathomir warrior, unused to how men act in the rest of the galaxy, could be an interesting protagonist for a new series.