Why Thrawn & The Nightsisters Couldn’t Return From Peridea Without Morgan’s Help

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Ahsoka episode 6.
Summary Peridea is the end of the road for the purrgil, serving as a graveyard for these massive creatures. The planet is surrounded by the scattered remains of purrgil, creating a ring of debris. The Nightsisters couldn’t ride with the purrgil because they go to Peridea to die.
Contradicting the idea of the purrgil’s one-way journey, Morgan Elsbeth speaks of Peridean ancestors riding the purrgil to Star Wars’ primary galaxy in the past. Their migration routes may have changed over millennia. It’s also possible that environmental changes or the depletion of Clouzon-36, a gas the purrgil consume for hyperspace travel, contributed to Peridea becoming a graveyard.
The purrgil are fascinating creatures in the Star Wars universe and play an important role in the overall narrative. The Ahsoka series further highlights their significance and adds depth to their lore. New episodes of Ahsoka air on Disney+ on Tuesdays at 6pm PT / 9pm ET.
Grand Admiral Thrawn and the remaining Peridean Nightsisters couldn’t return to Star Wars’ prime galaxy in Ahsoka without Morgan Elsbeth’s help – and there’s a disturbing reason why. Ahsoka has changed Star Wars forever with the introduction of a second galaxy, as its heroes travel the pathway to Peridea. Travel between the two galaxies isn’t easy, though, with Morgan Elsbeth forced to construct a gigantic hyperspace ring to make the journey, while Ahsoka Tano and Huyang have hitched a ride with Star Wars’ space whales the purrgil.
Morgan Elsbeth has traveled to Peridea in response to a summons from three Nightsisters of Dathomir who are working with Grand Admiral Thrawn. But the purrgil managed to bring Thrawn, his armies, and the young Jedi Ezra Bridger to Peridea in one piece after the battle for Lothal in Star Wars Rebels’ series finale; and the Nightsisters, like Ezra, utilize the Force in their unique way. So why didn’t they simply ride with the purrgil, as Ahsoka and Ezra have both done?
Peridea Is Where Purrgil Go To Die
Ahsoka episode 6, “Far, Far Away,” makes it clear that Peridea is the end of the road for the purrgil. Baylan Skoll says Peridea is where the purrgil go to die and that the planet is essentially a graveyard for these massive creatures. It’s clear the stories he was told as a child within the Jedi Order were true – the swathes of space surrounding Peridea are littered with the scattered remains of the purrgil, as massive skeletal structures have created a giant ring of debris around the planet. If Peridea is where the purrgil end their final journeys, it makes sense that the Nightsisters were never able to ride away with them and were forced to find other means.
Related: 11 Star Wars Easter Eggs In Ahsoka Episode 6
Was Peridea Always A Purrgil Graveyard?
And yet, Ahsoka episode 6 also contradicts the idea the pathway to Peridea has always been a one-way journey for the purrgil. Morgan Elsbeth, a descendant of the Nightsisters, speaks of her Peridean ancestors riding the purrgil towards Star Wars’ prime galaxy “in the days before time was counted,” where they then, presumably, settled on Dathomir. So, when did Peridea become a purrgil graveyard? Perhaps the purrgil migration routes simply changed; millennia have passed since the Peridean Nightsisters traveled to another galaxy. Maybe Star Wars’ secondary galaxy is where these creatures originate from, and it is simply where they choose to die. However, there is another possible explanation, one that would suggest a specific environmental change was a bigger factor.
In Star Wars Rebels, it was established that the purrgil consume the gas Clouzon-36 for hyperspace travel, just as all hyperspace-capable spaceships in Star Wars do, too. In Rebels, the purrgil are a dull shade of gray before they “refuel” and a bright purple color with yellow accents afterward. The live-action purrgil in Ahsoka are noticeably gray, even as they travel towards what Ahsoka hopes to be Peridea. Perhaps Star Wars’ secondary galaxy has run out of Clouzon-36 or similar hyperspace fuels, leaving the purrgil stranded after such a long hyperspace journey. Whatever the case may be, the purrgil have always been some of Star Wars’ most fascinating creatures, and the Ahsoka show has only made them all the more compelling and important to the overarching narrative.
Ahsoka releases new episodes Tuesdays at 6pm PT / 9pm ET on Disney+.