Can Star Wars' Most Powerful Force God Abeloth Be Killed?

Eldritch horror may not be the first thing that fans think of when someone says "Star Wars," but that doesn't mean the mega-popular space opera franchise hasn't dipped its toe into concepts equal parts terrifying and existential from time to time. In fact, one of the most enduring fixtures of pre-Disney "Star Wars" canon is an powerful entity containing such a divine wickedness that it took an alliance between the Jedi and the Sith just to keep her at bay.

First introduced in Del Rey's "Fate of the Jedi" series of novels, Abeloth is a malevolent Force entity that has existed for over a hundred thousand years. Once a mortal woman and a servant of the Mortis Gods, Abeloth became an immortal agent of chaos after bathing in the Pool of Knowledge. In "Legends" continuity, the rise of Sith Lord Darth Caedus stirs Abeloth from her ancient slumber, and she haunts the galaxy far, far away until Luke Skywalker, his peers, and his enemies all unite to take her down.

As far as scary "Star Wars" villains go, Abeloth is up near the top. Considering that she's an immortal being, some fans are no doubt wondering whether such an entity can ever be permanently destroyed. Signs actually point to the answer being yes, but the full explanation is a tad complicated.

One of the important distinctions to make regarding Abeloth is that the entity has never actually been killed in "Star Wars" — at least, not permanently. At the end of the "Fate of the Jedi" series, Abeloth is "killed" by Luke Skywalker and his allies in the sense that all of her corporeal avatar forms throughout the galaxy are destroyed. However, she's not really dead at this point, as her essence still lurks within the Force. Luke even fully acknowledges that some day, Abeloth will likely return to strength, and the Jedi will need to be ready when the time comes.

If destroying every physical instance of her across the universe isn't to overcome the barrier of Abeloth's immortality, some might assume that the idea of ever permanently getting rid of her is just plain impossible. However, that's actually not the case. In fact, following the events of "Fate of the Jedi," Luke and his allies devise a plan to permanently kill Abeloth should she ever return, and it involves a certain powerful weapon from "Star Wars" history.

In the 2013 novel "Star Wars: Crucible," Luke and his fellow Jedi embark on a galaxy-wide search for the Dagger of Mortis, the same special weapon that the Republic uses to kill the Mortis Gods in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." They believe that the weapon is the sole weakness of the Mortis Gods, and thus, the only way to kill Abeloth once and for all. There's just one problem: they don't find the dagger by the end of the book, and "Star Wars" canon was rebooted soon after, leaving the search for the dagger on something of a cliffhanger and its potential effectiveness on Abeloth untested.