Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Ahsoka Episode 6.
SinceAhsokastarted its villains have stood out from usual Star Wars antagonists. Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) may be aligned with the Dark Side of the Force, but he is not pure evil like Sith Lords such as Sheev Palpatine/Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid). He is working with theNightsisters of DathomirandGrand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), who plan to restore the Galactic Empire, for the time being, but he has his own separate goals, and he’s been relatively reluctant to use violence against his enemies, especially fellowformer Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson). His relationship with his apprentice, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), also seems much more earnest and trusting than the deceitful, backstabbing dynamics common to Sith duos. This has led many viewers to theorize that Baylan may redeem himself and turn back to the Light Side before the series ends, but the latest episode cast some doubt on this prediction. Although Baylan still stands apart from Sith and Imperial characters his words and actions in Episode 6 did solidify him as a genuine villain, no matter how reluctant he may be. Shin, on the other hand, came out of the episode looking more sympathetic than she ever has, and it now seems possible that she is the one with redemption in her future.
Back in Episode 4, Baylan promised Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) that if she gave him the map to theother galaxywhere Thrawn was stranded he would help her find her friend Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), who has also been stranded there since the end ofStar Wars Rebels. Sabine reluctantly agreed, despite knowing the threat Thrawn’s return to the regular Star Wars galaxy would pose to the New Republic. In Episode 6, Baylan, Shin, and Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) finally arrived at Peridea, a planet in the new galaxy that is the homeworld of the Dathomiri, with Sabine as their prisoner. After they met with Thrawn, the Grand Admiral personally spoke with Sabine, who he had battled several times duringRebels. Thrawn initially agreed to release Sabine and allow her to search the planet for Ezra.
However, after she departed he ordered Baylan and Shin to follow her, and, if she found Ezra, kill them both. Shin was visibly surprised by this and reminded Baylan of his promise. Thrawn pointed out that by allowing Sabine to reunite with Ezra before killing them Baylan had technically lived up to his end of the bargain, but Baylan’s expression conveyed a certain level of guilt, both for going ahead with the deed and disappointing Shin, and she was still visibly uncomfortable with the order.
Shin Is Beginning To Doubt Baylan on ‘Ahsoka’
While they were tracking Sabine, Shin asked Baylan if he knew Ezra from his time in the Jedi Order. He replied that he didn’t, as Ezra is a “Bokken Jedi” trained after the Order had already fallen and the Empire risen. Shin said that made him like her, but Baylan replied, “No. He was trained as a Jedi. You, I trained to be something more.” Shin then asked if he missed the Order. Baylan said that he missed, “the idea of it. But not the truth, the weakness. There was no future there,” leading Shin to ask if he really saw one “in this wasteland,” making it clear that she’s no longer certain the path they’re on is the correct one. It seems like she’s beginning to doubt her master, and with good reason. As charismatic as he is, it’s becoming clear that a lot of Baylan’s words are empty. They may not be as bad as the Sith but so far his and Shin’s actions quite simply make them Dark Side alternatives to Jedi, not some more enlightened kind of Force-users as he believes.
Shin seems to be close to realizing this and her acknowledgment of the similarities between her situation and Ezra’s suggests that there’s a chance she can be swayed away from the dark path she’s currently on. Baylan probably made her believe that his way was the only option for someone to connect to the Force in the current age but future encounters with Ezra, or Sabine and Ahsoka (who are also essentially Bokken Jedi) may be able to make her see that it’s still possible to align oneself with the Light Side, even without the structure provided by the Order.
The series’ writing would need to do some careful work to make a possible redemption arc for Shin believable. The character’s vulnerability in this episode was pretty surprising, as in the earlier installments she came across like a much more plainly evil character, with Sakhno’s performances even suggesting that she took a kind of sadistic pleasure in many of her violent actions. However, her past behavior could be attributed to her believing wholeheartedly that Baylan’s cause was the right one. Maybe if she realizes she’s been misled she will realize she was in the wrong and regret what she’s done, whichcould possibly even lead her to stand with Ahsoka and company against Baylan.
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Baylan Has Fallen Further Into the Dark Side Than His Apprentice
Baylan seemed less likely to rejoin the Light Side after this episode, as his reasons for working with Thrawn and the Nightsisters are now much clearer. He told Shin that the fall of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire were parts of an inevitable historical cycle of shifts in authority. He believes there is a great power of some sort on Peridea that he feels calling to him, and he said that he hopes to use it to end the cycle and create a kind of new beginning for the galaxy. But that plan makes him no different from the forces he claims to stand apart from. The Sith, Empire, and, to lesser extents, Jedi andNew Republic all used force to bring their ideas of how the galaxy should function into being. It sounds like Baylan plans to do the same, just with a new kind of weapon or army, so he’s really not doing anything to break the cycle. This hypocrisy may be his undoing, as it may push Shin away from him.
Still, while the chances of a redemption arc for Baylan are slimmer now, it’s not impossible. If Shin turns she could very well be the key to getting her master to do so as well. Given how reluctant he’s been to kill strangers like Ahsoka and Sabine maybe killing Shin is a line he won’t cross and if she stands against him, it could lead him to surrender, or even see the error in his ways and repent. That said, it seems equally likely after this episode thatthe master and apprentice might emulate the Sith by betraying one another, with the irony being that Shin could do so for good reasons, not the usual pursuit of power.
