Summary
- Baylan Skoll's knowledge of Anakin Skywalker and his experience with Order 66 shape his mission to prevent similar atrocities from happening again.
- While Star Wars portrays Anakin as the Chosen One who brought balance to the Force, Baylan believes that Anakin failed in his mission.
- Baylan seeks to follow in the footsteps of the Father and achieve what Anakin was supposed to. However, controlling the powerful Mortis gods may prove to be a challenge for him.
The Ahsoka series introduced the late Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll with a bang, as he began episode 1 by mimicking Darth Vader’s iconic hallway slaughter. This has even more significance when he reveals that he once knew Anakin Skywalker, and that he knows Anakin transformed into Vader. In the finale, Baylan discovers statues of the ancient Mortis gods from The Clone Wars and Rebels, who are supposedly what he’s been searching for the entire show. In more ways than one, the fact that Baylan knows about Anakin’s failure and the fact he’s searching for the Mortis gods are intrinsically tied together.
Baylan’s experience with Order 66 is the key to his story. The utter destruction of the Jedi Order taught him how fragile power can be. Anakin—who many Jedi knew as the fabled “Chosen One”—was meant to lead the Jedi into an era of peace and balance against the dark side. Instead, he turns on the Order he’d come to call home and slaughters the Jedi indifferently. Baylan watched as the one who was meant to save them ended up becoming their downfall, and this acts as a catalyst for his character in Ahsoka. His whole quest revolves around preventing the atrocities of Order 66 from ever happening again.
