The Ahsoka finale is here, and it’s safe to say it’s not going to go down as a highlight in the annals of Star Wars legend. The further we got into its 45-minute runtime, the more obvious it became that we were not getting any answers, and that this was merely the MCU-style setup for a future story.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the finale was that it barely featured Ray Stevenson’s Baylan Skoll and Ivanna Sakhno’s Shin Hati. The former Jedi and his apprentice were by some distance the most interesting characters in Ahsoka, but this episode saw them shunted off to the sidelines, only appearing in very brief, dialogue-free scenes at the close of the episode.
For Ray Stevenson fans this will be especially depressing. The actor unexpectedly died in May 2023, meaning this brief scene will be his last performance in Star Wars. Even so, Baylan Skoll is now a notable dangling plot thread, and fans are wondering how Lucasfilm will resolve his story. So, what are the options when Ahsoka begins production on the very likely second season?
Somehow Baylan Skoll returned
Stevenson’s death must have caused panic in the Ahsoka team. By May 2023 the show had been in post-production for over six months. In ordinary times there may have been time for a quick rewrite and reshoot to alter the story to accommodate this real-life tragedy, but the WGA strike was by then underway, so this wasn’t an option.
Their only avenue must have been to proceed as planned, with Baylan Skoll almost certainly already factored into any Season 2 story arcs. As I see it, Lucasfilm have several options, some more palatable than others.
The simplest is to just recast the role. Stevenson brought a rare gravitas to the character and won’t be forgotten, but if his story must continue, I think audiences would accept another actor taking up the orange lightsaber given the real-world circumstances.
But we all know that Disney and Lucasfilm have other, more unnatural methods of bringing back the deceased. ILM has the tech to recreate Ray Stevenson digitally for a posthumous performance, either through a deep-faked CGI double, or by manipulating unused footage as it did with Carrie Fisher in The Rise of Skywalker.
That said, Disney has shown some restraint in using this tech, notably when it underlined that it wouldn’t digitally recreate Chadwick Boseman for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever because it would be distasteful. In addition, going this route would be controversial and expensive, so even though it’s possible, I think it’s currently unlikely.
Another route could be that Baylan Skoll’s story will continue in another medium. Perhaps his journey could carry on in Tales of the Jedi-style animation with another actor voicing him, or in a spin-off novel or comic? This could equally apply to his mysterious past, and I’d love to see the moment he decided to split from the Jedi Order and took Shin as his Padawan.
Finally, Lucasfilm could just say Baylan Skoll died off-screen, and give his tweaked story arc to Shin Hati. This would sidestep many of the above issues, but would also leave fans forever wondering whatever happened to such an interesting former Jedi.
My preference would be to recast rather than any kind of digital necromancy. A posthumous performance is just about palatable when it’s a brief scene, but a full season with a deep-faked Ray Stevenson is going to feel creepy even if the VFX are perfect (and let’s face it, they wouldn’t be).
When will we know?
Ahsoka didn’t conclude with a stinger confirming the show would return, and Disney CEO Bob Iger has been public about slowing down the streaming release schedule. We also know that Ahsoka Tano will play a major role in the untitled Dave Filoni “Mandoverse” movie, though this is still in the very early stages of pre-production.
Even so, based on the cliffhanger ending in this episode, I’m confident that we’ll get an Ahsoka Season 2 announcement sooner rather than later. With the WGA strike now over, the writing team can begin to figure out how to resolve the Baylan Skoll issue. Here’s hoping for an update soon.