With the end of Ahsoka Season 1, we’ve also had one of the last roles of the great Ray Stevenson, who passed away too soon at the age of 58 in May. While the new Star Wars series has been getting generally favorable reviews, Stevenson’s performance as the ambitious and enigmatic Baylan Skoll is the single universal praise about it. The series did introduce the big villain for this next phase of the franchise in Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) at the end of the season, but it was Baylan who kept us hooked from the start, filling the screen with his inescapable gravitas. The character himself is a rather tragic one: Baylan is a former Jedi who survived Order 66 and, over time, became disillusioned with the role the Jedi played in perpetuating the never-ending spiral of violence and destruction the galaxy trapped itself in. His goal is to break this cycle, and, to help him do that, he took on Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) as his apprentice, whom he trains to be neither Jedi nor Sith, but “something more”. Watching Stevenson craft such a complex and unique character with every new episode was delightful and heartbreaking at the same time, and even if Baylan is recast, it will never be the same without him.

Baylan Is a Unique and Complex Character Who Should’ve Been the Main Villain in ‘Ahsoka’

The antagonistic relationship between Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Grand Admiral Thrawn started being built long before Ahsoka even had its debut. Back in The Mandalorian Season 2, when she first confronts Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) in the citadel of Calodan, she was already chasing the whispers that spoke of Thrawn’s return as heir to the Empire. When Ahsoka started, though, we were all surprised to see that her antagonism was basically stolen by Baylan Skoll, someone with a backstory we had seen many times before (by now, we know lots of Jedi who survived Order 66).

What made Baylan such a fabulous antagonist and opponent to Ahsoka Tano is how similar they are to each other. Both are survivors of the old Jedi Order who don’t see themselves as Jedi anymore, but still miss the idea of it, as Baylan puts it. They see why the Order failed and aspire to be something better according to their own views, and are training their apprentices with that in mind – Shin has her own idea of power and is always eager to prove herself, and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) literally learned how to use the Force from scratch thanks to her focus and determination. This relationship between masters and apprentices is at the core of Ahsoka‘s story, and we see how much Baylan cares for Shin in Episode 4 when he charges at Ahsoka after she chokes and pushes Shin away from the compass to Peridea. In fact, even when he part ways with her in Episode 7, he is probably trying to protect her from the dangers of his own path, for which she may not be ready.

We don’t get this same similar-yet-diametrically-opposed antagonist towards Ahsoka with Thrawn. He’s introduced as the main target of Ahsoka in her quest and as the big villain of the Mando-Verse, but he’s not the antithesis of her character like Baylan is. It’s a shame that, in the latter half of the season, Thrawn gets so much spotlight to himself while Baylan’s relegated from lead antagonist to a supporting position because he’s actually the one who understands Ahsoka and even empathizes with her to a degree, making their own relationship much more complex. Even though he is an antagonist in Ahsoka, it’s still too early to define Baylan as evil, as he has a complexity to his own definition of what is necessary that makes it difficult to pinpoint where exactly he stands. A lot of this is surely thanks to Dave Filoni, who created the character and wrote his part, but it’s an actor’s performance that defines how a character is actually perceived by the audience, and Ray Stevenson gave a masterclass in character building.

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Ray Stevenson Imprints His Signature in Baylan Skoll in a Unique Way

Tuning in to Disney+ every week to watch Ahsoka always came with a dose of heartbreak whenever Ray Stevenson showed up as Baylan Skoll. He died months before the series debut, so viewers got a different perspective about the character compared to what we’d get if he was still among us, and this is one of the aspects that make Baylan a much more tragic character. As the latter half of the season starts, the character’s focus shifts to finding whatever hidden power he feels calling to him on Peridea, and Stevenson’s performance follows it, his poignant approach giving way to intensity and determination that shows just how versatile an artist he really was.

The process of crafting a character can’t be easy, and this kind of work is what shows us how truly great an actor is. Stevenson always had a flare for intense characters, the most famous ones being Titus Pullo in HBO’s Rome and Frank Castle in Punisher: War Zone. These two roles share with Baylan Skoll not only the warrior’s background, but also the tragical past, and Stevenson nails this aspect with a lot of emotion and intensity. He also makes full use of his physicality, as one of the key factors that make him such a challenge to Ahsoka Tano is Baylan’s bulky figure and raw strength, which we see in his stances, holding the lightsaber as if it were a claymore sword.

These are the signs of how carefully Stevenson molded Baylan into existence. Reports of people who worked on Ahsoka with him all reference his attitude on set, always being up for rehearsing choreography whenever needed, and keeping high spirits with everyone, generally having a good time. He also got directly involved in designing Baylan’s visual, making suggestions for the hilt design of his unique lightsaber, for example. This kind of involvement and light-heartedness is getting more and more difficult to find, and they transpire in an actor’s work when it’s shown on screen.

The capacity to balance emotional depth and physicality is something that made Stevenson a standout in every work he was in and is also what makes Baylan Skoll such an incredible addition to Star Wars lore, but it’s also going to prove a challenge for the future of the franchise in its next steps. As Ahsoka starts to develop its second season continuing Baylan’s story is certainly going to be one of the central subjects both in and off the universe. Recasting is definitely the way to go, but finding someone who cares as much about the character as Stevenson did, and who shares his same traits as an actor, won’t be easy.