Star Wars: Baylan Skoll Divided Dave Filoni And Ray Stevenson In One Big Way
With the ending of "Ahsoka" Season 1 wrapping up the Disney+ show's inaugural installment, many fans have singled out the late Ray Stevenson's performance as Baylan Skoll to be one of the series' greatest highlights. Through his role as an ex-Jedi-turned-mercenary, Skoll offers a refreshing subversion of the classic Jedi-Sith conflict and blurs the line between the audience's expectations of who's on the "right" side of "Star Wars." As it turns out, Skoll's inherent grayness led to some disagreements behind the scenes of "Ahsoka" on the character's moral alignment.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lucasfilm CCO and "Ahsoka" creator Dave Filoni reflected on the production of the series, including his work with Stevenson. While the two were strong collaborators, it seems they fundamentally disagreed on whether Skoll is actually a villain. As Filoni recalled: "I used to have mini debates with him and say, 'Ray, you're the villain here.' And he'd be like, 'I don't think so.' I was like, 'I know you don't think so, but you are. I love that you're playing like you're not.' Which is exactly the way Baylan thinks."
Stevenson leaned into the ambiguity of Baylan Skoll
As Dave Filoni noted in his interview, Ray Stevenson's dedication to portraying Baylan Skoll in "Ahsoka" as a sympathetic character lends the former Jedi a certain level of nuance and complexity in his characterization. Though the character stands as one of the major antagonists of the series, it's clear that he carries out his actions with the conviction that what he's doing is correct.
Playing a morally ambiguous character who doesn't neatly fall into the category of good or evil proved to be an enjoyable task for Stevenson. In press interviews prior to his death, the actor spoke about the unique nature of Skoll and the storyline that the show's creators had set up for him. "He has a kind of, I would say, an inherent ability," he told Entertainment Weekly. "It's like, if you don't stand in his way, he's got no malicious attitude at all. But if you do, you'd just be swept aside, because there's something that's driving him that Dave Filoni and Jon [Favreau] know, and is hopefully going to be revealed throughout the telling. And it's just breathtaking."
It's unknown how "Star Wars" will handle Stevenson's passing in the future, but if Skoll does return in some capacity, fans should expect to continue seeing him grapple with his own morality. In fact, one theory suggests Skoll's future is as a good guy, though whether that happens remains to be seen.