Baylan Skoll’s leap into legend
Honestly, if you blinked during the Ahsoka season finale, you probably missed the juiciest mystery Star Wars has conjured up in years. While everyone else was busy hoping Thrawn wouldn’t redecorate the galaxy with Nightsister chic, or marveling at Ezra’s wizardly return, Baylan Skoll just quietly wandered into pure myth. And not just any myth — he literally climbed atop godhood.
Here’s how it breaks down. The finale left Ray Stevenson’s Baylan standing on a massive statue, gazing out across the wastelands of Peridea with a fierce determination that screamed, “I know something you don’t.” Right beneath his feet? The legendary Father of the Mortis gods. Nearby? The Son, carved and menacing. The Daughter? Well, headless. She’s seen better days. These statues, gigantic and weathered, looked lifted straight from ancient Jedi myths, and the camera lingered just enough for fans to lose their collective minds. Lucasfilm even confirmed it, when they dropped concept art by Andrée Wallin — yes, the Daughter statue is decapitated. That detail isn’t random. (StarWars.com)
The Mortis gods: A quick refresher for mortals
All right, let’s hit pause and talk mythology. The Mortis gods — a trio introduced in The Clone Wars—are more than Force-wielders. They’re the living, breathing personifications of the Force itself.
- The Father: Think “balance.” He keeps his children (and, by extension, the galaxy) in check.
- The Son: Welcome to the dark side. Literally.
- The Daughter: Channeling all that is light and compassion.
These three live in a mysterious realm called Mortis. But, surprise! Their story ended in tragedy. The Daughter sacrifices herself for Ahsoka, the Father impales himself, and Anakin Skywalker puts an end to the Son. Still, the symbolism of these gods lingers across time and, apparently now, across galaxies. (StarWars.com)
Why does Baylan care about “the beginning”?
Baylan isn’t your run-of-the-mill power-hungry mercenary. (No, seriously. Just ask Shin, who probably earned herself a free therapist for life after their last chat.) He tells her, and us, that he seeks “the beginning… so I may finally bring this cycle to an end.” The power fools like Thrawn chase? “Fleeting.” Baylan is after something older. Something that feels like the bedrock of everything. In his own words: Peridea is a land of “dreams and madness,” a place of ancient stories where reality has stretched thin and history feels almost alive.
He’s not interested in more warlords, more empires rising and falling. He wants a new dawn for the galaxy, or maybe all existence — not through domination, but some primal reboot. (IMDb.com)
The wild setting: Peridea
Now, the stage matches the stakes. Peridea isn’t just a random, desolate planet with cool ruins and purrgil bones. This ancient world is home turf for the Dathomiri — a.k.a. the Nightsisters’ literal roots. The Great Mothers who aid Morgan Elsbeth are exiled here, waiting in dry, echoing crypts for a ride back to the main stage. Morgan herself? She goes full Mother by the end, but doesn’t survive the Thrawn Express. Anyway, the planet oozes old magic and regret.
That’s not all. The rings around Peridea glow with the bones of hyperspace-traveling purrgil, circling in a kind of cosmic memorial. And at the center of it all — way out on a cliff — loom those Mortis statues, staring like stone sentinels into the void. Nobody builds stone gods for giggles, right? (StarWars.com)
Mortis moves, cosmic portals, and galactic breadcrumbs
Let’s rewind to Star Wars Rebels. Remember the Lothal temple mural? Those same three gods — Father, Son, Daughter — adorn the wall that opens the portal to the World Between Worlds. Yes, the trippy, time-bending alternate dimension. Ezra uses the Daughter’s hand as a literal key to unlock it, pulling Ahsoka out of certain doom. That’s not “inspired by Mortis”—that’s Mortis, full stop.
Still, here’s what matters: wherever those statues appear, impossible things tend to follow. The Mortis realm isn’t just symbolic. It’s a “conduit through which the entire Force of the universe flows.” Canon says this. Den of Geek’s recap lines it up perfectly, quoting the show itself. Mortis is a cosmic pressure valve. Those who find its secrets aren’t just Force sensitive — they’re lore sensitive. (Den of Geek)
What the finale actually shows
Zoom back to Baylan, alone, standing on the Father. He doesn’t interact with swirls or glowing portals. But the imagery couldn’t be more loaded. Statues that size don’t just mean “historic site.” They scream, “Here be gods!” The Daughter statue, crucially, is missing its head — a detail confirmed directly by Lucasfilm concept art. The Son looks unharmed, facing outwards. Baylan stares past them toward a light on the horizon. It’s subtle. It’s tantalizing. But it’s there. Several major outlets (ComicBook, The Direct) pointed out that glow in the distance. Whether it’s a World Between Worlds fissure, a beacon, or just mood lighting — the jury’s out.
So, what else? During the same finale, everyone’s favorite supernatural owl, Morai, watches over Ahsoka. Morai has followed Ahsoka since her first brush with the Daughter’s sacrifice back in The Clone Wars, her Databank entry confirms it. The convor is “mysteriously connected to the Daughter” and keeps popping up as Force drama unfolds. Nice bird, rare company. (StarWars.com)
Filoni’s blueprint: Shadowy gods, deeper stories
Dave Filoni, Star Wars architect and king of myth drops, made no secret Mortis was never a one-arc wonder. Way back in the Clone Wars days, he teased, “Slowly, over time, things will start to become more clear about Mortis.” Jump ahead to 2025, and Filoni’s mythic ambitions skyrocket. Vanity Fair’s write-up nails it: Filoni’s new role as Chief Creative Officer means more room, not less, to spin out the grandest Force tales in canon. And at Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025, Filoni doubled down — the Mortis gods will have a real presence in Ahsoka Season 2. Official word, people.
Not only that, but concept art and panel chatter hinted at “ancient machines from a dark and dangerous past.” Combine that with statues of cosmic deities? The recipe feels equal parts disaster, destiny, and “what could possibly go wrong?” (StarWars.com)
What’s next? Cast changes and cosmic chess
We lost Ray Stevenson, the powerhouse behind Baylan, in May 2023. His passing led to an outpouring of tributes. StarWars.com enshrined his dedication with, “For our friend, Ray,” in the Ahsoka premiere. The galaxy now waits for Rory McCann — yes, “The Hound” from Game of Thrones — to pick up Baylan’s battered saber. Reports from Celebration laid out the transition. Filoni and his team promise to honor Stevenson’s performance. The Force, it seems, isn’t done with Baylan. (GamesRadar)
Meanwhile, insiders at the same Celebration whispered about more Mortis, more Anakin — Hayden Christensen locked in for more ghostly guidance. And, if you believe the celebration leaks, shooting for Season 2 starts soon. The hype on social keeps ramping up: cosmic drama, shifting faces, mysteries upon mysteries.
The fandom’s wildest theories — sorted
Not going to lie, fandom speculation is peaking. Some point to Legends, suggesting Baylan might stumble onto Abeloth, the chaos goddess tied to Mortis myth in old canon. But Abeloth’s nowhere to be found in the official Ahsoka story. Others dream Baylan’s after the “source” of the dark side, or even the boundary between galaxies. These takes go wild across Reddit, breakdown shows, and even the official Star Wars YouTube comment sections.
Still, here’s our safe line:
- Baylan, per dialogue, wants “the beginning.”
- The episode shows him with Mortis gods — especially the Father and the Son — surrounded by their ruined myth.
- Ahsoka, meanwhile, is shadowed by Morai, cementing the Daughter’s continued presence in her fate.
Therefore, maybe he’s walking toward the “conduit” of the entire Force, or some other sleeping power. But that’s where the facts end and the speculation party kicks in.
Where legends and myths may crack wide open
Let’s get wild for a second — because that’s where Star Wars lives.
What if Baylan wants to reset the whole cosmic board? Peridea, rich in purrgil ghosts, Mortis gods, and buried machines from a “dangerous past,” is the only place old enough for the kind of Force alchemy he’s chasing. Maybe those statues are markers for an ancient gateway. The World Between Worlds? Not confirmed. But if anyone was going to pull off that kind of trick, it’s a former Jedi who watched his old order fall and decided, “Let’s do better. Let’s start over.”
In Baylan’s own words, “What I seek is the beginning… so I may finally bring this cycle to an end.” He doesn’t want to join Thrawn or the Great Mothers. He wants something older — maybe even something no Jedi or Sith ever dared try. Is he after balance, like the Father? Or will he tilt the scales, as the Son or Daughter once did? And what does that far-off light promise — redemption or ruin?
The next horizon
One thing’s certain — Baylan’s story is far from over. The Mortis gods, for years just dreamy metaphors, now tower over the saga with stone certainty. With Season 2 in production and the fandom’s appetite for cosmic weirdness in overdrive, something massive — and decidedly not fleeting — is on the horizon.
So when someone in your group chat asks, “Wait, did Baylan just find god?” you’ve got an answer ready. He found their house. And in 2025, we’ll finally see what he does with the keys. Buckle up, true believers. The future of Star Wars might just run through Mortis — again.
