Baylan Skoll’s Backstory Just Got Revealed Months Early


Last month, we lost the generous and kind Ray Stevenson, the actor who was perhaps best known for his role as Titus Pullo in HBO’s Rome, in which he played a Roman guard alongside Kevin McKidd. Stevenson had recently wrapped filming on the upcoming Disney+ series, Ahsoka, and had spoken with Collider in April of his excitement of the project.


The latest issue of Empire Magazine – which includes a huge, in-depth feature on Ahsoka – includes a short quote from Stevenson on his character, Baylan Skoll, in which the late Northern Irish actor explains the character’s motivations and mentality.

“He is not genocidal or malicious or overly aggressive. He will request that you get out of his way. But if you don’t, he will take you out his way.”

The feature further went onto explain the origins of Stevenson’s character, Skoll, by revealing that – like many, it would seem – his character was a survivor of Order 66, and in the aftermath of the Jedi cull, turned embittered towards his fate, using his Force-sensitive abilities to become a mercernary for hire – which, in turn, led him to becoming one of Grand Admiral Thrawn’s (Lars Mikkelsen) most trusted enforcers, roaming the galaxy and ensuring order was followed in the way that the fallen Empire would have wanted it to be.

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Ray Stevenson as Baylan in Ahsoka
Image via Disney+

RELATED: ‘Ahsoka’ Will Feature Backstory for This Key Thrawn Associate From ‘The Mandalorian’


What Was Order 66?

The name “Order 66” was a protocol built secretly within the Clone Army that had been put together behind-the-scenes by the then-Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). The order was built into an inhibitor chip within the clone soldiers’ brains during their growth and development on the planet of Kamino. The protocol, secret to all bar a select few, ensured the troopers – when instructed – would turn on the Jedi, labelling them as traitors, and attempting to execute them in a bid to purge the Jedi Order from the galaxy.

Order 66 successfully wiped out a massive percentage of the Jedi, with the help of the Jedi Knight-turned-Sith Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) who would become Darth Vader, although a small number survived – including the likes of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Yoda (Frank Oz), along with others who would emerge later, like Grogu, the young creature who shares a species with Yoda and is a key part of The Mandalorian, and Cal Kestis, the protagonist of the Star Wars: Jedi video game series.

The lack of Jedi – the remainder were forced into hiding – ensured a relatively untroubled spell of dominance across the galaxy for the Empire, until the emergence of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who – with the help of his father Anakin – killed Emperor Palpatine, bringing balance to the Force once more. But as Ahsoka shows, the effects of Order 66 have long-lasting implications, even beyond the fate of the Emperor.

Ahsoka debuts in August 2023. Check out our interview with the late Ray Stevenson down below.



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