Ahsoka Pays Tribute to Ray Stevenson in Series Premiere: ‘For Our Friend, Ray’

Ahsoka, the live-action Star Wars series centered on Anakin Skywalker’s former Padawan Ahsoka Tano (played by Rosario Dawson), premiered its first two episodes on Tuesday night.

Episode 1 of the Disney+ series paid tribute to Ray Stevenson, who died in May at 58 years old. At the end of the hour, a title card flashed across the screen that read, “For our friend, Ray.”

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In the show, Stevenson portrays Baylan Skoll, a former Jedi Knight who works as a mercenary for Imperial naval leader Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), alongside his apprentice Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno). Elsbeth’s goal is to retrieve Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), who disappeared in deep space.

Stevenson previewed his character during Star Wars Celebration in London this past April, telling Screen Rant, “Maybe he’s unique… some catalyst that upsets the apple cart, that sparks off and fires, and yet is meandering through a journey that is colliding and causing reactions. When you see Baylan actually get to meet Thrawn, [you wonder] if it’s the first time or last time. ‘What’s going on again? Hang on, what’s the dynamic here?’”

Stevenson appeared in numerous TV shows and films throughout the 1990s and early ’00s before starring opposite Grey’s Anatomy’s Kevin McKidd in the historical drama Rome. He also played Blackbeard in Black Sails and voiced Mandalorian commander Gar Saxon in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Additional TV credits include Vikings, The Spanish Princess, Medici and Dexter.

On the film side, Stevenson portrayed the Asgardian warrior Volstagg in the Thor franchise as well as Marcus in the Divergent trilogy. Other credits include RRR (this year’s Oscar winner for Best Original Song), The Other Guys, The Book of Eli, The Three Musketeers (2011) and Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur.

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