Dave Filoni remembers “Ahsoka ”star Ray Stevenson and explains Baylan Skoll’s big finale cliffhanger

The 'Ahsoka' creator pays tribute to the actor, who died unexpectedly this year at the age of 58.

Warning: This story contains spoilers for the Ahsoka season 1 finale.

Ahsoka introduced an entire galaxy of new Star Wars characters — but perhaps the biggest standout is Ray Stevenson’s Baylan Skoll. The 58-year-old Stevenson died unexpectedly in May, just a few weeks before he made his Ahsoka debut starring as a former Jedi turned ruthless mercenary. Even in a franchise populated by memorable villains, Baylan quickly became a fan favorite, a brutal but thoughtful character with his own moral code, elevated by Stevenson’s insightful performance.

Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni tells EW that when he sat down to write Baylan, Stevenson was the only actor he had in mind. The two first bonded when Stevenson recorded voice work on the animated TV series Clone Wars and Rebels, and Filoni says the actor brought the perfect blend of menace and sympathy to his Ahsoka villain.

“The reason I was so interested in working with Ray is that he’s obviously talented and an incredibly good actor, but as a human being, he was so kind and so big on life,” Filoni says. “When he walked in the room, he lit everybody up. When I was conceiving of this character that I wanted to do for a long time, I knew Ray was the person for this. He’s the person who can play both sides and understand that Baylan’s a man with incredible ambition — perhaps dangerous ambition — but he never sees it that way. He thinks he’s tracking what the truth is, and everybody else has it wrong.”

Filoni adds that Stevenson helped shape every facet of Baylan’s character, from his morally gray outlook to certain details on his costume. While shooting, Stevenson would go home for the weekend, and when he showed up to set every Monday morning, he’d have a whole list of ideas to discuss with Filoni.

“As we were shooting, I’d remind him, like, ‘Ray, you’re the villain here. You understand that?’” Filoni remembers. “He was like, ‘I don’t think so.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, I appreciate that you don’t think so, and Baylan wouldn’t think he’s the villain, but you are a villain in this.’ And he’s like, ‘We’ll see.’ It was kind of perfect.”  

The season follows Baylan and his apprentice Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) as they track Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka, eventually finding their way to the planet Peridea in a distant galaxy. In the finale, Baylan leaves Shin to search for a rumored mythical power, one he’s heard mentioned in old Jedi legends. In one of the final shots, he stands on a cliff near three crumbling statues, staring toward a light in the distance. Those statues depict the Mortis gods, three ancient beings with mythical connections to the Force. Together, they form an unconventional family: The Son is connected to the dark side of the Force, the Daughter to the light side, and the Father serves as the balance between both.

Clone Wars fans will recognize the Mortis gods from a few episodes of the animated series, but Filoni says that context isn’t automatically necessary. His goal, he says, was to craft a compelling story that worked for both total newcomers and the hardcore fans who’ve seen every episode of the animated shows.

“People that have never seen Clone Wars will have no idea what that is,” he says. “For me, that’s okay as long as you understand that those are monolithic figures, and it means something. That’s the power of that image. This person has found this massive-scale sculpture that’s unlikely anything we’ve seen on that planet up to that point. The question you’re supposed to ask is: What does that mean?”

Filoni compares it to watching the original Star Wars trilogy and how George Lucas would sprinkle in elements that would enhance the world-building but weren’t necessary to understand the plot.

“As a kid, I watched A New Hope and heard about the Clone Wars and the Jedi knights,” he explains. “I didn’t know what any of that was, but it didn’t take away from it for me. It just made me feel like there was a sense of history and depth to the storytelling. So, that’s what I was trying to do there.”

Ahsoka has yet to be renewed for an official second season, but the finale clearly teases a big future for Stevenson’s character. Filoni says he isn’t sure what will happen to that storyline given Stevenson’s unexpected death, but to him, the most important thing is the legacy that Stevenson leaves. Filoni notes that since Ahsoka premiered, Emmy-nominated costume designer Shawna Trpcic also passed away unexpectedly. The cast and crew became a family on set, he says, and to this day, the show’s greatest gift has been connecting him with extraordinary people like Stevenson and Trpcic.

“Going forward, it will be a challenge,” Filoni says. “These were meaningful people to us. They were collaborators and friends, and they will be missed. I’m just so glad they were a part of this show, so that every time I watch it, I think of them. And there’s no time that won’t happen: They will always be there in spirit.”

Listen to the full conversation with Dave Filoni on EW's Dagobah Dipatch podcast.

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• Rosario Dawson explains how Ahsoka was inspired by Gandalf

• Ahsoka premiere pays tribute to the late Ray Stevenson

• Ahsoka star Diana Lee Inosanto literally trained her whole life to enter the Star Wars galaxy

• Ivanna Sakhno breaks down her 'calculated' Ahsoka villain Shin Hati

• Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ewan McGregor's son is 'obsessed' with Grogu

• How Ahsoka star Lars Mikkelsen brought Grand Admiral Thrawn to life

• That Ahsoka finale, explained

• Dave Filoni teases a potential Ahsoka season 2: 'Always in motion is the future'

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.