After Ahsoka Episode 7, What Could Baylan Skoll's Plan Be?
This article contains spoilers for "Ahsoka" episode 7, "Dreams and Madness."
"This is a place of dreams and madness," Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) said in the sixth episode of "Ahsoka," giving this episode its name. And it's Baylan whose motives remain the most mysterious in this new episode. As he and his apprentice, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), locate Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), Baylan Skoll sends his apprentice to face off against them by herself. What is he going to do? We're not quite sure, but he says his path lies elsewhere. It's a very Obi-Wan Kenobi sort of moment, just as the Jedi does to Luke Skywalker on the Death Star before his sacrifice with Darth Vader. It makes one wonder if Baylan Skoll sees the end of his life to help turn the wheel of some grand plan in the future, hoping to break that wheel of the violence that permeates the history of the galaxy.
Before he's able to go, though, he's interrupted by Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) herself. The two of them fight, but Baylan is still distracted by something. After Huyang blasts the two of them apart, Ahsoka continues on her way to help Ezra and Sabine while Baylan Skoll pursues his destiny elsewhere. But where?
As the episode ends, the last thing we see of Baylan is that he is just wandering into the wilderness, heading toward his destiny. What is that destiny? Though we don't know for sure, there are a few possibilities.
An ancient Sith temple
With Peridea being a planet full of "dreams and madness," as well as the original homeworld of the Witches of Dathomir, it could very well be that Baylan Skoll is seeking some sort of power akin to an ancient temple like we've seen in the past of "Star Wars." When Ezra and Ahsoka last saw each other, they had gone to Malachor, an ancient Sith temple that had been fashioned into some sort of genocidal super weapon. It wasn't the only ancient Sith temple or superweapon in the galaxy, there were definitely others.
Fortunately, that weapon on Malachor wasn't put into use, but it seems a common theme of dark siders to want that sort of power. Could a temple such as this be something Baylan Skoll is seeking out? It would likely be older and more archaic. With his stated intentions of seeking power such as they never dreamed, and this being a common trope that even Dave Filoni has fallen back on, it's possible.
Another pathway
We had a hint of the World Between Worlds when Ahsoka fell into her mind on some pathway of the Force in order to confront the feelings inside of her she had from her former master. Could that be some hint that Baylan Skoll is somehow looking for another pathway into the World Between Worlds? Since the Lothal Temple was destroyed and that portal with it, could there be other ways to access it?
The ability to go through the history of the galaxy and time and pluck people from their precarious situations, predestined as those situations might be, is an ability so powerful that it would naturally be tantalizing to Baylan Skoll. Perhaps he's seen visions or echoes of the future that tie Ezra Bridger and his location to this power. Let's be honest, how likely was it that the World Between Worlds was only accessible on Ezra's home planet of Lothal? But what if there is darker, older way to access this void of the Force? Could that be what Baylan is searching for?
Dathomiri magick
The Dathomiri are legendarily hard to kill. When Darth Sidious set his sights on removing Mother Talzin, the great leader of Dathomir, from the playing field, she was able to use ancient magick to resurrect herself. She was also able to use her abilities to imbue Savage Opress with the Force and great natural abilities, and even remade Darth Maul's spider-legs into something more human and bipedal.
Talzin's was a power greater than many Jedi or Sith, and the effects of it can be seen through the entirety of her story. In two episodes of "The Clone Wars" — "The Disappeared Part One" and "Part Two" — Mother Talzin has a massive machine that looks like it comes out of an Edgar Rice Burroughs story, with different lenses to magnify power, and she uses it to drain people of the Force, all in a bid to bring herself back into the power she held. She also reveals to Queen Bardotta in that episode that she's not a natural Force wielder like a Jedi or a Sith. Her connection is through the "magick" she wields.
With Peridea being the original homeworld of the Nightsisters, what if there are some of their ancient machines that can aid in that sort of work? Would this be something Baylan Skoll is after? Adding the power of Dathomir and dark magick to his own would certainly qualify as more power. But being able to turn people who aren't Force wielders into wielders of the Force by extracting it from others would make a lot of sense there, too.
All we know is that we have been given, to this point, no indication what Baylan is truly after and we won't really know for sure until next week.
The finale of "Ahsoka" premieres next Tuesday night on Disney+ at 9pm ET/6pm PT.