Ray Stevenson played Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka‘s first season, but sadly, he died just months before the series debuted. The upcoming second season will continue the story of Baylan Skoll, with Rory McCann (Game of Thrones) taking on the role. While speaking with ComicBook.com, McCann shared his thoughts on replacing Stevenson.
“I think it’s the right decision to carry on his storyline, not just cut it off,” he said. “We’ve done it before with other things. I hope the fans embrace it and I’ll do my best. I’m just starting now, so I’m just trying to be in the right zone for doing it. It’s pretty bloody exciting. I mean, I remember being a kid with my dad, going to the first one probably in the late ’70s and ’80s. Now I’m training with a lightsaber at night, so it’s pretty exciting.“
McCann has plenty of sword experience thanks to his time on Game of Thrones, but he added that those swords didn’t have the “same sexy sound” as the lightsabers.
During Star Wars Celebration earlier this year, Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni said it took a while to consider continuing the series after Stevenson’s death, but he believes the late actor would be happy that the character’s story isn’t over. “I found a way in — I had Ray in my head. I’m grateful for all my conversations with him about Baylan,” Filoni said. “So, I understood what to do, it just took a while to get there. I’m very confident now that Ray would be happy with the direction that we’ve chosen. The character is meant to be the parallel to Ahsoka in every way. If there’s a light, there’s a dark, and Baylan is representing a different journey for a Jedi as you (Rosario) represent one who walked away from the (Jedi) order, so did he. That’s a parallel that must continue.“
It’s been confirmed that Hayden Christensen will return as Anakin Skywalker, plus Filoni teased that Admiral Ackbar will appear in the new season and will go “head-to-head with Thrawn.” Filoni joked that it “took all my effort” to avoid including “It’s a trap!” in the script. “Because I’m like, I can’t do that, that would be so lame,” he said. “Because this guy can’t always get into traps. You’d think he would see it this time.“
Production on the second season of Ahsoka kicked off last month.
