Episode Four of Ahsoka had probably my favorite lightsaber duel in Disney Star Wars as Baylan took on Ahsoka. We'll talk the duel and why I liked it so much on today's Star Wars video!
@AlecFortescue there was a few stuff that I didn't like in the choreography, such as Baylan getting kicked and falling in such a silly way. Otherwise, I loved it
Yeah, Baylan is actually something we haven't seen before in live-action: he's a legitimate Dark Jedi. He's ruthless, but he still acts with the honour of a Jedi Knight. That's interesting.
I love Baylan so much. Elegant like Dooku, menacing like Vader, he really is the best thing that has ever been brought to Disney Star Wars. This show has been incredible and it’s so sad that Ray didn’t live to see the positive impact he left on so many fans.
I seen a few fancy moves and spins from Baylan and I was like “damn… he be moving pretty fast lol” like Ray absolutely knocked it outta the park with Baylan’s character; everything from the acting to the choreography, you can tell Ray really put for the work in this role…. and how fitting, since this was his last role 🥲 Just look at that midair spin at 0:25!
I wish the main actress put half of the effort into this show like he did. Unfortunately she's by far the worst thing about a show named after her. Terrbile acting and fight choreography from ms Rosario I'm afraid.
This indeed has to be one of the best lightsabers choreography we had since the prequels. Baylan is carrying this show, him and shin are just the perfect duo I didn’t expected to see. Amazing
Personally, I liked the fight between ahsoka and the inquisitor the best. Rrminded me of the last obi and maul Duel. Constant mind games with the changing of guards, less needlessly fancy moves, good use of distance, and a clean final action.
No he is not. He’s not that intimidating, he’s not really a villain, he’s just a stooge working for the main villain. And since we know nothing about him he’s just boring and generic.
Baylan is not a villain or a stooge. Episode 3 of this show makes clear that Baylan doesnt care about Thrawn. He is looking for some source of power, and Baylan thinks he will find it wherever Thrawn is so his alliance with Morgan is purely one of convenience. I think Baylan will betray Morgan and Thrawn once he gets what he wants. My guess is Baylan wants the Lothal Jedi Temple ruins that Sidious had rebuilt inside Thrawn's Star Destroyer. That temple can recall the dead and based on what Sidious said, may even be able to resurrect the dead.
@@lonster3000damn imagine hating on a character for not being a cut and dry, copy paste good guy or villain. God forbid we get some 3 dimensional characters.
Weirdly enough Baylans style of fighting reminds me of Qui-Gons. Tall, noble, upright form of Ataru. Both also seem to be mavericks in their respective side of the force.
I'm glad someone else caught this too. Baylen's form was almost entirely Form 4 with the ferocity of Form 5b. It also kind of reminded me of The Mountain vs The Viper from GoT.
I can see this as a bit of a mixture of Ataru and Shien/Djem So. The way he goes from offense to defense and then counter-offense with the wide, powerful strikes with his arms and hands on the center is very Shien/Djem Sho but he flourishes and uses Ataru-esque acrobatics when necessary.
Apparently he uses a mix between forms IV and V, being agile but using his strength as an advantage. Imagine Vader full power without armor how OP he would be
Ahsoka is my favorite character of the franchise, and seeing she reuniting with Anakin reminded of the first time I saw a SW movie at the theaters, where Snips and Skyguy were first introduced. Rosario Dawson is delivering much more than I could've ever expected, and man, just give Star Wars to Filoni st this point. Lucas' padawan is the real chosen one
I agree. As a fan that's old enough to remember seeing "The Holiday Special" on live TV as a kid, I think this was amazing. I was up by 330am to see it before going to work. FANtastic episode. I'm about to watch it again.
It looked to me like Ahsoka had learned from her fight against Vader. In that fight Vader managed to completely overpower her with his heavy strikes. Which makes sense since she's half his size and uses two blades. The amount of strength she can put behind any one blow is halfed because of it. In this fight against Baylan she only uses one saber, so she can more effectively deal with his heavy slashes. But now I wish we could have seen a fight between Vader and Baylan. That would have been the ultimate heavy weight match.
Vader vs Baylan would be dope, though I see Vader winning. Imagine he does what he did against Cere in Jedi Survivor: letting Baylan think he has the upperhand (I can see Baylan starting to seem stronger in a lightsaber lock only to be overwhelmed moments later). And throw in an insult from Vader whilst his at it.
@@fulcrum101 Oh yeah, I don't see Baylan beating Vader. Even if it isn't Vader in his prime, we've seen feats from him that nobody can really replicate. I just think it would be really fun to see him go up against someone who so closely matches up with him in terms of style.
I liked Ray's dialogue when he accuses Ashoka of being the aggressor, saying it's typical of the Jedi. Good stuff. Mustache twirling bad guys get really boring after a while, so it's nice to see some nuance.
I think all of these elements recapture the feeling of duels in the OT. Less like fights with plasma swords and more like something out of an old samurai movie.
@@jlord5078definitely a good balance. And the transitions during the fights were reminiscent of older Star Wars movies. Loved the transition between Sabine and Shin where it cuts to Ahsoka and Baylon. Clean af
@@LoinkLoink That came a bit later, but yeah it was a factor. But she might’ve seen how his saber was like and perhaps she predicted some heavy swings. Gripping a Lightsaber in each hand might not be the smartest move as compared to using one and gripping it for dear life with both hands as Baylan’s heavy swings came
Probably using a certain fighting style that she saw better suited for the situation. She eventually used the second one, but then got her hand hurt by the energy of the map.
I think what we are seeing is a shift from her Shien style we have seen her use in the past to focusing more on Djem So, like Anakin used. The measured steps, more limited mobility, etc are all aspects of this.
what i liked about the start of the fight in particular is that it kind of lulled me into a false sense of 'okay this guy's strikes are really heavy and he looks a little clumsy' but then he effortlessly pushed ahsoka's saber around and i was like 'ooh okay he's got strength'. it really works well with his more medieval broadsword kind of fighting style. also i think my favourite move from him has to be the one at 0:25 where he like uses the momentum of a missed swing to lead into a follow-up strike
Lord Baylan seems to be the epitome of what a dark jedi should be. I wonder how he managed to stay under the radar during the empires reign. Both he and and his apprentice remind me of actual knights. Wish they created an entire order of people like them. Another plus is that he intends to keep his promise to sabine.
The saber fight choreographer really put Ray and Rosario's physical characteristics and their character's personalities on excellent display. Kudos to the actors and the choreographer.
Class of the field when it came to lightsaber fights. And like you said, not just in style and choreography but in character investment and what's on the line. Ahsoka trying to get to the map, Baylan playing an oppressive defense that could pivot into offense. Great stuff.
Theory: this is anakin. Not a dead anakin. An anakin that has pulled ahsoka into the world between worlds moments before her death. The same way Ezra did. This means an anakin pre burning up but post getting his darker robes. Does past anakin save current ahsoka? This is completely crazy lore possibility that could rewrite the entirety of what we thought we knew about Star Wars Also the orb burned the coordinates into ahsokas hand. You can see it clearly before her fall.
Altho this is a better explanation then literally anything Disney can dish out at this point if your Theroy is correct this would literally erase Canon as Canon would no longer have any meaning
@@Omnipulsar my theory erasing canon? How? I’m genuinely interested because I don’t know much about Star Wars lore outside the movies and series’. I like ur theory however I’d much rather keep the main story as much uncomplicated as possible because if past Anakin escape from his timeline then there not much he can actually do without messing up the entire timeline unless it’s like an parallel world situation where he can change stuff without messing up the original movies and pres Edit: Oh soz I didn’t realise u we’re a different guy but I can’t be stuffed deleting my comment so I’ll just leave it there lmfao sorry ahahah
@MrSuperNova28 it looked like u were replying to me at 1st and I was gonna say u answered ur own question as if anakin managed to get access to the world between worlds there's nothing he can do without messing up the timeline
That's a pretty crazy theory that might actually make sense. But they need to explain it well. We need to see how Anakin got to the World Between Worlds in the first place. As for the coordinates being burned into Ahsoka's hand, that's stupid. We saw how long it took for the ship to process the map. It completely makes no sense for Ahsoka to clearly get all the information she needs from grabbing one side of the sphere. It's honestly as stupid as Kenobi escaping the Inquisitor base with Leia imo. I think Ahsoka will travel to the other galaxy from the World Between Worlds somehow.
When I saw Baylan keep himself in Ataru I was impressed. Like, you old dawg! I was ready for acrobatics and got a spectacular fight out of it. You can see with the wide space and area for him to project his strength that he was in a perfect place for his fighting style. Mwah!
Great episode. Could watch 52 of those a year without getting tired of it. Unusual that we haven't seen Zeb yet, even though he appeared in The Mandalorian alongside Carson who popped up i this episode..
Wow was it Great ..This was so intense ...I gotta go watch it again .so grateful for Ray Stevenson ...my heart was racing ..I'm real happy with all of the emotions ..music action ..like you said spectacular
I really like the fact that Baylan's fighting style is meticulous. He doesn't do any weird combos or anything. When he swings, it hits. When he blocks, he doesn't move an inch. It's both great choreography and characterization for Baylan. We really feel like he's an old jedi who respected the code and jedi teaching by the book until order 66...
I really like how you can tell Ahsoka and Baylan are two masters of their craft from they way they start the fight. They both try different fighting styles and stances, trying to gauge the other fighter's strength, and they both have that moment after the first exchange of blows where they realize this fight won't be an easy one.
I really enjoyed this episode! I do have some minor details that I was conflicted about though. When Ahsoka kills Marrok, we witness the Night Witch's magic leave him (I assume), just as it did to Savage when Sidious killed him on Mandalore. I only wish they touched on this more, perhaps Marrok is a significant character corrupted by the magic? It's a mediocre ending to such an mysterious character. Also, I understand why Ahsoka didn't use both sabers during her duel with Marrok, she strongly outmatches him. With Baylan she sees he isn't an opponent to take lightly yet continues to only use a single blade, plus it seems like she was severely nerfed in this fight. Yes, Baylan is a hard hitting fighter, not as hard as Vader though, Ahsoka put up a better fight against Vader in Rebels. Who knows though, thoughts?
@@D_Boone Different style, not her style. She dueled Anakin and Obi Wan at the same time, Pre Visla, General Grievous, Maul, Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister, Darth Vader, Morgan Elsbeth with a dual wield style. Her fight with Morgan started with one saber to test the water then she dominated with two. Different style is no excuse for not having Ahsoka use her signature and well trained dual wielding.
I agree. Your synopses is completely on point. Loved it though, yet I was thinking she did better against Vader in Rebels. My one thought, her and Sabine were asked to stay together and they didn't. Perhaps her attachment to Sabine clouded her ability and stifled her abilities in combat?
@@m4x1mus13the reason is because she is trying to secure the map. She literally tries grabbing it multiple times in the fight. Winning the fight means nothing if the enemy unlock where it leads whilst she wins a duel.
@@chazo1367 want to know what else would help with securing the map? Backing your opponent into a corner or killing them. Why not block a strike with one saber and destroy it with the other? Ahsoka is obviously fine with destroying the map. If she dies because she isn't using her main form, that doesn't accomplish anything.
I loved their light saber fight. I thought that was really well done. I wasn't really a fan of the World Between Worlds, but that's mostly down to the fact that I didn't think Anakin looked right.
They deaged his face like Luke’s but it was passable due to being in a mostly dark room vs the mando season 2 finale where there were bright lights in the cabin
@@gregoryschweitzer1735they didn’t do it for Kenobi and got shit on for not doing it so they did it this time…damned if they do, damned if they don’t really.
@@chazo1367 I don't remember hearing about it with Kenobi. I personally didn't care that they didn't do it then. I just find it strange but maybe they did it this time because Anakin is manifesting the way he looked the last time Ahsoka saw him.
The environment was also beautiful and used to good effect both as contrasted background and as interactive element with clear goals beyond beating the other combatant.
When I watched the fight between Ahsoka and Baylon, Baylon reminded me of Darth Malgus from the Old Republic cinematic trailers. Fast with powerful strikes.
Haven't seen this yet, but from looking at this? I recognized stances and movements from proper sword fighting techniques. Maybe I will have to watch it after all.
I'd say this fight between Ahsoka and Baylan is only beaten out by the duel between Ahsoka and Maul, as for Disney era duels. But we also can't knock the rematch between Sabine and Shin. As with every time she's on screen Ivanna Sakhno brings it her all, just like Ray Stevenson. It is a sight to behold.
Baylan is like one of those Knights Templar that turned pirate/mercenary after the persecution and fall of the Order. Ray Stevenson is killing it in this role!!
Balan’s technique I’d say is pure Djem-So in its intended application. We often see characters blend forms together for their own trademark fighting style. For example Anakin paired Djem so with Ataru as a supplement, creating his strong and aggressive style. Then there’s Vader, who mixed form 5 with form’s 2 and 3, and 4 as well but to a much lesser extent.
I like Baylan because for all his strength, he is experienced and smart enough to be wary of Ahsoka, smart enough to make sure she won't follow him because he figuees the fall wouldn't kill her. He's the best kind of antagonist
Im glad Dave didn’t “Rey” Ahsoka and make her instantly eliminate Baylen. Baylen is definitely older then Ahsoka, both were part of the Jedi Order, but Baylen has the SLIGHTEST upper hand
Probably the closest depiction of Form V we've seen, if we go by descriptions alone (a power-type style focusing on overwhelming an opponent and battering their guard away, striking through and deadly counters,) aside from Vader.
Terrific fight. See I dont thing you need a lot of faster than you can see movements when the tension and pacing is so right. Looking in reddit afterward it's ironic there was a clip of the stunt coordinator version of the Anakin and Dooky fight with the title of "best fight" whn this to me was better. I particularly enjoy choreographed fights where it really feels ass if a larger person is fighting with their full strength. Part of it is choreography and how the performers sell it, but it's also ADR and sound design. This fight is feels like Baylin has a physical strength to his strikes that are more than Ahsoka can manage and yet he still retains impressive speed and coordination. Altogether it was a great mid plot fight where the hero loses so they can overcome at the end. Baylin's victory will be short lived as the people he's working beside will force his to compromise what values he holds dear, and that's where he loses. He's like a tragic anti hero. Terrific storytelling, and far more complex and nuances than the cartoonish villains of rebels, and I hope Thrawn is like that and more.
As we don't have much confirmation as to what ultimately becomes of these characters, I actually felt genuinely nervous about what was going to happen to Ahsoka and Sabine. There actually feels like there are stakes again in Star Wars.
Despite the backlash this show gets (which is nothing new for the fandom), I’m really enjoying it. I don’t know if it’s technically ironic, but there’s moments where I feel like I’m watching the clone wars again.
@@chaost4544your feel is prejudiced. I wanted the show to succeed, just came out of rebels, and the first two episodes were painfully boring to watch. The last episodes are good-ish though. Definitely doesn't feel like Filonis best work, or even his "good enough" work, but it's fine.
@@chacharealsmooth941 boring isn't a legitimate criticism; it's just a sign of one's attention span and one's level of boredom has no bearing on anything that makes up a film or tv show. You being bored at something tells me nothing about the quality of the entertainment plus there are a sh*t ton of boring live action entertainment that are masterpieces (see 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Thin Red Line). My feeling pretty spot on. The usual youtube grifters (we all know who they are) and their audience who are loud in the comment sections hated the show when it was announced and they were going to dislike it regardless if it was decent or not.
Hmm. I saw this differently. In all of the fights this series, they spend more time staring at and circling each other than actually fighting. Like, waaaaay drug out to make it to a 30 min episode. I kept saying, "Get on with it!" Just my opinion. I see from the comments that not many share it.
Darn, he's no lightsaber/gunslinger hybrid duellist, that's a huge pity... we really shouldn't call that kind of weapon as a "claymore" though, lest we mistake for that modern day tripwire explosive.
I think we can, as the sequel triology said, let the past die. It burned up with Baylan's insanely strong demonstration of Vader/Malgus styled overpowering blows with moves that even a hard core HEMA champ would have had to tip their visor to. A perfect battle between Greys for once. One leaning towards the Dark but not consumed by it and the other hovering just outside of the light. The only said thing was Morrok exploding when Ashoka sliced him. Seriously what is in her lightsabers that vaporizes Inquisitors? Or is it possible Morrok IS the wraith that Ashoka was fighting before? Have we been trolled? Gah Filoni I guess we won't know until the next episode. But it would be kinda cool that he's literally a ghost following her and the one creature she can't kill. But even if not oh well the internet can stop pestering Sam now. Also I agree with Ecks the addtion of a 'clock' added to the tension of these fight scenes and weirdly made them tie together nicely. The stakes felt real. The consequences for Sabine's betrayal when Phoenix Squadron loses two members felt painful and seeing Anakin there at the end to speak to 'Snips' as his Force Ghost IN THE FREAKING FORCE AFTERLIFE felt satisfying. Though hopefully Ashoka returns from the dead once again and realizes she still has a ways to go before she's truly a Jedi Master.
Baylon vs ahsoka was glorious. Best duel since battle of the heroes. I do love the show its at a 9/10 for me right now, it would be a 10 if the chemistry was a little tighter between sabine ahsoka
Yeah this duel was awesome. So much tension and good use of the environment. Baylan is kind of terrifying swinging that saber. The opposite fighting styles made this super interesting to watch. I thought Ahsoka had it in the bag. But nope.
Credit to them Baylon feels like a prequel jedi His moves and ahsokas too, although somewhat less so have a fluidity to them that make them feel like masters
Ashoka is practically the lonely Ronin (samurai with no master) while Baylon is the knight templar. I do believe Baylon is using form five Djem so to compliment his claymore like saber while Ashoka is using form four Ataru. What do other people think?
