Yep, he was either a knight under Plo Koon or a temple guard. I don’t think he just reads minds to gain knowledge, he lived it, hence his knowledge of Ahsoka and of course Anakin.
Yeah that saber seals it, it's a two-handed model designed for power strokes like a knight wielding a greatsword, not a curved-hilt flippity-floo like Dooku had heh.
He is the best part of this show and worst part is he has since past and even if he didn't get killed off in the show we won't get more of his character and thats a tragedy.
Balayn has been pretty awesome this series so far. His entire presence and demeanor are amazing. Every time he speaks, it's always with purpose and carefully chosen words. Love this character, and his crazy looking apprentice is awesome too.
It's scary how similar Skoll's lightsaber form is to Darth Vader's. Both use primarily Djem So alongside mastery of Soresu in combination with footwork learned from Ataru to become an unstoppable avalanche of pressure in a duel. If only we could've seen a duel between Skoll and Vader, it would be so interesting to see how the fight pans out between them since they fight so similarly.
I think Vader would still win. He backs up his mastery of Forms V and III with elements of Form II Makashi in order to dissect and probe his opponent’s defenses
@@darylsdesigns6679 I agree, and I think Vader's cybernetics would give him the edge in physical strength that one needs in a duel between two Djem So masters
@@hermitmoth6118 I think skoll and Vader likely have a similar upper bound in force potential considering the cap that got put on Vader after Mustafar. Vader definitely is still more powerful in the force even after his injuries and skoll's human muscles definitely can't compare to the power of Vader's cybernetics. Even though Vader clearly outmatches his opponent in nearly every aspect I still think it'd be cool to see how long baylon would hold out, or if he would escape Vader's blade.
Ahsoka strategy worked for what she was trying to do. She was trying to take out the map. Her downfall was not actually destroying it, she grabbed it. I think she did this thinking about Sabine and trying to salvage the map to help Sabine later. When Ahsoka got angry she kicked him and put him down and went straight to the orb instead of attacking because she's not trying to kill him. After she took the orb, she was one handed so it wasn't no longer a battle then and that's the only reason he "won". She didnt struggle, i didnt see that all.
Balen is quite powerful, but I think Ahsoka is much stronger. It makes sense that she lost this duel, she focused more on taking or destroying map than defeating Balen. Ahsoka fought well against Vader.
She struggled with his power, she would not have had the time to destroy the map seeing how long it took for baylan's lightsaber to destroy the map when he put his lightsaber in it.
Excellent breakdown of lightsaber forms and analysis of this duel. I also appreciated how Baylan didn’t block every light saber swing from Ahsoka but simply dodged his upper torso out of the way.
The late Ray Stevenson has become the real star of Ahsoka and Baylan Skoll is a more of an exploration of Count Dooku losing his faith and being part of the Lost Twenty. I remember reading about the Lost Twenty before AOTC was released. It ended up being a deleted scene. So seeing Baylan is what we should've saw with Dooku. Ray is getting his Heath Ledger moment. It would be cool if we got a live-action origin story of Dooku. Watch him as a young Jedi and why he left the Order. Damn shame that both Christopher Lee and Ray Stevenson have passed. More expected from Sir Christopher as he would be 101 today if he was still alive. But at least their characters can live on through origin stories and prequels. I thought Dooku had so much potential to be a top 5 great SW character but they killed him off early in ROTS. I no longer believe Shin will kill Baylan. She seems to obey everything he orders. What I now see is Baylan getting killed by either Morgan or Thrawn. Baylan will die from a hero's sacrifice like Kanan perhaps trying to save Sabine from harm. Then Shin will help Sabine escape from the Eye of Sion and be part of Ahsoka's crew. Ahsoka can train Shin instead of Sabine. Shin is like Pom's character, Paris, in Dead Reckoning P1. Relentless but there is still good in her. Now I personally don't wish Shin to turn to the light. But if she stayed with Morgan and Thrawn on the dark side, she would end up being dead. I don't think Shin will ever turn good. I just see her as a rival turned ally after she watches Baylan get killed. It would be cool to watch Ahsoka and Shin fight side-by-side and it's Shin who Ahsoka trains and Sabine sticks to being a Mandalorian. We all know the heroes always win regardless if they happen to lose this season and Thrawn returns to their galaxy. If Shin stayed bad, she's going to eventually get killed and Ahsoka is way too powerful for her to handle. So Shin needs to turn so we can watch her, Ahsoka, and Sabine participate in future crossovers with the characters from Mando and TBOBF. Can we stop with the staring contests in every lightsaber duel, please? I wanted to see hearts flutter like on IG Live 💕 when Sabine and Shin kept staring into each other's eyes again and then Ahsoka and Baylan did the same.
Tales of the Jedi somewhat goed into Dooku's origin story but i would love a live action variation of that which describes his early life and fall to the dark side as well
This episode really made me sad about Ray Stevenson, RIP. Baylan is an awesome character. Edit: Really great video! Love how you went through the lightsaber style forms used in the duel.
I really like your breakdown of the various stances they used during their faceoff. It is interesting that Ahsoka decided to dual using only one saber when in almost everything other encounter we've seen dual with two.
Baylan's style reminded me of the "Cross Guard Blade" power style from Jedi Survivor. I kept thinking that live action dual blades wouldn't looked as great as in the animated version.
This was great duel. Notice that at first both are more or less evenly matched but as duel progresses it is Ahsoka who is on the ropes and running out of time and makes two crucial mistakes. Two things that weakened her were her grabbing the star map and burning her hand because of it making her unable to use bothe of her arms thus compromising her defense. That is why in the end Baylan was able to so easily toss her around like a ragdoll. Two she was unbalanced after she saw Shin thinking Sabine was dead. While Baylan was composed for most of the duel and thought with clear head. Best light saber fight in quite a while.
Is it just me that see a strong resemblance with how he fights vs Vader? I'm no expert on the forms but the way he fights arms below shoulder height mostly, the brute force yet strong defense, sudden throw of object with the force mid fight. And also bringing Anakin up etc. Could he have been trained by Vader by any chance?
I have to say, it was indeed interesting for Ahsoka to meet her match. The only foe we've seen her really struggle against, during and after the Imperial Era, was her former master, Darth Vader. Otherwise, Ahsoka fought inquisitors, bounty hunters, mercenaries, storm troopers, none were able to best her, and only a few were able to hold their own against her albeit for a short time. Baylan Skoll is another story. He is a former Jedi who fought in the Clone Wars, survived the Jedi Purge, and even lived past the perilous times of the Empire, when Vader, the Inquisitors, and bounty hunters were constantly looking for Jedi survivors. When we were introduced to him and his apprentice, Shin Hati, I observed the ways of how Baylan wielded his saber to easily block and deflect blasterfire from the NR security officers that were escorting Morgan Elsbeth. To me, his movements were methodical, almost automatic even, very much "a matter of fact", as you described. I immediately knew that Baylan was a formidable lightsaber combatant from that short observation, but I was still stunned by how his inevitable duel with Ahsoka went. To me, Baylan was like a tank, constantly moving forward and pushing Ahsoka back. While she got a few good hits and even nearly struck a killing blow once or twice, Baylan showed a disciplined and honed skill in lightsaber combat that automatically made him the most formidable opponent Ahsoka has faced since her fateful duel with Vader on Malachor. It seems to me that he wielded the Force to augment his physical strength and stamina in order to overpower Ahsoka but in a tactical manner rather than a brutish one. The only real trick he seemed to do was telekinetically launching that rock at Ahsoka, otherwise his style and the manner in which he used it was straightforward and tenacious yet honed and in control. You also mentioned, the stage was in Baylan's favor, and that is most certainly true. Had they dueled in a more open area, with little to no obstacles to get in the way, I feel Ahsoka would have fared better. With greater room to maneuver in and nothing barring her way, Ahsoka would have had greater agility that would have given her more of an edge over Baylan. Baylan's fighting style is truly formidable. It's strong but it's not reckless. It's not haphazard and all over the place, but it keeps moving forward aside from a few shifts to adjust for the unexpected. I look forward to their rematch and how they will adjust their styles for it, having experienced the other's already
I agree with that. But we have to remember Ahsoka didnt really focuson defeating Balan. She tried to destroy or Simply take The map. Balan is powerful and well trained "jedi", but Ahsoka is still stronger, looking how well she fought against Vader.
This breakdown is exactly why i subbed to you're channel in the first place. Love it, Ahsokas mistake was her confidence in thinking she could match him with strength. Hes bigger and stronger, even his lightsaber has these qualities. May Ray Stevenson RIP, great portrayal of this character so far 🙏🏽
Not using her Shoto saber makes absolutely no sense. She's trained with and used two sabers since she was a teenager and used this form to face Maul, Vader and Elsbeth. Why she suddenly switched to a style she hasn't used for 30 years defies logic.
I wonder if she just wanted a hand free. That would be my reasoning. Plus nothing indicated the map would hurt her from her perspective and that threw her off.
I have been a huge fan of the actor Ray Stevenson for many years, ever since I first saw him in Rome on HBO. I was very excited to hear that he was going to be in Ashoka. He was more of a powerful brute in Rome and he absolutely demolished his enemies when he played The Punisher. It saddens me that this is his last role, but I have a feeling it will be one of his best. That being said I believe a powerhouse like Baylon Skoll is a good match against Ashoka who was more of finesse fighter. His approach is different than Maul's and I'm very much looking forward to the rematch and if he fights anyone else.
What made this scene even better for me was the objectives of both duelists, not defeating the other, but getting the map vs defending it to finish the calculation. In that phase of the fight, we see Baylan constantly repositioning to block her way to the centre, even when he throws the stone there is no followup attack because he's really only trying to buy time, despite looking so powerful he is still fighting defensively. Ahsoka wins this first engagement according to the established objectives: She gets the map in time. Only now Baylan switches to offense to get it back, but the second phase is decided by the battle of words and emotions that begins even before the stances. This may be Baylan's greatest strenght, he is prepared for his enemies with knowledge (his speach to Sabine shows he either did a research deep dive into her life or can very quickly read her mind and connect all the dots like a super-psychologist) and brings up Anakin to unbalance Ahsoka and she has no real retort. When Shin comes back, Ahsoka is afraid for Sabine, loosing her calm and thus the mental contest, whereas Baylan can use the dark side when Shin is hurt to draw power from his despair. So we also have two contrasting master-student relationships: Sabine makes Ahsoka weaker and causes her to loose the fight and the map. Baylan is also protective of his student, but it makes him more dangerous, like a bear mother.
Baylan is also physically huge and strong, and I can’t imagine blocking his powerful blows with just one hand. Granted, she could use both sabers together for blocks, but that seems more complicated and maybe even weaker than just using the one saber with a strong two-handed (or one hand and force push) grip.
honestly i think dave did a good job of showing the difference between the fighters, ahsoka defeats marrok with lightning quick speed. when she fights baylan its clear how strong he is, and fight was pretty even thru out. it was once ahsoka lost the use of her left hand that baylan knew he won, as she could no longer match his power without two hands. she even uses the force too supplement her blade grip.
Such a magnificent character that sadly we will never see his ultimate potential. Ray Stevenson left a legacy behind that deserved continuation in feature films.
baylan got me thinking who he could be to be able to put up a challenge to ahsoka, the one who kept up with vader and other notorius force user duelists. I was kind mad because at the first look, I thought he was too op, but im curious the see the lore behind this character, but the bro its a brutal duelist, wich is the oposite of Ahsoka, a light agile duelist
I think a big oversight is the impact of Ahsoka clearly having to balance fighting and getting to the objective. Ahsoka would most probably prevailed if there was no time pressure. But here she had to get to the map. There was nothing gained if she won but did not prevent the coordinates completing. In the kids series Young Jedi's there is a training session with this very scenario. The lesson was to get to an objective point while a foe was present. They realised that they needed to prioritise getting to the objective over defeating the training droid.
In the beginning Baylan reminded me of an old Knight from the crusades with his large broadsword and stance. Ashoka reminded me of a samurai/ninja. Quite the visual.
What I saw was Baylan being really nice, not taking the obvious openings while she did unnecessary spins leaving herself wide open. One wrist flick and it would have been over, but plots gota plot.
We need to learn more of the history between Baylon and Anakin. Also, I didn’t think Ashoka lost this duel. Her main focus was the map, and it looked even until her hand got ruined.
Definitely, really curious if he was a temple guard or just a knight back during the war. He lived his knowledge of Ahsoka and Anakin, his “faith” was destroyed because he was there that night.
I'd say neither were really all in on that particular battle. Ahsoka was distracted, and Baylan is somewhat conflicted since he clearly doesn't want to kill Jedi unless he has to. Neither one of them really put their heart into the dual.
You said she was burned slightly… but honestly it damaged her hand enough …preventing her from combating his strength. Leaving her completely open I think up until that point they were basically even. I think it would have ended in a stalemate
One of the issues Asohka had was, she was pressed on time. Skoll wasn't. I think if time and small space didn't matter, it might have run more in her favour.
I have watched the episode six times now and need to watch it a few more as I need to absorb the fights better it was a very intense fight between Baylan and Ashoka I found it very gripping rest well ray you have done such an amazing job and I will miss you may the force be with you always ☝🏾
Let me preface this, I love ahsoka's character. It's easy to see how she became a fan favorite, but I love how she didn't automatically win against Balan but instead struggled just to keep up, bear in mind, however, she did handicap herself by not using her shoto. I find this to be quite interesting and in a way respectable as it lends credence to her samurai fighting style. Lets also remember she is much older now and may not be able to move as fast as she once did with ataru meaning she would need to adapt. As someone who has fought with two heavy swords made of ratan I know how tiring it can be and the amount of energy it takes and I'm roughly the same build as ahsoka maybe just a bit shorter. Don' t forget quickly Qui Gon burnt out using ataru against darth maul. While yes it focuses on aggressive mobility, its also energy intensive which is why it is more suited to someone like yoda.
What you notice too is before he tossed his apprentice and before she grabbed the map, he wasnt even trying to kill her. But instead was aiming to maim her. Idk if anyone caught that
Ahsoka had another consideration, she was on a clock with the map coordinates being calculated. She needed to get to (and retain) it in an unknown amount of time. Baylan could afford to play strategic defense (not to be confused with passive defense). If he ran out the map clock, he won. This gave him and advantage throughout the entire fight. The map sphere being very hot when Ahsoka managed to get it, did not help. I feel a rematch will be different, and perhaps Ahsoka's versatility will tell.
There are very few left that are on the same level as Ahsoka. There are even fewer with the amount of experience she has. She ended up defeating Maul after losing both sabers. She is a badass. She fought Baylen not using her preferred style of fighting. Her concentration was split between the fight and the map. Not that he is not a great duelist. He appears to be. Yet I'm interested to see what happens when Ahsoka gives the duel 100% concentration, and she fights using her preferred style. The duel in episode 4 was good. I'm hoping their final duel will be great.
I think Ahsoka's mistake was challenging Baylan on his terms; matching him blow-for-blow in a contest of strength was playing the duel to his advantage. He's a far stronger opponent physically, but his combat style speaks to that of a two-handed sword wielding knight. His obvious weakness is going to be maneuverability and speed, which is a hypothesis supported by the fact that he wears armor. Jedi generally prefer their simple robes for freedom of movement, so the only reason for him to require such protection is if he anticipates receiving blows to his body that he cannot deflect. If Ahsoka uses both her blades as well as her acrobatics to full effect in their next fight, I suspect she will wear him down and pierce his guard eventually, resulting in her coming out on top in their next encounter. As to why she chose to confront him in this way, I think she came into the fight with an edge of overconfidence in her. She made a similar mistake that Anakin made against Ob-wan on Mustafar; rather than thinking tactically, she decided on fighting her opponent head on as though she wanted to prove some kind of point. Anakin wanted to prove his superiority over Obi-wan by overpowering his notoriously impenetrable Soresu defence. Ahsoka wanted to defeat Baylan by overpowering him in his most favored fighting style. I think she wanted to prove that her cause was more just than his, and that her convictions were strong enough for her to prevail in this head-on fight.
Smart going with 1 blade possibly. Provides the option of 2 handed parries to properly compensate for Baylen's power. Although the second blade might have given her the advantage she needed offensively....
If Baylan was trained by Plo Koon it would explain how he's so skilled with his lightsaber, as Master Plo was himself a very strong duelist, even beating yoda once as you guys know
The GREATS to me that deserved way more screen time!!! Christopher Lee (Count Dooku / Darth Tyrannus), Ray Stevenson (Baylan Skull), and the unused, but should already be introduced, Charles Dance as either a similar type either a Sith lord or Dark Jedi!!!
Also she needs two hands on her lightsaber to block his two handed attacks which have his mass behind it. Just imagine trying to block all that strength with a lightsaber held in a single hand.
& Baylan almost never needed to use his force powers in this fight save for the saber lock & the thrown minerals (boulders). imagine him putting the force power behind his saber lock into his strikes.
He is a veteran of the clone wars.....just like her. And he was trained by Plo Koon, the only jedi to ever beat yoda. In many ways they are similar. Both in some ways are grey jedis. Just Ashoka is more in tune with the light and Baylan with the dark.
You did not really explain Ahsoka's approach. She was also severly handicapped by her injury when she picked up the map. I don't agree that he evenly matched or was better. Ahsoka unexplainably opted to use only one blade and a dueling style that did not favor the differential in the stature of her and her opponent. I find this video to be imcomplete.
The fact that she chose to not be herself threw her off. Also, leaving Shin and Sabine alone. It was written into the script, the "Grand" scheme, to ensure that Sabine goes to meet Ezra, Thrawn, and or both. I truly believe Ahsoka knew what would eventually take place, but the details, especially since the World Between Worlds, can possibly mask itself. Given the fact the she does have The Sister, she knew if both of them left, or even her, things may end up way differently over the next several years when they all knew another war would brew. To take care of the immediate and now, she knew Baylon wouldn't harm her, and without the Nightwitch, and 2 Dark Jedi, would free her from a certain bondage to focus, again, on the immediate and now for what happens in the future.
I think she had solid reasoning for using only her long blade. I think she knew going in that Baylan had a significant amount more strength than her and chose to use two hands with one blade to bolster her defense, as we see after she burns her hand that she can no longer effectively perry his attacks. She also may have been keeping a hand free to grab the map.
something to think about is the butterfly kick he does early on in the fight, it's done so seemlessly. but at the same time, you see him use very little acrobatic movements at all. ataru gives great bursts of speed and strength but it's also meant to rapidly drain the users stamina. so perhaps balen has high power but low stamina? or maybe he is just a very patient fighter as typically ataru users are also impatient, this being one of the factors leading to qui gons death. there is a lot to think about in the moves he uses.
Probably because he's older so his stamina is less. But also maybe it's experience knowing it isn't a good idea to fight finesse with finesse against a younger more agile opponent.
Ray Stevenson was DYNAMITE in this episode. He/Baylan fights like Darth Vader, but with a little less power and a little better defense. Both duels were great, and I was glad to see Sabine hold her own this time around. Why didn’t Ahsoka just grab the spherical map with The Force as opposed to using her hands? Or why didn’t she just slash the altar with her saber, taking the map out of alignment? It cost her BIG! But we got to see Anakin!!!!! Interesting that both he and Ahsoka were fully corporeal and carrying their equipment in the “World Between Worlds”. We’ll know next week, but I might suggest that Ahsoka, injured from a bad fall, is either having a Force vision, or is dreaming it while she’s unconscious. Either that, or she’s DEAD. I envy those who will be binge-watching this complete series for the first time. No cliff hangers. Sabine choked BIG TIME when she didn’t destroy the map. She and Ahsoka had another way to possibly get to Ezra. I’m also surprised Hera and the X-Wing squadron didn’t attack the hyperspace ring. That could have derailed Thrawn’s return and Morgan Elsbeth’s plans as well. Evil triumphs when Good is STUPID.
I hope they make a Baylan Skoll mini series, but just after order 66. Would be amazing to see him with Anakin also.. Also to honour Ray, and his inmense impact on this series and film industry. ❤ RIP
I think she should have known she wouldve needed her other blade, but also, the map scalding her hand did make it complicated, and while i was initially upset at this fight, this video made me realize that its truly an amazing fight
I think she foresaw him having a strength advantage and chose to use two hands for better blocks and perry. We saw after she burnt her hand and was blocking one handed that she had to start giving ground quicker and quicker because she couldn't perry effectively anymore.
Baylan is one of the coolest star wars characters I've seen in a long time. It's really a shame Ray Stevenson passed away. I would love to see much more of Baylan.
I was quite surprised Ahsoka chose to use a single saber, when she fought Vader she used both and I have to assume he's as strong with his attacks as Baylen but I think emotions played a big part with Vader she's was highly emotional so she probably didn't think he forms and attacks through as much. Here she's older and more seasoned but was focused on getting the map so I think she relied more on her forms and trying to play it smart
They both were showing respect. Her because it’s probably been so long since she’s come across a former Jedi and him because he had some knowledge of her. I viewed it as a sparring match more than anything
@@marceljohnson2215Especially if Baylan has ties to Plo Koon who obviously rescued Ahsoka as a child. Maybe Baylan witnessed her ascent and was there for Anakins fall.
I misidentified his form as being entirely Form IV. Mainly because of that heavy flurry of slashing spins that he did. But I guess your explanation makes sense. It is Djiem So.
Is it possible that Balin came from the Jedi temple on the outer rim planet Spinter? Noted in a previous video, "Why the Jedi Hid a Temple In the UNKNOWN REGIONS - Star Wars Explained." (on this channel.)
This is fantastic fight! Their mind tricks,stance changes. Perfect! True mental fight. Great analysis. I think Baylan mixes all lightsaber styles. May the Force be with you. See you soon😊
you could also argue. baylan had to defend/stall for time for the map to be uploaded. while ahsoka needs to get the map asap thats why a agrassive approach.
Ahsoka may have used only one saber as Baylan's strike were so heavy that it would have disarmed her easely, seeing how she recoiled after blocking each blow after burning her hand
I think the biggest factor in Baylan's favor was the timetable of the fight. Ahsoka didn't have the freedom to playout the fight at her leisure, she was pushed to try and rush the fight as fast as possible, meaning she was, at some level, desperate.
Is everybody going to keep forgetting that Ahsoka was using one blade compared to her two she was underestimating everyone. Love how you pointed out that she hasn’t had a real challenge since Vader.
Considering Ahsoka went head to head with an amped Vader, albeit briefly before retreating, its safe to say Baylan scales similarly, and heck by this point Ahsoka had gotten powerful and skilled enough that she could probably best the likes of Maul or Dooku with only moderate difficulty, so yeah, Baylan is pretty damn strong,. I also like Baylan because he seems kind of conflicted and doesn't appear like he particularly wants to kill other Jedi unless he's got no other choice.
it seemed she injured her hand when grabbing the map, and was unable to hold her light saber with both hands afterward, which allows Baylan to overpower her
Ahsoka and Baylan are both authentic Jedi, trained in the Order. That accounts for the similarities in their use of the forms. Interestingly, Baylan doesn't really show more than a little anger during the duel, proving that he still leans heavily on his original Jedi training rather than on any Sith-derived skills. In fact, we have no evidence that Baylan and Shin have more than a basic knowledge of the Dark Side that comes from simply not avoiding it as true Jedi do. Neither of them fights like a Sith as much as they do like Jedi. In a way, this probably made it harder for Ahsoka because her opponent was an experienced Jedi trained in the same forms as her. So he matched her in a way that the Inquisitors, who frankly relied on gimmicks like their spinning lightsabers, to compensate for their inferior swordsmanship could not.
Baylan is such a cool idealistic type character, it’s sad that Ray Stevenson passed away. If Baylan survives the season finale it will make his death more sad. Because his wildcard potential was immense.
Ahsoka was winning the fight, but she lost when her hand was burned. Baylan was a beast, but ahsoka would have killed him should her priorities been to kill rather than grab the map.
