Ahsoka fans at Star Wars Celebration were able to get their first official look at Rory McCann (Game of Thrones) as Baylan Skoll for Ahsoka Season 2. The Rosario Dawson-led series begins “filming in a week,” according to Dawson at Celebration, which Filoni confirmed to Collider earlier today. During the panel for the Disney+ series, McCann‘s look was revealed. McCann replaces Ray Stevenson for Season 2, who unfortunately passed away in 2023. Revealed on the big screen, McCann‘s Baylan Skoll is seen in two pictures, one with and without his lightsaber. “Baylan is important,” says Dave Filoni, the chief creative officer of Lucasfilm. “He’s the parallel to Ahsoka, and that’s a parallel that’s got to continue.”

During the panel, Dawson expressed, “I’m just so excited to be with this cast again.” She goes on to explain. “I’m excited to bring on Rory [McCann], and Rory has that incredible balance of intensity, fierceness, love, and passion that Ray [Stevenson] had.” Outside of the antagonist of Baylan Skoll returning, Filoni seemed to be tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding Ahsoka Season 2, but the return of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker was also confirmed.

‘Ahsoka’s Ray Stevenson Remembered as “The Greatest Spirit of the Show”

During the panel, the cast and crew of Ahsoka also took the time to remember Stevenson, after his death in 2023. “Ray was the greatest person, the greatest spirit of the show,” Filoni explains. According to Empire, Filoni held back tears as he paid tribute to the star. At Calagy Expo last year, Ahsoka’s Diana Lee Inosanto recalled working with Stevenson. She called the experience an “absolute honor,” during the panel, explaining:

“Working with Ray was an absolute honor, because he’s a veteran actor. He had me at the show ‘Rome’ on HBO, if anybody’s watched ‘Rome.’ I miss Ray all the time. I’m so saddened that he’s not here with us anymore. I’m so thankful that he at least had his moment to be with Star Wars fans in London, Star Wars Celebration, which is where we last saw him.”

As for the late Stevenson‘s own memories of the experience filming Ahsoka Season 1, he sat down with Collider‘s Steve Weintraub at Star Wars Celebration Europe ahead of the Season 1 premiere of Ahsoka. He spoke in awe of the sheer scale of the production of the first season, saying in part:

“The new scale, there’s a certainly scale to Ahsoka and everyone involved feels like there’s a bit of pixie dust sprinkled on this one. I remember walking on set and wondering who designed this? Who constructed this? And everybody brought their A-game. The costumes were works of art.”

Ahsoka Season 1 is available to stream on Disney+ now.

via Collider