9. Baylan Skoll The one question everyone wants to know. What is drawing Baylan’s attention. There are a few theories going around and I will present them to you with as much context as possible. The first one is Abeloth. She is a legends character that is in the same class as the trio from Mortis, the Father, Son, and Daughter. Abeloth was originally their servant but eventually was known as the Mother. However she was still human and realized that her family would outlive her so she submerged herself in force nexuses that provided her with unimaginable power as well as immortality. However, it drove her mad and into what is essentially an eldritch monster. Abeloth was locked away by her family on a distant planet and put to sleep while the trio moved far away to get away from her. If Abeloth was to be canonized, it would be here. What better way to get away from Abeloth than going to a whole other galaxy. This could also explain all the purrgil remains and why it is stated that purrgil come to Peridea to die, they are likely a food or fuel source for Abeloth should she actually be here. And it would make for a perfectly good reason as to why the Great Mothers wish to leave Peridea with Thrawn. Abeloth in legends was awoken by the destruction of the Jedi Order and the darkness of the Sith that spread throughout the galaxy. However she was only actually released some 50-60 years later by Darth Caedus or the actions of Caedus. She would eventually be destroyed by Luke Skywalker and a sith lord named Darth Krayt but they were wary that she may return. Abeloth was also able to possess other beings and manipulate others so it is very possible that she is manipulating Baylan into letting her free, which would spell trouble for everyone especially since her family is long dead. The second and third ones are iffy to say the least. The Bendu and the Zeffo people. The Bendu is from Rebels and is a force entity that sits between the light and the dark. Thrawn and Kanan Jarrus had personal history with Bendu on the planet of Atollon, eventually Bendu became hostile to both sides but he hasn’t been seen since Rebels. It is possible that he is here on Peridea but it is a longshot and wouldn’t really explain why the Great Mothers wish to leave. The third are the Zeffo and they are from the Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor games. They are an ancient force sensitive people who mysteriously disappeared leaving temples and shrines behind that the character Cal Kestis will eventually explore in the Imperial era. Since this is a different galaxy it is possible that they could be here. However what they could possibly want from Baylan and why the Great Mothers would want to leave doesn’t give confidence that it is the Zeffo. A fourth option is the Son himself. The Son was killed in the Clone Wars by a special dagger but it could be possible that he survived or healed because of how the galaxy was plunged into darkness with the destruction of the Jedi which could make sense since he is practically the embodiment of the dark side. The Son was played by Sam Witwer and there was mention of Witwer being involved with the Ahsoka show in some fashion so people have speculated about the Son’s return. The Son was also a master manipulator. Overall I do not believe Baylan will survive the series no matter what it is that is drawing his attention. 10. Ticket Home There is only two ways back home for the protags that I can think of. Either they stow away on Thrawn’s ship or they go back using the purrgil. I doubt it is the former but people question the latter. Ezra is their ticket home but I find myself confused by this. Ezra has a natural affinity with animals, he connects with them very easily and during Rebels he connected with a pack of purrgil near the end of the series. At the end of the series he called upon this pack to aid him on Lothal and take them far away. I think Ezra can do this once again, call upon the purrgil to take them home. However this begs the question…why did he never do that to get back home before? He would need an intact ship and the only likely options are the Chimaera itself or a TIE Fighter within the Chimaera but still. I just find it confusing.

1. New Republic Mon Mothma is finally truly understanding the danger that is coming as both Leia and Hera are on high alert about the threat of Thrawn. Mothma has always been much more cautious and was once a side of a coin with Saw Gerrera. One being a militant extremist and the other being a more passive optimistic senator. I am appreciative of 3PO being there in place of Leia and Leia’s name carries weight as seen in that room. Leia being in charge of the Defense Council makes a lot of sense and this would lead to her becoming the leader of the Resistance years later. Senator Xiono I am quite tired of as he is just ignorant of the facts. 2. Anakin’s Holo Tapes These were used for Ezra in the early seasons of Rebels and it was how he learned some of the lightsaber forms as Kanan Jarrus was only a padawan of 14-15 years old when the Order was destroyed so neither of them had the proper training. 3. Sabine and Ezra development What Sabine has done, what she has most likely caused in her desperate desire to find Ezra has not been revealed to Ezra himself yet. I think that this is why Ezra is so flippant right now. He doesn’t know what Sabine has done and once he does, I think this is when his character will begin to develop. This will cause friction between the two and play into Thrawn’s hands as he likely knows that Ezra would not be pleased to say the least that Sabine would sacrifice the galaxy current peace to have a chance of finding him. Ezra at this point likely assumed that someone would come to get him at some point in time so he bided his time, trained in the force, and bonded with the Noti. It is also possible that Thrawn and Ezra have left each other alone purposefully as both are stuck here and killing each other is pointless. 4. Ezra’s Jab and Sabine’s Training Ezra was trained to be a Jedi from start to finish. Sabine was not, she started out as a mandalorian bounty hunter and only began briefly training with a lightsaber, the darksaber, when she found it on Dathomir. She used it to help unite Mandalore’s people and personally gave it to Bo-Katan, breaking tradition, for her to use to rule. Sabine trained with the darksaber briefly under Kanan and Ezra was there to see it. Other than this, Sabine had no jedi or force training whatsoever until Ahsoka apparently began training her. With this information it isn’t a surprise that Ezra makes that jab and that he is confused as he never would have expected it from her as she never gave any notion of wanting to be a Jedi or wanting to use a lightsaber when he was around. It was never that Ezra was more promising than Sabine or showed up Sabine in training, they simply were never involved in the same training or abilities when they were together. And the only time they were was when Sabine briefly wielded the darksaber. 5. Ezra’s time on Peridea Ezra has been missing his lightsaber for ten years and I believe it is a canon thing that kyber crystals resonate with their handler. Ezra’s crystal has been in Sabine’s hands for a decade and has adapted to her presence, meaning that the saber is truly Sabine’s now not Ezra’s as the crystal and Ezra are now unfamiliar. Since Ezra has not had his saber, his two options in terms of training were martial arts and the force, and I believe that he has done both from what I saw in the episode. He fights like a monk , or in this case a force monk, and is proficient in hand to hand combat which if I remember correctly was never his strong suit when he was younger. Ezra reminds me of a legends Jedi Master named Fay. She was a wandering Jedi who did not wield a lightsaber and instead only used the force and martial arts if necessary. She went around the Outer Rim following the force and helping people when they needed it. Ezra’s fighting style and current way of living reminds me of that. 6. Night Troopers I am a little disappointed by the night troopers as from what we have seen they are just glorified stormtroopers. I am glad they are not undead or anything like that but I wished they were just more I guess. However, they are more accurate than the average stormtrooper, more loyal and they are a bit more tactical. I believe that this is because of Thrawn’s leadership. Beyond this I have higher hopes for Enoch. 7. Thrawn I don’t think Shannon truly understands Thrawn’s way of thinking, which is perfectly okay as it takes time to understand him. Thrawn did the research and learned that Anakin Skywalker was Ahsoka’s Jedi Master which means that Ahsoka’s tactics must be at the very least somewhat similar to his. Thrawn fought alongside Anakin during the Clone Wars and with Vader during the Imperial Era. He also was able to connect the dots that both of these completely different entities were actually the same person. Thrawn applies his knowledge of Anakin and applies it to Ahsoka, unpredictable and dangerous thus he calls his fighters off, lets Ahsoka hide, and uses the Great Mothers to track her location. The goal is to keep Ahsoka away from him and the Chimaera so that it can finish loading the cargo. By firing on her position and forcing her to leave the debris field, he is forcing her to adapt to his moves rather than let her make the first move. Its all about control like you said Matthias. Thrawn likes to be in control so that he can guide the situation to a positive outcome for him and his side. Shannon said quite a bit about not understanding the attack and retreat tactic of Thrawn’s. I believe that I can explain it at least the way I see it. Thrawn was distracting them, he didn’t care if they reunited or anything like that, he just wanted their attention on what was right in front of them rather than on him and the Chimaera which is exactly what happened. He also anticipated on the distraction lasting longer and potentially eliminating Ahsoka, Ezra, and Sabine but one factor played a role in ruining that plan. Baylan Skoll. Baylan, in Thrawn’s plan, was meant to be with Shin and the night troopers as they fought our protagonists but instead Baylan wandered off. This was an unexpected variable and changed the very outcome of the skirmish there. The Noti were practically helpless and Baylan has proved that he could defeat Ahsoka in a duel twice and she is the better duelist between her, Sabine, and Ezra. Baylan’s decision to wander off cost Thrawn that victory but it wasn’t a defeat either as it still bought them plenty of time, and it was exactly time that Ahsoka could not afford to lose as he said. Let me know if that made sense at all. 8. Shin Hati Shin was interesting this episode, even more so than any other so far. She was practically abandoned by Baylan and told good luck with her new life. It is understandable that she is likely upset, feeling abandoned and alone. However that begs the question, where does she go from here? Back to Baylan? To Thrawn? It doesn’t seem like she is a fan of either at the moment and the offer by Ahsoka likely threw her off kilter. I do appreciate your comments about Baylan wanting to allow Shin to follow her own ambition and letting her be free to choose what she wants as being shackled is essentially part of what led to the Jedi Order’s fall. I agree that Baylan is likely doing what he believes is right by setting Shin free, but Shin must feel abandoned as she must view him as family. She never had those rules and boundaries of the Order around attachment and family like Baylan did so she must have thought he would never truly leave her but he does it.