Rory McCann Officially Replaces Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll in AHSOKA Season 2; First Look Revealed

During the exciting Ahsoka panel at Star Wars Celebration, Dave Filoni confirmed thatGame of Thrones fan-favorite actor Rory McCann is officially stepping into the role of Baylan Skoll for Season 2.

The late Ray Stevenson, who brought Skoll to life in Season 1, passed away in 2023, and Filoni addressed the emotional weight of continuing the character’s arc without him.

Filoni didn’t rush into the decision, and you could feel the heaviness in what he said as he reflected on working with Stevenson.

"It was particularly a big challenge because of losing Ray," he said. "Ray was the most beautiful person on screen and off."

He continued, "It was a challenge for me to even consider continuing for a while. But I have a great support group with Jon [Favreau] and Rosario [Dawson]. And I found a way, and I had Ray in my head.

“And [I'm] grateful for all those conversations with him about Baylan, so I understood what to do. It just took a while to get there. But I'm very confident now that Ray would be happy with the direction of the character that we've chosen."

That character, as fans now know, will be played by McCann, best known as the Hound from Game of Thrones. A first-look image of McCann as Baylan Skoll was shown during the panel, which you can see above.

McCann seems like a great choice fof the character as he’s a strong actor that has an imposing screen presence and gritty intensity that he will bring to the character.