Ahsoka's Baylan Skoll Joins A Violent Star Wars Club With Darth Vader And Maul
"Star Wars" fans are beginning to notice a trend — their favorite franchise loves its hallway fight scenes. Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) got his chance to engage in one of his own in "Ahsoka," and fans took to Reddit to make a case for including him in a club with a seemingly growing membership. U/Vegetable-Abroad3171 posted their idea by claiming it was time for the character to get the credit due for the scene. "I believe it's right we induct Baylan Skoll into the live-action hallway scene club of 'Star Wars.' RIP Ray Stevenson." The post also features a grid of photos of other famous hallway scenes, with Stevenson joined by fellow Sith Darth Vader, and Jedi versions with Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) from his self-titled series and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) from "The Mandalorian."
Some fans felt Skoll's hallway moment didn't quite hit the mark. U/Creyson1 said, "I thought his choreography was really lacking and looked slow and mechanical." In defense of Skoll's scene, u/LatissimusDorsi_DO wrote, "For people complaining about the stiffness, it really communicated to me how Arthurian this character is. He's holding his lightsaber like a knight. It feels weighted and heavy because it's as if he's moving a metal sword and wearing armor. I loved it."
Of course, whether you loved it or not, we can't talk about a "Star Wars" hallway fight scene without mentioning the one that may be the greatest of all time, one that leveled up Darth Vader's live-action brutality.
Vader's rage in Rogue One was legendary
A hallway can be a terrific setting for a terror-fueled scene. There isn't much room to work the camera angles, but there also is nowhere to run, forcing the action in a claustrophobic fashion. "Star Wars" may be one of the best franchises to utilize this concept, and they did so expertly when they gave us our first look at a live-action Darth Vader for the first time in 11 years with his now-iconic scene in 2016's "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."
The climax of "Rogue One" sees the plans of the Empire's secret weapon make its way onto the getaway ship. While it seems the mission is a success, the rebel scum have one more obstacle. Darth Vader pursues the plans through a hallway filled with smoke and terror as he dispatches many horrified rebels. The scene ends where "Star Wars: A New Hope" begins and has become one of Darth Vader's most brutal on-screen moments.
Baylan Skoll had a calmer and more controlled fight through a hallway. The powerful Vader seemed to let his rage fuel his pursuit through the carnage of his. But one hallway fight scene is missing from the list and may be the most unique of them all.
Darth Maul joined the hallway club too
While you can choose your favorite from that live-action list, one animated "Star Wars" hallway scene deserves some recognition. In Season 7 of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," Darth Maul (Sam Witwer) is sent to cause a diversion for Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein). He does so by engaging troopers in battle in a, you guessed it, hallway. This scene stands out from the live-action versions because he completes his task without a lightsaber.
No way is Ahsoka going to hand an enemy a lightsaber, especially someone as dangerous as Maul. So the Sith goes into battle with nothing but his knowledge of The Force. He Force pushes Clone soldiers down and deflects blaster shots. Maul also creatively uses the wall panels as shields and projectile weapons. And let's not forget when he pulls a trooper's arm through a closing blast door.
The Reddit post is specifically focused on the live-action hallway scenes. Still, this one from "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" deserves a spot on the best hallway scenes list simply because it is done without a lightsaber and showcases the talent and ingenuity of one of the franchise's most beloved villains. Now that Baylan Skoll has his own entry, he is in the company of some of the most powerful Force users in the franchise.