Ahsoka Theory: The Most Powerful Jedi Isn't A Skywalker - It's Baylan Skoll
The nine main movies of the Star Wars franchise are known as the Skywalker saga for a reason — after all, members of the Force-sensitive family tend to be among the most powerful Jedi out there. While Anakin Skywalker's (Hayden Christensen) Sith turn and the injuries that confine him in his iconic Darth Vader armor cost him in the most powerful Jedi rankings, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) more than picks up the slack.
Placing a Skywalker at the top of the Jedi power pyramid makes perfect sense, considering the family's prominence in the lore. However, "Ahsoka" Season 1 muddies the waters by introducing a guy whose feats technically suggest that he might be the strongest Jedi out there ... after a fashion, anyway. Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) isn't particularly fond of the Jedi Order's rigid structure and unsavory actions, but he used to be a member, and his "honorable Ronin" behavior indicates he's a Dark Jedi instead of a Sith. He's also very good at what he does, to the point that he soundly defeats Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) when they duel on Seatos.
Beating Ahsoka is already an achievement in itself. In "Star Wars Rebels," the Togruta outcast clashes lightsabers with Vader and lives to tell the tale, so the fact that Baylan has little trouble dealing with an older and even more powerful Ahsoka speaks volumes of his abilities. Still, what truly raises him to the next level is the show's revelation that he senses things that are in an entirely different galaxy.
With all this in mind, let's explore a fun "Ahsoka" theory: Baylan Skoll is secretly the strongest Jedi in the Star Wars franchise.
Baylan's dueling skills are impressive ... but more evidence is needed
In all fairness, Ahsoka is hardly invincible. She's unable to defeat Darth Vader during their "Star Wars Rebels" fight, and while she does technically win the World Between Worlds duel in "Ahsoka" Episode 5, her former master's spirit is clearly more interested in teaching her a lesson than anything.
Of course, even if her opponent is what amounts to a tutorial-mode Force ghost, the fact that Ahsoka can beat Anakin Skywalker in a spirit realm duel is a decent achievement, especially since Anakin fights her with a combo platter of his ruthless Vader power and the fluid technique of his younger days. As such, Ahsoka losing soundly to Baylan implies that Master Skoll packs some serious strength.
There's one problem, though. Ahsoka doesn't have a real-world victory over Anakin, which means fans can call shenanigans whenever someone talks up Baylan's powers based on the lightsaber duels in "Ahsoka." This is precisely what happened in the replies when @MyTimeToShineH speculated on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Baylan is the strongest based on the aforementioned "Ahsoka" fights. "Batman defeated Superman. Bane defeated Batman. Does it make Bane the most strongest villain who ever lived?" user @TheNeosx asked, referencing the DC Comics universe to point out the flaw in this logic.
Besides, even if we accept that Baylan might be powerful enough to defeat Darth Vader, it wouldn't automatically make him the strongest dude in the galaxy. After all, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) fights Anakin four times and wins two of the duels. You don't see many people suggesting Obi-Wan is the be-all and end-all of Jedi power, so "can beat Darth Vader in a fight" seems like an insufficient measuring stick.
Fortunately, Baylan has another thing going for himself — and it's a show of strength that no canon Jedi to date has an answer to.
His feats reach beyond the known galaxy
In "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi," Luke Skywalker projects his image from Ahch-To to Crait, and the process exerts him to a point that he leaves the mortal coil and becomes one with the Force. The clear implication of the scene is that using the Force over such a vast distance is a massive strain, and the movie treats it as a shock tactic that's a worthy last hurrah for the franchise's most prominent protagonist. So ... if using the Force over a vast interstellar distance is really that demanding, how strong would someone whose Force sensitivity picks up things from a different galaxy be?
Baylan Skoll's whole thing in "Ahsoka" is that while he is an antagonist, he's not exactly a villain. The show slowly reveals that the power he's searching for isn't Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) — he merely joins Morgan Elsbeth's (Diana Lee Inosanto) posse to get on Peridea, the strange junk planet where a mysterious power has been calling him. This means Baylan is so powerful that he can sense things from another galaxy. To put things in perspective, the basic unit used to measure interstellar distances — such as the one between Ahch-To and Crait — is a lightyear. Meanwhile, the distance between different galaxies is measured in megaparsecs, a unit that translates to ... 3.26 million lightyears. How's that for long-distance Force use?
Like Luke, Baylan isn't a young guy. While he hasn't been projecting himself on Peridea (as far as we know), the fact that he's able to go about his everyday business while sensing things across intergalactic distances is a feat that should be more than enough to make the Skywalkers of the universe hang their head in shame. Yes, the Force is basically magic, and this might turn out to be an everyday Force-sensitive feat that "Ahsoka" happens to be addressing for the first time in canon. However, until someone else proves that they can Force-listen to the sweet sounds of the galaxy next door, Baylan Skoll has a pretty strong claim for the top dog title — former Jedi or not.
Baylan might have a huge power boost in his future
Of course, the "Ahsoka" Season 1 finale reveals that Baylan isn't the only person who can sense things over intergalactic distances. The Great Mothers (Jeryl Prescott Gallien, Claudia Black, and Jane Edwina Seymour) reveal that Elsbeth sensed them well before she arrived on Peridea. On the Jedi front, Ahsoka seems strangely confident when she tells Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) that Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) arrived home safely, though it's anyone's guess whether she senses it or is reassuring her Padawan. Still, this may potentially cast a shadow over the argument that Baylan is the number one Jedi. Fortunately, the episode also suggests that Baylan might be about to receive a massive power upgrade.
When we last see Baylan, he's standing on the hand of a giant statue that looks like an entity known as the Father, with another one that depicts the Son beside it. These "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" characters are two-thirds of the powerful Mortis gods, who live on a higher plane known as Mortis and represent different aspects of the Force. The Father is all about balance, the Son embodies the dark side of the Force, and the Daughter — who, as the absence of her statue subtly hints, is dead at this point — manifests the light side. They remain highly mysterious, but they've been known to take interest in extremely powerful Force users.
It sure appears that they are the power that's been calling Baylan, which is a good sign since the last Jedi they took an interest in was none other than Anakin Skywalker, a potential Chosen One. Even if Baylan isn't the most powerful Jedi yet, it seems likely that he intends to contact the Mortis gods. If he's successful in this mission, he will be without a Jedi equal.