We’ve now seen all of Ahsoka, which means that Dave Filoni’s biggest secrets have now been revealed. Grand Admiral Thrawn is back in the main Star Wars galaxy, while Ahsoka Tano isn’t, setting the table for a very difficult battle against evil in the years to come. But there was one mystery that, when the dust settled, wasn’t actually a mystery at all – and that’s a good thing.
The Star Wars powers at be set the stage with a two-part premiere for the latest Star Wars series. We got to see some of the best Star Wars characters in action right off the bat, as well as meeting some new heroes and baddies. One of the most fascinating was the mask-wearing Inquisitor Marrok, who squared off against Ahsoka Tano in lightsaber combat and looked set to join the ranks of the best Star Wars villains.
Of course, the arrival of a mask-wearing dude got Star Wars fans a-fluttering and rewatching their box sets of the Star Wars movies in order for clues. Could he be Starkiller? Could he be a twisted Ezra Bridger? Could he be Darth Plagueis? Somebody always suggests Darth Plagueis, like Gretchen trying desperately to make “fetch” happen.
In the end, though, Marrok proved to be a damp squib on the mystery front. Marrok met his end in Ahsoka episode 4 when he was scythed down by our titular hero, subsequently fading into a cloud of mysterious dark mist. We know nothing more about Marrok now than we did when we first clapped eyes on his masked visage.
The first instinct there is to be disappointed. We’re just like any other fan and love to speculate wildly about the most unusual characters in all of the best TV series. But Marrok should teach us all a lesson that we definitely need in the Very Online era of franchise entertainment: not everything is a mystery to be solved.
Some of the biggest franchises of recent years have been dominated by fan theories and by intrepid viewers trying to decode clues and hints for the future. Every possible development of Game of Thrones was predicted with utmost confidence by at least one Reddit user, while MCU fans have managed to shoehorn the devilish Mephisto into every Marvel series to date. They’ve probably been back through the Marvel movies with their finger over the pause button too, just in case he’s hiding somewhere in plain sight.
The Mephisto example is a particularly egregious one. Speculation around his debut first erupted when WandaVision was new on Disney Plus and, since then, it’s become a running joke to predict his inevitable arrival in one of the upcoming Marvel movies or shows. Is Agatha actually Mephisto? Is that stained-glass window in Loki a nod to Mephisto? Is Sharon Carter a disguised Mephisto? Is the goat demon in She-Hulk really Mephisto?
At times, I’ve even wondered if I might be Mephisto. After all, how would I know?
But with Marrok turning out to be nothing – despite Filoni’s love of bringing back obscure characters like Morai and the Mortis Gods – we need to change our way of thinking about future Marvel and Star Wars projects. Fans are livid every time a Marvel show passes by without a Mephisto appearance and every Star Wars creator knows the fury of fans who have seen their pet theories dismissed by new movies and TV series.
The solution to this is to stop worrying so much about these “mystery box” characters. Some of the best storytellers around have helped to put these shows and movies together, and there’s more to what they’re doing than creating breadcrumb trails for fans of the Star Wars Legends continuity and the deepest depths of the Marvel Comics oeuvre.
Obviously, speculation is fun and there’s nothing wrong with delving into fan theories and drawing possible connections – we do plenty of that ourselves – but it’s important to just allow stories to play out as well. And crucially, if your favorite theory doesn’t turn out to be true, don’t react as if it’s a personal affront. Ultimately, it’s just a creative person making a different decision to the one you would’ve made if you were in that writers room.
But there was a real breath of fresh air to the Marrok character panning out into nothing. Often, in the desperation to be two steps ahead, we create a mystery that simply isn’t there and we invest in that rather than characters, emotions, and stories. Ultimately, we fell in love with these universes because of their characters and how they make us feel. It’s not always because of how elegantly they remind us of the past or hint at the future.
With that said, let the speculation that OB from Loki is secretly Mephisto begin.
For more from Ahsoka, find out everything we know about the Nightsisters and learn why Thrawn was going to Dathomir in the finale ahead of Ahsoka season 2. We’ve also delved into the new Star Wars movies on the way and explained why Rey deserves a new Star Wars movie of her own.
Elsewhere, learn why Darth Maul could threaten Thrawn’s plan and look into the villain Guillermo del Toro wanted to give his own Star Wars movie. Alternatively, look ahead to Marvel Phase 5, starting with the next movie, The Marvels.