Credit: LucasfilmMarrok’s death finally makes sense.
Ahsoka (2023) is breaking new ground within the Star Wars franchise. It may have gotten off to a rocky start with fans, but the Mando-Verse is finally leaving traditional Star Wars lore behind and is dipping its toes into some fascinating new waters.
While some of the mythology the series explores can hardly be described as new, given that a lot is lifted from animated shows Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 — 2020) and Star Wars: Rebels (2014 — 2018), the franchise is undoubtedly leaning in a bold new direction.
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While the faraway galaxy is populated with aliens and droids and lightspeed travel, what truly makes Star Wars more fantasy than science fiction is the Force, a power said to exist in all living things and which binds all living things together. “Sorcery”, if you will.
Now, and particularly for fans unfamiliar with the animated shows, we’ve been thrust into uncharted territory, perhaps in the same way Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Huyang (David Tennant) have now that they’re heading to an unknown galaxy.
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The latest episode of Ahsoka, “Part Five: Shadow Warrior”, sees Ahsoka and Huyang “board” one of the purrgil before they jump into hyperspace to find Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), who was taken to the second galaxy by Lady Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and the two mercenaries Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) in last week’s episode.
While it remains to be seen what the new galaxy will be like, by this point, the episode had already dealt with bizarre storylines, with Ahsoka revisiting the mystical dimension known as the World Between Worlds, where she was reunited with her old master Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen).
But it seems Ahsoka has been preparing us for the weird and wonderful all along.
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During the first four episodes of the show, Baylan and Shin were accompanied by the mysterious Inquisitor named Marrok, whose identity seemed shrouded in so much secrecy that fans were convinced it was a well-known actor or character hiding in plain sight.
Theories ranged from Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) to the future version of Jacen Syndulla. But then, after seeing Sam Witwer in the credits of Ahsoka, fans believed it was the actor best known for voicing Lord Maul in The Clone Wars and Rebels and for playing Darth Vader’s apprentice Galen Marek/Starkiller in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed games.
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However, it turns out that Witwer only provided additional voices, none of which have been revealed yet. It’s possible he was voicing Marrok, but “Part Four: Fallen Jedi” reveals that the character isn’t Starkiller like many suspected or any of the other characters. Marrok is actually played by stuntman Paul Darnell.
While dueling with Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in the forests of Seatos, Marrok is prematurely dispatched by the Togruta Jedi, who slices through his chest armor with her lightsaber. What happens next is even more surprising, as green smoke quickly billows out of Marrok, suggesting that he’s the embodiment of dark magic.
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We had already learned that Lady Morgan Elsbeth is a Nightsister (a witch), so fans, no matter how disappointed at the underwhelming Marrok “reveal”, quickly drew the connection, putting forth that Marrok was some sort of reanimated Force user.
Zombies in Star Wars? It wouldn’t be the first time — check out The Clone Wars episode “Massacre”, which features zombie-Nightsisters on Dathomir (great name for a band), or “Legacy of Terror”, which is crawling with zombified Geonosians.
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But while it seems Marrok is indeed a zombie of some kind created and controlled by witchcraft, his death has much more meaning than you might think — at least outside the narrative and the Star Wars franchise.
A video from the YouTube channel Bombastic Clips, which is best known for sharing insightful shorts about topical Star Wars content, reveals that Marrok’s death is also an homage to a classic martial arts film named Sanjuro (1962).
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The YouTuber explains that Marrok’s death is a direct homage (or “borderline rip-off”) of the 1962 film, whose showdown features an iconic “blood-spray.” However, the blood wasn’t supposed to gush out as violently from the character’s chest as it does in the film, which is only due to a broken valve that led to the pressure exploding.
Check out the clip below:
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When you compare the two scenes, it’s plain to see that both the lightsaber duel and Marrok’s death are indeed directly inspired by the film.
Dave Filoni has also previously explained that Rosario Dawson’s version of Ahsoka Tano is heavily inspired by samurai warriors from martial arts movies and has also said that The Mandalorian (2019) is inspired by old Western serials.
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Interestingly, though, the online Star Wars encyclopedia, Wookieepedia (which isn’t always considered a reliable source of information), reveals some surprising details about Marrok’s history. What particularly stands out, though, is the following piece of text relating to Arthurian mythology:
In Arthurian legend, Marrok is the name of a knight who was turned into a werewolf by his wife, who had learned these skills from the witch Morgan Le Fay. In Ahsoka, “Morgan” is the name of Marrok’s employer, one of the witches of Dathomir. The wolf motif also ties in with Marrok’s fellow dark-side users Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll, who share their last names with two wolves from Norse mythology.
A zombie-wolf? Now that’s something.
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Like zombies, wolves are also tied heavily into Ahsoka as it serves as a live-action sequel to Rebels, which features the Loth Wolves, one of whom is revealed to be the Force-embodiment of fallen Jedi Kanan Jarrus/Caleb Dume (Freddie Prinze Jr.).
Zombies, talking wolves, witchcraft, space whales, and time travel? It can only be a galaxy far, far away…
As per Disney and Lucasfilm, here’s the official trailer for Ahsoka:
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Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Sabine Wren), Eman Esfandi (Ezra Bridger), Lars Mikkelsen (Grand Admiral Thrawn), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Hera Syndulla), Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma), Ivanna Sakhno (Shin Hati), Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), and the late Ray Stevenson (Baylan Skoll).
Ahsoka is now streaming on Disney+. New episodes will be available to stream every Tuesday, with the eighth and final episode airing on October 3.
Do you think Marrok was a wasted character? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!