Who Is Marrok?
And why his identity matters for Thrawn fans
When I’m bored I like to scroll Reddit. It lets me catch up on the inner thoughts of my fellow Star Wars fans. For instance:
Anyway.
Lately, the Redditors seem obsessed with unmasking Marrok (the individual pictured above, in case you are asking the question posed in the headline in a more fundamental way). Ever since Darth Vader turned out to be Luke’s [spoiler redacted], Star Wars diehards have had an unshakable Scooby Doo mentality: Anyone wearing a helmet or mask has to be revealed as some other person from earlier in the story.
Of course, there is no reason Marrok can’t just be Marrok. So far, I’m happy that they are in the background. When I first saw them in the trailer, with that telltale helicopter lightsaber, I became very worried that Ahsoka would have to defeat “the last inquisitor” or whatever before the real story could begin.
But zoinks, Scoob, the guy has a black helmet with a voice modulator. That’s basically Darth Vader. Though, when you think about it, Darth Vader was just Darth Vader, until he wasn’t. Nobody was wondering who he really was in 1977. Why couldn’t Snoke just be Snoke?
Even I’ll admit, though, that Marrok is conspicuously inconspicuous. They seemingly work for Baylan Skoll, but they’re not Baylan’s apprentice, Shin Hati. Being redundant with Shin both helps them stay in the background and makes it curious why they are even in the show.
Theories on Marrok’s secret identity range from the pointless (Cal Kestis, video game protagonist) to the baffling (Hera’s little green-haired son, Jacen, time-traveling). Marrok’s wearing roughly the same outfit as Eighth Brother, an inquisitor who dies in a blooper on Rebels. I’m not sure what the point of bringing him back would be.
Marrok could conceivably be Barriss Offee, Attack of the Clones background character and friend of Ahsoka, who Dave Filoni has previously threatened to bring back. But a cameo that obscure would be fairly hostile in a show that already asks its viewers to go watch four seasons of a cartoon to catch up.
There are, to my mind, two theories that make sense. (And spoiler alert, I guess, since either one could end up being correct.) First, Marrok really is a former inquisitor who hunted Baylan, failed to kill him, and ultimately came into his employ. This version helps explain how Baylan survived the Jedi purge and fits nicely with his characterization to date as a soft-hearted mercenary.
The other theory (that’s all over the internet) is that he’s Ezra Bridger, the Jedi who sent Thrawn to the other galaxy and the very guy Hera and Sabine are hoping to find.
It works from a character perspective. Ezra has been gone for 12ish years now. He’s been stranded in another galaxy with a legion of Imperial officers and their charismatic blue leader. He simply cannot reemerge as the exact same guy from Sabine’s hologram. But it’d also be boring for him to return as a full-blown villain. Baylan, and by extension his underlings, are hardly irredeemable Sith. In fact, their motivations beyond money are opaque.
Critics of the Ezra Theory get hung up on logistics. Since Morgan Elsbeth is expending so much effort to get Thrawn back from this other galaxy, how could Ezra secretly have already returned? It’s not the foolproof counterargument it seems, though. Ezra employed the purrgil (the hyperspace whales) to take him and Thrawn away in the first place. Why couldn’t he surf one the other direction? He also has a demonstrated ability to take shortcuts between space and time.
The biggest puzzle is how it would fit into the story. And now I find myself kind of hoping its true, because my best shot at making it work involves a version of Thrawn much closer to the one I’m hoping for than the one I expect. Basically:
Sometime over the course of a decade, Thrawn convinced Ezra that there are lurking threats to their home galaxy scarier than Imperial tyranny.
Thrawn knew Ezra orchestrated their exile, and would probably know how to get back. And while Thrawn’s Star Destroyers were in no shape to make a return trip via whale, Ezra could return as a lone operative.
Thrawn is willing to accept Morgan’s help, but he thinks she’s a little too woo-woo with her witchcraft and speeches about the threads of fate. He needs someone more level-headed to prep the prime galaxy for his return.
Now Ezra is Thrawn’s man inside Morgan’s operation, making sure Ahsoka doesn’t get too close before the giant hyperspace ring can be used to retrieve Star Destroyers. He doesn’t want to hurt his friends, but he’s protecting Thrawn’s plans for the greater good. This is why Marrok was happy to fight Ahsoka to a detent on Corellia.
Baylan knows Marrok is Ezra, which is why he told Shin that Thrawn would reward them with “power beyond your wildest dreams” and not just “the $450 Morgan owes us.”
Watto is alive and thriving on Canto Bight! Love that for him.
Do I think I’m right? No. Have I talked myself into wanting it to be true? Unfortunately, yes.