00:00Hello there my dear friends, and welcome back to yet another very exciting Star Wars video.
00:05It is I, coming at you once again, your favourite galactic hostess, Star Wars Meg.
00:10And today we have yet another tease for Ahsoka Season 2.
00:13And then afterwards we have some new details for the Maul animated show,
00:17Maul's Shadow Lord, which was announced at Celebration. You don't want to miss it.
00:21Before we dive into it though my dear friends, as always, if you've not done so already,
00:25please be sure to hit the big subscribe button down below,
00:27and ring the bell to be alerted every time that I post a new video.
00:31But no more jibber jabber, let's dive straight in.
00:34We begin with Ahsoka Season 2.
00:36We have some Maul-Eats concept art from Star Wars Celebration.
00:40Peridia is far more mysterious than you thought.
00:42Ahsoka and Sabine are going to have to fight mysterious Sith droids.
00:46And we know they're Sith droids because they were taken from unused Clone Wars concepts.
00:50They're called Keiju droids, and were originally meant to be located under the Temple on Coruscant,
00:55having ties back to Corriban.
00:57I don't want to speculate too much about this because I don't know the direction Dave Filoni's
01:01going to go with it, but Season 2 is going to give us giant droids.
01:04I spoke about this briefly in my Celebration trailer breakdown, but this is a clearer look at them.
01:09In other Ahsoka news my friends, in recent videos I've covered comments made by Ivana Sakno
01:15and Natasha Lyubordisso.
01:17So far it's mostly just been breadcrumbs, but today my friends, we have something super exciting
01:22concerning Balen and Shin Hattie, who's basically become one of my favourite Disney Star Wars characters.
01:29So once again the source for this update is Ivana, who just a couple of days ago said she's about to film
01:34some more scenes for Shin in London.
01:36But now she comments on what it's like seeing the new Balen on set.
01:40How is Rory McCann doing filling Ray Stevenson's shoes?
01:43And oh my goodness were they some big shoes to fill.
01:46He portrayed one of the greatest Star Wars villains in years.
01:49But apparently Rory is doing a great job too.
01:52We got our first glimpse at the new Balen skull at Star Wars Celebration.
01:55He definitely has the physique, and the facial expressions.
01:58But let's see what Ivana said.
02:00She begins with the enormous revelation that season 2 of The Day Filoni Show is already a quarter of the way done.
02:06So they're pretty much done filming the first two episodes.
02:09Season 2 is going to be 8 episodes just like the first, and the release date is sometime late 2026.
02:16Lucasfilm still has to confirm this.
02:18I don't think it's going to be sooner than that, because The Mandalorian and Grogu comes out in May of next year.
02:23And Lucasfilm wants to spend a chunk of change on the marketing, and let the movie breathe.
02:27So my prediction is fall or winter of 2026.
02:31But now on to the part where Ivana talks about Rory.
02:34She said it was such a great loss when Ray passed, and something Lucasfilm didn't take lightly.
02:39She continues,
02:40I have such gratitude for Day Filoni for putting so much time and attention into finding the right person to continue Balen's story.
02:47And Rory couldn't have been a better choice.
02:49On set, he is so full of depth, and has such great respect for Balen, and what Ray created.
02:54Which allows for him to really bring his own into Balen's shoes.
02:58So watching him doing it has been a gift.
02:59And of course, we all feel Ray's presence, as well as guidance.
03:03So two things I gather from this.
03:05From what she's saying, the transition of actors isn't jarring.
03:08It feels like a natural continuation.
03:10And the second takeaway, which I think is an immense positive, is that while Rory on set talks like Balen, looks like Balen, he's bringing his own version to the role.
03:19And like I once said, the transition of actors would work even better if there was a time jump.
03:24Because then you can make Rory look a bit more like the Hound.
03:27Like a broken and wild, disheveled Balen who's been on Peridia for too long.
03:31Chasing the mysterious voice, calling out to him.
03:34So Rory needs to bring his own iteration, while simultaneously undertaking the very difficult task of carrying on the story of an established character who many fans love.
03:44But in a way it's a very fine line, because as an audience we still need to recognise that this is the same character from season 1.
03:51Recasting a Star Wars character is always a very tall order.
03:55But in recent years I would say Lucasfilm has done a pretty good job.
03:58The new Bail Organa renowned season 2 was fantastic.
04:01So Ivana's comments are a promising sign that McCann is doing justice to Balen.
04:06And if Dave Filoni and Ivana Sackno say he's doing a great job, then I believe them.
04:10And now that we have a new Bailen, he doesn't need to die in Ahsoka season 2.
04:14Because when Dave Filoni was trying to figure out what to do with Balen after Rey passed away, that was one of the options.
04:20So I'm grateful we have someone as talented as Rory McCann who also knew Rey personally.
04:24I know some people have said that doesn't really matter, but I think it does.
04:27It means he has an extra incentive to really honour the character, and honour his late friend.
04:32So that's some very good news for Ahsoka season 2.
04:35In other Star Wars updates my dear friends, we need to talk about Maul's Shadow Lord.
04:39The upcoming animated series that was announced at Star Wars Celebration.
04:43We assume it's also a 2026 release by the way.
04:47It's set one year after the Clone Wars, and the synopsis is this.
04:51Maul plots to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire.
04:55And this show, my friends, promises to cover a lot of the events between the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.
05:01Katie Sackhoff recently alluded to the fact that she did some Star Wars vocal work, so I think Bo-Katan's gonna be in this.
05:07Furthermore, my friends, the trailer shown at Celebration depicted someone who looks a lot like Darth Talon,
05:13so she could be making a first canon introduction.
05:15But a character who also featured in the trailer that no one is talking about is Marrock from the Ahsoka show,
05:21as well as Tales of the Empire, an Inquisitor who was revived during the New Republic.
05:26But during this time period, he is presumably still alive.
05:29I've seen a few crazy theories about him, some say that he might have been a clone of Maul.
05:34Someone else who I really want to see in this show is Kira.
05:36She recently appeared in Star Wars Outlaws, she's appeared in the comics, and maybe now we'll see how she met Darth Maul.
05:46And if we do get Kira, my friends, we also get Dryden Vos.
05:50After separating from Han, she was recaptured by Proxima, and then sold as a slave to Dryden.
05:55That's how she got involved with Crimson Dawn.
05:58And fans of Solo A Star Wars Story have been saying for many years, they want to see the return of Kira.
06:02We thought we might see her in the Book of Boba Fett, but that didn't happen, so now we might see her earlier in the timeline,
06:08this time in animation, which I honestly think is a great idea and could definitely work.
06:13We also have another little tidbit for the show.
06:15It's being written by Matt McNevett, who once worked on the cancelled game Star Wars 1313.
06:21He was the head writer on the Clone Wars season 6 and 7, two of the best seasons of the entire show,
06:26and even co-wrote the story to Jedi Fallen Order.
06:29He was also heavily involved in Tales of the Underworld.
06:31So he's a Lucasfilm veteran, with a specialty for the criminal underworld of the galaxy,
06:36and that could open the door to so many possibilities.
06:39We might see some familiar bounty hunters, some plot points from the 1313 game could come into this show,
06:44and when you have a series like this, which promises to be entirely mall-centric,
06:48you've got Sam Witwer back, you've got some Lucasfilm veterans working on it,
06:52I personally think, and this is just my opinion, this series should be primarily for the diehards.
06:57It would be amazing and even better if it was live-action,
06:59but when you're going the animated route, just like the Bad Batch,
07:03that is your opportunity to be a bit more niche.
07:05I am so pumped for this.
07:07The trailer at Celebration also showed some other familiar Inquisitors,
07:10so the Empire is fully involved in this.
07:12We also see members of Crimson Dawn, and like I said, a mysterious Twilight Apprentice.
07:18It could be the canon version of Darth Talon,
07:20but I wouldn't be surprised if they give her a new name,
07:23and it's a separate character inspired by Talon.
07:26I've also seen fan suggestions that Maul could find out a bit more about Darth Vader.
07:31At the end of the Clone Wars Season 7, he was fully aware of Palpatine's grand plan,
07:35and he was one of the few who knew about Anakin Skywalker's turn to the dark side.
07:39So is he going to go investigating?
07:41And while he had quite a lot of screen time in the Clone Wars and Rebels,
07:44there are still lots of gaps, like I say for fans of Solo A Star Wars Story.
07:48So hopefully it's a lot of fun.
07:49But with that said, my dear friends,
07:51share your thoughts on everything we spoke about in the comments down below.
07:55If you enjoyed this video, please be sure to give me a big fat thumbs up,
