This Ahsoka article contains spoilers.
The true identity of former Inquisitor Marrok is a key mystery that Ahsoka fans have been obsessed with solving for the past four episodes. Unsurprisingly, the enigmatic villain sparked many theories.
Some fans believed Marrok to secretly be the new canon version of Starkiller from The Force Unleashed video games, while others were sure it must be Ezra Bridger turned to the dark side. Others even suggested that Marrok could be the former Padawan Barriss Offee who was Ahsoka’s friend before she framed Ahsoka for bombing the Jedi Temple and got her kicked out of the Order. But now with Marrok’s sudden death at the hands of Ahsoka in “Fallen Jedi,” we’re left with even more questions than answers. That said, one clue from his death scene suggests we’re headed toward a particularly horror-tinged twist later in the series…
After Ahsoka strikes Marrok with her lightsaber, and just as he’s falling over, a mysterious green smoke leaves his lifeless body, implying that there’s much more to the former Inquisitor’s actions than a simple hatred of Jedi. For one thing, it could mean that Marrok was actually a corpse brought back to life by Lady Morgan Elsbeth with Nightsister magick, which is usually represented by the color green.
For example, take a look at the color of the spell Nightsister leader Mother Talzin spell used to bring her son Maul (yes, that one) back from the brink of insanity and give him prosthetic legs that were molded to his body on The Clone Wars:
The Nightsister ability to reanimate the dead first became canon in The Clone Wars episode “Massacre,” which saw Count Dooku and General Grievous launch a genocidal attack on the witch coven’s homeworld of Dathomir. During this attack, one of the elders used her powers to bring back fallen Nightsisters to aid in the fight. That said, these resurrected Force witches were a lot more zombie-like than Marrok appears to be on Ahsoka.
There’s also the possibility that Morgan’s control over Marrok is more akin to the Nightsister ritual that gave Maul’s brother, Savage Opress, his dark side powers and imposing physique. Interestingly, when Savage finally died on The Clone Wars, green smoke also left his body.
Whether he was a zombie all along or not, who Marrok was before serving Morgan is still a mystery, but one theory suggests he’s another character from the Rebels animated series: the Eighth Brother. The Eighth Brother was an Imperial Inquisitor sent to hunt down Maul on the Sith planet of Malachor in the Rebels season 2 finale. After a duel with Maul, Ahsoka, Ezra, and Kanan Jarrus goes awry, the Eighth Brother attempts to flee by using his spinning lightsaber as a helicopter. He doesn’t realize that the lightsaber is damaged, however, and ends up falling into depths below a Sith Temple, presumably to his death.
Not only does Marrok’s armor look a lot like the Eighth Brother’s, mask and all, but he is also clearly a fan of lightsaber theatrics. Sure, all of the Inquisitors tend to wield the same standard-issue, dual-bladed lightsabers, but both Marrok and the Eighth Brother seem especially fond of spinning them dramatically while in battle – like a peacock flashing its feathers to show dominance and superiority.
While it’s not totally clear how Morgan would have gotten access to the Eighth Brother’s body, we do know that Darth Vader was also on Malachor when the Inquisitor perished, and it’s not entirely implausible that an Imperial research team could have been sent to study the remains of the Sith Temple after Vader returned to the Empire. If the Eighth Brother’s body was recovered, Morgan’s connections with Grand Admiral Thrawn could have gotten her access to perform experiments and practice her magick.
Whereas Darth Sidious saw the Nightsisters and their powers as a threat to his rule, Thrawn would have been more likely to see her powers as a strategic asset. Who knows what use the Grand Admiral may have for her powers once Morgan reaches him in Peridia…
Star Wars: Ahsoka is streaming now on Disney+.