Baylan’s goodbye to Shin really seemed to indicate whatever he is after is a one way trip. He doesn’t seem to plan on coming back.
Y’know I actually was really not fond of that scene because I thought it came a bit too quickly for my liking, but if Baylan is on what he believes to be a suicide mission, then in his mind he’s potentially saving Shin. I like that reading of the scene far more than anything else, and it’s definitely plausible from the way Stevenson looks almost sorrowed by the events. My fear on watching that scene was that they were going completely into the trope that the ‘almost Sith Master sees the apprentice as expendable for his own gain’, but I can buy your interpretation for sure. I think it works far more with their characters that we’ve seen so far.
Ultimately, it all depends on what that power he seeks is. It’s the mystery box that’s tying the most important threads, to me, in this story together. They can’t fail on that reveal and its implications. These two characters will be successes or failures based upon that.
I do like where Baylan’s abandonment places Shin in this story, it requires her to decide for herself. You see how broken that abandonment leaves her when Ahsoka offers her hand. She doesn’t have anyone to look to for purpose, for how she should react. I like that, it’s going to lead to a lot of growth for her character. I think their dynamic is kind of similar to overprotective homeschooling parents, and then getting thrown into the world after graduating. Where Shin goes from here is going to be up to her and I’m excited for the prospects of that. I hope they don’t waste it.
With the way they both took off with extremely open-ended ‘cliffhangers’, I do wonder if that’s the last we’ll see of them this season. Really hope it isn’t, but I do like where they’re placed for the future. However, the Ray Stevenson passing is the elephant in the room that leaves me devastated, because this so obviously is not some small one off character. And this is so his character. He brings so much weight to this performance. They will be massive shoes to fill.
I will say, some tease to what power Baylan is searching for feels necessary before the season ends. Otherwise, I’ll be left to wonder if JJ Abrams stepped in at the 11th hour to add this subplot.