Ahsoka Tano’s second encounter with Marrok appears to be their last. During Ahsoka‘s fourth episode, the former Jedi struck a fatal blow across the mysterious dark side user’s chest. The apparent end of the unknown Inquisitor’s story is also when it got really interesting. A burst of green smoke burst out of Marrok’s chest when he died. That strange moment points to why the Inquistor is named for an Arthurian knight transformed into a werewolf. Marrok’s death released the powerful dark magic that made the masked figure so powerful to begin with. Marrok was under the spell of Morgan Elsbeth, a Nightsister of Dathomir.
What Did the Green Smoke Coming Out of Marrok’s Chest Mean on Ahsoka?
Marrok is not the first Star Wars character to emit green smoke when they died. The first took place on The Clone Wars animated series. That’s when the ruling Nightsisters of the planet Dathomir, a coven of dark side using witches, were still among the most dangerous races in the galaxy. Their former leader, Mother Talzin, used one of the subservient Nightbrothers (a group that included Darth Maul) for revenge. Her powerful magic transformed Savage Opress into a monstrous, dark side using warrior. The double agent Savage was then sent off as to serve as Count Dooku’s apprentice in a plot to kill the Sith Lord.
Talzin’s magicks didn’t just imbue Savage with Force powers and uncontrollable hate. It also altered his physical body, turning him into a bigger, taller, stronger fighter. But when he died that Nightsister magic, which manifests as green smoke, left his body. By the time it vanished Savage’s corpse had reverted back to its original smaller form.
That’s not what happened when other Nightsisters and Nightbrothers died. Darth Maul didn’t emit green smoke magic when Obi-Wan Kenobi killed him on Star Wars Rebels. Nor did Nightsisters slain in battle on The Clone Wars. They all died normally. That expulsion of green magic only happens to those given Nightsister magic (which is rooted in what’s known as spirit ichor).
The green smoke that left Marrok’s body when he died was the work of Morgan Elsbeth. During the time of Ahsoka and the New Republic she is one of the few (only?) surviving Nightsisters left. It’s easy to see why the Imperial loyalist wanted her Force-using servant to be super powered. However, that doesn’t prove Marrok was also a Nightbrother like Savage.
Was Marrok a Nightbrother or Nightsister of Dathomir?
It’s unknown if a Nightsister can imbue a non-Dathomirian with magic the way Talzin did with Savage, but it doesn’t seem impossible. Nightsisters can use Spirit ichor to control outsiders, like when one possessed Sabine Wren on Rebels. While Elsbeth would likely have preferred to transform one of her own kind, there weren’t many Dathomirians left when the Empire rose to power and created the Inquisitor program.
Lucasfilm says Marrok was an Inquisitor during the Age of the Empire who began working as Elsbeth’s mercenary after the Empire’s collapse. We don’t know the exact timing of their partnership, though. Nor do we know how powerful Marrok was before he met Elsbeth. What’s not up for debate is that at some point she made him stronger than he had been and those magical abilities left him when Ahsoka struck him down.
So who was Marrok before Elsbeth transformed him? The dark side servant gets his name from a brave Athurian knight briefly turned into a werewolf with magic taught by a witch Morgan Elsbeth herself is named after. Does that mean Marrok the Inquisitor was a good person (Dathmorian or not) used as a witch’s weapon like Sir Marrok? Someone who already followed the dark side and was easy to control (like t he one Dathmorian Inquisitor we already know about)? Or someone in-between, like disgraced Jedi Knight Barriss Offee who seemed like a perfect candidate to be under the mask before episode four?
The identity of Marrok wouldn’t seem to matter now that the Inquisitor is dead. Only Nightsister magic extends past life.
Could Marrok the Inquisitor Return as a Nightsister Zombie?
The Clone Wars revealed the Nightsisters’ spirits can not only return from beyond the grave, it also showed their magic can resurrect the dead to serve in a zombie army. Those reanimated corpses also manifest with green smoke that disappears when defeated. There’s nothing stopping Lady Morgan from returning to Seatos and raising Marrok from the dead to continue serving her.
(That, of course, is if Marrok really is dead. Even if that green smoke seems to indicate they’re dead, lightsabers to the chest don’t exactly mean certain death in Star Wars.)
But even if, as seems very possible, Marrok’s Star Wars story truly is over and we never learn anything more about who they were in life, their death showed exactly what Elsbeth is capable of. Like Mother Talzin, she can use sinister magic to create her very own dark side warrior. That’s terrifying enough on its own, but even more so when you remember she’s now on a very long journey with a prisoner the Nightsisters briefly had under their control once before.
Sabine Wren can’t use the Force right now, and she better hope that continues to be true. She might finally be able to with enough green magic.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.