Ahsoka Just Referenced the Scariest Sith in Star Wars History
Have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Sion, Lord of Pain?
Who doesn’t love a good map? In the early episodes of Ahsoka, the plot hinges on the quest to find a secret star map that can reveal the location of exiled Imperial villain Grand Admiral Thrawn (and maybe also rebel hero Ezra Bridger). But by the end of the Star Wars show’s two-episode premiere, the villains have moved on to something even bigger: the Eye of Sion.
But what exactly is the Eye of Sion? The answer may lie in one of the best non-canonical entries in Star Wars history.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Ahsoka Episodes 1 and 2.
What is the Eye of Sion in Ahsoka?
In Ahsoka Episode 2, Thrawn devotee Morgan Elsbeth tasks her henchmen with stealing a massive hyperdrive from a New Republic shipyard. We later see the drive inserted into a massive floating space structure that looks a bit like a giant ring. Or perhaps some sort of portal?
It seems safe to assume that the portal will connect their current location to Thrawn’s new address, as revealed by the star map. After that? Who knows. But is it possible that the name Eye of Sion could reveal a few clues?
Sion and Star Wars
Darth Sion in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.
In the 2004 video game Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Darth Sion (aka, the Lord of Pain) is essentially a zombie Sith. While fighting on behalf of Exar Kun thousands of years before the events of the original trilogy, he was defeated in battle but managed to use the Dark side to revive himself. Basically, he was a Sith who subsisted on pure spite.
However, this came at a price. Much like the revived Palpatine in Rise of Skywalker, Sion was disfigured by the Dark side and looked like a fractured body reassembled. Most notably, one of his eyes was completely white, with countless cracks emanating from it. It’s no wonder his eye is what inspired this name in Ahsoka.
In KOTOR II, he’s one of the minibosses the player encounters before the final boss of Darth Kreia. Because of his undead power, he’s functionally immortal, so he keeps regenerating over and over again until the player defeats him not with combat but with a conversation. Once you explain the price he’s paying for eternal life, Sion agrees to finally give in and pass away.
Darth Sion also appeared in the 2015 mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.
While Ahsoka’s Eye of Sion isn’t a literal eye — it looks more like some sort of portal that will bring back Thrawn for good — its tie to this Sith may actually hold a clue about the plot of the show. Baylan Skoll is a former Jedi. Maybe he, like Sion, will be convinced to give up the Dark Side with persuasion, not fighting.
