‘Ahsoka’: Will Shin Hati Turn Good? Here’s What We Think

There were a lot of things that happened in episode 7 of ‘Ahsoka,’ but one of the most important side-stories involved the fact that Baylan Skoll left Shin Hati and that Grand Admiral Thrawn almost didn’t care about what would happen to the mercenaries under his command. This left Shin without anyone to lean on, as she probably had nowhere else to go right now. So, will Shin Hati turn good?

Shin Hati will likely choose to turn good. While she has done a lot of evil things during the events of the ‘Ahsoka’ series, she did them for the advancement of her master’s goals and not for her own sake. As such, she is still a redeemable character who could turn away from her dark path to become good.

Many people might think that Shin was eviler than her master, but the thing that needs to be considered is that she never knew what she was raised and trained for because she didn’t know anything about the Jedi Order or even the Sith. This means there’s a good chance that she is still redeemable if she decides to make the right choice. So, let’s look at our theory.

Shin never had a choice

One of the things that we always wondered about Baylan Skoll and his apprentice, Shin Hati, was their true goal. We know that they were helping Morgan Elsbeth get to Peridea so that she could bring Thrawn back to the known galaxy. But Shin was always clueless about what was next for her and her master. And Baylan never even cleared things up with his apprentice because he was always quite ambiguous with his goals.

Of course, we learned that Baylan was seeking an incredible power on Peridea because he wanted to find a way to end the cycle of death and destruction associated with the history of the Jedi Order and the many different enemies that the Jedi have encountered for thousands of years. Nevertheless, Baylan was never quite vocal about the power that he was looking for, and Shin often only had to do things according to what her master wanted her to do.

Ever since the first episode, Shin was only doing things according to Baylan’s orders. Whatever her master did, she did so willingly because she believed that getting to Thrawn and bringing him back to the galaxy could benefit them. But Shin started asking questions after learning that Baylan was looking for something eerie and probably very dangerous on Peridea. She had doubts about the power that her master was searching for; she even wondered if the Great Mothers were looking to flee from this power.

Shin also never quite understood the cycle of death and destruction that Baylan wanted to end because she wasn’t familiar with the history of the Jedi and the things that happened to the galaxy ever since the Jedi Order was formed around 25,000 years ago. As such, it was her understanding that Baylan wanted to ally with Thrawn so that they could rise to power and become the new type of Jedi. But she didn’t know that her master actually wanted to “return to the beginning” to end this cycle.

Baylan sensed these doubts within his apprentice, so he parted ways with her in episode 7. He told her that she should take her place in the Empire that Thrawn was about to re-establish, and the best way for her to do so was to prove herself capable enough by killing Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren. And this was probably Baylan’s subtle and peaceful way of telling his apprentice that she could now her own path freely.

Ahsoka offered to help Shin

Of course, while Shin tried her best to destroy Ezra and Sabine, she failed. Ahsoka arrived just in time to provide the backup that the duo needed. Meanwhile, Thrawn realized that he would only be wasting resources by trying to kill his enemies, especially because Baylan wasn’t around. Thrawn’s plans of destroying Ahsoka, Ezra, and Sabine relied on his belief that Baylan would be there, only for the fallen Jedi to leave the battlefield and follow his own path.

In that regard, Thrawn withdrew his troops as he had already bought enough time to complete the preparations for his departure from Peridea. Shin was left confused as everyone she thought was on her side had abandoned her. Baylan left her to pursue his own goals, and the backup that Thrawn sent to help suddenly withdrew from the battlefield without even bringing her along with them.

Knowing there was no reason to fight her, Ahsoka told Shin to surrender her lightsaber while offering her help. She knew that Shin was a troubled young woman and that the path that she had followed her entire life was not entirely her choice, as she didn’t even know what her master wanted to do. As such, Ahsoka understood that Shin only needed help.

But Shin didn’t know what to do because she was still in a state of shock and confusion when her allies ditched her and after learning that the very people she tried to kill multiple times were the first ones to offer her compassion. Instead, she fled the battlefield, unsure of where she was headed.

Shin now only has two choices

At this point, Shin’s choices are limited. Of course, there’s no use for her trying to force herself into Thrawn’s ranks because he never trusted her. She and Baylan were only expendable mercenaries to the Grand Admiral, which was why Thrawn had no plans to take them with him back to the known galaxy. This means that she won’t be part of the new order that Thrawn is about to build.

That is why she only has two choices left. First, she could sink into darkness and despair and seek out her former master to ask why she had been abandoned. The second choice is for her to make up for her wrongdoings by giving herself up.

Remember that the ‘Ahsoka’ series also talks about redemption, as this was one of the themes that Anakin spoke about in the World Between Worlds. He was trying to make Ahsoka accept herself for who she was without allowing her past and the legacy of her master to define who she is and what she can be. In the same way, this could still apply to Shin Hati as well.

The entire master-and-apprentice theme is evident in the ‘Ahsoka’ series. Shin will likely have to learn that she is not the sum of the many parts of her master’s legacy because she can still follow her own path in life and choose to be who she wants to be without allowing her master’s legacy to encumber her.

So, if that’s the case, there’s a good chance that Shin can still be redeemed, and she probably knows that. The compassion that Ahsoka showed her made her realize that she could still choose to be good. This is where it gets interesting moving forward because it is likely that Shin’s story will carry over into more storylines in the future.

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