Marrok

First Brother redirects here. You may be looking for the Eleventh Brother mistakenly identified as the First Brother.

Marrok, known at one time as the First Brother, was a mysterious Force-sensitive humanoid warrior who once served in the Inquisitorius of the Galactic Empire, and the Jedi Order before that. After the Imperial Era, the former Inquisitor was hired by the Nightsister Morgan Elsbeth as a mercenary. During his time in Morgan Elsbeth's forces, Marrok worked with other Force-sensitive mercenaries—former General Baylan Skoll of the Jedi Order, and his apprentice Shin Hati.

Around the year 9 ABY of the New Republic Era, Marrok aided Elsbeth in her quest to find Grand Admiral Thrawn. The former Inquisitor engaged Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi Padawan, in a lightsaber duel during a mission on the planet Corellia. They confronted each other once more on Seatos, where the former Jedi hunter was struck down by Tano's blade. Despite Marrok's fall, Tano and her Padawan Sabine Wren failed to prevent Elsbeth's journey to the distant galaxy where Thrawn was exiled.

Biography

Imperial Inquisitor

Marrok was a male^[7] humanoid who was raised as a member of the Jedi Order.^[5] With a few exceptions,^[8] Sith Lord Darth Sidious had ordered the death of all Jedi at the end of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems^[9] in 19 BBY,^[10] paving the way for his Empire.^[9] Whilst highly effective, Order 66 did not eliminate every member of the Jedi Order outright, forcing Sidious to deploy^[11] his long planned Inquisitorius program to continue the Great Jedi Purge.^[12] Marrok was one individual selected to join the Galactic Empire as an Inquisitor, where he was given the designation of First Brother,^[4] tasked with hunting down surviving Jedi during the Imperial Era.^[4]

Shortly into the Imperial Era in 19 BBY,^[13] Marrok was present on^[7] the ocean moon^[14] Nur within the under-construction Fortress Inquisitorius, where^[7] he^[3] was joined by the Grand Inquisitor^[7]—the highest ranking member of the Inquisitorius itself^[12]—and several other Inquisitors, including the former Jedi Barriss Offee, the Fourth Sister, and the Eleventh Brother.^[15] One stormy day, after Offee's training was complete, Marrok and his fellow Inquisitors were invited by the Grand Inquisitor^[7] to enter the audience chamber,^[16] passing several^[7] Purge Troopers^[16]—clone troopers^[7] who served the Inquisitorius as expendable death squads^[17]—as they entered.^[7] With all three joining Offee and forming a line before the Grand Inquisitor, who gave a nod to those gathered,^[16] Marrok was the second to kneel after the Eleventh Brother.^[7]

Once all four kneeled, the Grand Inquisitor decreed it was time for the four to meet their new master: the Sith Lord Darth Vader,^[7] the Sith apprentice to Sidious,^[12] a teacher to the Inquisitors,^[12] and the leader of the Inquisitorius as per the power granted to him by Sidious.^[18] Once Vader sat atop a throne on the room's dais with even the Grand Inquisitor kneeling,^[16] the Grand Inquisitor stood and invited his comrades to do the same, recognizing them as Inquisitors. Marrok was the second to finishing rising after the Eleventh Brother and stood silently as the Grand Inquisitor and Offee engaged in the chant "Long live the Empire."^[7] As an Inquisitor, Marrok carried out his^[4] organization's directive to hunt and destroy the Jedi^[11] for the Empire^[4] and the Sith.^[7] Through the Inquisitorius' efforts, the number of Jedi survivors decreased over the course of Sidious' reign as Galactic Emperor. However, as a result of their own success, the Inquisitors were deemed obsolete by Sidious who viewed them as an expendable force. The Empire ultimately fell to the New Republic after the deaths of Sidious and Vader during the Galactic Civil War.^[11]

Morgan Elsbeth's mercenary

Searching for the map to Peridea

Marrok was active during the New Republic Era;^[6] in 9 ABY,^[1] the Inquisitor was hired as a mercenary by Morgan Elsbeth,^[4] a Nightsister of Dathomir who plotted to liberate her master and Vader’s old friend Grand Admiral Thrawn from his exile in a faraway galaxy. Marrok worked alongside^[6] former Jedi General^[19] Baylan Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati, both of whom were, like Marrok, Force-sensitive mercenaries in Elsbeth's forces. Elsbeth sought to acquire a star map which contained the location of Peridea, a planet located in the galaxy where Thrawn was.^[6]

Accompanied by Marrok, Skoll, and Hati, Elsbeth tracked the map to the ruins of a Nightsister stronghold on Arcana. After arriving, Marrok and Skoll searched the nearby area. Upon returning to Elsbeth, Skoll suggested that it was either been taken already by former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, or vaporised in the explosion that occurred. Elsbeth responded that Tano’s apprentice Sabine Wren was in possession of it, before ordering Skoll to send Hati to Lothal to retrieve it. Marrok watched as Elsbeth walked away. Skoll explained the situation and mission to Hati, who questioned Elsbeths intentions, before the latter walked off to journey to Lothal. Marrok then approached Skoll, before the two followed Elsbeth.^[6]

Duel on Corellia

Whilst Hati retrieved the star map,^[6] Marrok was sent on a mission to Corellia to steal a Super Star Destroyer's hyperdrive core^[3] for Elsbeth's hyperspace transport ring, the Eye of Sion.^[20] Tano and General Hera Syndulla tried to prevent the hyperdrive core's theft, forcing Marrok to confront Tano directly while Elsbeth's forces absconded with the hyperdrive unit on Transport CT-O5.^[3] In what was to be their first encounter,^[21] Marrok fought against the former Jedi in^[3] a breathtaking^[21] lightsaber duel, in which he used his red double-bladed spinning lightsaber against Tano's white lightsabers. An HK-87 assassin droid fought alongside Marrok until the droid was destroyed by Tano. Marrok continued the duel despite the loss of his assassin droid, activating the second plasma blade of his lightsaber.^[3]

Marrok disengaged from their duel after his allies succeeded in leaving the facility at the Corellian shipyard with the hyperdrive core. By then, Hati arrived with her master's Eta-class shuttle to retrieve Marrok. She used the shuttle's weapons to slow Tano down, allowing Marrok to reach the vessel before the Jedi could catch up to him.^[3]

Pursuit above Seatos

With Syndulla's help, Tano and Wren tracked the transport to the Denab system. Elsbeth dispatched a starfighter squadron led by Hati and Marrok to destroy Tano's T-6 shuttle. Although a few of their scout guards were killed during the dogfight in space, Tano's starship was damaged and forced to land on the planet Seatos.^[20]

Like dust in the wind

With the Eye of Sion in the process of downloading the star map's coordinates to Peridea, Elsbeth and Skoll dispatched their scout guards into a forest on Seatos where Tano and Wren had landed their shuttle. Knowing that the guards would not survive for long against a Jedi, Skoll ordered Hati to confront Tano and her Mandalorian apprentice. Marrok accompanied Hati into the forest where they obstructed Tano and Wren's path to the star map. While Wren and Hati fought, Tano and Marrok ignited their lightsabers and paced in a circle before engaging. Following an exchange of strikes, Marrok spun his blades across the circular hilt, preparing for an attack. As the two stepped forward, Tano slashed a large cut through Marrok's armor. A cloud of dark green mist erupted from the wound followed by a piercing shriek as Marrok's armor fell to the ground while he joined his fallen brothers and sisters.^[2]

Personality and traits

Marrok was a mysterious warrior who once hunted Jedi in service to the Galactic Empire. After the Empire's fall, the ex-Inquisitor became a hired mercenary who carried out "dark deeds" for Morgan Elsbeth.^[4] Marrok followed his orders and traveled to where he was sent; Baylan Skoll was confident in Marrok's ability to complete his task, having vouched for him to Elsbeth.^[3] Marrok also complied with Shin Hati's orders while serving under her command in the Denab system.^[20] As a warrior, Marrok challenged Ahsoka Tano to a duel on two occasions,^[3][2] first with the help of an assassin droid on Corellia,^[3] and then alone on Seatos, where he ultimately lost to the former Jedi.^[2] Marrok's body was completely encased by his armor,^[4] with a green mist exploding out of the slice in the armor caused by Tano's lightsaber.^[2]

Powers and abilities

Marrok was Force-sensitive and skilled in lightsaber combat, able to fight Ahsoka Tano on even footing. The former Inquisitor possessed Force powers such as telekinesis, which Marrok used when he pulled his lightsaber back to his hand after throwing it at Tano.^[3] He also was an adept pilot, capable of navigating through a swarm of purrgil.^[20] As an Inquisitor, Marrok was experienced in hunting Jedi.^[4]

Equipment

Marrok's lightsaber was a double-bladed spinning lightsaber,^[3] also known as an Inquisitor lightsaber,^[22] that featured red^[4] plasma blades on either end of its^[3] circular hilt.^[4] The Inquisitor lightsaber^[22] was specifically designed to increase the wielder's lethality in combat. While similar in design to Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber, the lightsaber^[11] used by Marrok^[4] and other Inquisitors featured an emitter ring that could rotate the blades around the hilt at a high speed.^[11]

The former Inquisitor still wielded his red-bladed lightsaber after becoming a mercenary.^[4] While dueling with Tano, Marrok switched between the use of his lightsaber's single-blade and the double-blade, and adjusted his fighting style accordingly. He also made use of its design by rotating the blades of his lightsaber during his first^[3] and second duel with Tano.^[2] In addition, Marrok wore full-body battle armor that completely encased his body,^[4] complete with a face-concealing^[4] black^[16] helmet and a black cape, which he discarded in battle. By the time of the New Republic Era,^[3] the armor had become battered^[4] and rusted.^[3]

Marrok's Fiend fighter^[4] was a starfighter^[20] that the former Inquisitor used as his vehicle^[4] during his time as a mercenary in Elsbeth's forces. It was the same model as Shin Hati's Fiend. During their attack on Tano's T-6 shuttle in the Denab system, Marrok piloted his starfighter as a member of Hati's squadron.^[20]

Behind the scenes

Milestones

Marrok first appeared in "Part One: Master and Apprentice," the premiere episode of the television series Ahsoka, written and directed by Dave Filoni and released on Disney+^[6] on August 22, 2023.^[23] The character was portrayed by Paul Darnell.^[6] The character's alternate name of "First Brother" was given to an update of Marrok's Databank page in November, 2024.^[24]

In Arthurian legend, Marrok is the name of a knight who was turned into a werewolf by his wife, who had learned these skills from the witch Morgan Le Fay.^[25] In Ahsoka, "Morgan" is the name of Marrok's employer, one of the witches of Dathomir. The wolf motif also ties in with Marrok's fellow dark-side users Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll, who share their last names with two wolves from Norse mythology.^[25]

Concept art gallery

Appearances

• Star Wars: Tales of the Empire — "Devoted"
• Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord
• Ahsoka — "Part One: Master and Apprentice" (First appearance)
• Ahsoka 1
• Ahsoka — "Part Two: Toil and Trouble"
• Ahsoka 2
• Ahsoka — "Part Three: Time to Fly"
• Ahsoka 3
• Ahsoka — "Part Four: Fallen Jedi"
• Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes

Sources

Notes and references

External links

• The Walt Disney Studios All Access - STC-trailer2 uhd r709f stills 230711.089317 on Getty Images (July 11, 2023) (backup link) (First identified as Marrok)
• Ahsoka: Who Is This Mysterious Inquisitor? – Exclusive Image by Ben Travis on Empire (May 6, 2023) (backup link archived on July 15, 2023)