While Ahoska is not the first time that orange lightsabers have appeared onscreen, it is the first time they've been featured at length to give insight into their mysterious color meaning in Star Wars. Used by both Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, it is no secret that orange is a combination of red and yellow. Red is a familiar color and indication of the Dark Side of the Force. But yellow lightsabers wielded by Jedi are less prevalent in the franchise. It's possible that the meaning behind orange lightsabers can be found in the essence of the yellow and red lightsabers of Star Wars, as well as the character traits reflected by Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati.
Being a combination of two colors, orange lightsaber wielders are already closer to a meaning that defines purple lightsaber wielders, such as that of Mace Windu. That is to say, orange is a balance of the Light Side traits of yellow and the Dark Side traits of red. This also indicates that, just as Mace Windu was able to master this balance without being consumed by the Dark Side to remain a Jedi, orange lightsaber wielders are not necessarily Sith. How this affects Baylan Skoll's outlook and perception in Ahsoka as presumably a Sith lord remains to be seen, especially considering the fact he indeed claims to not be a Jedi.
How Yellow & Red Lightsaber Meanings Influence The Orange
Star Wars lore uses lightsaber color as a reflection of the wielder's personality, Force alignment, or Jedi class. Yellow lightsaber wielders were Jedi Sentinels who focused on using their skills to work directly with people, rather than studying and honing their combat skills with the Force. These Jedi often guarded Jedi Temples or worked as diplomats, due to their reluctance to rely on their lightsabers to resolve conflict. This is also a well known trait among green Force-users, such as Morgan Elsbeth. That's no surprise, since green is a combination of blue and yellow. Yellow lightsaber wielders are hopeful, people-centered, and diplomatic when it comes to wielding the Force. They do not engage in combat if it can be avoided. Thus, they are best suited as guards who only engage in combat when they are forced to.
The Dark Side of the Force is characterized by rage, vengeance, grief, fear, pain, and hatred. Intense negative emotions fuel the Sith to the point of corrupting Light Side crystals to turn red through a process called "bleeding." It is also the only way for Sith to obtain their lightsabers, because a Dark Side Force-user cannot otherwise wield a Light Side lightsaber. Taking the lightsaber of a Jedi and bleeding it is what gives their sabers their red color. A Force-user wielding a purple or orange lightsaber has not only balanced their mastery of the Light and Dark Sides of the Force, but also have mastered themselves and their emotions. In addition to Dave Filoni's good reason, this is an interesting fact for orange lightsaber users that may indicate whether Baylan Skoll is truly a Sith.
What The Orange Lightsaber Means For Baylan Skoll
A wielder’s personality and relationship with the Force is reflected through their lightsaber color. It reveals their affinity and path as a Force-user. One can consider the meanings of yellow and red lightsabers when trying to determine what an orange lightsaber signifies. It's reasonable to guess that they reflect a pragmatic hope that understands the path towards a better future will have causalities, a sacrifice for the greater good even if those victims fall by their lightsabers. This makes the once-diplomatic yellow lightsaber wielder more likely to become a mercenary, which is exactly what Baylan Skoll is. Yet, Baylan's personality can imply a different conclusion.
Baylan does have the traits of a Jedi Sentinel: hopeful, cordial, and reluctant to use his lightsaber. He is also composed, patient, and sympathetic. But his determination is fixed and one-dimensional, focused on a singular far-off goal. Everything else is a means to an end in service of his goal for power. His orange lightsaber reflects that he remains hopeful. He's possibly hopeful that his quest for power will bring true peace, a peace that's worth the blood he sheds. Darth Vader sought power out of hatred and grief. But Baylan Skoll seeks power for a more hopeful reason. While that reason is yet to be revealed, it is clear that his hope and optimism is tainted by some negative emotional aspect of the Dark Side.
What this means for Baylan Skoll as a Sith is that the orange path may not be strictly aligned with the Dark Side. However, also evident that it is not aligned with the Light Side. Rather, orange lightsaber Force-users may be inherently gray Jedi. If the traits that would most align them to the Light are stained by the Dark, then they could likely have no true affiliation with the Jedi or Sith. Both classes become a means to an end for whatever the orange lightsaber wielder's true goal is.
Baylan has noted Shin's impatience as a path to the former's defeat, which may implicate patience as a dominant trait of orange lightsaber wielders as well. One thing is certain about Baylan Skoll's orange lightsaber meaning in Ahsoka: it's too soon to know, and too late to determine whether Baylan Skoll's patience is anything more than a vicious virtue.