If you do
s = '\\xa5\\xc0\\xe6aK\\xf9\\x80\\xb1\\xc8*\x01\x12$\\xfbp\x1e(4\\xd6{;Z\\x'
s = s.replace('\\','\')
print(s)
you get
File "main.py", line 3
s = s.replace('\\','\')
^
SyntaxError: EOL while scanning string literal
because in '\' the \ escapes the ' . Your string is left open.
You do not have any double \ in s - its just displaying it as such, do distinguish it from \ used to escape stuff if you inspect it.
If you print(s) you get \xa5\xc0\xe6aK\xf9\x80\xb1\xc8*$\xfbp(4\xd6{;Z\x
