Star Wars has introduced audiences to dozens of unforgettable, iconic characters. In fact, the franchise’s newest installment, Ahsoka, is practically an ode to the various animated series that kept the franchise popular between the Prequel Trilogy era and the Sequel Trilogy era. Though each new Star Wars entry is destined to be controversial upon its release, fans have come to embrace Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels as vital contributions to the lore.
While Star Wars: The Clone Wars introduced audiences to Ahsoka herself, Star Wars: Rebels introduced audiences to Sabine Wren. The character’s a warrior with an artistic side; although she’s willing to fight for what she believes in, Sabine is solidly on the side of the teachings of the Light Side of the Force, making her unique among her people. But make no mistake: Sabine is more than competent and ready to fight, as her journey with Ahsoka will soon demonstrate.
Is Sabine Wren a Mandalorian?
Yes, Sabine Wren is a Mandalorian. However, she wasn’t born in Mandalore. Born on Krownest, Sabine was the daughter of Ursa, leader of Clan Wren, a Mandalorian family with their own holdings. Sabine was a prodigy when designing weapons, and soon, the Empire had her under their employ.
While working under the Empire, Sabine crafted a horrible weapon known as the Arc Pulse Generator or the ‘Duchess.’ The weapon could react with the beskar in a Mandalorian’s armor, atomizing the person inside. Her Mandalorian peers considered this an abomination, and Sabine began to speak out against the Empire, believing that her weapons would be used to secure the Empire’s peace, not the subjugation of her people.
Sabine fled the Imperial Academy with her friend, Ketsu Onyo, a fellow Mandalorian. Her father, mother, and brother sided with the Empire, though her father was held captive as a hostage, and her mother was made to prove her loyalty to the Empire. Sabine lived as a mercenary for a while, but she later met up with and joined a group of rebels based in Lothal. The group hoped to disrupt the Empire in any way they could.
What’s Sabine Wren’s story?
Sabine is, by no means, a new character. Her story is told primarily in the Star Wars: Rebels cartoon. Rebels focused on the Ghost crew, one of the earliest rebel battalions in existence. While working under the codename Spectre-5, Sabine was a key member of the crew and the munitions/weapons expert of the gang. She also helped create the Rebellion’s Starbird logo, based on her personal calling card.
Fourteen years after the Empire’s establishment in Revenge of the Sith, Sabine met Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), a young, orphaned boy on Lothal. Ezra was looking for a family, and it was eventually discovered that he had some skill in the Force. One Ghost member, Kanan Jarrus, was secretly a former Padawan-in-hiding. He began to train Ezra, who became formidable in the Jedi arts. Ezra grew close with Sabine, even hinting that his feelings were more than platonic at some points.
For a time, she sought to fight against the imperial occupation of her homeworld and its regressive rule over the Mandalorians. Despite having no Force powers of her own, Sabine eventually won the Darksaber but gave it up to Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) when Sabine decided she would not wield the laser sword. Bo-Katan later lost the Darksaber to Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), as seen in The Mandalorian.
Eventually, the Ghost crew managed to free Lothal of imperial control. As a result of the battle, Ezra went missing into the Unknown Regions of the Galaxy, and Sabine dedicated herself to protecting Lothal in his honor. Sabine also apparently became a Jedi apprentice under Ahsoka’s tutelage (an arrangement that the trailer hints went bad at some point). With Ahsoka set to recruit Sabine for her mission to find Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), they may yet make amends.
What’s a Mandalorian?
Mandalorians and their culture have been explored extensively in Star Wars lore. The first Mandalorian was introduced in, of all places, The Star Wars Holiday Special. There, audiences met Boba Fett, a cool, mysterious man in armor. Later, he made his live-action debut in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, where he quickly became a fan favorite for his interesting appearance. Subsequent appearances and stories would expand on his people.
The Mandalorians are people who embrace an honorable warrior culture. Though their homeworld is Mandalore, not all of them are necessarily from there. One of the most famous Mandalorians, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), is a Foundling — an orphan raised in the ways of Mandalore. Adoption is an important part of the Mandalorian culture, and many different peoples have loyally followed the Mandalorian Empire over the years.
In the ancient past, Mandalorians were united under Mandalore, their greatest warrior. The Mandalore was whoever won the Darksaber in combat — a black-bladed Lightsaber made by a Mandalorian Jedi known as Tarre Vizsla. The Mandalorians considered the Darksaber to be an incredibly important artifact due to its connection to the Jedi, the Mandalorians’ historic enemy.
Eventually, endless wars brought the Mandalorians to their knees, and a pacifist faction formed. The pacifist faction won out and Mandalore was peaceful under Duchess Satine Kryze, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lover and Bo-Katan’s sister.
However, Old habits die hard, and the Mandalorians entered a civil war that returned them to their militaristic roots. After Kryze was assassinated by Maul, who had stoked up the anti-pacifistic attitudes of the public, the Empire ended up taking over and shelling the Mandalorian homeworld into a glass, forcing the survivors into hiding. It took several years for the Mandalorians to regroup in The Mandalorian Season 3.
With Mandalore now back under the control of Bo-Katan Kryze, Sabine’s original idea to grant the Darksaber to Bo-Katan proved to be the right idea. Her focus will now presumably shift to the search for Ezra in Ahsoka.