The Ahsoka series teaser trailer gave us a lot of first looks, but one of the most exciting moments was seeing Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren. Longtime fans of the Star Wars franchise—and the animated series in particular—are almost certainly familiar with Wren. But those who are less familiar with the animated spinoffs are undoubtedly wondering: Who is Sabine Wren and how important is she to Ahsoka?
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Who is Sabine Wren?
Sabine Wren is a Mandalorian rebel and member of the Ghost crew, basically the main characters of the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Sabine was a teenage dropout from the Imperial Academy who left the Empire after it used one of her weapon designs against Mandalorians. After joining the crew of the Ghost, she becomes the team’s weapons and explosives expert, and creates anti-Imperial murals and graffiti. If that sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. While you can argue many Star Wars protagonists are prodigies at one craft or another, Sabine Wren is a genius who arguably could have ended the war years earlier if not for her moral compass.
Her family situation is also unique in Star Wars since she has a living blood family and a found family, both of which she greatly values. Her mother was a former Death Watch member and was one of Bo-Katan’s Nite Owls during the last year of the Clone Wars. Her father is an artist and art critic who was taken captive by the Empire for speaking out against their regime.
In Star Wars Rebels, Sabine reunites with her estranged bio-family after she finds the Darksaber. After wielding it for a few episodes, she ultimately gives it to Bo-Katan Kryze in an attempt to rally Mandalore to fight the Empire.
She also chooses to return to the larger rebellion to free Lothal, the homeworld of her close friend, Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger. While the two had some “ship tease,” they were ultimately more like siblings and, after Ezra goes missing in action, she becomes the keeper of his lightsaber and protector of Lothal.
Rebels ended with Sabine and Ahsoka Tano reuniting in hopes of finding Ezra Bridger. That’s part of the reason Ahsoka was looking for Grand Admiral Thrawn during The Mandalorian. Ezra and Thrawn went missing together after Thrawn’s ship was kidnapped by Purrgils; if you find Thrawn, chances are that you’ll find Ezra, too.
How Sabine Wren fits into the Ahsoka series
The teaser trailer for Ahsoka features some nearly shot-for-shot recreations of the Star Wars Rebels finale. (Though Sabine’s hair is notably the longest it has ever been, a stark contrast to her pixie haircut in the finale.)
While we don’t know exactly when Ahsoka takes place, it is now confirmed to be building toward an all-out war between the New Republic and Grand Admiral Thrawn’s Imperial remnants—in addition to the search for Ezra and dealing with new Darksiders.
I am also interested to hear Sabine’s thoughts about retaking Mandalore; we have notably not heard anything about her family, meaning they may have died during the Night of a Thousand Tears (the Imperial bombardment of the planet). I hope not—Sabine being one of the few Star Wars protagonists with a living family was a refreshing change of pace.
What are you looking forward to seeing from Sabine Wren in the Ahsoka show? Comment below!
(featured image: Disney+)
