Star Wars Rebels‘ Sabine Wren made the crossover to live-action on Ahsoka, but she made her mark on the galaxy far, far away long ago. Both literally and figuratively. The legendary Mandalorian warrior and hero of the Rebellion is also the artist who inspired the galaxy’s greatest symbol of hope. Who is Sabine Wren? Why did she once serve the Empire she helped bring down? And why does her past always seem to haunt her? Here’s everything we knew about Sabine Wren before Ahsoka along with everything we’ve learned about her from the show. (Which we’ve included at the end in case you’re not caught up and want to avoid spoilers.
What Star Wars Planet Is Sabine Wren From?
Star Wars‘ Sabine Wren was born on Mandalore to Ursa and Alrich. She is also the older sister to her brother Tristan. Sabine considers Clan Wren’s ancestral planet Krownest to be her other homeworld.
Sabine Wren’s mother Ursa was a member of Death Watch, the terrorist group who wanted to return Mandalore to its traditional warrior ways. Her father Alrich was an artist. Both had a tremendous influence on their daughter.
Who Voiced Sabine Wren on Star Wars Rebels?
Tiya Sircar voiced Sabine Wren on Star Wars Rebels.
How Did Sabine Wren Betray Mandalorians While an Imperial Cadet?
Sabine joined Mandalore’s Imperial Academy as a child. She initially believed in the Empire and was one of the Academy’s top cadets. Sabine Wren’s dedication only began to waver when she started learning about the actions of Cham Syndulla (father of Hera) and Mandalorian Protector leader Fenn Rau during the Clone Wars.
Any remaining loyalty Sabine had to the Empire ended when it began testing her own invention against Mandalorians. Sabine’s Arc Pulse Generator, a superweapon she dubbed the Duchess, could incinerate sacred Mandalorian beskar steel and anyone wearing it. When the Empire used it on her own people, Sabine Wren damaged the Duchess and unsuccessfully tried to destroy its blueprints. She then defected from the Empire, but her family did not.
Why Did Sabine Wren’s Family Banish Her?
Sabine left the Empire behind, but Clan Wren did not. After Sabine’s defection her family banished her and remained loyal to the Galactic Empire. However, their commitment did not garner them any favors.
The Empire forced House Wren to answer for Sabine’s actions. The planet’s Imperial Viceroy, Gar Saxon, took Sabine’s father as hostage while her mother was called on to prove her family’s loyalty in service. And Sabine’s brother was made to join Saxon’s Imperial Super Commandos.
How Did Sabine Wren Join the Ghost on Star Wars Rebels?
Without a home or a family to rely on, Sabine started working as a Star Wars bounty hunter with a friend. The two talked about joining an underworld criminal organization together, but ultimately went their separate ways. That eventually led to 16-year-old Sabine joining the Ghost, a Rebel cell known as the Spectres.
Kanan Jarrus recruited the young Mandalorian with a fondness for graffiti art into the group. At the time of Sabine Wren’s joining, the Ghost crew consisted of Captain Hera Syndulla, the astromech droid Chopper, and the Lasat warrior Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios. Young Ezra Bridger would eventually follow Sabine’s path and become a crew member.
Sabine’s past meant she didn’t like to take orders blindly, but her ability to focus on a mission, resourcefulness, improvisational skills, and Mandalorian training made her an invaluable member of the Ghost. As did her work with explosives.
How Did Sabine Get Along With Her Fellow Spectres?
Sabine Wren was strong-willed, independent, and preferred to keep to herself. The group’s loner was also sassy and troubled by her past, but Sabine was fiercely loyal and protective of her fellow Spectres, especially Ezra. The two friends frequently tried to one-up the other.
While Sabine often trained and ate alone, she always expressed herself through art. She had a fondness for spray painting drab Imperial machines with bright colors during missions, as both a form of personal expression and as a defiant act celebrating freedom. She even turned herself into a canvas, often changing her hair color and painting her beskar armor, which she said felt like a second skin to her.
The ubiquity, beauty, and spirit of Sabine Wren’s art even inspired the galaxy’s symbol of hope.
When Did Sabine Wren Create Star Wars‘ Rebel Logo?
Sabine drew her personal trademark, the starbird, throughout the galaxy as both a signature of her art and a symbol of freedom. Eventually, the growing Rebellion, which transformed from a collection of independent cells into a unified movement, used Sabine Wren’s starbird as the basis for the Rebel Alliance logo.
Why Didn’t Sabine Wren Want to Wield the Darksaber?
The Rebel Alliance logo isn’t the only important symbol connected to Sabine Wren. She also found the Darksaber, Mandalore’s iconic lightsaber, on Darth Maul’s home planet. Sabine eventually relented and let Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger train her in how to use the weapon that symbolized Mandalore’s power. She also had help from Fenn Rau, whom she had recruited to the Rebel cause.
But Sabine never felt totally comfortable possessing the Darksaber or with the idea of leading her people. Instead, she turned her anger, frustration, and sadness about her own past actions into motivation.
How Did Sabine Reconcile With her Family?
Sabine’s Darksaber training led her to return to her family on Krownest. At first, her mother betrayed her to Gar Saxon in exchange for Sabine’s life. When the Viceroy ordered Clan Wren’s destruction anyway, a fight broke out. It ended with Sabine defeating him. Sabine refused to kill him, but Ursa took matters into her own hands when Gar Saxon tried to murder Sabine. After that, Clan Wren welcomed their prodigal daughter back and abandoned the Empire (though they still refused to join the Rebellion at that point). Sabine then left her fellow Spectres to stay behind with Fenn Rau to try and help unify Mandalore.
Eventually, the Ghost returned to ask for Clan Wren’s assistance in a mission against the Empire. When Sabine defied her mother to help her friends Ursa relented and sent aid. When Sabine returned to her people a new bond had formed between Clan Wren and the Rebellion, but Mandalore remained House Wren’s focus.
That’s eventually how Sabine learned the Empire had rebuilt the Duchess. They then began using it against rebelling Mandalorians, who considered Sabine Wren a traitor when they learned she’d designed the monstrous machine. Sabine got back into their good graces when she fought with them and was able to alter the weapon to target stormtrooper armor instead.
With the Arc Pulse Generator destroyed for good, Sabine then helped reunite all Mandalorians. She gave the Darksaber to Bo-Katan Kryze who became Mandalore’s ruler once more. After Sabine returned to the Ghost.
Why Did Ezra Bridger Task Sabine Wren With Finding Him in Star Wars Rebels?
Star Wars Rebels‘ final battle saw the Ghost fighting against the Imperial blockade of Lothal. It ended when Jedi Ezra Bridger called on purrgil to whisk both him and Grand Admiral Thrawn deep into the Unknown Regions of the universe. Ezra Bridger didn’t reveal his plans to his fellow Spectres before he carried it out, but he did leave a message behind for all of them.
That included a short note from Ezra meant for Sabine. “Don’t forget, I’m counting on you,” he said. It took Sabine Wren awhile to figure out exactly what Ezra Bridger meant, but after Emperor Palpatine’s death she finally knew what Ezra was telling her. He was counting on her to find him. And in the animated show’s final moments, after Sabine looked over a mural she’d painted of her Ghost family, she set out with Ahsoka Tano to locate Ezra.
Years after Star Wars Rebels ending, Ezra was still missing at the start of Ahsoka.
Who Plays Live-Action Sabine Wren on Ahsoka?
Natasha Liu Bordizzo stars as the live-action Sabine Wren on Ahsoka, which premiered at Disney+ on August 23, 2023.
What Has Ahsoka Revealed About Sabine Wren’s Life After Star Wars Rebels?
Sabine Wren and Ahsoka Tano did not set out to find Ezra Bridger just as friends and colleagues. Ahsoka revealed they also became Master and Padawan, as the former Jedi took Sabine on as her Padawan. At some point, though, Ahsoka walked away from Sabine’s training. She said her apprentice wasn’t ready.
Sabine then returned to Lothal where she continued living in Ezra’s abandoned communication’s tower. There she served as a commander revered by the people as a great hero of the planet and Rebellion. Sabine Wren did not became any less willful with age, however. During a ceremony celebrating Ezra Bridger’s sacrifice Sabine disappeared rather than give a speech. Lothal Governor Azadi’s attempts to force her to show up proved unsuccessful.
Ahsoka Tano’s discovery of a star map pointing to the potential location of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger then led to her to reconnect with Sabine Wren, which Hera Syndulla pushed for. It also led Ahsoka to resume training Sabine (now sporting a much shorter hairstyle) as a Jedi Padawan. But Sabine’s renewed apprenticeship raised major questions about whether she has any Force-sensitivities and therefore if she she’s even capable of becoming a Jedi.
Did Ahsoka Reveal Sabine Wren Is Force-Sensitive?
Star Wars Rebels seemed to make clear Sabine Wren is not Force-sensitive. At least not the way Force-users are. It indicated she only has the Force within her the way all living things do. Ahsoka has now completely upended that presumption and raised major questions about the Force, the Jedi, and who can use it. The answer to those questions will have ramifications that go well beyond Sabine Wren.
While Huyang the droid said Sabine is the least skilled, least capable Jedi apprentice he’s ever met, that doesn’t mean she can’t become a Jedi. He also encouraged her to resume her training and stop wasting time. He’s skeptical she will ever be able to use the Force, but according to Ahsoka she can with enough training and dedication. If Sabine does Ahsoka Tano says she might ultimately become something different than a Jedi.
Wherever Sabine’s training leads her, if it results in her learning to use the Force despite her lack of natural talent it will fundamentally change who else can become a Jedi. It will mean the Force is no longer limited to those lucky enough to be born with high midi-chlorian counts.
If anyone can break that glass Force ceiling it’s Sabine Wren. She has always had a knack for making her mark on the galaxy far, far away.
This post originally published on August 7, 2023.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. Also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.