The original plan for Sabine Wren in Star Wars Rebels highlights a big issue with Ahsoka‘s narrative. Ahsoka season 2’s story is on the horizon, and many are excited to see how the character’s storylines will continue. Many of these characters were introduced in Star Wars’ animated TV shows, now continuing on in live-action.
Some are even expected to appear in upcoming Star Wars shows, proving just how much they have grown within the franchise since their humble animated debuts. Sabine Wren is one such character who began in Disney’s Star Wars Rebels as a Mandalorian-turned-insurrectionist against the Empire.
The initial storyline for her character was well-received in Star Wars Rebels before becoming somewhat controversial in Ahsoka. Now, the original decisions in the former show have been outlined, proving how the divisive storyline of the latter might be a bigger issue than first thought.
Star Wars Rebels Decided Not To Make Sabine Wren Force Sensitive
The divisive storyline in question was Sabine Wren’s Force-sensitivity. Rather than being a Mandalorian soldier who was aware of the ways of the Jedi, but a warrior in her own right as she was in Star Wars Rebels, Ahsoka revealed that Sabine had been trained by the titular Jedi throughout the timeline of the original Star Wars trilogy.
At the onset of Ahsoka, Sabine and Ahsoka are estranged, after the latter tried and failed to train the former as a Jedi. Sabine’s stubbornness, Ahsoka’s PTSD with Anakin Skywalker, and the fears that Sabine’s clouded emotions would lead her down a dark path saw her fail as a Jedi, before the show’s eight episodes changed that.
However, this goes against the original plan that was constructed for Star Wars Rebels. This plan was divulged on Pod of Rebellion by Star Wars Rebels‘ co-writer and co-executive producer, Henry Gilroy.
Gilroy was asked if it was always the plan to give Sabine Wren Force-sensitivity, as Ahsoka depicted. Gilroy replied:
“I’ll say it was absolutely not the plan. As a matter of fact, we had a discussion in season 3 [of Rebels] about it. We really felt not only did it step on Ezra’s story, but it was like a retread of… okay, we already did this. So yeah, the idea of Sabine training as a Jedi when she is already this fantastic warrior of her own type, we felt like ‘this is overkill.'”
Evidently, it was never planned to give Sabine Force-sensitivity in Star Wars Rebels, both to allow other characters to have that arc while giving Sabine her own transition into a Mandalorian warrior.
Sabine’s Story In Ahsoka Surprised Star Wars Rebels Writer Henry Gilroy
When talking about Ahsoka‘s decision to reverse the plan in Rebels, Gilroy commented on how shocked he was. Gilroy said, “I had nothing to do with the Ahsoka series, so I was shocked.” Gilroy’s main reason for being so shocked at this development is exactly what he referenced before: the decision during Rebels‘ production to avoid exactly that narrative arc.
Gilroy went on to say:
“Pretty much our entire story team… we discussed it in season 3, and we thought it was a bad idea. We did a whole pros and cons list… this is kinda a weak retread. Why would we push that way?… I would have fought it tooth and nail.”
This all goes to show just how much Ahsoka went against what the plan was in Rebels. Sabine was never meant to be a Force-sensitive character, seemingly for good reason, based on Gilroy’s discussions with the other Rebels writers. Despite that, Ahsoka decided to do it anyway, leaving Gilroy as shocked and opposed to it as anyone.
Why Sabine Being Force Sensitive In Ahsoka Was So Controversial
This raises the question, then, of why Ahsoka‘s decision was so controversial. Well, the controversy surrounds the suddenness of the development, as reinforced by what Gilroy was talking about. During Sabine’s training with the Darksaber in Rebels season 3, Gilroy, Dave Filoni, and Rebels‘ wider writing team came to the conclusion that making her a Jedi was not the right move.
Gilroy further backs this up, stating that:
“What I love about the story with the Darksaber is, you don’t have to be a Jedi to have Jedi ideals and embrace the Jedi philosophy. I think that’s the more important thing rather than, ‘I’m gonna Force push Ezra 100 feet when I’ve never having used the Force before.'”
This was firmly established in Rebels, before Ahsoka reversed it.
This meant that, when Ahsoka began, audiences were just as confused as Gilroy, wondering why this sudden change in character had been brought in. A character that was so firmly written not to be a Jedi in one show is now written as a Jedi in another. The change felt too sudden, too unearned, and too drastic, likely precisely because it was never the plan in Rebels.
Ahsoka Should Have Handled The Star Wars Rebels Plotlines Better
How Ahsoka handled Sabine’s storyline raises the major issue with the show overall: it should have handled its Rebels plotlines better than it did. The entire basis of the show was finding Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn, who disappeared in Rebels‘ finale and were stranded in another galaxy.
The potential for this story was insane, but when Ezra was found, he was almost exactly the same character as he was in Rebels. There was little to no development, nor any depth in the writing, by exploring how a decade in exile, alone, away from his family, had impacted him.
Thrawn was similar, being depicted as the same conniving villain he was in Rebels, only with added Nightsister allies. The opportunity to develop Ezra and Thrawn, not just as individuals but also their relationship, too, was simply not capitalized on. Of course, Ahsoka‘s issues with how it developed Sabine from Rebels have been outlined.
Hera Syndulla also had a frustratingly inconsequential role in Ahsoka that does not befit her status as one of the best pilots in Star Wars‘ Rebel Alliance, as shown in Rebels.
Zeb, another major Rebels character, was not in Ahsoka at all, instead being left for The Mandalorian and Grogu. This does not mean there is no chance for the upcoming seasons of Ahsoka to rectify these mistakes. However, as a continuation of Star Wars Rebels, Ahsoka season 1 was disappointing, with the backtracking of Sabine’s initial Rebels plan the prime piece of evidence to support this.
- Release Date
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August 22, 2023
- Network
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Disney+
- Directors
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Steph Green, Jennifer Getzinger, Peter Ramsey, Rick Famuyiwa
