Star Wars Rewrites Sabine Wren's Rebels Origin In The Darkest Possible Way

Summary Sabine Wren's origin story in Star Wars Rebels revealed the guilt she feels over creating a superweapon for the Empire.

The Empire's recreation of Sabine's weapon led to catastrophic results, tying her past to a dark genocide.

Sabine's story may have an even deeper layer of tragedy, as she may have left the Empire due to realizing her weapon was used rather than what it would be used for.

Star Wars Rebels first outlined the origin story of Sabine Wren, yet new details have come to light that make her past all the more grim. While the fate of the Ghost crew in Star Wars Rebels has proven not to be the ending of their character arcs, there is no denying how important the animated show was to the foundations of people like Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger. Although both are expected to have stories in upcoming Star Wars TV shows, Star Wars Rebels did a lot of the heavy lifting, including early character work and origin stories.

Where Star Wars' Sabine Wren is concerned, her arc began years before her depiction in Ahsoka. In Star Wars Rebels, Sabine Wren was introduced as a Mandalorian who fled her homeworld before the Galactic Civil War began. Played by Tiya Sircar in Star Wars Rebels' voice cast, the character of Sabine was vital to the show, in which it was explained exactly why she left Mandalore. Sabine's desertion of her planet was linked to a superweapon she inadvertently created, with new details from a recent Star Wars story making her past retroactively much darker than it was already.

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Sabine Wren's Superweapon Explained

The Mandalorian-Imperial Weapon Known As The Duchess Was Tied To Sabine's Early Life

In Star Wars Rebels, it is revealed that Sabine was once a member of the Imperial Cadets long before the Galactic Civil War broke out. Sabine was one of the smarter cadets in the Imperial Academy on Mandalore, going so far as to begin developing weapons for the Empire. However, Sabine was largely unaware of what her weapons would be used for, which led her to her greatest shame. Sabine helped to create a weapon called the Arc Pulse Generator, or The Duchess, which was enough to see her abandon the Empire and Mandalore.

Sabine thought she had destroyed the weapon, though it was revealed later in the show that the Empire managed to recreate her designs...

Sabine's weapon was designed to target the Beskar in Mandalorian armor, superheating it and vaporizing the wearer. Sabine was not fully aware of the weapon's capabilities at first but, upon discovering that the Empire intended to use it to force Mandalore to submit, escaped the Imperial Academy. Sabine thought she had destroyed the weapon, though it was revealed later in the show that the Empire managed to recreate her designs, leading to its eventual destruction in Star Wars Rebels season 4.

Rebels Episodes Containing The Duchess Episode Title Season 3, Episode 15 "Trials of the Darksaber" Season 3, Episode 16 "Legacy of Mandalore" Season 4, Episode 1 "Heroes of Mandalore - Part 1" Season 4, Episode 2 "Heroes of Mandalore - Part 2"

The Empire Used A Variant Of Sabine's Superweapon On Dizon Fray

The Empire's Recreation Of The Duchess Was More Successful Than First Thought

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Despite Star Wars Rebels season 4 being apparently the first time the Empire used the recreated Duchess weapon, it has been revealed that this is not entirely true. A recent Star Wars book titled The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, written by Chris Kempshall, is formatted as an in-universe exploration of the Empire's reign by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Beaumont Kin. In this book, it is revealed that the Empire's recreation of The Duchess led to a variant of the weapon being used on the planet of Dizon Fray, to truly tragic and catastrophic results.

The book then details that the Dizonites rebelled in response, prompting the Empire to use several variations of The Duchess... to electrocute them...

In The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, it is outlined that the Empire used Dizon Fray to build a refueling station. In the process, the Empire damaged underwater temples belonging to the aquatic race that dwelled on the planet, the Dizonites. The book then details that the Dizonites rebelled in response, prompting the Empire to use several variations of The Duchess, written as an energy weapon from the Imperial Academy on Mandalore, to electrocute them. As such, the genocide of the Dizonites has been tied to Sabine Wren's past, making her history much darker than it already was.

Sabine Wren A Mandalorian rebel, Sabine is a technological genius whose ideas were turned against her own people by the Empire. She served as an important member of the Lothal cell for years, only to return to her own people for a time with the knowledge and skills she had cultivated. More recently, Sabine has unlocked her nascent ability to access the Force, becoming Ahsoka Tano's Padawan. Created By Dave Filoni Cast Natasha Liu Bordizzo , Tiya Sircar First Appearance Star Wars Rebels Alliance Mandalorians, Rebel Alliance, Jedi Race Mandalorian TV Shows Star Wars Rebels , Ahsoka Expand

The Empire Turned The Dizonite Cries Into A Weapon

The Rise & Fall Of The Galactic Empire Ties To Another Star Wars TV Show Besides Rebels

To make this story of the Dizonites simultaneously more interesting and more barbaric, the Empire turned their cries into a weapon in and of itself. The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire mentions that the cries of agony, particularly loud from the youngest of the species, of the Dizonites were recorded by the Empire as proof of the species' genocide. These recordings were then repurposed into a method of torture by Dr. Gorst of the Imperial Security Bureau, with Gorst and this torture method featured in Andor season 1.

Bix Caleen, played by Adria Arjona in Andor season 1's cast, is subjected to these cries of agony and genocide in Andor season 1, episode 9. This means that not only was the genocide of the Dizonites tied to the backstory of Sabine Wren from Star Wars Rebels but it was also connected to Andor. As dark, harrowing, and heartrending as this reality may be in-universe, it proves a perfect way to utilize aspects of Star Wars canon to make a story feel more connected to the wider universe of storytelling.

Related Andor Season 2: Story, Updates, & Everything We Know Andor season 1 ended with an explosive finale, leading many to wonder what season 2 has in store for the characters of Star Wars’ most exciting show.

Was This The Real Reason Sabine Turned Against The Empire?

Star Wars Rebels Could Be Retconned Even Further

As alluded to, Star Wars Rebels outlined that Sabine Wren left the Empire because she became aware of what her weapon was going to be used for. However, it could be retroactively embedded into Sabine's story that she left because she realized her weapon had already been used. Sabine may have caught wind that the Empire used her designs to wipe out an entire race in the Star Wars galaxy. As would be the case with any decent person, this could have driven Sabine away from the Imperial Academy.

If this is the case, it adds an entirely new layer of tragedy to Sabine's backstory. Star Wars Rebels makes evident the guilt she possesses over building the weapon in the first place, though, with this potential new piece of information, Sabine may have been hiding a guilt that stretches even further. Not only was she sad that the weapon had been used against her people, but Star Wars Rebels' Sabine Wren may have been consumed with culpability that her designs were used to massacre an entire species of people.