The marketing for the upcoming Ahsoka series has prominently featured Sabine Wren wielding a green lightsaber. This isn’t just any lightsaber–it’s Ezra Bridger’s lightsaber.
After Ezra’s first lightsaber was destroyed by Darth Vader in the Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale, Ezra created a new green lightsaber prior to the beginning of Rebels season 3. Sabine used this lightsaber to defeat Gar Saxon in combat and win the Darksaber from him in the episode “Legacy of Mandalore.”
As a Mandalorian, blasters and explosives were Sabine’s primary weapons in Rebels, other than her pivotal duel with Gar Saxon and the brief time in which she possessed the Darksaber. This raises the question of why she’s seemingly traded in Ezra’s lightsaber as her main weapon in Ahsoka.
How Sabine got Ezra’s lightsaber
When Ezra surrenders himself to Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Rebels series finale, he leaves his lightsaber with Chopper. After the purrgil take Ezra, Thrawn, and the Imperial fleet into hyperspace, the rebels launch the Imperial Command Center off of Lothal’s surface
Chopper gives Ezra’s lightsaber to Sabine, which she uses to slash open the Imperial Command Center’s windows. This allows the rebels to escape and board the Ghost before the Imperial Command Center explodes over the sea, the final touch in liberating Lothal of the Empire.
In the years that followed, Sabine must’ve kept Ezra’s lightsaber, hoping to return it when she finally finds him. Although, it is worth noting that by the time of Ahsoka, the lightsaber has been in Sabine’s possession far longer than it was ever in Ezra’s possession.
Why Sabine is wielding Ezra’s lightsaber in Ahsoka
The Ahsoka trailers show that Sabine has not only kept Ezra’s lightsaber, but that she is going to actively use it throughout the series. She refers to Ahsoka as “Master” and says that Ahsoka never made things easy on her.
As far as we know, Sabine isn’t Force-sensitive and isn’t a Jedi. Ahsoka likely just trained Sabine in lightsaber combat in the years following the Liberation of Lothal. Sabine learned how to master the Darksaber through Kanan Jarrus’ training and she defeated Gar Saxon with a lightsaber, but Ahsoka could’ve helped Sabine further hone and master her lightsaber-wielding abilities.
While Ahsoka worked with the Ghost crew on numerous occasions during Rebels, she didn’t have many interactions with just Sabine, as most of Ahsoka’s interactions were with Ezra and Kanan. Ahsoka training Sabine in lightsaber combat gives the two characters more history prior to the Ahsoka series and their search for Ezra and Thrawn.
Sabine will also be using a lightsaber because of the types of enemies she will be facing in Ahsoka. The show’s villains include Baylan Skoll, Shin Hati, and Marrok, all of whom are lightsaber-wielding dark side users. In order to hold her own and defeat these adversaries, a lightsaber is the best weapon for Sabine to use.
At one point when Sabine is fighting Shin in the trailers, Shin says, “You have no power.” This is likely a reference to Sabine not being Force-sensitive. One of the challenges Sabine will experience in Ahsoka is facing villains like Shin who are Force-sensitive and trained in the Force.
With such a disadvantage, Sabine may need to rely more heavily on her lightsaber skills. But by the end of Ahsoka season 1, it may be more fitting to call the weapon Sabine’s lightsaber, even once she finds and reunites with Ezra.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the Star Wars content being covered here wouldn’t exist.