The reveal that Sabine Wren had received training in the Force was one of the major surprises of Ahsoka’s premiere episode. However, it quickly became apparent that she was no Jedi Master just yet. While her time wielding the Darksaber in Rebels made her a nifty lightsaber wielder, her connection to the force appears weaker than those who have attempted to train her.
Who Trained Sabine Wren?
Sabine’s path to becoming a Jedi began when she acquired the Darksaber from Darth Maul in the Nightsister lair on Dathomir during the years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. As both a Mandalorian and a former Imperial cadet, Sabine was already a formidable fighter, but it was fellow Rebel and Ezra Bridger’s Jedi master Kanan Jarus who was the first to tutor Sabine in how to wield a lightsaber.
Following Kanan’s death at the end of Star Wars Rebels, it was previously assumed that this was the end of Sabine’s training in the ways of the Force. No clues to her progress were given in the time-jump scenes that capped off Rebels’ finale, but now it seems that her training didn’t stop there after all.
In the trailers leading up to the show’s premiere, eagle-eyed fans spotted Sabine Wren carrying a modified version of Ezra Bridger’s lightsaber. In the show’s first episodes, not only does Sabine wield the lost Jedi’s lightsaber in battle against new villain Shin Hati, but it’s also revealed that following Kanan’s death and Ezra (and, of course, Thrawn’s) disappearance, Sabine served as a Jedi apprentice to Ahsoka Tano.
When we catch up with the pair in the first episode of Ahsoka however, it’s clear that the training didn’t work out, with both having parted ways. While the two remain loyal friends and fighters in the cause to rebuild the New Republic, their relationship is now tinged with feelings of frustration and failure on both sides.
How Can Sabine be Trained if She Isn’t Force Sensitive?
Despite having seen Sabine in action with a lightsaber, we still haven’t seen her use any Force powers. Even still, this doesn’t necessarily mean Sabine is entirely cut off from the Force. While it’s unlikely that she’s as powerful as your average Jedi during the time of the Clone Wars, even a slight aptitude for the Force may have been enough for Ahsoka to warrant training Sabine given the scarcity of other Force users during the years that the Empire was in power.
It’s possible that Sabine never learned to master abilities such as Force pull or Jedi mind tricks, but she has proven herself to be a crackerjack fighter pilot and speeder racer – traits which other Jedi have previously been shown to excel at.
Perhaps, as Ahsoka and Sabine reconnect throughout the series we will see Sabine’s sensitivity to the Force grow as both learn to be a better master and a better student. Alternatively, Sabine’s character arc may be there to show us all that having a high Midichlorian count may only be one part of what it means to be a Jedi – something which might be important as Ahsoka, Luke, and Rey look to build a New Jedi Order.
