'Ahsoka' Trailer: What Went Wrong Between Ahsoka And Sabine?

The next full trailer for the upcoming Star Wars series Ahsoka has arrived. Set in the same time period as The Mandalorian, the series stars Rosario Dawson in the role of former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, already a beloved figure in animated Star Wars media, as she attempts to stop Grand Admiral Thrawn from bringing about the rise of a new Empire.

Ahsoka is joined in her efforts by General Hera Syndulla, and Mandalorian rebel Sabine Wren, icons of the animated Star Wars universe making their first appearance in live-action. The new trailer has Ahsoka, at Hera's urging, reluctantly seek Sabine out for help. To the surprise of many long-term fans, Sabine refers to Ahsoka as 'Master' during this meeting, suggesting that she may have undergone some level of Jedi Training under Ahsoka. However, something has clearly occurred to distance the two from each other.

Let's look at the relationship between the two characters prior to Ahsoka, and what could have happened to drive a wedge between them.

Respect Between Rebels

Sabine Wren first encounters Ahsoka Tano in the first season finale of the animated series Star Wars: Rebels, when it is revealed that Ahsoka is Fulcrum, the high-ranking member of the growing Rebel Alliance from whom the Ghost Crew have been taking orders all season. Ahsoka appears on a recurring basis throughout season two, mostly in storylines involving Jedi Kanan Jarrus and his Padawan Ezra Bridger.

Interactions between Ahsoka and Sabine in Rebels are brief, but they do seem to like each other. Despite a historical enmity between Jedi and Mandalorians, and the fact that most Mandalorians at the time were under Imperial rule, Ahsoka may have accepted Sabine as an ally upon their meeting due to her possession of a Nite Owl style beskar helmet. The Nite Owls, under the leadership of Bo-Katan Kryze, were important allies of Ahsoka during the fight to free Mandalore from Maul in the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Sabine's Mother, Ursa, was once a Nite Owl, so she may also have been aware of who Ahsoka was prior to meeting her.

When Ahsoka is presumed dead following her duel with Darth Vader in Rebels second season finale, 'Twilight of the Apprentice', Sabine paints Ahsoka's symbolic owl-like companion, Morai, on the shoulder pauldron of her armour, a sign of the esteem in which she held her. While Sabine subtly alters her armour's paintwork regularly, the Morai emblem remains in place throughout the entire second half of the series.

Ahsoka is eventually saved from death via Ezra Bridger's trip to the World Between Worlds. In the Rebels epilogue, set some years after Ezra's disappearance, Ahsoka arrives on Lothal, which Sabine is protecting in Ezra's name, presumably for help in fulfilling her promise to find him.

Many fans initially assumed that Ahsoka would pick up from this point, but the new trailer's reveal that Ahsoka and Sabine trained together at some point before parting ways raises a question mark over the exact timeline of events.

So, what happened to bring an end to the training, and cause the distance between Ahsoka and Sabine when the new series begins? Let's look at a few possibilities.

Ahsoka tried to train Sabine by Jedi methods when she isn't one

Some fans have speculated that the hinted Master/Student relationship between Ahsoka and Sabine is not necessarily related to Jedi training. Students of martial arts or swordsmanship often refer to their Teachers as Master. Both Ahsoka trailers show Sabine in possession of, and wielding, what fans believe to be Ezra Bridger's lightsaber. Ahsoka may have decided that if Sabine was going to keep the weapon, she should be trained in correct saber form.

While Ahsoka never formally completed Jedi training, and has insisted on more than one occasion that she is not a Jedi, she still, mostly, follows the Jedi way and conducts herself by the rules of the Jedi Order. In the latest trailer, Sabine claims that Ahsoka did not make things easy for her, moments after Ahsoka is heard referring to Sabine as stubborn. Ahsoka may have attempted to train Sabine according to Jedi methods, possibly causing a breakdown in the relationship if Sabine couldn't or wouldn't do things the 'right' way.

Sabine has faced this issue before, when Kanan Jarrus trains her in the use of the Darksaber in the hope she can use it to bring her fellow Mandalorians to the Rebel cause. Kanan becomes frustrated when Sabine fails to progress under his initial training regimen, and, like Ahsoka, blames Sabine's stubborness. Eventually, he is convinced to adapt the training to her Mandalorian nature, and things improve. Hopefully, Ahsoka will eventually reach the same conclusion. However, if Ahsoka was in fact training Sabine to become a Jedi, there may be other issues at play.

By current standards, Sabine has the wrong temperament for a Jedi

Sabine Wren, admittedly, is not a typical example of the Mandalorian race. She believes that Mandalorians are at their strongest when standing together, is a proud Mandalorian, and deeply respectful of Mandalore's history and culture.

However, after finding a second family among the Ghost crew, she does not subscribe to the idea that Mandalorians standing together means shutting others out, or doing what is best for her own people at the expense of others. Sabine also resists the idea that Jedi are enemies, sharing close friendships with Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger. Sabine is a rare example, at least in the early part of Rebels, of a Mandalorian who sees the bigger picture. On the other hand, she is still a Mandalorian warrior. Her solution to many of the problems the rebels face is often to race into battle or, quite commonly, blow things up. Sabine also occasionally displays a fiery temper.

There are reasons why Mandalorian-born Jedi are rare. Tarre Vizsla, who forged the Darksaber and shortly after united his people as the first Manda'lor, is the only well-known example. Seeing some of the more Darkside-leaning Mandalorian traits in Sabine may have caused Ahsoka to develop cold feet regarding training her.

Sabine has issues with 'Attachment'

One of the greatest rules of the Jedi is to give up attachment to other people and things. It is believed that becoming attached to someone could lead to fear of or anger at a possible loss, which may tempt someone to the Dark Side of the force. Force sensitive children are often taken to begin Jedi training at a young age to limit attachment to their family.

Throughout Star Wars: Rebels, Sabine develops a close friendship with fellow rebel Ezra Bridger, the Jedi Padawan of Kanan Jarrus. In Ahsoka, Sabine uses the missing Ezra's lightsaber rather than going through the process of building her own, and has painted the white Lothcat, a creature often associated with Ezra, on her Speeder Helmet. A recording of Ezra seems to drive Sabine's decision to rejoin Ahsoka on her quest to thwart the rise of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who may also be able to lead them to Ezra's location.

Ahsoka was not around to see Anakin Skywalker's fall to the Dark Side, but she knows it had something to do with his love for Padme Amidala and grief for her loss. Ahsoka may have come to fear that Sabine's remaining attachment to Ezra would lead into an obsession with finding him, and from there to a fall. It is quite possible that Ahsoka halted any training with Sabine for the same reason she refused to train Grogu after seeing his bond with Din Djarin in The Mandalorian: She didn't want to risk losing another friend to the Dark Side.

Both of these scenarios speak to one of the biggest enduring issues with the Jedi Order.. A failure to see or accept the difference between dangerous or obsessive attachments, and purer, more innocent forms of love.

An Earlier Failed Quest

While for many fans, the reveal that Sabine had undergone some form of training under Ahsoka was the biggest takeaway of the series second trailer, its possible that this may actually have nothing to do with why the pair have been distant. In their final meeting in Rebels, Ezra extracts a promise from Ahsoka that she will come find him when the battle is over, a promise that gains much greater weight when he and Thrawn disappear into the Unknown Regions of space in the aftermath of said battle. Meanwhile, Ezra's final message to Sabine reminds her that he is counting on her, and that he cannot wait to come home.

Clearly, Ahsoka and Sabine were the ones Ezra trusted to find him. Given the new uncertainty around the timeline of events, it is possible that they may have already tried looking for Ezra before the events of Ahsoka. If this initial search failed, they could have become upset or frustrated, possibly even blaming each other, and thus parted ways.

Now, while Thrawn's return brings a new threat to be stopped, it also provides a new lead. If Thrawn can make it back from the Unknown Regions, so could Ezra. Let's hope Ahsoka and Sabine can make their second chance count.

Ahsoka hits Disney Plus on August 23.