Henry Gilroy: Sabine’s Jedi Arc in Ahsoka Was a “Mistake”

When Ahsoka arrived in 2023, few story choices sparked more debate than the reveal that Sabine Wren — Mandalorian warrior, master of explosives, wielder of the Darksaber — was also Ahsoka Tano’s Force-sensitive apprentice. For some fans, it was a thrilling expansion of what the Force could be. For others, it felt like a contradiction of Sabine’s earlier arc in Star Wars: Rebels. And now, one of the creators who helped define Sabine is weighing in.

Henry Gilroy, senior writer and executive producer on Rebels, revealed on a recent episode of Pod of Rebellion that Sabine becoming a Jedi “was absolutely not the plan.” According to Gilroy, the idea was briefly discussed in the writers’ room years ago — and quickly rejected. “We really felt that not only did it step on Ezra’s story… it was a weak retread,” he explained. Sabine already had a powerful arc surrounding the Darksaber, her Mandalorian heritage, and her guilt over the Empire’s exploitation of her work at the Imperial Academy.

To Gilroy, that made her compelling without needing Jedi training layered on top.

So when Sabine ignited a lightsaber in Ahsoka, Gilroy was “shocked.” What he loved most about her arc in Rebels, he said, was that Sabine embodied Jedi ideals — courage, compassion, responsibility — without needing to be part of the Jedi Order. “You don’t have to be a Jedi to have Jedi ideals,” he noted, critiquing Sabine’s sudden ability to Force-push Ezra “a hundred feet” after little on-screen development.

Gilroy’s comments highlight a larger tension Star Wars continues to wrestle with: what it truly means to be a Jedi. Is it an institution? A philosophy? A moral path? As new stories push beyond the Skywalker era — from Ahsoka season two to Rey’s upcoming Jedi Order film — that question only grows more urgent. And Sabine, intentionally or not, may be at the center of the galaxy’s evolving answer.