Summary
- Sabine Wren and Bo-Katan Kryze carried the weight of their troubled pasts, including their own betrayals, which they had to confront and overcome to earn the trust and respect of their people.
- Sabine created a dangerous weapon for the Empire that was used to target and destroy her own fellow Mandalorians, while Bo-Katan was associated with a terrorist organization that orchestrated a coup resulting in her sister's death.
- Through acts of selflessness, both Sabine and Bo-Katan ultimately became heroes and redeemed themselves, proving their commitment to Mandalore and its people, and securing their places in Mandalore's history.
Everything changed for Sabine Wren and Bo-Katan Kryze when the Star Wars heroes led their people into battle against the Galactic Empire. Both characters fought with significant weight on their shoulders. The burdens of the poor choices they had previously made remained on their minds as well as in the thoughts of their fellow Mandalorians. What would it take for Sabine and Bo-Katan to shed their tarnished reputations and lead with the trust and respect of their people? They made their discoveries almost simultaneously defending Mandalore despite the vastly different paths they took to get there.
Sabine's and Bo-Katan's Mandalorian heritage is only one of many common threads shared between them. They both wielded the legendary Darksaber and the weight of its history at different points in time. However, the most significant commonality linking Sabine and Bo-Katan is their troubled pasts. Sabine served the Empire and even after leaving it, kept her dark deeds under its command a secret. Bo-Katan -- once a shining example of what every Mandalorian hoped to be -- betrayed her family and all they stood for. Both women had to prove themselves worthy of heroism while accepting the consequences of their mistakes, and their resulting stories make them significant figures in Mandalore's long saga.
Sabine Wren Created One of Star Wars' Most Dangerous Weapons
Sabine joined the Imperial Academy in hopes of making a difference in the galaxy. She followed the paths of many her age, believing the Empire was good for her world and that she could be part of its legacy. In Star Wars Rebels Season 3, Episode 15, "Trials of the Darksaber," Sabine revealed a dark secret about her time at the Academy: she had spent much of her stretch creating weapons for the regime. One of those weapons would later be used in a surprise attack on her own people.
The ambush occurred in Star Wars Rebels Season 4, Episode 1, "Heroes of Mandalore: Part 1." The prototype she had designed survived her previous attempts to destroy it, and the Empire used it to eliminate unsuspecting Mandalorian forces on the planet. Sabine's weapon specifically targeted the beskar armor critical to Mandalorian culture, vaporizing the warriors without harming the Empire's stormtroopers. This design was a betrayal of her people, as only a Mandalorian could have known such a sinister method for defeating her own forces. Sabine ran from her guilt for many years, but confronted her past head-on when she joined her fellow Mandalorians in their quest to take back their planet from the Imperials. Bo-Katan also faced an internal struggle during the same battle.
Bo-Katan Kryze Associated with Bad Company
Bo-Katan was not immune to falling in with questionable crowds despite her royal upbringing. Although her sister Satine Kryze became the governing duchess of their home world, Bo ended up joining the Mandalorian group known as Death Watch. Pre Vizsla -- who then rightfully owned the Darksaber -- led the group at the time she became involved. Death Watch was officially categorized as a terrorist organization and disagreed so strongly with Duchess Satine's belief that it repeatedly attempted to overthrow her. The group eventually succeeded in a coup organized by Maul's Shadow Collective, which resulted in Satine's death.
It was never Bo-Katan's intention to be associated with her sister's execution. After the coup, she removed herself from Death Watch and fought against the Mandalorians loyal to Maul in order to free her planet from his rule. Bo-Katan emerged from that battle victorious, but she would continue to carry the weight of her sister's death with her. She had already lost the Darksaber and her home by the time she joined Sabine in the struggle to free Mandalore years later. She similarly had to confront her own demons as she rebelled against the Empire. Only when she accepted the Darksaber from Sabine and reclaimed her right to lead Mandalore was she able to put her association with Death Watch behind her for good.
Both Sabine and Bo-Katan Eventually Became Heroes
Bo-Katan spent much of The Mandalorian Season 3 atoning for her wrongs and shedding more remorse. In Season 3, Episode 8, "Chapter 24: The Return," she battled Moff Gideon and once again proved her willingness to sacrifice herself so her people could live on -- just as she had during the Night of a Thousand Tears. She no longer had the Darksaber she had sought to reclaim for so long. She did have a near-death encounter and a defeated Imperial remnant to show for her effort, though. The Mandalorian people didn't just trust her; they believed in her. She became a hero not because of her sister's legacy or the Darksaber's symbolic power, but because she was able to leave her past in the rubble and focus on restoring Mandalore once and for all.
Sabine's involvement in the Rebel Alliance's eventual victory over the Empire earned her recognition in Ahsoka Season 1, Episode 1, "Part One: Master and Apprentice." She didn't feel she deserved such praise, but she had long since proven she deserved the title of hero. After helping her people defeat the Empire on Mandalore in Rebels, she made the difficult decision to leave again in order to rejoin the Galactic Civil War. It takes great strength for a Mandalorian to leave her people to fight a different war, but no one faulted her for her choice. Instead of holding claim to the Darksaber for herself, she gave it to Bo-Katan in a grand gesture of trust. Sabine may have once created a weapon, but she didn't realize its larger implications at the time. Standing up against the Empire freed her from her guilt and made her a hero.
It is not easy for a Mandalorian to bounce back from betrayal. Sabine's family shunned her for years after defecting from the Empire and later watched their friends destroyed by a weapon she created. Bo-Katan went years without speaking to Satine after joining Death Watch, and her involvement ended in tragedy. But not every sin is eternally unforgivable in the eyes of a Mandalorian. Through their selfless acts of heroism, they were able to win back the favor of the clans. Furthermore, achieving victory over the Empire meant Sabine and Bo had to once and for all put Mandalore first. They both lost sight of that priority for a long time, but regained their focus in the end. That redemption saved Mandalore and its people from extinction.
Sabine and Bo-Katan's similar pasts tie them together more tightly than their shared Mandalorian roots. Each spent years carrying unbearable guilt for their past mistakes. Both women were eventually forced to face their former tribulations and the resulting consequences. What made them heroes of Mandalore wasn't solely their selflessness or their victories. Their willingness to take responsibility for their actions also earned them the right to take their permanent respective places in Mandalore's history. Both characters will leave unforgettable legacies behind them for the lengths they went to prove that despite their shortcomings, they would put their people and their home before themselves.