Star Wars Rebels Writer Throws Shade at ‘Ahsoka’ Over Sabine’s Jedi Twist
This Star Wars Rebels writer did not take too kindly to Ahsoka Season making Sabine a Jedi.
https://thedirect.com/article/star-wars-rebels-ahsoka-sabine-jedi
A snippet…
Former Star Wars Rebels writer Henry Gilroy recently threw shade at Ahsoka Season 1 over its shocking Sabine Wren Jedi twist. Davie Filoni’s 2023 streaming series, which followed up on the story set out by Rebels before it, saw Natasha Lui Bordizzo’s Sabine confirmed as Force-sensitive. This culminated in a divisive moment among fans during the Ahsoka Season 1 finale in which the armor-clad Mandalorian used the Force without any proper training to harness her powers.
During an appearance on the Pod of Rebellion podcast, Gilroy commented on Sabine’s Jedi turn in Ahsoka, calling it a shock and not what he had envisioned for the character when he was working on Rebels. “It was absolutely not the plan,” to make Sabine a Jedi, Gilroy posited, adding that, “We had a conversation in Season 3 about whether [to, and] we actually felt that not only did it step on Ezra’s story, but it was a retread:”
“It was absolutely not the plan. As a matter of fact, we had a conversation in Season 3 about whether that, and we actually felt that not only did it step on Ezra’s story, but it was a retread. Like we already did this. The idea of Sabine training as a Jedi when she is already this fantastic warrior of her own type, we felt like this is overkill."
He continued, remarking that he “had nothing to do with the Ashoka series,” so it was a bit of a surprise to see it happen, considering, as he put it, “pretty much our entire story team discussed and agreed that it was a bad idea:”
“So, honestly, I had nothing to do with the ‘Ashoka’ series. So I was shocked. Because pretty much our entire story team discussed and agreed that it was a bad idea. We did a pros and cons list, and we were like, ‘Yeah, is this kind of like a weak retreat. Why would we push that way?’”
Gilroy went on to describe how he thought Sabine didn’t need a Jedi bent to her to be considered a good leader or have a powerful story. One example he pointed to was the character’s journey with the Dark Saber.
“What I love about her story with the Dark Saber is you don’t have to be a Jedi to have Jedi ideals,” he lamented:
“However, what I love about her story with the Dark Saber is you don’t have to be a Jedi to have Jedi ideals, and embrace the Jedi philosophy. And I think that’s what’s really a more important thing, rather than like now I’m gonna Force push Ezra from his feet even though I have never used the Force before.”
The Rebels writer went on to reiterate that he thought making Sabine a Jedi “kind of diminished her [story]” as told in the hit animated series:
“Yeah, I felt like it really kind of diminished her in trying to make her a Jedi, because she doesn’t need it. She doesn’t need to use the Force.”