Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano is about to return for her next live-action adventure, and she’s bringing the crew of Rebels along with her. When Lucasfilm first announced Ahsoka, many Star Wars fans assumed it was actually a long-awaited sequel to that animated series. According to Dawson, Ahsoka is still very much its own thing, but with so many Rebels characters about to make their live-action debut in it, there’s bound to be some overlap.
Eagle-eyed fans have already caught a Rebels parallel in the latest Ahsoka trailer. In it, we get our first look at Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). Four years have passed since Wren and Ahsoka set off to rescue Ezra Bridger in the Rebels finale, and Sabine’s hair has grown long, which implies she hasn’t donned her Mandalorian armor in a while; it’s hard to fit all that hair under a helmet. The trail to Ezra, who was last seen with Grand Admiral Thrawn, likely went cold a while back, allowing Sabine and Ahsoka to go their separate ways. But Thrawn is gearing up to return, which means it’s time for them to pick up where they left off.
Sabine is briefly seen kneeling in front of her Mandalorian helmet, invoking a particular Rebels scene that involves another fan favorite, Kanan Jarrus. Back in Rebels Season 4, Captain Hera Syndulla was captured by the Empire, and her rebel cell, comprised of Kanan, Sabine, Ezra, and Garazeb Orellios, launched a mission to rescue her. Before they left, Kanan cut his hair and shaved his beard, a significant moment that signaled Kanan had finally reconciled his past as a former padawan with his responsibilities as a Jedi knight.
Ahsoka could pay homage to this moment by having Sabine cut her hair in a similar fashion. It would be a touching tribute to Rebels, and it would show that Sabine is ready to recommit herself to the search for Ezra. But if you want to read into this reference further, it implies that Sabine is willing to sacrifice herself as Kanan did in the Rebels episode “Jedi Night.” We’ll find out soon whether it comes to that, but it looks like Sabine is ready to put her life on the line again.
