Star Wars, especially Star Wars live-action television, hinges on big questions. In The Mandalorian alone, the questions have ranged from “Why can’t Din Djarin take off his helmet?” to “What is Baby Yoda’s name?” and slowly but surely we’ve picked up answers throughout the show’s three seasons.
However, one of the biggest questions that still looms large over The Mandalorian may have just been answered by a throwaway line in Ahsoka Episode 4. It sheds light on a murky time in the Star Wars timeline and a personal tragedy for Sabine.
Warning! Spoilers for Ahsoka Episode 4, “Fallen Jedi” ahead!
In Ahsoka Episode 4, Sabine holds the crucial star map at gunpoint while Baylan Skoll tries to talk her down. Immediately, he goes for the big guns. “Your family died on Mandalore,” he says, “because your Master didn’t trust you.” That seems to be enough to tip Sabine’s loyalties and she hands over the map that leads to the other galaxy.
This mention of Mandalore ties directly to The Mandalorian. The planet was merely referred to as “lost” for a while, and it wasn’t until Season 3 that we learned the planet was ravaged by the Empire in what was called the “Night of a Thousand Tears.” Though the planet was eventually reclaimed by the Mandalorians, there were still millions of Mandalorians killed.
This line seems to imply that Clan Wren — including the matriarch, Sabine’s mother Ursa — were all lost in this genocide, but also that it could have been avoided somehow if Ahsoka had listened to Sabine.
If this is true, then it clearly explains the tension between Ahsoka and Sabine we saw in the first few episodes. It also makes Sabine’s journey as a Jedi and her return to her Mandalorian armor that much more powerful. She’s got a truly galactic level case of survivor’s guilt, knowing she could have avoided the tragedy that destroyed her home world.
As we approach the back half of Ahsoka, it’s likely we’ll hear more about what happened that could have averted the Mandalorian Purge and why Ahsoka questioned Sabine’s instincts. It’s clearly enough to make Sabine turn her back on her own master, so there is definitely still a grudge between the two.
Though Episode 5 will definitely focus more on Ahsoka as she traverses an otherworldly realm with her old master, eventually she will have to sit down with Sabine and work through what drove them apart — and, conveniently, answer the question that’s haunted the “Mando-verse” for years: just what exactly happened to Mandalore?
