Star Wars Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni talks about how the show, especially season 3, expanded the lightsaber mythology setup by Star Wars creator George Lucas. The Disney XD animated series has trod various smaller subplots and character arcs throughout its three-year run. In conjunction with introducing new characters to the lore, it was able to play around with the established canon and either add more to it or spin it in a new way that will give die-hard loyalists new material to immerse themselves in. One such new aspect is the arrival of former Imperial Academy student turned Ghost crew member, Sabine Wren.
The artsy fighter's background has not been fully explored prior to the junior year of the series, but she had already caught the hearts of fans due to her quippy nature, impressive battle skills, and fascinating gadgets. The last outing of Rebels, however, delved deep into her origins of being one of the few remaining Mandalorians - and given that this cultural group has always been one of the most intriguing concepts, as they have such a long and complex history dating back to the Old Republic Days, viewers obviously paid attention. Sabine's story got more and more interesting with the re-introduction of the Darksaber - a dark bladed lightsaber that has deep ties not just to the Mandalorian people but with the Jedi Order as well.
Related: Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Blu-ray Release Date
In a brand new featurette courtesy of io9 in light of the upcoming Blu-ray release of Rebels season 3, Filoni talks about expanding the lightsaber folklore by exploring the history of the Darksaber and potentially set up its future. Making its first appearance in Star Wars: Clone Wars, Lucas laid the groundwork of its origin and Rebels revisited that with a little bit of a history lesson from another Mandalorian warrior Fenn Rau while he educated Kanan about the weapon's importance. Further, it links the two animated series and the canon as a whole more tightly together as it was the weapon used by Darth Maul to kill New Mandalorian leader, Satine, a close friend and lover of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
As of now, after her rigid training, the famed saber is being wielded by Sabine and it can be very much useful in the upcoming season of Rebels especially as the Rebellion starts to come together and the evil Galactic Empire becomes more and more ruthless in their actions.
That said, we don't know just how long Sabine can hold onto the Darksaber. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which takes place after the events of Rebels, revealed that the Empire has files pertaining to the "Black Sabre", which could mean that they are also looking to get their hands on the one-of-a-kind lightsaber - or worse, maybe they already have it in their possession. The weapon, however, has yet to make an appearance in the current saga and was not even referenced in the original trilogy, so a lot remains to be seen with regard to what happened to it.
We'll find out more about fate the Darksaber and all the main game players of the show when its fourth and final season starts this fall. The series still has a lot of mysteries waiting to be solved including Ahsoka's whereabouts and whether the Ghost crew survives Thrawn's upcoming onslaught or not.
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Star Wars Rebels season 3 Blu-ray is scheduled to hit the shelves on Tuesday, August 29.
Source: io9