#sabine rebels

[crafftypenguin]

drew this instead of doing homework

[dippenink]

I had a vision

[hawkbelly]

We got some really nice professional photos of our mandalorian cosplays and I’m pumped about them

Photographer: https://www.instagram.com/megansmarvelousphotography?igsh=eGN4aTFjeXd3MWd6

[inafieldofstarflowers]

I think my biggest problem right now is that the way Sabine’s story progressed and ended made enough sense for Ahsoka Sabine, but feels deeply unfitting for Rebels Sabine, not in a “she’s changed and grown since then” way but in a “this is a different character” way, and I think a lot of that is centered on the decision to make her a jedi.

From her first appearance in Rebels, Sabine is competent, strong-willed, and determined to fight for what she believes is right. As we go through the show, we learn more about where that came from. It’s pretty clear that she considers the Ghost crew family, and that she found new hope and meaning in working with them, as well as that her Mandalorian heritage is a huge part of how she was shaped into the person she is. Furthermore, we see that she’s driven by the need to make amends for her past mistakes, to protect her loved ones where she previously helped put them in danger, albeit without intending to.

When Kanan trains Sabine with the Darksaber, we see that it doesn’t work well for her to train exactly like a Jedi, because she’s not using the saber as a Jedi, she’s using it as a Mandalorian. It is another weapon in her arsenal and, more importantly, a symbol that she can use to help bring her people together—and she uses it to do so.

Sabine’s arc is so cool and so special to me because her path as both a character and a member of the rebellion are just as important as Ezra’s: she is given depth and interests, and the fact that she isn’t a Jedi doesn’t make them worth any less.

A prime example of this is Sabine’s art. It’s a BIG part of her self-expression throughout Rebels. It’s a connection with her family, a way to express herself and commemorate moments, and—in the most Mandalorian move possible—a weapon she uses against the enemy, both symbolically via the symbol of the Rebellion and literally, through the use of explosive spray paint. And sometimes this is played as a joke (think Sabjne painting the bunk crash on Zeb and Ezra’s wall) but it also legitimately comes into play (think Sabine interpreting the mural entrance to the world between worlds or Thrawn commenting on her art).

Rebels Sabine brings so much to the table, and there was so much in her character that could have been explored without making her a Jedi. Not everyone is a Jedi, and it’s good to remember that even heroes can be normal people who stepped up.

[inquisitor-apologist]

You guys ever think about how hard it must’ve been for Sabine, who grew up in an insanely family-oriented culture to be disowned at 14?? Family and familial relationships are such a big part of Mandalorian culture and society and to be ostracized like that when she was so young must’ve been horribly traumatizing.

[lilzoo]

this is it.

the perfect summary of their dynamic.

[r0gerr0ger]

More thoughts about Satine’s pacifism…

So I read this post the other day that suggested Satine’s period of rule was just a blip in Mandalore’s history, that she only maintained power because she’d won it in battle, and that Mandalorians were glad to return to their traditionalist ways and… it just really irked me.

Because that’s not true at all??

When we meet Satine in TCW, it’s super clear that she was very popular, and a good ruler. In only 15-20 years, she’s restored Sundari to prosperity, and is a city that appears very wealthy with a satisfied population. She herself is very invested in her people, helps directly with social and political matters. She’s managed to rebuild worlds and cities devastated by war and environmental issues.

There’s never any kind of explanation exactly as to her style of rule. Certainly she’s not a constitutional monarch but there is a prime minister and council, and regional governors, so she’s no autocrat. This suggests democracy, and her people thus voting for continued pacifist policies/leaders.

(We also only see issues/events occur that in any society would involve leaders, regardless of how much a role they play in politics)

I mean sure, it’s the capital city and we don’t really see anywhere else. And there’s also corruption, hunger, terrorism, etc.- but a lot of the latter issues are because of outside forces (galactic war and the sith) that she does remarkably well, in my opinion, to combat for several years.

So already that’s a lot of evidence to suggest pacifism/modernism was widely popular amongst Mandalorians and not just a blip.

(Also, she may have come to power through battle, but this suggests there was an incredibly strong military and public force behind her ascendancy to the throne in order to win a civil war that had been waging essentially for decades- therefore illustrating mandalorians wanted pacifism, and she didn’t just usurp her position)

Then to the suggestion they were glad to return to their military ways…

People often use the state of Mandalore in Rebels/The Mandalorian to argue that the warrior culture was a more natural and preferred one among Mandalorians.

But this isn’t what we see at all.

We return to Mandalore in Rebels like 17/18 years after we last saw it in TCW. In this time, an extremist clan and the empire have been ruling the system.

We’ve seen the scale and ability of the empire’s propaganda missions already- erasing or changing history, destroying entire races- particularly with the jedi.

Alongside a ruler encouraging/forcing his people to re-embrace their martial past, of course it’s going to appear as if Mandalorian society has returned to its ‘original’ state of violence and warfare.

And yet, even though it’s gone back to clan warfare and endless, unnecessary fighting, that’s not what the people want at all.

Even though the Mandalorians we meet in Rebels are characterised as especially traditional (clan wren allied with death watch; fenn rau fought alongside the republic and later the empire, going against satine’s political status) they are never actually fighting for a return to their martial past.

Instead, the whole storyline is about uniting Mandalorians, pushing out the oppressive empire, ending the civil wars, etc.

Sure, they want to retain more of their martial culture than Satine did, but perhaps here is where we can argue that Sundari was a bit of an exception by being so especially modernist, whereas other planets and communities still retained many elements of their warrior culture- such as wearing the armour- even if not engaging in warfare.

Again, there is a similar storyline in The Mandalorian season 3- despite the fact that this is about the most extreme group of Mandalorians. It’s still about uniting together, rebuilding their world, ending war and violence among each other, protecting each other.

Therefore, I think it’s clear that actually, even if not to quite the same degree (but then, it’s likely this would come later once the last 2 decades of military propaganda had been overcome) Mandalorians didn’t want to retain their military past, but wanted to move in a more pacifist direction.

The only thing I have some issue arguing against is what we see in TCW when Satine is overthrown, where the masses really quickly switch to supporting death watch/Vizsla.

I’ve talked here about why this may be the case but even many of my arguments on that post don’t properly explain why a city that in previous seasons we saw offering mass support for satine and prospering under pacifism, suddenly turned so against her.

Really, I put this down to TCW being, in the end, a show aimed at younger audiences, and needing to get the point across clearly and dramatically that death watch and maul had manipulated people, and that’s why it seems so out of place.

(Does anyone have more to say on this than me? I’d find other’s perspective on this, whatever that perspective is, really interesting)

Either way, it’s made continually clear that Satine’s rule was far from a blip in Mandalorian history, or that Mandalorians only ever barely tolerated her.

Their martial society was a thing of the past. People were sick of it. Satine won the clan wars for a reason, and was a very effective ruler for many years until events outside her control (that frankly would have negatively impacted even the most golden ruler) meant she fell from power.

Had there not been the clone war or the sith, she would undoubtedly have continued to rule, and mandalore continued to stay pacifist.

(I also think it’s a shame we never saw more of mandalorian society during Satine’s rule. We only focus on her and other political rulers at that time, and when we later return to mandalore it’s all from the perspective of either extremists like din djarin and his sect, or again more political leaders/rulers that have an especially militaristic past.)

[disneyfanatic1993]

⭐️STAR WARS DAY 2024⭐️

Another year, another May the Fourth! This year, I decided to combine today with MerMay and draw my favorite Star Wars character as a mermaid — Sabine Wren!

✨May the Force be with you!✨