Star Wars Rebels - 'Trials of the Darksaber'

"I call it Mr Pointy."

Remember a couple of episodes back when Sabine recovered that black lightsabre from Dathomir? Let's talk about that.

Kanaan learns from Fenn Rau that the Darksaber(1) was created by the first Mandalorian Jedi, before becoming an heirloom of House Viszla, the former ruling house of Mandalore and inclusive of Clan Wren. If Sabine can learn to wield the Darksaber, there is a good chance she can bring a fair number of the Mandalorians into the Rebellion. There is just one problem: Sabine is an exile from her family, and has no desire to go back to them.

This is perhaps the first time we've gone this far back into Sabine's past. We know that she quit the Imperial Academy and spent some time as a bounty hunter, but the events surrounding her departure from Mandalore are something of a mystery, even post-'Imperial Supercommandos'. As she butts heads with Kanaan's teaching style and struggles to master the psychological aspects of lightsabre combat, however, the truth comes out. She left to protect her family, because the weapons she made were being used against the people of Mandalore, and they hated her for leaving. With this revelation, her mind becomes clear enough to fight Kanaan on far more even terms, albeit with the aid of a Mandalorian vambrace provided by Rau, instead of fighting herself.

Although she does eventually gain sufficient control of the Darksaber to knock
her teacher down, I like that she doesn't instantly become the ultimate badass.

'Trials of the Darksaber' may be the single deepest study of the philosophical underpinnings of lightsabre combat ever committed to screen, and it's an episode of an animated series featuring a trainee who isn't even a Jedi (which means that it really is about philosophy, and not the Force.) It's another standout episode, and another one which gives serious prominence to one of the non-Jedi characters. Setting Sabine up to bring the Mandalorians into the Alliance makes her a major player; much bigger than either Kanaan or Ezra.

Also, Sabine is like... eighteen years old and has already gone through careers as a WMD designer, bounty hunter and space Banksy(2), even before becoming a Rebel. It's people like this who make you feel you aren't trying.

(1) While I will persist in using the English spelling convention of sabre in lightsabre, the Darksaber is its name.
(2) For what I hope are obvious reasons, the contraction 'Spanksy' will not be used.