Episode 4 of “Ahsoka,” titled “Part Four: Fallen Jedi,” contains spoilers.
Sabine Wren, played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo, is never seen using the Force in “Star Wars: Rebels,” but in “Ahsoka” on Disney+, it is made plain that she has some sensitivity to the Force. Note the emphasis on the term “mildly.” Sabine has such a feeble Force affinity that the ancient lightsaber-making droid Huyang (David Tennant) has told her that she is “the worst candidate to be a Jedi out of every Jedi he’s ever known.”
Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) ignores his advice and rehires Sabine as her trainee. She insists that Sabine can improve her connection to the Force via pure willpower. When Ahsoka’s Padawan student Sabine used a Force push for the first time, Episode 4 of “Ahsoka” showed that her teacher’s faith in her student had been well placed.
During a fight with Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), around halfway through “Part Four: Fallen Jedi,” Sabine is disarmed and tossed to the ground. She raises her hand to the Force in an effort to shoo Shin away from her in her despair. Sabine’s first use of the Force in combat produces a very modest result—just a burst of air and a dull hit that causes Shin to turn her head.
Is Ahsoka’s training limited to Sabine because she has a weak connection to the Force?
Sabine’s initial attempt to utilize the Force consciously fails, but the fact that she is able to push Shin is a significant event in her narrative. This demonstrates that she has some Force abilities and will likely develop them further.
Fans have speculated online that Ahsoka chooses to train Sabine because of the latter’s lack of Force proficiency. After what happened to Anakin, “I think she’s afraid of guns because she saw what happened to Anakin,” u/TrustfulLoki1138 speculated. She can’t do any real damage to the galaxy by teaching a non-Jedi student the ways of the Force.
This, according to Reddit user u/eddie_west_side, is why Ahsoka doesn’t teach Grogu in “The Mandalorian.” He explained that Ahsoka is aware of Grogu’s considerable Force power and is concerned that he may follow in the footsteps of Hayden Christensen’s villainous Anakin Skywalker. Now that Sabine has proved that she is growing stronger, Ahsoka may come to regret choosing a weak Padawan out of fear of what the dark side did to her former teacher.