Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 2. Read at your own risk.
The Mandalorian Season 2 brought viewers some things that truly seemed impossible, so it's easy at this point to believe the Disney+ series is capable of anything. This includes a current theory alleging the Star Wars series may have snuck in a prominent character from the animated series Rebels into the show, but is that even too crazy to believe after that Luke Skywalker reveal?
The theory comes from a since-deleted Reddit thread, in which a fan pointed out an Imperial Comms Officer who has appeared on screen with speaking roles more than a few times. Take a look at the character below from a recent scene in "The Tragedy," and read on to see why some are wondering if she may be Star Wars Rebels' Sabine Wren.
That Comms Officer is played by actress Katy O'Brian, who has been seen in shows such as Z Nation and Black Lightning. One interesting note about O'Brian (via Movieweb) is that she's a trained martial artist, so to see her in a role as an Imperial officer where fighting isn't typically a pre-requisite is a bit strange. What's even stranger is she's an unnamed character who frequently keeps getting small speaking roles throughout the series, which is inspiring some to wonder why.
Katy O'Brian's character was first seen early in the second season, in which she supervised the placing of a tracking beacon on The Razor Crest in "The Siege." She later popped up in "The Believer," where she played Din's message for Moff Gideon at the end of the episode, and then was last seen in the finale as Bo-Katan and the rest finagled their way onto Moff's cruiser, and she was seemingly killed. Though it's no coincidence, I'd think, that her "death" wasn't showcased, making it possible for her to return. It seemed like O'Brian's character may certainly be relevant to the plot in some way, but what exactly makes some think she's Star Wars Rebels' Sabine Wren?
Well, one thing we learned in Season 2 of The Mandalorian is that Grand Admiral Thrawn may be somewhere out in the galaxy. Thrawn was last seen on Star Wars Rebels, in which he was sucked away into hyperspace by a Purrgil alongside Sabine's former crewmate, Ezra Bridger. Sabine committed to finding Ezra at the end of the show, so wouldn't it be smart of her to infiltrate the remnants of the Empire in an attempt to locate Thrawn and potentially discover Ezra's whereabouts in the process?
It sounds crazy but, considering some of the amazing things The Mandalorian has done and shown audiences in its first two seasons, it's not impossible to believe. Also, with a slew of spinoffs on the way, this show will need all the characters it can get to make content, so why not bring back more favorites from Star Wars animation to get the die-hard group excited? Had I not just seen Luke Skywalker on the show I'd be skeptical but, after that, I'm ready to believe Katy O'Brian's character could be Sabine laying low in Imperial ranks for some reason.
The first two seasons of The Mandalorian are currently available to stream on Disney+. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest happenings with the franchise, and for more happening in television and movies.
