Star Wars: Secret Origin of the Darksaber Revealed in New Rebels Clip

01/14/2017 09:57 pm EST

A new clip released as part of tonight's episode of Star Wars Rebels Recon has answered a question fans have been asking since it first appeared on Star Wars: The Clone Wars: what is the deal with that sharp-looking-bladed black lightsaber? The next two episodes of Star Wars Rebels take us into Mandalorian lore (Manda-lore? Mando-lore? Mandalore-lore?) as Sabine Wren, part of House Vizsla, looks to use the darksaber to draw the Mandalorian warriors to her cause.

SPOILERS AHEAD - Don't read on unless you want to know before the episodes air!

The clip airs at about 5:40 in the video above, the behind-the-scenes aftershow for Star Wars Rebels, and we encourage you to watch it yourself before reading on. Previously, all we knew about the darksaber was that it was Mandalorian, a symbol of leadership, and ancient. Now, we know much more, by way of an incredibly gorgeous animated history lesson taught to us by the Mandalorian Fenn Rau.

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When Kanan remarks that he wasn't aware "Mandalorians developed a type of lightsaber," Rau corrects him.

"We didn't, this was one of a kind," he says. "Legend tells that it was created over a thousand years ago by Ta Vizsla, the first Mandalorian ever inducted into the Jedi order. After his passing, the Jedi kept the saber in their temple. That was, until members of House Vizsla snuck in and liberated it. They used the saber to unify the people and strike down those who would oppose them. At one time, they ruled all of Mandalore, wielding this blade."

That's a lot more detail than we have ever received, while still keeping it slightly mysterious. Still, it's confirmation that there was a Mandalorian Jedi, that he was a Vizsla, and that he developed the darksaber himself. That "over a thousand years ago" time frame used here is interesting too, as it places it before the Sith Rule of Two was established by Darth Bane. This is the first piece of new canon from that era.

While the history lesson is extremely cool, the real deal will be in how Sabine Wren trains to use the darksaber - and what she's actually able to accomplish with it, in the next two episodes of Star Wars Rebels starting with "Trials of the Darksaber" on Saturday, January 21 at 8:30 p.m. on Disney XD. Take a closer look at the new legend of the darksaber in the gallery below.

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Star Wars Rebels airs Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Disney XD, and follows the adventures of Hera (Vanessa Marshall), Sabine (Tiya Sircar), Zeb (Steve Blum), and the Jedi Kanan (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and Ezra (Taylor Gray), a small crew that's finding their way in the nascent Rebel Alliance a few years before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Executive produced by Simon Kinberg and Dave Filoni, the in-canon series helps to connect the worlds of the films and the previous animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with guest appearances so far by characters like Lando Calrissian, Ahsoka Tano, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Leia Organa, Wedge Antilles, and more.

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