Mandalorian civil war ( Imperial Era ) A civil war broke out on Mandalore in the year 2 BBY , following the uprising of Clan Wren against the Imperial - backed government of Mandalore , led by Clan Saxon . The war began when Mandalore Governor Gar Saxon tried to arrest Sabine Wren , a known member of the growing Alliance to Restore the Republic , and two of her fellow operatives , Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger , for their crimes against the Empire . He also attempted to eliminate the marginalized Clan Wren , which had been tainted by association with Sabine . The ensuing skirmish at the Wrens ' stronghold on Krownest saw Gar Saxon ' s death at the hands of Count ess Ursa Wren . Prelude . Following the Siege of Mandalore , the Nite Owls ' leader , Bo - Katan Kryze , became Lady of House Kryze and Mandalore ' s Regent . After the Galactic Republic was reorganized into the Galactic Empire , Mandalore was occupied by the Empire . Kryze refused to obey Emperor Palpatine and was betrayed by the Saxon clan under Gar Saxon . Saxon then became Viceroy and the Emperor ' s Hand on Mandalore . Saxon and his followers later became the Empire ' s Super Commandos . During this time , Imperial Academy cadet Sabine Wren created a weapon known as the " The Duchess " . When the Empire tested it on her people , Sabine destroyed it and ran away . Count ess Ursa Wren was forced to pledge loyalty to Empire by allowing Tristan Wren to join the Super commando s . Her husband , Alrich Wren was taken prisoner by the Empire . The Journeyman Protector s under Fenn Rau left Mandalore and established a Base on Concord Dawn ' s Third Moon . The Protectors established an agreement with the Empire . In 3 BBY , the Protectors were approached by the Phoenix Cell , who wished to have another route to Lothal . At first , Rau refused to allow them passage . However , Rau was captured by Jedi padawan Kanan Jarrus and Sabine . Rau told his Protectors to allow them passage and not inform the Empire of his capture . Rau was kept as a prisoner , however Saxon discovered that the Protectors were allowing rebel ships to pass through Concord Dawn and he decided to destroy the Protectors as traitors to the Empire . Rau later traveled Sabine and Ezra Bridger to investigate the Protectors ' base . When they arrived , they saw that Protectors were all dead . Shortly after they came under attack by Saxon and his commandos . Rau and Sabine overheard Saxon saying that he would of destroyed the Protectors but allowed the Rebels to use Concord Dawn in order to lure Rau back to finish his job . Rau considered leaving but decided to save Sabine and Bridger from Saxon . After making their escape , Rau decided to join the rebels . Following a skirmish with Darth Maul , Sabine recovered the Darksaber in the Nightsister lair on Dathomir . At first , she refused it and gave it to Jarrus . However , Rau , Jarrus , and the rest of the Spectres convinced her to allow Jarrus to train her in order to rally both her family and Mandalore to fight the Empire . Despite her initial her doubts , Sabine was able to prove she could wield the darksaber . The civil war . The rebellion . Sabine then returned to her clan ' s stronghold on Krownest with Rau , Jarrus , and Bridger . There , she came under attack by several of her clan ' s warriors under her brother Tristan . After the " Phantom II " crash landed , Jarrus , Bridger , and Sabine were taken to the stronghold while Rau and Chopper stayed out of sight . At first , Ursa refused to listen to her daughter until she revealed the darksaber . Ursa then spoke with her daughter , but was still shocked that she designed weapons that were used on them . Sabine told her mother that Saxon was responsible for wiping out the Protectors . Despite this , Ursa told her daughter that she disowned her to protect their family from Saxon and the Empire ' s reprisal . Despite the reunion , Ursa contacted Saxon . In exchange for the darksaber and the Jedi , Ursa was promised that her daughter would be spared . Ursa later spoke with Jarrus , doubting that he knew her daughter better than she did . However , she was surprised to hear that her daughter had fought Saxon previously as his commandos arrived . Ursa gave him the darksaber and the Jedi , despite Sabine ' s objections . However , Saxon betrayed her and declare Clan Wren as traitors to the Empire . As they prepared for a gunfight , Rau broke into through a window and returned Jarrus ' and Bridger ' s lightsabers . The warriors of Clan Wren fought the commandos . When Saxon attempted to kill Ursa with the darksaber , Sabine was given Bridger ' s lightsaber . The two fought until Sabine was able to reclaim the darksaber and used both it and Bridger ' s lightsaber at Saxon ' s throat . However , Sabine refused to kill Saxon who was instead killed by Ursa . Despite this victory , Ursa stated that they could not accept the rebellion ' s help and that Mandalore must stand by and help itself . Sabine chose to stay behind and help her family and Rau find Mandalore ' s true leader . Clan Wren was later approached by Bridger , who asked for help against the Imperial Seventh Fleet ' s attack on Atollon . Despite reservation , Ursa allowed her daughter , Rau , and several other volunteers to take out the last Interdictor destroyer in order to let the survivors of Phoenix Cell and the Massassi Group to retreat . Together , Bridger and Clan Wren warriors were able to take out the Interdictor and escape with the remaining rebels . Return of " The Duchess " . In 1 BBY , during the Mandalorian civil war , Sabine and her younger brother , Tristan , arrived at the statue of Tarre Vizsla on Mandalore and discovered that the Empire had built an outpost situated on it . Sabine and Tristan were able to destroy the outpost and return the statue to its original state . Later , Sabine and her clan , along with Spectres Jarrus and Bridger , attacked an Imperial prison in an attempt to rescue her father , Alrich . There , they fought against the Empire ' s forces and commandos , now under the command of Gar Saxon ' s brother , Governor Tiber Saxon . As Saxon deployed reinforcements , Clan Wren was joined by the Nite Owls of Clan Kryze under Bo - Katan . Despite their victory over Saxon ' s forces , Alrich was not there . Clans Wren and Kryze learned that Alrich was taken aboard a convoy under captain Hark bound for Sundari . Together they attacked the convoy near a canyon . As Sabine took out the scout trooper s and threw a paint bomb at the convoy . Hark informed Saxon that the convoy was under attack and was informed that reinforcements had been sent and the weapon was being prepared . Clan Kryze , Rau and the Spectres continued their attack on the convoy as Bridger boarded to free Alrich . As the convoy approached the edge of a cliff , Bridger gave Alrich his jetpack to jump before the Imperial Troop Transport went off the cliff . Sabine and Alrich briefly reunited before Imperial reinforcements arrived . Despite Ursa ' s belief they would have two victories , the Empire deployed a AT - DP of unusual design . Sabine heard a noise through her wrist comm that made her realize it was her weapon being deployed . Sabine told Ursa and Tristan to get out of there . After the weapon was used , all Sabine found were disintegrated bodies and damaged armor . At first , Sabine believed Ursa and Tristan were dead , but they had survived . The Wrens , along with Rau and the Spectres made their escape thanks to Clan Kryze ' s gauntlet fighter . Bridger and Kryze were able to destroy a pair TIE fighters . Following the weapon test , Saxon contacted Grand Admiral Thrawn and told him of it ' s success against the Mandalorians ' armor . Thrawn however wanted it to have greater range in order to bring the rebellious Mandalorians down . Thrawn suggested capturing the weapon ' s designer , Sabine . At the Kryze command camp , the warriors present there were disgusted by how Sabine created the weapon . However , Sabine ' s family stood by her and Kryze was able to convince everyone to destroy the weapon . Together , they planned to sneak aboard Saxon ' s Star Destroyer stationed at Sundari . They planed to destroy both the weapon and erase the weapon ' s designs . As they boarded the Star Destroyer , they saw that the weapon core was not there . As Jarrus , Bridger and Chopper erased the weapons designs from the database , the Mandalorians fought both the commandos and stormtroopers . As Kryze and Sabine found " the Duchess " , they were both subdued by Saxon who demanded that Sabine increase the weapons capacity . Kryze and Sabine were torture d by " the Duchess " until Sabine acquiesced to his wishes , despite Hark ' s and Kryze ' s objections to this . After Sabine fixed " the Duchess " , Saxon reactivated it . However , Sabine had altered to target stormtrooper armor and " the Duchess " then targeted Saxon and the stormtroopers all across the Star Destroyer . At first , Sabine wanted to kill Saxon for rebuilding her weapon , but Kryze convinced her to destroy and fight with honor . Sabine used the darksaber to destroy " the Duchess " and both teams and the Spectres escaped as the Star Destroyer was destroyed . Under Kryze . Back at her camp , Sabine told Kryze that she has proven herself to be Mandalore ' s true leader . Despite uncertainty , Kryze was told by Ursa and Sabine that their people were willing to follow her . Kryze was brought before a gathering of warriors from Mandalore ' s other clans . With Clan Wren ' s and the Protector ' s support , Kryze accepted the darksaber and her role as leader of Mandalore . Following this , Sabine then chose to return to the Spectres and the Rebel Alliance on Yavin 4 .