Rey’s lightsaber, also known as the Skywalker saber, is pretty important for the saga. Come to think of it, is any artifact more central to the Episodic Star Wars films? While the saber has made it’s way from Anakin to Luke and ultimately to Rey, what does the future hold? And for that matter, what does it’s past hold? Let’s discuss. Spoilers and speculation below.

Episode IX is almost exactly one year away. While the information we have is scarce at this point, we can make a few educated guesses based on what we know, what leaks are out there, and what logic tells us. First off, we know that Rey will use the saber due to a recent leak from Making Star Wars. The article let’s us know that:

Information about Rey was held back but her lightsaber, the Skywalker saber, will be back. So far there hasn’t been anything solid about how the sword has changed.

So we know is that the saber is back, but what form will it take in the film?

The Lando Connection

We know that Lando will be in the movie. We also know that the last time we saw the Skywalker saber before the sequel trilogy was in Cloud City, and Lando serves as a candidate for someone who could have delivered the saber to Maz. There could be other people involved in the exchange, but Lando to Maz is simple enough. After all, the two of them met in LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises, which may not be canon, but is at least probably canon-adjacent, and shows that it at least *could* happen. But do we really need this backstory? Probably not, but maybe JJ feels like he owes us this one since it was teased in TFA as a “story for another time”? Personally, I don’t expect too much revelation from this, but if done well, could be a fun connection.

The Split Crystal

Last time we saw the saber, it was split in two in The Last Jedi. It was pretty clear that the crystal was also split in two according the the shot in the film. Here is the shot:

To me, it looks like two pieces, and I got that impression during the film. The broken crystal was also seen on the Star Wars show (at 3:30). Although this is just a prop, it certainly looks like what I see in the image from TLJ, which suggests the crystal is split. This point was confirmed on a recent episode of The Resistance Broadcast in that it sounds like they confirmed with the Lucasfilm story group. They bring up two great ideas that probably others also had, but I heard them there first, so I’m citing them. First is the double bladed lightsaber theory. Rey is skilled with a staff, so using each half of the crystal to produce a separate blade, and fight Darth Maul style, but with a blue saber. Could be great! The second theory is the crackling blue lightsaber theory. Under this idea, Reys is able to fix it, but it is crackling like Kylo’s saber, but blue. For comparison, here is Kylo Ren’s crystal, which seems to be cracked but in one piece.

So I’m not sure if a crystal in two pieces would work the same way, but a crackling, sparking blue saber would be epic. I love both of these theories, but ultimately, the podcasters seem to dismiss the significance of this split blue crystal, and think Rey will use another one, or it will be a side artifact in IX. On this last point, I disagree. I think this saber is significant, and it weaves an important thread throughout the saga. The Skywalker saber chose Rey in The Force Awakens because of this crystal. Therefore, my money is on Rey repairing the saber in some way.

As we’ve discussed in the past, the crystal is pretty important for a Jedi, and the crystal chooses the Jedi as much if not more than the Jedi chooses the crystal. In some ways, it is like the wand from Harry Potter. This fact has been made abundantly clear from numerous content such as The Clone Wars episode The Gathering. I discussed how they are in perfect balance, and this could imply that Rey is the light created by the Force specifically to balance out Kylo’s darkness. So the fact that the saber was perfectly balanced between Rey and Kylo makes me think the saber/crystal can’t decide. Ultimately it goes with Rey, but why was this so difficult unlike the scene in TFA? Perhaps after Kylo Ren killed Snoke, and fought alongside Rey, the saber is starting to warm up to him. My theory is that the saber is starting to halfway like Kylo, and we’ll see Rey and Kylo fight side-by-side against the Knights of Ren, each wielding half of Rey’s double-bladed blue lightsaber after it’s cut in half by an enemy. This scene would have echoes of The Phantom Menace by mirroring Maul’s double-bladed saber split in two. Even better, what if Rey and Kylo end up fighting each other afterwards, creating a blue saber vs blue saber action that parallels/echoes Obi Wan vs Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. The opportunity for mirroring is great.It will be exciting to see how it all plays out, but until then the we’ll enjoy pondering the possibilities!

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