'Star Wars Episode 9' Spoilers: Rey's Story Could Hinge on This Huge Leak
by Corey PlanteThe worst-case scenario for the Skywalker lightsaber has been confirmed. The Kyber crystal powering the weapon was completely broken during Rey’s confrontation with Kylo Ren towards the end of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which means Rey will have to find a totally new one if she’s ever to wield a lightsaber at all in Episode IX.
In a recent edition of The Star Wars Show released last Wednesday, hosts Andi Gutierrez and Anthony Carboni explored a new display cabinet at the Lucasfilm headquarters in San Francisco. Several props from recent movies were revealed in the episode, including an ID Scanner from Solo, Jyn Erso’s childhood toys from Rogue One, and the remains of the blue Skywalker lightsaber that Rey holds at the very end of The Last Jedi.
At about the 1:38 mark in the video above, Gutierrez and Carboni examine the “broken lightsaber” in the cabinet.
“There’s so much detail that’s built into these props that you don’t see on screen,” Gutierrez says. “But you can actually see the broken Kyber Crystal at the center of this hilt.”
If the Kyber Crystal is indeed broken, then that essentially makes the remaining pieces more or less useless. Many of us hoped Rey might be able to repair it Luke’s old lightsaber, but that’s probably not the case anymore.
The lightsaber prop as it stands now.
Consider that Kylo Ren’s unstable red lightsaber uses the crossguard design to vent off the excess energy just because his Kyber Crystal is cracked. By comparison, a full break means the crystal itself isn’t salvageable. When Rey and Kylo ripped the lightsaber in half, the explosion of energy that knocked them both out was the Kyber Crystal releasing its innate energy, rendering the resulting shards totally inert.
Colorless Kyber Crystals — like the one worn by Jyn Erso in Rogue One — carry a great deal of energy and border on sentience. Historically, individual crystals would resonate with a specific Jedi. Once attuned with the Force-wielder, they would change color in accordance with the harmony between the crystal and its master, so to speak. (Hence various lightsaber colors.)
Sith and other Dark-side Force users have to bend the crystals to their will, causing them to “bleed” which creates the ubiquitous red blades used by evildoers. It’s entirely possible that Kylo Ren forcing his blue lightsaber to turn red is what cracked it to begin with.
But for Anakin’s original Kyber Crystal to go from blue back to clear/white signals that it’s pretty much dead.
It was pretty clear that the crystal was broken in 'The Last Jedi', but this feels like official confirmation.
Rey clearly needs a completely new blade, but what options does she have for parts? She’ll either need to somehow find a new, raw crystal on her own or she might have to claim Luke’s green lightsaber.
The Last Jedi novelization does confirm the canon location of Luke’s green lightsaber he originally debuted in Return of the Jedi. As it turns out, the Caretakers on Ahch-To have it in their collection of Jedi relics.
“She directed another daughter to take his weapon, his star compass, and his strange other gear to the repository, where it would join other items gathered over the generations.”
Will Rey reclaim Luke’s other lightsaber and just use that? Or will she find something totally new and wind up with the double-sided yellow lightsaber that I dream about?
Star Wars: Episode IX is scheduled for release in theaters on Deceber 20, 2019.
