'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' Trailer Confirms Rey Lightsaber Theory

Ever since Rey broke her blue Skywalker lightsaber in a confrontation with Kylo Ren during Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we’ve all wondered how she’ll get a new laser sword in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker. She’s not quite a Jedi, but as a wielder of the Force, she’ll have to craft a new weapon worthy of whatever role she is to play in this galaxy.

During the Star Wars: Episode IX panel Friday at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, panel host Stephen Colbert asked Rey actress Daisy Ridley about this very problem. Does the broken lightsaber have any salvageable parts? Or is Rey going to have to build a new one from square one?

Without giving too much away, Ridley coyly said, “The lightsaber that Rey inherited from Luke lives.”

That felt like a spoiler when she said it, but minutes later, Lucasfilm revealed the first teaser trailer. In it, we see Rey wielding what looks like the exact same lightsaber. On some desert planet, she faces off against what looks like Kylo Ren’s TIE fighter, and uses it mid-backflip to slice directly into the ship’s hull. Like some plot leaks from March indicated, it’s still blue with a similar but different design, meaning we’re probably looking at repairs to the original rather than an all-new blade.

The base of the shaft and the knob-like features on the opposite end — basically the top and bottom of the entire handle — look just like Luke’s blue lightsaber. The strips of black plastic (or whatever material) at the bottom look exactly the same. The activation button is also located in the exact same position with the piece of metal jutting out above it for additional protection.

Conveniently, Rey’s hand is covering most of the middle section, but we can clearly see a black section closer to the base that definitely wasn’t part of the original. Could this be an indication that Rey salvages most of the original lightsaber to build her new one? Based on Ridley’s comments on Friday, that definitely seems like the case.

Recall that in The Last Jedi, both Kylo Ren and Rey tried using the Force to pull the Skywalker lightsaber towards themselves. The combatting energies ripped the weapon in half. Back in November, the Star Wars Show confirmed the kyber crystal was indeed “broken,” meaning that the explosion was caused by the kyber crystal’s destruction, rendering the saber just a hunk of scrap parts with no active energy core.

What does all of this mean?

Either Rey rebuilds an exact replica of this lightsaber from scratch for The Rise of Skywalker, or she salvages the pieces of the original and repairs it with additional parts. Some previous leaks indicated that the broken kyber crystal just meant her new lightsaber would look like Kylo Ren’s and have a crossguard portion, but according to the new trailer, those were false.

What does all this mean for Rey’s new lightsaber?

If the Star Wars Show was correct and that kyber crystal was rendered inert, then Rey has to replace the most important piece of her lightsaber. Luke famously built a brand-new lightsaber between Episode V and VI, so it’s looking more and more likely that Rey does the same offscreen between Episode VIII and IX. Or will rebuilding the blade be part of her journey in the new movie?

These days, we find it hard to trust Disney’s marketing. The Russo brothers openly admit to tricking Marvel fans out with the Avengers: Endgame trailer by using fake scenes. Could Lucasfilm be doing the same, and Rey’s lightsaber is actually getting a brand-new color?

I’m still holding out hope she’ll get a yellow double-sided lightsaber. At this point, it seems like anything is possible. We’ll know more as the film’s release gets closer.

Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker will be released in theaters December 20, 2019.