Dave Filoni explains Ezra’s lighstaber from Star Wars: Rebels

When watching the first season of Star Wars: Rebels, and the moment came for the young padawan Ezra to forge his own lightsaber, I was a bit apprehensive about the outcome. I mean, a lightsaber that is also a blaster? How the heck would that even work? Well, as Ezra proved on the show, it works just fine and actually comes in quite handy, in tough situations.

SlashFilms talked to Rebels producer Dave Filoni, and got some explanations as to the creation of such a multi-purpose weapon.

"“I thought, ‘There’s no way I can believe this kid can fight one to one with any sort of real character we’re gonna have.’ You know, he’s gonna get his butt kicked. So we had him build into his functioning saber.”"

Filoni isn’t wrong. To imagine that even a young padawan that displays such a powerful connection to the Force, could go toe-to-toe with someone like the Inquisitor or Darth Vader himself, is a tad bit ludicrous.

"“So we had him build into his functioning saber. ‘What if it was like a revolver saber where it could actually fire a bit’ And that way he can keep people at range and only saber fight as the last resort.”"

Admittedly, it’s a genius idea. Going from a close-quarters melee fight, to being at a safe range, is the thing that will undoubtedly keep Ezra alive, in this upcoming second season. Filoni goes on to talk about how they came up with the design for Ezra’s saber. The team actually went down to a hardware store and drew inspiration from nail guns.

"“What I like is that it looks like something that’s from the era of the original trilogy in its shape.”"

To see that quote about the original trilogy, does my heart good. It means that Disney is about collaborating and inclusion with every facet of the Star Wars universe. Now, we will truly get to see continuity in Star Wars canon, and that’s a great thing.

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