Star Wars: The Last Jedi — Anakin and Luke’s blue lightsaber is now Rey’s
Remember that blue lightsaber that used to belong to Anakin Skywalker, and then his son Luke? Well, Lucasfilm now says it belongs to Rey in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Here’s the story…
Forty years ago, today, May 25, 2017, Star Wars: A New Hope was introduced to the world, and with it, a boy named Luke Skywalker — Heir to the Jedi legacy — wielded his father’s blue lightsaber (one that we’ll see again in Star Wars: The Last Jedi) for the first time and helped the Rebellion win a major victory against the evil Emperor Palpatine and his Galactic Empire.
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
In the sequel to A New Hope, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke lost that blue-bladed lightsaber in a duel with the Emperor’s enforcer, the Sith Lord, Darth Vader, who revealed to Luke — during that fight — that he was his presumed dead father, Anakin Skywalker, who, as we learned, fell to the Dark Side of the Force in the prequel film, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
The lightsaber, we learned, was constructed by Anakin Skywalker, during the time that passed between Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. In the final film of the prequel trilogy, Anakin turned to the Dark Side, fought his best friend Obi-Wan Kenobi, and lost.
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
In that loss, Anakin lost both the lightsaber, and his humanity, and Obi-Wan retrieved Anakin’s lightsaber, before leaving him to what he thought was Skywalker’s death, in the lava flow of Mustafar.
In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a new hero was introduced to the franchise, one who became extremely powerful in the Force, and who Anakin’s old lightsaber called out to, and came to when summoned, helping her defeat Kylo Ren.
This character’s name is Rey, and according to Vanity Fair, Lucasfilm has officially designated the Skywalker familial lightsaber that once belonged to both Anakin and Luke, as her own, now.
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
"Either way, the blade is no longer considered Anakin’s lightsaber by the Lucasfilm marketing department. It has now officially been dubbed “Rey’s.”"
Does this mean Rey is a Skywalker? Could Luke really have abandoned her on Jakku when she was a young girl? And, if he did, what was his reasoning? As you can see, the news that Rey is officially the owner of the Skywalker lightsaber opens up many, many questions.
As for Luke, and the noticeable lack of his green lightsaber from Star Wars: Return of the Jed in all the marketing and promotion material for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Lucasfilm Story Group gatekeeper, Pablo Hidalgo, reminds us of what Obi-Wan told Anakin in Attack of the Clones:
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
"We take to heart the lesson that Obi-Wan tried to impart to Anakin: ‘This weapon is your life.’ We’re not ones to lose track of lightsabers."
Well, that certainly is reassuring. Maybe Luke is just keeping his lightsaber hidden, so he isn’t seen as a Jedi. I mean, he did go into self-exile on the ocean world of Ahch-To, so maybe the lightsaber isn’t part of his incognito existence, for the nonce.
Next: Luke Skywalker is different in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and so is his training of Rey
Either way, we’re excited to find out what happens between Luke and Rey, when Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters worldwide, on December 15, later this year.