Did Kylo Ren really have a claim to the Skywalker lightsaber?

The Skywalker lightsaber is the most ironic weapon in the galaxy. Once owned by Anakin Skywalker, the lightsaber did extraordinary things until it was lost.

Introduced in The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren received a lukewarm reception from fans. The only child of Leia Organa, the daughter of Darth Vader and the smuggler Han Solo, Kylo Ren wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps.

Born as Ben Solo, Kylo Ren received his name from the man who brought his parents and uncle together, Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi. Despite his name, Kylo didn’t learn his heritage until his early adult years when the information leaked to the public.

Unbeknownst to Kylo or his family, Maz Kanata found the weapon and locked away. The lightsaber disappeared on Bespin during Luke and Vader’s duel along with Luke’s hand.

The Force Awakens shows the blue-bladed lightsaber used by the Jakku scavenger, Rey and her rogue Stormtrooper companion, Finn. During the film’s climax, Kylo tries to call the lightsaber but it goes to Rey instead. He claimed the lightsaber belonged to him.

Heritage

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

Fans will remember Kylo thought he had a right to the lightsaber. He did, considering his ancestry.

However, since Ben became Kylo Ren, it’s safe to assume he didn’t have a right to it because the weapon only did good, until Anakin killed people when he became Darth Vader.

Because Leia, being Anakin’s daughter, meant the lightsaber was her legacy just as it was Luke’s. Obi-Wan gave Luke the lightsaber on Tatooine. Leia didn’t know the weapon existed until she met Luke and discovered her true paternity.

Regarding Kylo, he was Vader’s legacy. He became convinced the weapon belonged to him. However, it doesn’t give him a direct claim to lightsaber.

The reason?

Photo credit: Lucasfilm.

The simple reason for Kylo not having a direct claim to the weapon is this. Despite the blade being used for evil, its original user and creator redeemed himself at the end of his life. The weapon could sense Kylo’s inner struggles and could sense the dark side. It chose Rey as its wielder because she appeared as an embodiment of the light.

Sure, the weapon might not be sentient, but the kyber crystal inside was.

Why did the lightsaber go to Rey?

If Anakin didn’t want the weapon to go to Kylo, we need to examine why the lightsaber went to Rey.

As referenced before, the weapon chose Rey over Kylo during the early part of the fight on Starkiller base. Question is, why?

When Rey, Finn, Han, and Chewbacca visited Maz that the lightsaber ‘called’ to Rey for an unknown reason.

Here’s a just a few ideas:

Anakin intervened

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Anakin Skywalker had two weapons when he was a Jedi. He built the second one after the Battle of Geonosis since his first one got destroyed in the Droid Factory.

After Obi-Wan defeated Anakin on Mustafar, the weapon was kept in a box in Obi-Wan’s shack on Tatooine until Obi-Wan believed Luke ready.

In regards to his grandson and Rey, what if he saw what Ben did and didn’t want his former weapon to fall into the wrong hands?

Yoda played Force god

Even though he’s long dead by the events of The Force Awakens, Yoda popped up to pay Luke a visit in The Last Jedi. It’s possible the little Jedi Master could have manipulated the situation to his advantage to have Rey get the lightsaber. After all, he did light the ancient Jedi texts on fire from the netherworld.

Qui-Gon played a role

Qui-Gon Jinn was the first Jedi (on-screen) to embrace becoming a Force ghost. He’s appeared as a disembodied voice before he started appearing as a ghost.

For all we know, he could have watched Anakin’s grandson and realized they didn’t want a repeat of what happened to Anakin.

What do you think? Should Kylo Ren have inherited his grandfather’s lightsaber over Rey? Sound off below!