Star Wars authors explain all the new lightsabers coming to the High Republic

While the details are currently minimal about the High Republic era, a few of these books’ authors gave some insight into an iconic Star Wars weapon.

Anticipation is high for Lucasfilm’s latest endeavor, Star Wars: The High Republic. This era will be seen as a series of novels and comics taking place approximately 200 years before the events of the Skywalker saga films, becoming the first Disney-owned Star Wars media set during a significantly different time period.

While the details and plot points of the High Republic books are still a closely-guarded secret, fans have been itching to find out more information. While most of this info is still unknown, the authors of the books met at a virtual New York Comic Con panel to discuss their upcoming releases.

The discussion eventually turned to lightsabers as the authors gave some insight into the different sabers that were designed for their books and characters. Each author was able to design different lightsabers for the characters they wrote, often with their own unique twists. As Charles Soule, author of Light of the Jedi, notes:

"We had the opportunity in the High Republic. . . to design all these really personal weapons to each person and I mean, that alone is kind of a Star Wars dream come true. Whenever we had the opportunity to make something cool for a Jedi’s weapon, we definitely did."

Many of these new lightsabers seem to have additional modifications and abilities that have not previously been seen before. Justina Ireland, the author of A Test of Courage, talked about the lightsaber she designed for her main character:

"Vern [the new Jedi character] has a very special modification to her lightsaber. . . there’s also something extra to her lightsaber but you’ll have to read the books to find out what it is!"

What could this modification be? It’s hard to say. There have been a number of unique and customized lightsabers, from Ezra’s lightsaber blaster to Dark Rey’s folding saber-staff. Perhaps Vern’s saber will pay homage to one of these designs or be something completely new.

Saber colors were also brought up, and one color in particular that has been getting some hype has been gold. While gold sabers appeared a few times in Star Wars Rebels, they were seen in live-action for the first time at the end of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. With gold sabers seemingly quite rare, creative director Michael Siglain addressed their usage:

"I don’t know if it’s so much a significance to gold as it is just the idea that this is a golden era of the Jedi and even using that color for everything it represents, even in our world, to Rome at its height, to Greece at its height, so I think that’s where the gold comes in."

One thing for sure is that if the concept art is any clue, then these lightsabers will likely be formidable weapons with abilities that may or may not have been seen before.

The first book of the High Republic series, Light of the Jedi, will be released on Jan. 5, 2021, and is available for pre-order now.