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Apr 4, 2016

Why does Kylo Ren claims that Anakin/Luke’s Light Saber belongs to him?


This is one of the several questions left unanswered by Episode VI (The Force Awakens).

But in order to try to understand that, we need to understand what is a lightsaber? and what does it true represents for a Jedi or a Sith ?

Lighsaber : We all know this iconic item of the Star Wars universe. It is unique in the SF world and it is a truly incredible creation from Lucas. Obiwan Kenoby describes it to Luke so :

"This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age."

This is very good description, it gives really a new dimension to the futuristic / hyper technologically advanced galaxy:  the most powerful weapon is a sword! Indeed it can deviate lasers, absorb lightning and cut nearly everything.

We are going back to classical myths in the middle age or fantasy world involving knights fighting villains or monsters or each others! Automatically it integrates values of honor, code, bravery, fellowship, betrayal ….


                      Figure 1 Anakin Skywalker               Figure 2 Aragorn

To my mind the creation of the light saber (together with the force that creates the mystical part) is making the bridge between science fiction movies and fantasy world. There Star Wars is now something new!

So what is a light saber (or lazersword) ?

In order to build a light saber you need of course a lot of technical devices but the true heart of it is the crystal. Crystals are never mentioned in the movies but in the Clone Wars animation series we have a very detailed description of the process for younglings (Jedi apprentices) to collect the crystals and then build the swords.

The crystals are unique to each Jedi. It has to be found by the Padawan inside the crystal caves[1] or Jedi temples [2]and at the end this is the  crystal that finds the Jedi based on his own characteristics. Everything is linked with the Force.


Then the crystal is assembled inside the sword hilt by the padawan himself.


So now we can understand better that there is a deep connection between the sword and the owner. We can even believe that the destiny of both are linked.

Indeed Obiwan always reminds to Anakin the following :

"This weapon is your life!"
―Obi-Wan Kenobi[src]

And Anakin does the same with Ashoka.

But now think of the dilemma caused by what you just red: the sword and the Jedi are linked. Can we conclude that even for Jedi of the light side the most valuable item is a deadly weapon? It is a bit strange for meditating peoples who are sort of peaceful monks rejecting attachment or any other type of feelings. They are know also as negotiators in galaxies conflicts… …Just reflect on that item I will most probably develop on that in a future article.

Now Anakin’s weapon: why is it so important?

We are speaking about Anakin’s second light saber (the first one has been destroyed in the droid factory on Geonosys).

Some facts that make the sword so valuable :

Anakin is the chosen one: the one that brings balance to the force ! Someone will say no: he destroyed the Jedi ! But in reality the prophecy is not understood.
Anakin re-equilibrated the balance Jedi vs Sith by destroying the “lost” Jedi order and the too powerfull Sith Lord. Leaving only 1 Jedi and a new order to come. (this will also be subject to a dedicated article).
So the Saber must be somehow linked to the prophecy and it was part of it! Indeed the sword was used to destroy both siths (Count Doku) and the Jedi inside the temple.

Anakin was one of the best sword fighters of the galaxy: so the sword represents all that knowledge.

The weapon has been passed from father to son: Obiwan was the owner of the saber after the duel on Mustafar and gives it to Luke saying that Anakin wanted this. (Actually we do not know when Anakin could have told this to him…). This is also a strange attitude because as we have said before Jedi should create their own Saber (with own Crystal). This is actually what did Luke with the second Saber (green one). He gets even compliments from Darth Vader for that.

The weapon actually was turned against Anakin (now Vader) on Bespin: This is causing a contradiction and the fact that Vader cuts the hand of Luke can be motivated by the fact that either the sword reminds him of the light side or he thinks that Luke should not have it yet.

In the expended Universe, the saber is actually found again on Bespin and it is used by various people: Luke clone, Luke, Mara Jade and now since Episode VI : Rey.

So why Kylo Ren claims it ?

Kylo Ren only scope seems to be to continue what he thinks was the ultimate goal of Vader (his Grand father): destroy all Jedi’s.

So for him, the sword represents the most important object linked to Darth Vader: The weapon that destroyed the Jedi Order. It is considered to him a Sith artifact.

Moreover for sure he cannot accept that the weapon could return to the hand of Luke Skywalker that is his enemy. For him it is outrageous that such a Sith artifact could be used by a Jedi.  To my mind that is why he says “it BELONGS to me”, because a Sith artifact belongs to a Sith.

What will happen now to the sword? This is not really Luke’s saber because Luke has an other one (the one we see in Return of the Jedi) and I doubt that he separated himself from it even in exile. (Ashoka or Ventress never did even after being rejected…)
So will it become Rey’s weapon? Normally she should seek for her own light saber has completion of training. Is she ready for such a powerful weapon?

… Let us see….

All comments are welcome !









[1] Clone Wars : episode S05E06/E07 : Younglings quest for their crystals and build Lightsabers
[2] Star Wars rebels : episode S01E09 : Ezra receives his Crystal

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