From their activation sounds to the glow they emit in the hands of trained Jedis, no piece of imagery is more iconic to the Star Wars franchise than the lightsaber. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker [1] continues the tradition of Star Wars: The Last Jedi [2], Rey fights off Kylo Ren with Luke Skywalker's blue lightsaber, but the battle ends with the iconic weapon split [3] straight down the middle, leading us to wonder what she'd use in the next film. Throughout most of The Rise of Skywalker Rey fights with Luke's refurbished blue lightsaber until he gifts her Leia's. At one point, Rey confronts a dark side version of herself wielding a dual-bladed red lightsaber, but she continues to fight off Kylo Ren and Emperor Palpatine with Leia's lightsaber.
However, in the film's final scene, after Rey buries Luke and Leia's lightsabers at Luke's childhood home on the planet of Tatooine, Rey stands up and reveals her new weapon — which glows bright yellow. So, what does the yellow bladed lightsaber symbolize? Who else has wielded one? And what are J.J. Abrams and the Star Wars writers trying to tell us about Rey's future? Read on for everything we know about the yellow bladed lightsaber and what it could mean for our young Jedi.
Did Rey Make Her Lightsaber?
Though we never see Rey create her new yellow lightsaber in the film, we can safely assume that she created it herself. One of the milestones of becoming a Jedi includes building your lightsaber, and given that all of the former Jedis are dead (Luke, Leia, Yoda, Obi-Wan, etc.), it is safe to assume that Rey built it on her own. From the brief glimpse we get, it looks like she used the end of her trusty staff as the lightsaber's emitter and wrapped the centre grip section with the same cloth that has been part of her ensemble since we first saw her in The Force Awakens.
What Is the Symbolism Behind a Yellow Bladed Lightsaber?
Yellow bladed lightsabers are extremely rare [5] in the Star Wars universe. The only people that carried them in Jedi legends were the Sentinels who were known to seek a balance between Consulars and the Guardians, and trained to hone skills that didn't require the force, such as espionage, medicine, and technological surveillance.
Though Rey doesn't talk about her beliefs in Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, it makes sense that she would pick a lightsaber colour that identifies her as someone who would seek multiple paths of strength beyond force. Especially given her penchant for force healing that we witness throughout the film.
It's also significant that the other group known to wield yellow bladed lightsabers are the Jedi Temple guards from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. Having Rey wield a similar lightsaber signifies that she will be there to protect the Jedi legacy, just as she's promised.
Have Yellow Light Sabers Appeared in Star Wars Before?
Though yellow lightsabers are rare in Star Wars, they do exist. Aside from the Temple Guards and the Sentinels, the following characters have used them throughout the series:
- Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker's apprentice and a hero of the Clone Wars, was known to carry a yellow lightsaber in addition to her green-yellow one.
- Asajj Ventress, a bounty hunter, purchases a yellow lightsaber from the black market and manages to use it.
- Bastila Shan, a Jedi Padawan, used a yellow lightsaber
- Princess Leia yielded a yellow lightsaber as an apprentice in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - Battle for Endor.