It’s been almost four months since the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and now, thanks to the Lucasfilm Archive, secrets of the hidden details in the film’s lightsabers are being revealed. A new look at three of the lightsabers from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker are offering up the stories behind the craftsmanship of the reforged Skywalker lightsaber, Dark Rey’s insane double-bladed weapon, and Leia’s lightsaber as well.
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When it comes to the reconstructed Skywalker lightsaber, fans may have noticed a few differences in the iconic weapon Luke Skywalker once wielded. According to Lucasfilm Archivist Madlyn Burkert, those differences are all details that show the story of how Rey repaired it, including the soldering marks and pieces added to join the two broken halves.
“If you look at the broken lightsaber from the end of The Last Jedi, this is supposed to show us that she’s taken that literal exact one and fixed it,” Burkert explained. “These are her solder marks. They’re not covered up. They’re not refinished. Because guess what? Rey ain’t got no time for that.”
Dark Rey’s weapon also carried some interesting details. The weapon was designed to be very different from what “light side” Rey would use — meaning making the Sith weapon from her staff was out — and that meant some specific red color details.
“There’s a lot of red details on this, and we often associate that color with the dark side, with the Empire or the First Order,” Burkert said.
She also revealed that while the lightsabers are crafted in such a way to look worn, they also suffer some wear and tear in production, something that they try to maintain as part of the prop’s history.
“We like to keep it as is just to show us this is part of the life of this object,” she said.
The most interesting details, however, may belong to Leia’s lightsaber. The weapon made its first appearance in The Rise of Skywalker, with Rey using it in tandem with Luke’s in the fight on Exegol before ultimately burying the two weapons together on Tatooine. According to Burkert, the lightsaber had some specific elements that would feel like a bit of a callback to Padme Amidala’s wardrobe in the prequels.
“Knowing Leia this whole time, we never saw her to have a lightsaber, so it felt really important that she have something very uniquely her,” Burkert explained. “The work that Trisha Biggar did to make them look expensive and like the most high-end fashion house had created them, I feel like that same idea is applied to this lightsaber in terms of design. It looks feminine. It feels expensive. And it feels special.”
What do you think about these new details about the lightsabers of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker? Let us know in the comments below.