Although the Blu-ray release is right around the corner, Star Wars fans still have plenty of questions about The Rise of Skywalker. The plot of the movie leaves a lot to be desired, forcing Lucasfilm to use supplementary content to address lore. One such aspect that the company hasn't covered much is Rey's new lightsaber.
While viewers don't actually see her build the weapon, one can surmise a few things about it from the brief scene. Rey, being a tech-savvy scavenger, likely built it herself. It consists of pieces of the quarterstaff she usually carries around, with a kind of cloth or leather grip wrapped around the middle. Other than that, the film doesn't tell the audience why she built a new one, how she made it yellow, or if it features anything special.
Of course, the movie doesn't need to tell the fans everything, but The Rise of Skywalker tried hard to be a little too vague. The protagonist building a new weapon that she will use to continue the Jedi Order seems like something worth delving into a bit more than with one or two shots. So, with nothing else to go on, let's breakdown Rey's yellow saber.
The latest Star Wars projects have introduced a few new kinds of lightsabers. Kylo Ren's crossguard lightsaber was a controversial addition back before The Force Awakens, and The Rise of Skywalker even introduces a weird double-sided flipping saber for Rey's dark side doppelganger. The comics and animated series like The Clone Wars and Rebels also feature sabers that are absent in the films, like the spinning Inquisitor saber and Ezra's lightsaber pistol. From what fans know, Rey just has a single-bladed yellow lightsaber. But is that really the case when every almost every new weapon comes with a gimmick?
Although it's new to the movies, this isn't the first yellow lightsaber in Star Wars canon. Kyber crystals, the gems that power lightsabers, are naturally colorless, only changing when a Jedi bonds with the gem. Technically, that means anybody can have a yellow lightsaber, and it doesn't denote anything significant. Older explanations suggest lightsaber colors reflect the ability and rank of the wielder. For example, the Temple Guards in The Clone Wars use yellow lightsabers that are passed down with the position, denoting their specific purpose in the Jedi Order.
The hilt of Rey's new saber suggests that there is more to it. For instance, both the top "emitter" piece and the pommel on the bottom look very similar. It's possible Rey's new saber could be double-sided, or modified to include another emitter on the bottom. Rey is used to fighting with her much longer quarterstaff, so having her wield a similar saber makes sense. While it doesn't seem to break apart and flip over like Rey's evil red saber, Jedi: Fallen Order includes a double-bladed hilt that splits in two, so that might be the case here.
It's not totally clear just what the case is with Rey's lightsaber, though future Star Wars tie-ins might eventually make clear just what's going on with her new weapon. Still, there are a lot of indications Rey's new yellow lightsaber isn't just a single-bladed.
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong' o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film arrives on Digital HD March 17 and on Blu-ray and 4K UHD March 31.