Lets talk all things Star Wars

Yup, they're just tools. The whole "Jedi chooses the crystal" ritualistic nonsense only belies Yoda's teaching of the force, not physical strength, being a Jedi's greatest ally. The Graflex lightsaber is only important in that it's a family heirloom that serves a thematic purpose which CopperRevan nicely explained. Giving it some kind of awareness to destiny as they did in tfa is not only lore breaking but also gratuitous fan service. That's the problem when you approach a movie from the standpoint of catering to the audience rather than to the narrative. I love the Graflex lightsaber since it's the weapon of our hero. I also love the DL-44 for the same reason. It doesn't mean I need them to be centerpieces of the plot because in-universe it wouldn't make sense.
 
Sluis Van Shipyards said:
Well from the Prequels the Jedi obviously hold it in more regard than that. We saw Obi-Wan chastise Anakin for dropping his lightsaber during the speeder chase with the "this weapon is your life" speech. It's a symbol, the only little bit of individuality they can have, and a weapon.
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I understand the thought and you could probably deduce that from Obi-Wan quote in the OT:
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi : Your father's light saber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times... before the Empire.
But how many sabers ( according to the PT did Anakin have?) He lost one, got another, General Grevious had how many?
The whole " this weapon is your life Anakin" is true for anyone who has gone through Basic Training in the Army and issued an M16. You are taught to clean it, take care of it, lube it, make sure there is nothing that will inhibit its use in a time of battle. Since a lightsaber is the primary weapon of a Jedi , it became a tool and an extension of him. Thankfully Obi-Wan ( According to the PT was able to use the force to use an uncivilized blaster to kill General Grevious after losing his own lightsaber) But my point was dealing with the context of " Luke's Father's " Lightsaber in the OT films. Sure, if you travel outside that realm, heck...anything can mean anything I suppose. Maybe we need to explore what happened to Obi-Wan lightsaber after his duel with Vader ( I say that facetiously seeing that it doesn't add to the plot of the film at all) .

Once we start doing this kind of thing, the more we do it, the more we degrade it. Like, I don't need to know what crystal was in Vaders saber and did someone pull it out of the Death Star ash heap? Or Palpatines...He had one? Just kidding. I'm surprised it just wasn't sitting there in Rise of Skywalker on Palps throne seat waiting for her to just have it call to his granddaughter...lol. Yes, I know it was lost on Corruscant ( I think) But Remember, outside of the OT, no lightsaber is ever truly gone...lol.
 
IMO the sabers have generally gained too much of a mythical aura as SW has gone on.

In ESB Han Solo grabbed Luke's saber and used it to gut a dead taun-taun. In the mid-70s concept work there were stormtroopers holding sabers. The franchise's big religious reverence for sabers has developed over the decades. It was not originally there. In the OT era it was just an oddball archaic sort of weapon.

In 'Fury Road' Max's car gets destroyed in the chase (after Immortan Joe's boys stole & overhauled it). George Miller described that story beat in a similar way, with the car being part of Max's past and something important to him. Its 'death' was symbolic in the storytelling but nothing more. It was still just a piece of machinery.
 
batguy said:
IMO the sabers have generally gained too much of a mythical aura as SW has gone on.

In ESB Han Solo grabbed Luke's saber and used it to gut a dead taun-taun. In the mid-70s concept work there were stormtroopers holding sabers. The franchise's big religious reverence for sabers has developed over the decades. It was not originally there. In the OT era it was just an oddball archaic sort of weapon.

In 'Fury Road' Max's car gets destroyed in the chase (after Immortan Joe's boys stole & overhauled it). George Miller described that story beat in a similar way, with the car being part of Max's past and something important to him. Its 'death' was symbolic in the storytelling but nothing more. It was still just a piece of machinery.
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That lightsaber legacy connection thing is similar to an issue I have with a lot of story telling today that involves established long standing "universes".


That writers, or producers, or showrunners, have this very odd need to throw in as many connections in new material to the old. Like it's their only way to show fans that they're respecting them and the past stories. Throw in as many references both verbal, and physical as possible. Similar lines, items, even people.


The Interceptor though... Destroyed in the original movies... And then again in the new one. That hurt. Damnit. Max and that Interceptor. It's like Kirk and Co and the Enterprise. Han and the Falcon. Ghostbusters and Eco1. Pizza and pepperoni. Grohl and drums. They NEED to be together as far as I'm concerned. And I KNOW that's very one dimensional of me. But I accept that LOL
 
Make no mistake...I love me some lightsabers and i can't discount the fact that there is that "magic" behind the lightsaber that we all experienced as kids growing up when we were first exposed to it. As a child, we could definitely make more out of it than what its purpose was. We had He-man who lifted his sword to the heavens "By the power of Grayskull..." We had Voltron..."Form blazing sword". We all knew what was coming...lol. It got very repetitive and predictable and as kids, we ate it up...lol. Before that you had King Arthur and Excalibur. Obviously, there is something romanticized with the Hero and his weapon. As i've grown older, i appreciate the story of Star Wars that much more and even though that moment when Luke ignited his green lightsaber on the Skiff will forever be my favorite Star Wars moment in the movie theaters, i can be objective now and see that Luke's Father's lightsaber served its purpose to perfection in the "Hero's Journey" until it was time for his "Coming of age" and it was time for his skills to become complete and construct his own. His father's lightsaber should've never come up again...it served its' purpose. The more i think about it, the more i'm impressed how Lucas treated the lightsaber in the OT. I'm glad he didn't make it self existent and all-powerful that whoever held it was impervious to defeat. I love the elegance of it and the rawness. But at the end of the day it's the story that will always carry the weight for me.
 
The lightsaber was Luke's connection to the father he never knew. It wasn't some religious or magical artifact. It was a powerful symbol of a simpler time, when Anakin was a noble warrior and a tangible link to the past. Outside that context it really doesn't need anymore significance, and the more they heap on it the less special it becomes.
 
CopperRevan said:
Make no mistake...I love me some lightsabers and i can't discount the fact that there is that "magic" behind the lightsaber that we all experienced as kids growing up when we were first exposed to it. As a child, we could definitely make more out of it than what its purpose was. We had He-man who lifted his sword to the heavens "By the power of Grayskull..." We had Voltron..."Form blazing sword". We all knew what was coming...lol. It got very repetitive and predictable and as kids, we ate it up...lol. Before that you had King Arthur and Excalibur. Obviously, there is something romanticized with the Hero and his weapon. As i've grown older, i appreciate the story of Star Wars that much more and even though that moment when Luke ignited his green lightsaber on the Skiff will forever be my favorite Star Wars moment in the movie theaters, i can be objective now and see that Luke's Father's lightsaber served its purpose to perfection in the "Hero's Journey" until it was time for his "Coming of age" and it was time for his skills to become complete and construct his own. His father's lightsaber should've never come up again...it served its' purpose. The more i think about it, the more i'm impressed how Lucas treated the lightsaber in the OT. I'm glad he didn't make it self existent and all-powerful that whoever held it was impervious to defeat. I love the elegance of it and the rawness. But at the end of the day it's the story that will always carry the weight for me.
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Well said!

One of my personal favorites...

2f9434c152a30b8d38fe695512dc3d5a.gif
 
It's one of the silliest (I dare say dumbest) features in the Sequels, having the lightsaber supposedly call to Rey. When I first saw the film I interpreted it as the Force was calling to Rey, and leading her to the lightsaber. As the Force is trying to get her involved. (I think even JJ says something to this effect in the audio commentary.) But then Maz straight up says, that it's the lightsaber calling to Rey.... Okay ...

A part from that, I kinda like how it represents the Skywalker legacy to a degree. With Rey reluctantly taking it up. And Kylo coveting it. And then having her finally give to to the redeemed Ben, now that he's earned it. That's kinda cool.

It's also cool in the EU to see Luke give his father's lightsaber to the redeemed personal assassin for Palpatine. And I think I might prefer that bit a more. But both continuities are good.
 
Honestly, the only representation that lightsaber made in the ST was not to honor the Skywalker legacy but the exact opposite. Let's see...

1. it calls out to Rey? huh?
2. she brings it to Luke who then throws it over his shoulder. huh?
3. Rey ignites it over Luke...yeah,ok...whatever Rey, you're so righteous.
4. Rey and Kylo fight over it and divide it(just like the fanbase) Great Job!!!
5. Kylo completely forgets it's broken as Luke force projects himself with it intact in his hand and apparently is too stupid to realize it.
6.Our beloved Hero Rey fixes it all by learning "Force Band-aid" to unite the two halves together again...sorry but the damage has been done and to top it all off...
7. She buries it along side a lightsaber that literally has no significance at all, in the sands of Tatooinne ( Thanks for completely solidifying the fact that they know absolutely zero about Star Wars)

So, here is what it literally did...went into the wrong hands, tossed over the shoulder by the rightful owner, back into the wrong hands, misused, broken, forgotten about, patched up superficially and finally, buried. (Holy Smokes...They prophesied of the whole ST's demise with that lightsaber...that was genius!)

The fact they didn't have a herd of Banthas line up and just excrete refuse all over it, is astonishing....lol
I think this completely validates the point that it never should have been brought up again...like Psab keel stated, it only made it less special.

Ok, i won't beat a dead horse but come on...ok, it's out of me,lol... don't take it personally Joek3rr
, i know we all have different ways of viewing things. Olive Branches..lol
 
It is a symbol in that only the jedi can hold it and jedi can customize their lightsaber hilts with their own designs, often mimicking their masters as a sign of respect although I think the crystals used in the lightsaber is the most "personal" given that jedi need to use the force to find the crystals that call out to them to construct their first lightsaber. Cant just drop by Kyber Crystals r Us.

But at the end of the day, a lightsaber is still just a tool. Plumbers can have a favorite hammer or chefs their go to knife that allows them to perform better than an average tool because they are so used to it but nothing prevents jedi from just making another lightsaber. Obi Wan obviously did after he lost his first in episode 1 and its implied he worked on his design between 2 and 3 both due to changing his style of lightsaber combat and the war effort requiring a more modular saber that allows him to replace broken parts easier on the field. Anakin's saber was also different between episode 2 and 3 (episode 2 version looking alot like his eventual Darth Vader MPP design but all silver while his episode 3 is the graflex we all know and love). Pretty sure this was implied to be due to Anakin changing to fully embrace form 5 and the graflex design and grips giving him more leverage or something in-universe. While

Joek3rr said:
It's one of the silliest (I dare say dumbest) features in the Sequels, having the lightsaber supposedly call to Rey. When I first saw the film I interpreted it as the Force was calling to Rey, and leading her to the lightsaber. As the Force is trying to get her involved. (I think even JJ says something to this effect in the audio commentary.) But then Maz straight up says, that it's the lightsaber calling to Rey.... Okay ...
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I agree that the lightsaber calling out to Rey was silly and honestly is the cause of much speculation about who Rey is (and therefore why the nobody revelation doesnt work imo). We have never seen lightsabers actively call out to anyone in the movies before so a saber "calling out" to Rey was something brand new and had to imply that Rey was special in some way to receive this calling. I dont want to return to issues I have with TLJ but there are alot of discrepancies between things JJ had set up in TFA that get forgotten in TLJ.

Joek3rr said:
A part from that, I kinda like how it represents the Skywalker legacy to a degree. With Rey reluctantly taking it up. And Kylo coveting it. And then having her finally give to to the redeemed Ben, now that he's earned it. That's kinda cool.

It's also cool in the EU to see Luke give his father's lightsaber to the redeemed personal assassin for Palpatine. And I think I might prefer that bit a more. But both continuities are good.
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Im not against this idea to be honest. I do think the Youngling killer 3000 does represent Star Wars to a big extent, being the first lightsaber shown on screen with the lightsaber being a unique weapon to Star Wars. What I liked about Luke's green lightsaber is that it represents Luke's evolvement from a person "borrowing" power from his father to someone who has become a master of its own, Luke's own green lightsaber representing who he is as a fully trained knight and his own person. I always kind of felt that lightsaber evolutions were a "rite of passage" in a sense since most jedi's first lightsabers tend to be copies of their masters made while they were padawans while the jedi knights/masters whose relationships we know show that jedi have their own unique lightsaber hilts which in a sense represents their maturity. Qui Gon's saber is different from Dooku's curved blade which is different from Obi Wan's final hilt design for example.

However, the YK3000 being so prominent in TFA does make sense. Kylo is obsessed with Daddy Vader, wearing all black and the mask even though he doesnt need it so being able to use his final lightsaber would be an honor to him.
 

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