Rey Skywalker: Lightsaber Facts

Rey’s Yellow Lightsaber Hilt Design

Rey’s lightsaber is unique beyond its yellow color. In fact, Rey’s lightsaber hilt is based on the design of the quarterstaff she carried as a scavenger on Jakku. It even utilizes materials from the staff itself, including a cloth handgrip. The single-bladed lightsaber hilt also has a similarly heavy armored appearance.

Additionally,  Rey’s yellow lightsaber hilt features a rotating activation switch, which is very different from most lightsabers’ straightforward switches and buttons. It has a rotating emitter that looks similar to a gear, another nod to her scavenger days. As the switch turns, there are brief flashes of green and blue from the kyber crystal inside. All of this combines to make Rey Skywalker’s lightsaber hilt unique to her — and to Star Wars canon.

Why Does Rey Have a Yellow Lightsaber?

It’s certainly unique, but why is Rey’s lightsaber yellow in The Rise of Skywalker? While we may not have a stated reason, the yellow lightsaber Rey creates carries immense symbolic meaning. First of all, traditional yellow lightsaber lore relates to the Jedi Sentinels, a middle ground between the combat-focused Guardians (who are associated with blue lightsabers) and the diplomacy-oriented scholars called Consulars (green lightsabers). The Sentinels believed in the importance of knowledge outside the Force, which Rey would likely agree with as a former scavenger. The Jedi Temple Guard also carried yellow lightsabers, as seen in The Clone Wars.

At this point, Rey is the “last Jedi,” or the first of a new Order she’ll have to start herself. She carries within her the knowledge and history of all those who’ve come before — so it makes sense for Rey’s lightsaber to be yellow, representing a combination of the main schools of Jedi thought. This is also likely why Rey Skywalker’s lightsaber color flashes blue and green before emitting its yellow blade (along with being a tribute to her masters, Luke and Leia). However, while she carries that history with her, the fact that Rey has a yellow lightsaber, a rare color, shows that she’s going her own way, released from the bonds of her past. This imbues Rey’s lightsaber with meaning that speaks to her character, as well as to the future of the franchise, now that the Skywalker saga has (at least for the moment) come to a close.

How & Where Did Rey Get the Yellow Lightsaber?

Since we don’t see its creation on screen, and it only appears in one scene, we don’t exactly know how and where Rey got her lightsaber. However, it’s safe to assume that she constructed it herself, as forging a lightsaber is a sacred tradition for Jedi, one of which Rey would surely be aware. Also, the novelization of The Rise of Skywalker has revealed that Rey’s new lightsaber was being constructed on Ajan Kloss, the moon on which the Resistance had a base during the war against the First Order — and where Luke had begun training Leia.

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How Did Rey Get a Yellow Lightsaber Crystal?

Again, we don’t know exactly, but unless she found an old Jedi Temple Guard pike, Rey likely found a cache of pure kyber crystals and bonded one to her. A crystal embodies the Jedi as the heart of the lightsaber, and pure kyber has no color until it’s bonded to the Force user. This process likely resulted in Rey Skywalker’s lightsaber being yellow.

However, some fans have speculated that perhaps Rey purified a red kyber crystal — maybe that of her rival-turned-partner Kylo Ren, with whom she is part of a Force dyad.

Whose Lightsaber Does Rey Have at the End of The Rise of Skywalker?

In addition to her own yellow lightsaber, Rey Skywalker has Leia’s lightsaber and the Skywalker lightsaber (which belonged to Anakin, Luke, and Rey herself) at the end of The Rise of Skywalker. As a way to close out the 9 episode saga and honor those who walked in the path of the Jedi before her, Rey buried the lightsabers belonging to Luke and Leia.

Why Did Rey Bury the Lightsabers?

Since Luke and Leia, her masters, have become one with the Force, this is her way of honoring them by putting their weapons to rest. It also shows that Rey is burying the past while carrying it with her — both in her spirit and in the lightsaber she now wields.

How Does Rey Have Luke’s Lightsaber in Rise of Skywalker?

We can assume that Rey rebuilt the Skywalker lightsaber after it was broken in Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi. The Star Wars Visual Dictionary says she repaired the kyber crystal “using techniques gleaned from the Jedi scripture,” and we see her using a Force Heal ability in the film. One can connect the dots from this information and assume that she rebuilt the iconic saber. 

What Is the “Dark Rey” Lightsaber?

In The Rise of Skywalker, Rey finds out she’s actually Rey Palpatine and a descendant of her biological grandfather Emperor Palpatine. While on the remnants of the second Death Star looking for the lost Sith Holocron, Rey experiences a dark side vision of her possible future. This “Dark Rey” wields a double-sided red lightsaber and tells her not to be afraid of the darkness inside of her. Dark Rey’s double-bladed lightsaber has a hinged design that flips out to form a staff that somewhat resembles Darth Maul’s lightsaber. Despite showing up very briefly, Rey’s red lightsaber has become a fan favorite. The Rise of Skywalker novelization reveals that Rey Skywalker’s yellow lightsaber was crafted to be the exact inverse of the Dark Rey lightsaber.

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