The Jedi and the Sith of "Star Wars" fight with a weapon that’s an elegant sci-fi twist
on the Samurai sword, powered by mind magic.
The lightsaber.
So what exactly was George Lucas getting at when he first thought of the lightsaber,
and what is its deeper symbolism?
“This is the weapon of a Jedi knight.
Not as clumsy or random as a blaster.
An elegant weapon for a more civilized day.”
The lightsaber is not a weapon of attack, but self-defense,
because the Jedi philosophy never supports offensive force.
“A Jedi uses the force only for knowledge and defense,
never for attack”
“In an age of ray guns and that sort of thing, it would deflect the rays.
Since the whole premise was a Jedi was there to protect himself, not really be offensive,
but be defensive, a laser sword in a world of ray guns would be a perfect defensive weapon.”
When it’s not in use, the lightsaber appears as a metal hilt -- hardly very threatening.
The power of the weapon comes from the person activating and using it.
Lightsabers contain kyber crystals --
this rare material represents a timelessness and age-old wisdom and power.
The crystals are naturally colorless.
It’s only when they’re used in a lightsaber that they take on a glow,
based on the particular person’s connection to the Force.
Their specific vibrations help the owner find their center and focus their attention.
A lightsaber manifests the fighter’s instincts or feelings.
It’s their inner being, mind and emotions expressed as external power.
So the lightsaber isn’t really a purely physical thing.
It’s the Force made visible, made sensible, made concrete
-- what is purely mental transformed into physical impact.
This is why lightsabers don’t have a physical blade -- they function more like lasers.
But the Jedi or Sith connection to the Force can be more powerful than any purely physical
phenomenon.
Powerful Jedi like Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker can feel the Force so strongly
they can move things and do the seemingly impossible with their minds.
So what really makes the lightsaber special is that it’s the bridge between the Force
that’s felt inwardly,
and the Force that’s manifested in the outer world.
The lightsaber is elegant and civilized.
“So uncivilized.”
But even more than that, it’s inspirational,
telling us that what we feel and believe can have a direct, visible physical impact on
the world,
if we understand how to access and control the Force.
Every lightsaber has its own characteristics to represent
how the particular individual who uses it accesses and controls the Force.
“Remember, a Jedi can feel the force flowing through him.”
“You mean it controls your actions?”
“Partially.
But it also obeys your commands.”
The color of a character’s lightsaber immediately tells us about who they are.
Most obviously, the Jedi usually fight with blue lightsabers, while the Sith fight with
red.
The Jedi’s blue represents the qualities of the Light Side of the force:
calm logic and mental clarity, detachment from harsh emotions,
the vow to use the Force only for knowledge and defense, and the noble commitment to justice.
Not all Jedi use blue, though.
Some of the most powerful Jedi have green lightsabers.
Green symbolizes nature, peace and wisdom.
The green color also indicates respect for life -- and a determination to not use the
the Force recklessly.
Green is especially connected to Yoda, who uses a green lightsaber.
When we first meet Yoda in "The Empire Strikes Back," he’s not only green-colored himself
but he’s also so connected to nature that he looks like he is a plant or a tree
growing out of his swampy planet Dagobah.
Jedi who use green seem to often be older or special in another way.
These characters are deeply in touch with the Force --
and it guides their swordsmanship more than actual agility or dexterity.
The lightsaber represents the Jedi’s sense of identity.
So in the original trilogy, Luke’s shift from blue to green lightsaber represents his
coming of age.
As a phallic symbol, the lightsaber is also deeply connected to the father-son story
and Luke’s struggle to become a mature adult out of the shadow of his father.
His first weapon is the blue lightsaber that once belonged to his father, Anakin Skywalker.
“What is it?”
“Your father’s lightsaber.”
Luke uses it in his first confrontation with Darth Vader.
He’s skipped out on Jedi training with Yoda and is still a naive, inexperienced fighter.
When Vader cuts off Luke’s hand, he takes away Luke’s blue lightsaber --
the weapon that used to belong to him, Anakin.
Right after this, Vader reveals himself as Luke’s father.
"I am your father."
So it’s like he’s taking away Luke’s connection to the father he imagined --
the faithful, noble Jedi, Anakin Skywalker.
"I was once a Jedi knight, as was your father.
I wish I had known."
At first, the loss of Luke’s lightsaber and hand feels like a setback --
he could be losing his sense of self and ability to fight.
But in "Return of the Jedi," Luke has created his own lightsaber.
“I see you have constructed a new lightsaber.
Your skills are complete.”
Luke’s maturity comes from accepting that he’s been severed from
that original father he once wanted to be like.
He has to carve out his own path and reject his father’s influence altogether.
So his new lightsaber is, like his new hand, a self-created extension of his body
that signals a new, enlightened Luke who’s in control of himself and knows his purpose
and mission.
This new lightsaber is neither the blue of Anakin's lightsaber,
nor the red of Vader's -- but green.
This show us that he’s incorporated Yoda’s teachings into his new self.
In the first battle with the blue lightsaber, he hasn’t really paid enough attention to
the Jedi training,
and that's why he falls for Vader’s trap.
So when he comes back with a green lightsaber, this symbolizes that he's finally taken Yoda’s
lessons to heart.
Instead of his old father, he’s looked to Yoda as his spiritual father and guide.
After Yoda dies, Luke carries on his wisdom and spirit.
There’s one major outlier to the rule of blues and greens for Jedis --
Mace Windu’s purple lightsaber in the prequel trilogy.
Samuel L. Jackson specifically requested this color to make him stand out in fight scenes.
So there may not have been any intentional deeper meaning to the purple, at least not
originally.
But the color does take on a symbolism in a pivotal moment of "Revenge of the Sith."
Windu prepares to kill Senator Palpatine but is struck down by Anakin with a blue lightsaber.
This is a major turning point for Anakin, as he completes the transition from Jedi to
Sith.
So the purple lightsaber reflects this metaphorical meeting
of blue and red as Anakin turns to the Dark Side.
"It belongs to me."
The Siths’ red lightsabers are powered by the emotions of the Dark Side -- anger, fear
and hatred.
The hot-headedness of these red emotions is reflected in the way
Darth Vader takes out his anger by killing his subordinates,
or the way Kylo Ren uses his weapon to hit things when he’s frustrated.
At the core of the Sith’s red is a burning hate for other people.
The Jedi’s rule to only use lightsabers for defensive purposes is a self-imposed boundary
--
the Jedi recognizes people should only have so much power and it is dangerous to reach
for more.
But the Sith freely use their lightsabers for aggression and straight-up murder.
Like when Kylo Ren pretends to hand over his weapon to his father Han Solo, then kills
him.
On one level their willingness to use offensive attack gives the Sith an advantage --
they can go farther than the Jedi allows himself.
Hatred and toxic emotions are like fuel for the Sith lightsaber.
And in the moment, the power of the dark emotions can seem stronger.
When Luke fights his father in front of the Emperor, he briefly gives into his violent
anger,
and this helps him fight more ferociously.
But fighting with the dark emotions yields only short-term victories for Luke.
"Use your aggressive feelings, boy.
Let the hate flow through you."
This scene parallels the one in "Revenge of the Sith,"
when the Emperor’s alter-ego Senator Palpatine manipulates Anakin.
“I can feel your anger.”
Luke ultimately tosses away his lightsaber away because he realizes that
every win he makes in fighting is really a loss for him spiritually.
It just brings him closer to the Dark Side.
"Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the Dark Side will be
complete."
Luke wins by fighting better or being stronger than the Emperor —- because he can’t and
he’s not.
But Luke believes that his father still has compassion and good in him.
So he lets the Emperor nearly kill him --
trusting that the conflict he senses in his father’s heart will resolve in favor of
the good.
Ultimately what wins in the original trilogy is not the power of aggressive Force,
but selfless sacrifice, non-violence, and faith.
The Jedi and Sith manifest two sides of the same Force.
One is good and one is evil -- but they’re mirror images of each other.
Both rely on something greater than themselves to guide them in fighting for what they think
is right.
“The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way.
Including their quest for greater power.”
And their common weapon confirms how close they are.
So when the characters battle with lightsabers, they’re not knocking swords -- they’re
fighting ideologies.
And the ultimate closeness of the Jedi and the Sith, or the Light and Dark sides of the
Force,
reminds us too that it can be easy to switch between them
before we really notice or understand what's going on.
Letting anger or hatred dominate in our hearts can happen suddenly
and in a way that feels good at first or seems like a small thing,
before we realize that we’re heading down a larger path to the Dark Side.
In "The Force Awakens," Luke’s old lightsaber chooses Rey.
As soon as she touches it, she has a series of visions.
It’s as if the sword can sense the qualities that make her a natural Jedi.
Director J.J.
Abrams actually calls this a “Forceback.”
It’s a flashback that’s deeply connected to the Force --
the Force is so strong in Rey that for a moment she can see into the past.
She even gets a glimpse of major Jedi events that she didn’t experience directly,
but that are very important to Luke.
She’s transported to Cloud City, where Luke and Vader fight in "The Empire Strikes Back,"
and she hears Luke’s scream when he finds out Vader is his father.
But we also get a look at a few unfamiliar scenes --
one seems to show Kylo Ren killing a Jedi and holding a second lightsaber in his hand,
and the next is of Rey being left on Jakku.
Based on these scenes, writer Jon Negroni has developed an idea he calls "the Lightsaber
Theory."
Negroni believes that Luke’s lightsaber unlocks clues to Rey’s backstory --
and for him, the appearance of a lightsaber in these flashback scenes is really important.
It suggests that Luke’s lightsaber was also present when Rey was left on Jakku --
so it was probably Luke who dropped her there.
Negroni argues that Rey’s parents were Jedi apprentices, and she had to be hidden to be
safe from Kylo Ren.
This may remind us of how Luke was left in Tatooine with no real knowledge of his background,
to protect him from Darth Vader.
“That lightsaber was Luke’s.
And his father’s before him.
And now it calls to you.”
“I’m never touching that thing again.
I don’t want any part of this.”
Rey’s initial refusal symbolizes her fear and hesitation to confront her past
and follow in the footsteps of her heroes.
So Maz Kanata ends up giving the weapon to Han Solo and Finn instead.
"Take it."
And Rey doesn’t pick it up again until the fateful battle between her and Kylo Ren.
By this point we know that Kylo Ren wants Luke’s old lightsaber --
this could be because it’s a connection to Anakin Skywalker, his grandfather.
For Kylo Ren, it represents his potential to be the next Darth Vader.
But when he tries to claim it as his own, once again it chooses Rey.
We see for certain that she can’t escape her destiny.
As she falters in the fight, she suddenly remembers that
the weapon is guided by what’s inside.
“You need a teacher.
I could show you the ways of the Force.”
“The Force…”
Rey closes her eyes to get in touch with this energy.
And we’re reminded of the scene in "A New Hope" when Luke practices fighting in this
same way.
“I suggest you try it again, Luke.
This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct.”
Our heroes can fight with their eyes closed
because they’re led by deep, internal values and innate goodness.
In last scene of "The Force Awakens," we see Rey hold out the lightsaber to Luke.
It’s important that this is the lightsaber that belonged to his father before him.
It’s the one that Luke rejected as he rejected the Dark Side --
not the one he constructed for himself based on Yoda's teachings.
So for Luke, taking the weapon would mean reclaiming his past and facing his regrets.
Perhaps mentoring Rey will allow Luke to make up for his regrets concerning Kylo,
just as Luke helped his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi heal his pain
over losing his former apprentice Anakin.
She’s asking him to help her, as Yoda and Obi-Wan helped him.
And the continuation over generations of this lightsaber, which has now chosen Rey,
shows that these cycles of masters and apprentices continue to repeat.
And we can’t turn away from the destiny that the will of the lightsaber makes clear
to us.
Ultimately what's so beautiful about the lightsaber is that it gives
a visible, physical form to what’s within our hearts and our minds.
The war between the Jedi and the Sith is a battle for the faith and souls of all people
--
whether we should be guided by faith, trust and knowledge, or anger, power and fear.
Fighting with lightsabers is not contest of athletics, but a struggle
over the fundamental question of how we should live.