What Color Is Luke's Lightsaber in Rotj

"I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete. Indeed you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen."

―Darth Vader, examining Luke Skywalker's lightsaber ^[src]

Luke Skywalker's green lightsaber, also known as Luke Skywalker's lightsaber or Luke Skywalker's second lightsaber, was a Jedi lightsaber constructed by Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker during the Galactic Civil War. It was modeled on the third lightsaber of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, though its kyber crystal emitted a green plasma blade unlike the blue produced by Kenobi's.

Skywalker constructed his own lightsaber after losing his father's in a duel with the Sith Lord Darth Vader. He used it to kill Jabba Desilijic Tiure's bodyguards while rescuing Han Solo on Tatooine. In the Battle of Endor, Vader lost his lightsaber as a result of his defeat by Skywalker during their final lightsaber duel.

In the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War, Skywalker retained his lightsaber while endeavoring to restore the Jedi Order. When he sensed the dark side of the Force rising in his nephew, Padawan Ben Solo, he instinctively activated his lightsaber but restrained himself from killing his apprentice. However, Solo was convinced that his Master intended to kill him upon seeing the green blade of Skywalker's lightsaber, and used his own lightsaber in an attempt to strike down Skywalker first.

Having lost his nephew to the dark side, along with his remaining students, who were killed in the destruction of his Jedi temple, Skywalker brought his lightsaber to the planet Ahch-To where he lived in self-imposed exile and isolation. After his death, the native Caretakers took possession of Skywalker's lightsaber.

1 Description
2 History
- 2.1 Construction
- 2.2 Usage
  - 2.2.1 Mission to the Outer Rim
  - 2.2.2 Rescue of Han Solo
  - 2.2.3 Battle of Endor
  - 2.2.4 Stopping a Gorax
  - 2.2.5 Pillio
  - 2.2.6 Vetine
  - 2.2.7 Training Leia Organa
  - 2.2.8 Rescue aboard Gideon's cruiser
  - 2.2.9 Confronting the Knights of Ren
  - 2.2.10 Losing a family member
3 Behind the scenes
4 Appearances
- 4.1 Non-canon appearances
5 Sources
6 Notes and references

Description [ ]

Schematics for the lightsaber, with the kyber crystal highlighted

Built to replace his father's lightsaber,^[8] Luke Skywalker's own lightsaber contained a kyber crystal^[6] ^[2] and emitted a green plasma blade.^[8] Its hilt was similar to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi's third lightsaber,^[8] as Skywalker modeled his weapon on his late Jedi Master's lightsaber, but simplified some of the design elements.^[7]

History [ ]

Construction [ ]

Luke Skywalker lost both his father's lightsaber and his right hand.

During the Galactic Civil War, Luke Skywalker sought to construct a new weapon after he lost his first lightsaber in a duel on Bespin against Darth Vader, his father.^[9] For a time, he used a yellow lightsaber he found in a High Republic Jedi outpost.^[10] Although his mentors, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, had told him only a little of the way a Jedi had to use the Force to build a lightsaber, Skywalker reached out with his mind and found the right pieces—some easily purchased, some much harder to acquire—during the time that followed the Battle of Hoth and his duel.^[2]

Finally, during his return to his homeworld, Tatooine, to rescue his friend Han Solo from Jabba Desilijic Tiure, he was guided by the Force to Kenobi's hut. There, he found a few things Kenobi had left behind that were useful to him, including the missing parts he needed for his lightsaber's construction. After leaving Kenobi's hut, he knew he had at last collected everything he needed, and while his friends prepared for the upcoming rescue, Skywalker retreated into the solitude of a desert cave and puzzled over the pieces. He made use of the Force to put it all together and bring the crystal inside to life. When he was finished, he felt it truly was his lightsaber, almost an extension of himself.^[2]

Usage [ ]

Mission to the Outer Rim [ ]

Skywalker built a green-bladed lightsaber to replace his father's weapon.

On a mission aboard the Imperial Refining Platform M36, Luke used the lightsaber alongside his Force abilities to defeat several KX-series security droids, clearing a path for Rebel forces to acquire copious Imperial fuel stores. His Rebel companions became awed at his use, although one of them, the major in charge of the operation, held reservations about its power as he had only previously seen such power being wielded by the Sith. Unknown to Luke, the Emperor had begun to probe his mental defenses from afar, which caused Luke to briefly open his saber in alarm.^[11]

As Luke and the strike team flew away from the platform, they were ambushed by an Imperial Star Destroyer, which launched several TIE Fighters in pursuit. As the battle began to rage, Luke's mind was penetrated by a vision from the Emperor. The vision saw Luke follow a possible series of events wherein he would begrudgingly leave the Rebel strike team to its fate and crash-land on an unknown planet, losing his X-wing in the process. As he journeyed from the wreckage together with R2-D2, Luke would leave his lightsaber and helmet on the ground, symbolizing his complete retreat from the concerns of the war.^[11]

Having later broken free of the Emperor's vision, Luke proceeded to aid the Rebels in escaping the Imperial ambush, using his lightsaber to prevent the major's shuttle from leaving, giving him time to pilot the shuttle and draw the Imperials away from the rest of the Rebels.^[11]

Rescue of Han Solo [ ]

Many of Jabba the Hutt's henchmen were killed by Skywalker.

Skywalker hid his lightsaber inside R2-D2's dome for the mission to rescue Captain Solo from Jabba the Hutt's palace. When he was about to be executed in the Great Pit of Carkoon, he gave the signal to R2-D2 and the astromech droid returned the lightsaber to Skywalker. He then used it to cut Boba Fett's whipcord and EE-3 carbine rifle in half. He also deflected blaster fire from Jabba's guards on the Khetanna, and killed some of them,^[1] including Klaatu.^[2]

Battle of Endor [ ]

"Ah, yes, a Jedi's weapon. Much like your father's."

―Darth Sidious ^[src]

While on Endor, Skywalker used the weapon to protect himself from oncoming blaster fire from an Imperial scout trooper's 74-Z speeder bike. As the scout neared, Skywalker sliced the front stabilizers^[2] off, causing it and the driver to spin out of control and collide into a tree, killing the trooper and destroying the speeder bike.^[1]

Skywalker used the green lightsaber to defeat his father, Darth Vader, on the second Death Star.

That night, he turned himself in to the Endor Imperial garrison at their base, and the lightsaber was confiscated by the Imperial officer, Commander Igar. The weapon was then given to his father, Darth Vader.^[1] As he examined the ignited weapon,^[2] Vader remarked that Skywalker's skills were complete with the lightsaber's construction. The weapon remained in his possession until Vader delivered it to his master, Emperor Palpatine, in the second Death Star's Throne Room. The Emperor took a moment to examine the lightsaber, remarking that it was indeed a Jedi's weapon like the one it had been crafted to replace, before returning to his throne, placing the lightsaber on the armrest next to him.^[1]

During the losing battle that the Alliance Fleet fought against the Imperial Navy, Palpatine tempted Skywalker to take his lightsaber and strike him down with it, so that he could give in to his anger and fall to the dark side. Eventually, in a moment of weakness, Skywalker took the weapon and attacked the Emperor, only for Vader to stop his strike and duel him.^[1] After almost killing his father, Skywalker realized what he was becoming,^[2] and he defiantly threw his lightsaber away and declared himself to be a Jedi. Following the Emperor's death at the hands of his father, Skywalker recovered his lightsaber.^[1]

Stopping a Gorax [ ]

"Even better than a spear."

―Leia Organa on Skywalker's lightsaber ^[src]

Sometime following the Battle of Endor, Skywalker and Organa helped the Ewoks Kneesaa and Wicket W. Warrick reset their traps to stop a Gorax. Skywalker used his lightsaber to slice through a log that the Gorax had thrown at him before Skywalker threw his lightsaber to Organa to use to cut a log.^[12]

Pillio [ ]

"He's got a lightsaber!"

―A stormtrooper on Pillio ^[src]

Skywalker used the lightsaber sometime after the Battle of Endor time when investigating the planet Pillio. Skywalker used the lightsaber to defeat many stormtroopers and then help the Inferno Squad member Del Meeko in defeating native insects as they fought their way to the Emperor's Observatory. Skywalker and Meeko parted ways after Skywalker retrieved a compass.^[13]

Vetine [ ]

Skywalker continued to use his lightsaber during the final days of the Galactic Civil War.

Three months after the Battle of Endor, Skywalker used the lightsaber during a mission to an Imperial research base on the planet Vetine in order to retrieve the last remaining fragment of a Force-sensitive tree. Skywalker gave his lightsaber to R2-D2 for hiding as they entered the Imperial base. Once he revealed himself as a Jedi, R2-D2 released his weapon, and Skywalker used it to hold off the Imperial forces while Lieutenant Shara Bey recovered the tree fragments. Skywalker also cut through a cannon with his blade and eliminated several attacking stormtroopers.^[14]

Training Leia Organa [ ]

Sometime after his sister's wedding with Han Solo, Skywalker offered Organa to train her into the ways of the Force as his first apprentice.^[15] One night at Ajan Kloss, Skywalker used the lightsaber while training her on the moon's forests, but Organa took the opportunity to tell him that she had seen the death of her son Ben at the end of her Jedi path, leaving her training incomplete and passing her lightsaber to Skywalker so one could wield it one day.^[16]

Rescue aboard Gideon's cruiser [ ]

Moff Gideon's dark troopers were destroyed by Skywalker during the rescue of Grogu.

Around 9 ABY,^[17] Skywalker used his lightsaber to destroy numerous dark troopers aboard Moff Gideon's light cruiser in order to rescue Grogu so that he could train him in the ways of the Force.^[18]

Confronting the Knights of Ren [ ]

Skywalker utilized his lightsaber during a confrontation with the Knights of Ren on the planet Elphrona, using it to destroy the weapons of all present save for their leader's.^[19]

Losing a family member [ ]

"…And for that briefest moment of pure instinct, I thought I could stop it. It passed like a fleeting shadow. And I was left with shame…and with consequence. And the last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him."

―Luke Skywalker, to Rey on his contemplation to kill Ben Solo ^[src]

Sensing darkness in Ben Solo, Skywalker contemplated using his lightsaber to kill his nephew.

By 28 ABY,^[20] Skywalker had begun training a new generation of Jedi. Fearing the growth of the dark side of the Force within his Padawan and nephew, Ben Solo, Skywalker approached him as he lay asleep in bed where, overwhelmed by the darkness he sensed from Solo, he activated his lightsaber out of pure instinct. Immediately feeling a sense of shame in considering killing his nephew even only for an instant, Skywalker hesitated long enough for Solo to wake up. Upon seeing his Master standing above him with his lightsaber raised, Solo used his own lightsaber to defend himself, bringing his hut down and trapping Skywalker under the rubble. By the time Skywalker regained consciousness, his Jedi temple had been destroyed and most of his students had been killed. Meanwhile, Solo became known as Kylo Ren, as master of the Knights of Ren under Supreme Leader Snoke.^[21]

Skywalker took his lightsaber with him when he went into exile on the planet of Ahch-To, where he lived secluded in a hut without any connection to the Force.^[21] Following the Jedi Master's death during the Battle of Crait, Alcida-Auka, matron of the native Caretakers, had the lightsaber gathered up along with Luke's other possessions and stored in the island's repository.^[3]

Behind the scenes [ ]

Luke Skywalker's green lightsaber first appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, the third and final installment of the Star Wars original trilogy.^[1]

In the original 1982 teaser trailer for Return of the Jedi, the color of the lightsaber was blue.^[22] The decision to change the color of the lightsaber from blue to green was made to make Luke's blade contrast with the blue sky of Tatooine and make it more visible during the skirmish at Carkoon.^[23]

Luke Skywalker activating his lightsaber for the first time

During Celebration V in 2010, Mark Hamill and George Lucas debuted a deleted scene from the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi in which Luke activates his green lightsaber for the first time. The clip was later included in the saga Blu-ray box set.^[24] The scene was briefly alluded to in Tom Angleberger's 2015 canon junior novel Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side!.^[2]

For the lightsaber's appearance in the 2017 film Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, the original Return of the Jedi prop was completely recreated as with most props and costumes of the original and prequel trilogies.^[25]

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