The Past And Future Of Rey And Luke Skywalker's Lightsabers In 'Star Wars'

A lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi Knight, an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. Since the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker that was handed down to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) was one of the driving forces of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this specific weapon has become more important than ever, especially for Rey (Daisy Ridley).

After the weapon called out to Rey and gave her a perplexing Force vision, she eventually came to wield it against Kylo Ren before returning it to its rightful owner. However, it sounds like the lightsaber may not exactly belong to Luke anymore, something that might be further explored in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

We'll dive into that below, along with some interesting information about Luke Skywalker's current lightsaber, the green one that he constructed sometime between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and the real reason why it wasn't blue. Plus, for those wondering if Finn will ever wield a lightsaber again, John Boyega offers his own thoughts on the matter.

First, let's talk about why Luke Skywalker's lightsaber wasn't blue in Return of the Jedi. The new blade color was a surprising detail in the third film in the trilogy. Up to that point, lightsabers were either red or blue, with the former belonging to villains and the latter belonging to heroes. So a green lightsaber had to mean something, right?

Pablo Hidalgo, Lucasfilm Story Group creative executive, explains, "The intent was the lightsaber was going to be blue. In that universe, at that time, as far as anyone knew, lightsabers were red or they were blue. As much as we like to mythologize why it's green and what that all signifies, sometimes there are very pragmatic filmmaking reasons behind these things." That reason? The blue blade wouldn't have stood out as much against the bright blue sky and yellow sand when it's used in the action sequence aboard Jabba the Hutt's sail barge at the Pit of Carkoon on Tatooine. So the blade was made green instead.

No matter the reason, Luke has built himself a green lightsaber, and that's a pivotal moment for any Jedi. The fact that Luke has a new lightsaber is something that even impresses his father, Darth Vader. That's important because as Hidalgo told Vanity Fair, "In general, a lightsaber belongs to the person who constructed it." But what does that mean for Rey?

As we mentioned in the opening of this article, the lightsaber that was built by Anakin Skywalker and handed down to Luke Skywalker calls out to Rey from the basement of Maz Kanata's castle. Not only did it give her a Force vision, but she was able to use the Force to pull it from the snow, overpowering Kylo Ren and using it to fight him and his gnarly crossguard lightsaber.

In the teaser trailer for The Last Jedi, we see Rey swinging the blue lightsaber around on the mountain island where she found Luke Skywalker, seemingly being trained by the man Rian Johnson appears to believe is the last Jedi that the title references. Since Luke Skywalker has his own lightsaber that he built, he will likely have no use for the old blue one handed down to him, but taking into consideration the fact that the lightsaber called out to Rey through the Force, does that mean it belongs to her now?

Some fans think that the lightsaber calling out to Rey is a clear indicator that she has Skywalker blood running through her veins. Hidalgo adds more speculation by saying, "In The Force Awakens, Maz says that the saber is calling to Rey now. Whether or not it's literally calling to her to become hers or it's calling to her because she knows it will be taken back to Luke—we'll see."

Vanity Fair notes that regardless of the reason behind the lightsaber calling out to Rey, the Lucasfilm marketing department has taken to calling it "Rey's lightsaber." Now that could easily just be a way for the marketing department to avoid confusion when talking Luke's other lightsaber, but it could also be an indication that the weapon truly does belong to her now.

Now just because Rey is possibly the new owner of Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, that doesn't mean Luke couldn't still use it himself. In fact, as of now, we don't know if Luke even still has his green lightsaber from Return of the Jedi. If he thinks that the Jedi need to end, as he says in the teaser trailer, maybe he's abandoned the weapon he used to wield. That would provide a good reason for him to pick up his old lightsaber.

Sadly, Pablo Hidalgo wasn't going to give up a detail like that, but merely said that at Lucasfilm, "We take to heart the lesson that Obi-Wan tried to impart to Anakin: 'This weapon is your life.' We're not ones to lose track of lightsabers." That's pretty vague, but since the lightsaber once belonged to his father, it would make sense if he ended up wielding it again, especially in a battle against Kylo Ren, his nephew who worships Darth Vader.

Finn was the first to wield Luke Skywalker's lightsaber in The Force Awakens, though he ultimately ended up not being very good with it. Now that Rey has essentially inherited the lightsaber and is using it as her own, will we ever seen Finn use a lightsaber again?

John Boyega told Vanity Fair that Finn will not use a lightsaber in The Last Jedi, but he's hoping that will change sometime down the road.

"I talk to Mark Hamill sometimes and he tells me stories about how he wasn't told about the 'Darth Vader is his father' situation until he got on set. I feel like there must be something going on, something that makes me go, 'Huh, why does he wield one, and what's that all about?' It'll be interesting to see if that's ever explored."

I can't imagine a need for Finn to use a lightsaber again, and it doesn't sound like he's strong enough with with the Force to do it effectively, but I suppose we can't really rule it out.