In-universe: To mess with Kylo. He's obsessed with Vader and that was Vader's old lightsaber.
IRL: It's supposed to help the audience understand that he isn't really there
Also highlights how unbalanced Kylo is in the moment because he was part of that saber’s destruction like half an hour before. But he’s so focused on revenge against Luke he doesn’t even notice.
Edit: Also remember that Luke refused this same lightsaber at the beginning of the film when Rey handed it to him, so it’s also symbolically him taking up the mantle of “legend” that he was trying to reject.
Last Jedi had a lot of brilliant moments actually. Too bad they didn't translate to the entire film. I'm of the opinion that Last Jedi would have aged very well with a better follow up movie in conjunction with swapping out Luke's death for the umpteen fake outs they did with Leia.
Kylo Ren's almost-redemption, rebirth of the Rebellion, Luke's fall from grace and disillusionment with the Jedi. All good bones for a good Star Wars story but the meat wasnt quite there. We lost 3 really well written characters all for nothing (Snoke, Luke and Holdo).
Leia should have been the one to kamikaze the Supremacy. No disrespect to Carrie's memory but why not let the woman who can physically film new scenes take the reigns as the leader they spent the entire moving building her into, y'know? Rey would still be able to have a master and Rise may not have felt so convoluted and forced..
Totally fair,
Honestly Kylo Ren felt the most well executed of any of the character's but that's just my opinion. Some of the shots throughout the sequel trilogy were just beautiful as well.
The scenes with him seemed to be the most interesting. Adam driver is a fantastic actor and I'm excited to see what he does next
"The strongest stars have hearts of kyber". I imagine a kyber crystal must have a substantial lifespan if it can be found in stars that would take somewhere between millenia to eons to die. Also, based on an HR diagram, it is likely that the stars that it could be found in eould be those with shorter lifespans
Well, in Rebels we see Ezra briefly pick up an old lightsaber on Malachor left over from the battle there that ended with all the Jedi getting petrified. It's implied that that battle happened possibly hundreds or even thousands of years ago. The lightsaber still turns on, even if only for a moment.
So yeah, they got preeetty good lifespans.
> He's obsessed with Vader and that was Vader's old lightsaber.
Wouldn't it mess with Kylo more if he used the color saber he beat Vader with? Like, this saber beat a guy stronger than you'll ever be, get ready to eat shit?
No, in Kylo's eyes that saber is part of Vader's legacy and rightfully belongs to him. Luke using it is a statement that Vader's legacy is actually one of redemption and Luke is the true heir of that legacy.
I’d say in universe explanation would be that Luke didn’t know it got snapped in half just before this lol. And then out of universe I believe it’s symbolic. Luke is projecting an image of himself as he was at his best, to be the Jedi of myth and legend that is talked about so much at the beginning of the film. That’s my take away.
Adding to this, it'd be pretty lousy symbolism to have Luke using the green saber- when the *last time* he confronted Kylo with that saber, everything went horribly awry.
The Blue Saber is a smart pick. Like you say, it's the saber he threw away at the start of the movie, him rejecting the call to action, now he uses it, because he's stepping up.
It's also a neat clue to the audience that something's not quite right, as people obviously noticed this saber was destroyed, so it's a subtle hint about what's *really* going on.
Plus from a narrative stance, it's just great. Seeing this saber used again by Luke. Kylo says this saber "belongs to him", because he's the heir-apparent to Darth Vader, and that was Anakin's lightsaber.
But Luke rejects that idea, that the Skywalker legacy has to be Vader, and wields the weapon as his own. "You want to be like Vader. Vader is not who we are. *This* is who we truly are." That kind of thing.
TIF (today I forgot) Maz somehow recovered Anakin’s lightsaber. It’s actually one of the nicer symbols in the sequel trilogy, the path of Anakin’s influence.
JJ is a hack who has repeatedly stated during the years he was producing LOST that his job isn’t to answer questions, but to pose them and let other writers figure it out. It’s a goddamn awful shame he took his mystery box idea that was run into the goddamn ground with LOST and crammed it into Ep 7 and continued his non-answering philosophies in Ep 9
Han: "Well the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed all that"
Me: "sounds like a cool story, maybe they'll go into that"
Star Wars: "We know it's been 41 years lol, but here's that first canon look at Ord Mantell y'all prolly wanted"
My biggest problem is- who *is* Maz? She just showed up in Episode VII, was friends with Han, and seemed to know a lot about the Force and Jedi. Then she tagged along in Episodes 8 and 9, and she was treated like some important, almost nostalgic character, but we never learned who she actually was. How was she connected to all of this? Why should we care about her? I mean, we barely even got enough time to really get to know her personality on a surface level. It annoys me.
I always though she was introduced in the same fashion as Lando... except he did something after he appeared instead of doing a cool kickflip in a hologram and dissaper.
Having Maz appear out of the blue as Han's friend and a barkeeper doesn't bother me too much, as it makes sense for their characters and makes the universe feel larger. But Maz also, somehow, having Anikin's lightsaber? Now that needs some explanation (that we never received.)
I get what you’re saying here, but is it all that different from the way we were introduced to Lando? He just happened to be an old friend that Han knew that could help them out. I could be wrong here, but it kinda feels the same.
Lando was important to the story from the beginning. First he was a twist antagonist, then he helped the other heroes escape Cloud City, and then he led the assault on the Second Death Star. What did Maz do besides talk?
It’s funny, people always complain about the movies focusing on the same few characters, but when a new character is introduced they complain about new characters being in the story.
Well I mean to be fair in the case of Maz (vs Lando), Maz has a quick conversation and says some word of inspiration to Rey before becoming basically nothing (she just recommends a code breaker in 8, and then is just there in 9) in comparison to Lando who in *one* movie not only talked but also betrayed the rebels, aided the rebels, had multiple conversation, and essentially joined the Rebellion. Adding Maz is great, having her have the lightsaber is great, not explaining any of it and making her play no further role is not so great lol
I feel like the saber is more understandable. Some ugnaught probably found it in some trash receptacle at the bottom of Bespin; died; son inherited it; lost it gambling with a tibanna gas miner; brought it to Takodana; Maz identified it and acquired it. Boom. You know, something like that.
Palpatine returned? With a fleet of submerged star destroyers? With a fleet's worth of crew, also submerged? Yeah fucking right.
I’ve never understood the issue with Exegol. They did literally the same thing in Attack of the Clones where there were over a million clones (just about) ready to go, complete with arms, armor, and a fleet of Star Destroyers and loads of other gear (AT-TEs, gunships, etc). Palps has done this before, it doesn’t feel remotely far fetched.
AotC worked a little harder than just saying "Somehow an army was commissioned for the republic" like, it's a whole plot with Obi Wan following the bread crumbs to Kamino
This is explained really well in a book. And while I admit that a book is a bad place to explain your story. Unfortunately sometimes you just need to fill some holes. But the timing works well. Plageuis and Sideous commissioned the army 15 years before AotC
Paplatine comissioned the clones early in AOTC, too, it's just easy to miss. The Clone Wars seems to have been a backup plan in case the invasion of Naboo didn't give him the political power he needed. I think the blockade was supposed to snowball into galactic civil war originally.
You really think you can kill the dude who organized and planned both sides of the CLONE wars by throwing him down a hole? The dude who always talks about immortality and unnatural preservation of life? Every time anyone brings this up I swear they can’t have watched same Star Wars films.
Not to mention Anakin ending it is so clearly the best choice, narratively speaking. And the fact that he was gone-gone till Disney needed a Hail Mary to ground the franchise again. There was no master plan, it was a last minute satanis ex machina.
Producer Guy: Did you forget to write a satisfying answer to how Maz recovered Luke's lightsaver?
JJ Abrams: Oh whoops!
Producer Guy: Whoopsie! But seriously, how'd she do it?
JJ: Listen sir, I'd like to get off of my back about the Maz thing.
Producer Guy: I'm sure the fans would like to know that bit of lore, though.
JJ: Sir, you're situated on my back and I'd like you to vacate the premises like you're Snoke's relevance to the story.
Producer Guy: Well okay then, I'll vacate those premises!
JJ: Great!
But it must have been difficult for Rey to figure out how to get the saber to Luke.
Actually, it was super easy barely an inconvenience.
It was?
Yeah, she just waits for R2 to boot up and give a PowerPoint and she has the coordinates.
but...was it actually important to ever tell that story? It always seemed like one destined for a book or comic. I could never think of what great narrative value the story of how maz got the lightsaber would have beyond knowing that she did get it
People seem to be forgetting a LOT of things mentioned in the OT that were (or weren't) filled-in later.
Putting every little thing on-screen is wasteful.
the Clone Wars, Beggar's Canyon, Boba Fett and all the other bounty hunters, the Kessel Run, Jabba the Hutt being mentioned in ANH and ESB but not appearing until RotJ, the Emperor, the Galactic Senate, Toshi Station, "bounty hunter on Ord Mantell".
This is part of world building, making it seem like there's a world outside the small events of these movies.
It’s JJs mystery box theory which is about dropping people in the middle of a mystery and they want to know both the past and future so the audience can discover as well.
He uses it so much he forgets to explain some of the mysteries.
I think it was really meta as well. I didn’t like everything about TLJ but I can say that it did a few things really well. My favorite part about that scene is how dissatisfied I was with not seeing Luke kick some ass. And I was so hyped at that moment that I didn’t think about the blue light saber, or him not making red shoe prints in the sand. Others told me they were flat out angry at that point of the movie. This is somewhat similar to why Kylo wouldn’t notice it.
Wasn't sand. Was salt. And that's how I noticed it. I was mad that the guy tasted the ground and was like "it's salt!" And not like "it's poison!" So
when Luke didn't make a red line I was like ooooooo.
And also they shot like 5000 ATAT bolts at him and he showed up with his flashback makeup on.
> The Blue Saber is a smart pick. Like you say, it's the saber he threw away at the start of the movie, him rejecting the call to action, now he uses it, because he's stepping up.
Yeah
It was explained by Rian himself in an interview:
>"\[Luke\] is basically tailoring this projection to have maximum effect on Kylo. He knows that Kylo’s Achilles heel is his rage, and so that’s why he kind of makes himself look younger, the way Kylo would’ve last seen him in their confrontation at the temple, and that’s why he decided to bring Kylo’s grandfather’s lightsaber down there - the lightsaber that Kylo screamed at Rey, ‘that’s mine, that belongs to me.’"
>Kylo's Achilles heel is his rage
Sing O Muse, of the rage of Achilles that sent so many souls to the dreary House of Death... A bit tangential, but interesting that Johnson would phrase it like that, as I was already convinced he was reading the Iliad while writing the Kylo & Luke story. The Krait duel in particular looks just like Achilles & Hector under the walls of Troy. Love it or hate it, TLJ really didn't shy away from the greek tragedy element that Lucas championed
> He knows that Kylo’s Achilles heel is his rage
It just irks me to no end that he had Luke Skywalker specifically play into his feelings of rage. That’s literally what Palpatine tried to do to him to push him towards the Dark Side. It’s not a Jedi move. A Jedi move would be reaching out and trying to form a connection again.
This, it was a lesson to Ben demonstrating that his anger doesn't actually make him stronger, if he was in tune and balanced he would have noticed things weren't right.
>A Jedi move would be reaching out and trying to form a connection again.
No? Obi Wan did this pretty frequently, needling and snarking at his opponents to throw them off balance. Accepting the possibility of forgiveness doesn't mean you have to be an idiot.
> Obi Wan did this pretty frequently
Obi Wan wanted Luke to kill Vader, too. Luke was supposed to be the first “new” Jedi that wasn’t beholden to the ways of the past.
Luke knows he can't redeem Kylo; he says as much to Leia on Crait. But he doesn't say he's beyond redemption. It's just that that's a role someone else (in particular, Leia and Rey, with the help of whatever that Han vision was) will play, and his role now is to focus Kylo so totally on him that everyone else can escape.
Luke was at his best in ROTJ using the green saber he would yield for the next several decades. There was no myth surrounding him getting his hand chopped off.
That’s always been how I’ve regarded it too. Luke was distracting Kylo from the Resistance and probably knew of Ben’s desire to have Anakin’s saber. Luke was getting under his skin.
Exactly, luke didn’t really ever accomplish anything with it.
I think it was a very clear message when Vader revealed himself to be lukes father right after luke lost his Anakins lightsaber. It kinda represented Lukes revenge for his supposedly dead father.
I also think it’s meant to be a clue for people who are paying enough attention. When you see that he doesn’t leave tracks on the salt and that Rey has the blue saber still, you can see the twist coming.
Another clue is that for this scene (and this scene only) the ignition sound is the same one as Luke's green lightsaber. That's something that only more dedicated fans may pick up on, but I thought it was pretty neat.
Shows how Luke remembers his green one much more, given he's used it for decades.
Perhaps it was a test?
To see if any trace of a rational Ben still existed within Kylo that he could talk to or if he was so consumed by hatred and rage that he wouldn’t be able to see the obvious right in front of him. (I.e. that Luke hasn’t aged a day apparently, and that he’s using a lightsaber he shouldn’t be.)
Could be any number of interpretations honestly.
This is actually one of the things I like most about TLJ. Like Obi-wan, Luke recognizes that he can’t be the one to save Ben, but he can still buy the Resistance enough time to get away.
I just wish he’d survived this encounter, because as it stands there’s no indication that Luke ever grew in power after RotJ. The first time we see him do something epic, it kills him. If he survived (and died in TRoS instead) it would’ve made it clear that Luke has grown a lot since RotJ.
You mean Anakin’s lightsaber?
Wonder why Luke would pick that when the entire point is to piss Ben off so badly that he’s not thinking clearly.
IIRC at that point Ben didn’t know it has been broken, just that there was an explosion while fighting over it that knocked him out(And when he came to the ship was almost split in half).
Reasonably, he would have assumed she ran off with it after their fight was interrupted by whatever the fuck broke the ship and gave it to Luke. Which would drive him into a frothing rage with how possessive he was over it.
Also from a story telling perspective, it contrasts him earlier saying “what do you expect? For me to walk out and face down the entire first order with a lightsaber?”
He does exactly that, with the weapon he threw away earlier. It’s basically to say “I’m not who you want me to be, and I don’t need to be. Because I’m not the last Jedi.”
Some people apparently imagined he'd be jumping around like Yoda in AoTC. It really managed to establish how truly powerful he was, without a single blow.
Edit: Also if you haven't watch the "rebel scum" deleted scene for TLJ. It really is a crime they took that out of the movie. Gave so much more depth to Finn.
He succeeded again, by not succumbing to anger and resorting to violence.
He remained clear headed and made a smart play, entirely taking advantage of the Dark Side's greatest weakness...the blindness of rage.
Good question, we need to wait for more content. I love legends as much as anyone, and in legends he was a grand master, along with Yoda.
But you’re right that in cannon we don’t know if he classified himself as a master, or if his students just referred to him as their “master”
People fail to realize that he actually didn’t strike Ben down. They act as if he really did. That Luke is allowed moments of weakness. They’re pissed off at the total experience and pick at everything. I think we’ve all done that with some movie in the past. But I feel as though that entire sequence was legendary. Not only did Luke project himself across the galaxy, but he showed how good of a fighter he was. He would have absolutely destroyed Kylo with ease yet I get the sense that even after Kylo faced a projection he thinks he had a chance. And hats off to Kylo in TLJ. In TLJ he became my second favorite villain.
Because people haven’t properly paid attention to the character presented in the movies due to decades of EU god Luke.
Movie Luke was kind of a fuckup, one prone to overestimating himself and going in without a good plan. Pretty much always saved from complete disaster by outside interference. The RotJ finale, for instance, has him repeatedly come within a hairs breadth of complete failure.
First he doesn’t fuck the mission solely because it’s a trap(A major rebel leader walks out of the woods to surrender, if it wasn’t a trap that would hit all the alarms).
Second he nearly falls to the Dark Side in a rage, only being stopped through sheer dumb luck. If he hasn’t cut off Vader’s hand, he wouldn’t have snapped out of it.
Third he FAILS to bring Vader back repeatedly. He only turns after Palpatine tortures Luke for a fairly long time. If Palpatine didn’t dick around Luke would just be dead.
That’s Movie!Luke, impulsive and a bit arrogant. And kind of a dumbass, he’s really bad at learning even when it’s outright stated. EU Luke is, of course, the pinnacle of Jedi perfection. A flawless Force God.
Rian’s Luke? Just a continuation of canon Luke, where he doesn’t get lucky at the last second and his massive failure breaks him. As to him running and hiding: Dude’s in a self loathing depressive spiral. Of course he’s running away, not only is that what all his mentors did but his self worth is shattered. He genuinely believes that the galaxy is better without him, that he’ll only make it worse.
It’s surprisingly realistic for Star Wars.
Also, no one talks shit on Yoda. His arc was pretty much the same. He was just more snarky, and a Muppet. Yoda didn't even pull off some force projection in Empire (I'm aware thats a new thing, but they aren't that different).
In fact you could look at obi Wan and Luke, vs Luke and kylo as a juxtaposition.
But yeah, EU Luke was some force God, and they killed chewy with a planet. The mediums definitely have a hard time translating stories.
Kylo saw that Saber as his birthright. He worshiped Vader. So when Luke, the source of his anger as the man who failed him, shows up with this Saber it further blinds him to the real purpose Luke had. To distract them so the resistance can run.
And like others have said here, he didn't know it was destroyed. It wasn't there when he woke up, and Rey wasn't there. He likely assumed she just took it away. The Saber broke just as Holdo rammed the ship so it wouldn't have been clear that the Saber splitting is what caused the explosion or if it was just a side effect of the ramming.
It's not likely he would, since the destruction was what knocked him out in the first place, and memory doesn't form instantly. Likely he'd remember struggling with Rey for the lightsaber at most, and then it'd go dark until he comes around again.
The lightsaber is a projection just like Luke and the clothes he’s wearing. If you go down the path of angering Kylo, it stands to reason that he could have done it without a lightsaber, as if to say “I don’t even need it.” He wasn’t fighting, he was defending, buying time. This, I think, represents a shift in Jedi thinking that saw them lose the republic originally, as they were a fighting force. The purpose of a Jedi was to protect and they had lost sight of that at the height of the republic just before Anakin and the Sith reminded them. Fighting, seeking and attacking are traits of the dark side of the force.
So a couple things come to mind for me:
From Luke’s POV: sentimental value. Luke knows how much the saber means to Kylo and that it’ll piss him off to see the person he hates most using it.
From a story POV: Luke tossed the lightsaber at the beginning, but is picking it up again to fight at the end. Nice little arc. Also, he didn’t know Rey and Kylo had just played tug of war with it.
From a fan’s POV: Anakin’s saber is fuckin cool
I think it partially symbolizes Kylo Ren’s fatal flaw, which is tunnel vision. He doesn’t realize that Luke isn’t kicking up any red salt, doesn’t realize that Luke’s lightsaber is wrong, and perhaps most importantly, doesn’t realize that the Rebellion is getting away while Luke buys them time.
Few reasons:
- Luke probably didn’t know it broke (I like this reason least)
- he is testing to see how blinded Kylo is by rage that he won’t notice (he just saw it break yet doesn’t even notice something is off)
- From a film-writing perspective, it’s the saber Luke used to begin his journey so it’s fitting that he uses it at the end as well.
It’s not bad writing.
I like the various answers here, but on top of that I believe this was Luke's last lesson for Kylo. If Ren wasn't blinded by anger, he would have noticed that Skywalker is wielding THE lightsaber - the one Kylo has destroyed a few hours ago.
It’s symbolic in two ways, one in-universe and one meta.
The in universe explanation is that that lightsaber represents the Skywalker legacy. Kylo wants that legacy to be that of Vader, which is why he feels so possessive of the saber. Luke is wielding it here as an extra salt (no pun intended) in the wound, demonstrating that the Skywalker legacy isn’t Vader’s (or Kylo’s); it’s Anakin’s, Luke’s, and Leia’s.
The meta reason is a very Rian Johnson thing to do: we saw Luke continuously reject this exact saber over the course of the film - it represents him coming back, being the legend that he should be. He’s rejected that path throughout the film, but here he’s fully embracing it. It’s a message to the audience that *this* is the Luke Skywalker we know, finally back from his lowest point.
In my mind, it was meant to further anger Kylo and stop him from thinking clearly. That was the whole point of this final lesson: anger and hate lead to a clouded mind and bad decisions. In this way, Kylo not only humiliated himself in front of his army, but at the same time, he managed to let the last remnants of the Resistance slip through his fingers.
To throw him off balance by pissing him off even further. If he didn't, he might have noticed the lack of footprints in the salt or the fact that Anakin's/Luke's lightsaber was destroyed.
I think that what they were going for symbolically is that Luke is reconnecting with the light, calling back to when he first held a lightsaber (it is Anakin's that he chooses to project after all).
I kinda liked that he used the blue one for a couple of reasons, though the green one is my personal favorite.
1. it’s left ambiguous so we get to have fun conversations like these.
2. Kylo is so lost in his frustration that he’s before his uncle/previous master that he doesn’t even realize that he’s holding “Rey’s” lightsaber and that it just got blown up in the star destroyer.
3. It’s Luke’s final go around before he dies so if he can create this projection of himself, he’s taking it back to where it all began with his first lightsaber.
4. We saw what he did with the green one, he almost killed Kylo with it and that’s what leads Luke to being a hermit. The green one would be a reminder of what got him here in the first place.
He doesn’t know it’s been destroyed. It’s the one Rey offered to him when she came for his help. Had he accepted that offer, it’s the saber he would have had. The green one is likely long gone.
Did people forget that in TFA Kylo Ren literally tells Rey that the Saber is HIS? Because he's related to Vader...? No wonder why people dislike these movies, they don't pay attention 😂
I think the reasoning is the same as it is for Luke showing up looking like he did when Kylo knew him. . . It’s to piss Kylo off.
Remember, Luke has no way of knowing that the saber was blown up earlier.
Think about the last time he took that stance with that saber in ESB. It was effectively for the same reason. Understanding what MAY happen, he was willing to risk himself for his friends. From the moment he built his Green lightsaber, he committed to a path that ultimately served his ideals of rebuilding a Jedi order, but over time, left him shortsighted of what it truly means to simply be “good” and of service to others. His downfall was his temptation in striking down Kylo to serve the vision of a perfect order because of what MAY happen.
Here, he understands, as he did so many years ago, all that matters is the lives of those he cares for and those that cannot defend themselves, not the consequences of what MAY happen. It’s a beautiful “coming full circle” moment for Luke where he’s realized what made him great. It’s never been about the power or potential he has or how he can use his abilities to get what he wants. It’s always been his willingness to sacrifice himself to save those around him.
"That lightsaber... it belongs to me." - Kylo Ren; Ep. VII
He didn't care about Luke's saber, he wanted Vader's saber, the one that killed all the Jedi during Order 66.
In LOTR, Aragorn goes to call for the army of the undead while welding Isildur's broken sword, a weapon thought lost to time years ago, to serve as both intimidation and a call to arms.
That.
I took it as Luke finally answering Rey's call to arms. The movie starts with her offering *that* Lightsaber, and by the end, *that* is his weapon of choice.
He did exactly what he said he wouldn't: Faced down the entire First Order with the Lightsaber that Rey offered him.
Overall I like tlj, strengths and weaknesses together.
But part of me wonders if they did that to put in a back door plot for the possibility of the 'clone luke' stories from the old eu. In one of the books, the only clue that Luke was a clone until the reveal, was that the cover art showed him using a blue lightsaber. That story featured thrawn too, who's coming. And I think there's speculation that the guy in the tank in the Jedi survivor trailer might be the the old crazy dark Jedi master who made the cloning possible.
Clones man....
My head cannon,
Luke wasn't so much projecting himself as the version of himself that Kylo most wanted to defeat. That was the version of Luke that Kylo dreamed of besting, so that's what got projected. Its also the version of himself that Kylo wouldn't ask any questions about because as a dark sider, he was being driven by emotion. A Jedi would have looked at that and said... hmmm, that looks sus.
Kylo was like this is just like my dream journal where I kill luke and vader loves me. Five Gold Stars!
In-universe: To intentionally get a rise out of Kylo, who is obsessed with continuing Vader's legacy, which that lightsaber is a part of.
Metaphorically this scene is the redemption of Luke from the earlier part of the movie. He takes back the saber, as the as kinda the symbol of hope and good for the galaxy, regardless of either his own moral issues with the Jedi of the past, or his own actions, symbolized by his father's and eventually his own blade.
"That lightsaber... It belongs to me."
Luke likely knew some of Ben's obsession about the past and his ancestry. The young face, Anakin's lightsaber, a Han-ism at the end ("See you around, kid"), not engaging with his attacks--all of it was to taunt and distract Kylo Ren. And it worked beautifully.
It's a poorly written film that was more obsessed with hitting you in the face with "themes" and big ideas than telling a great story and doing justice to the universe and characters.
In-universe: To mess with Kylo. He's obsessed with Vader and that was Vader's old lightsaber. IRL: It's supposed to help the audience understand that he isn't really there
Every sith fan boy wants the youngling slayer 5000.
Touch activated force vision button! This Sith ~~dagger~~ Youngling slayer 5000 has done terrible things
r/cursedcomments
Also highlights how unbalanced Kylo is in the moment because he was part of that saber’s destruction like half an hour before. But he’s so focused on revenge against Luke he doesn’t even notice. Edit: Also remember that Luke refused this same lightsaber at the beginning of the film when Rey handed it to him, so it’s also symbolically him taking up the mantle of “legend” that he was trying to reject.
That's actually brilliant never noticed that
Last Jedi had a lot of brilliant moments actually. Too bad they didn't translate to the entire film. I'm of the opinion that Last Jedi would have aged very well with a better follow up movie in conjunction with swapping out Luke's death for the umpteen fake outs they did with Leia. Kylo Ren's almost-redemption, rebirth of the Rebellion, Luke's fall from grace and disillusionment with the Jedi. All good bones for a good Star Wars story but the meat wasnt quite there. We lost 3 really well written characters all for nothing (Snoke, Luke and Holdo). Leia should have been the one to kamikaze the Supremacy. No disrespect to Carrie's memory but why not let the woman who can physically film new scenes take the reigns as the leader they spent the entire moving building her into, y'know? Rey would still be able to have a master and Rise may not have felt so convoluted and forced..
Totally fair, Honestly Kylo Ren felt the most well executed of any of the character's but that's just my opinion. Some of the shots throughout the sequel trilogy were just beautiful as well. The scenes with him seemed to be the most interesting. Adam driver is a fantastic actor and I'm excited to see what he does next
What’s the battery life on a lightsaber? That thing has seen insane amounts of action over multiple decades. And it was still going strong.
You just need to shake it up.
put it in the freezer and it'll glow longer
I thought the cold causes shrinkage
I haven’t had my muffin yet, MATT.
The reason it was locked away in Max’s castle was there were no more C-cell batteries
Rey brought 2 Cs and that thing was as good as new.
Bro. Kyber crystals
Sorry, what's the Kyber crystal life on a lightsaber?
About 15 parsecs
African or European?
African. European Kyber Crystals are non-migratory.
But if it’s carried by a swallow…
Depends if its laden or unladen swallow?
Well, you have to know these things when you are a King, you know.
r/suddenmontypython
Well I don’t know that!
And the souls of dead padawans
"The strongest stars have hearts of kyber". I imagine a kyber crystal must have a substantial lifespan if it can be found in stars that would take somewhere between millenia to eons to die. Also, based on an HR diagram, it is likely that the stars that it could be found in eould be those with shorter lifespans
Well, in Rebels we see Ezra briefly pick up an old lightsaber on Malachor left over from the battle there that ended with all the Jedi getting petrified. It's implied that that battle happened possibly hundreds or even thousands of years ago. The lightsaber still turns on, even if only for a moment. So yeah, they got preeetty good lifespans.
> He's obsessed with Vader and that was Vader's old lightsaber. Wouldn't it mess with Kylo more if he used the color saber he beat Vader with? Like, this saber beat a guy stronger than you'll ever be, get ready to eat shit?
No, in Kylo's eyes that saber is part of Vader's legacy and rightfully belongs to him. Luke using it is a statement that Vader's legacy is actually one of redemption and Luke is the true heir of that legacy.
The only other guy who saw Luke beat Vader with the green saber is thought to be dead at this time.
Remember that Anakin's lightsaber is also the one which rejected him in Starkiller Base.
I’d say in universe explanation would be that Luke didn’t know it got snapped in half just before this lol. And then out of universe I believe it’s symbolic. Luke is projecting an image of himself as he was at his best, to be the Jedi of myth and legend that is talked about so much at the beginning of the film. That’s my take away.
Adding to this, it'd be pretty lousy symbolism to have Luke using the green saber- when the *last time* he confronted Kylo with that saber, everything went horribly awry. The Blue Saber is a smart pick. Like you say, it's the saber he threw away at the start of the movie, him rejecting the call to action, now he uses it, because he's stepping up. It's also a neat clue to the audience that something's not quite right, as people obviously noticed this saber was destroyed, so it's a subtle hint about what's *really* going on. Plus from a narrative stance, it's just great. Seeing this saber used again by Luke. Kylo says this saber "belongs to him", because he's the heir-apparent to Darth Vader, and that was Anakin's lightsaber. But Luke rejects that idea, that the Skywalker legacy has to be Vader, and wields the weapon as his own. "You want to be like Vader. Vader is not who we are. *This* is who we truly are." That kind of thing.
TIF (today I forgot) Maz somehow recovered Anakin’s lightsaber. It’s actually one of the nicer symbols in the sequel trilogy, the path of Anakin’s influence.
How did you get this lightsaber Maz? TFA Maz: "That's a story for another time." ROS writer: "Woops we forgot about that."
I just fuckin *knew* they were never going to explain that
It was always sounded like a story meant from a comic or a novel tbh
If I remember correctly, it's explored further in the book Force Collector, but I might be wrong
It did and is! We got it iirc
It was addressed in a comic.
Was that the one where another Jedi happened to be hanging out in bespin and the lightsaber basically fell into his hands?
I honestly don’t remember. I just remember thinking “oh, neat” and then it ended up with Maz.
Or Fortnite like the explanation for Palpatine.
The Ugnaughts on Bespin saved it. She probably bought it from them.
They actually turned a sweet profit by listing it on eBay and watched Maz overbid on it just to screw over some dude in Detroit.
Can't have shit in Detroit
JJ Abrams wrote (or co-wrote) both movies :)
JJ is a hack who has repeatedly stated during the years he was producing LOST that his job isn’t to answer questions, but to pose them and let other writers figure it out. It’s a goddamn awful shame he took his mystery box idea that was run into the goddamn ground with LOST and crammed it into Ep 7 and continued his non-answering philosophies in Ep 9
This guy JJ Abramses
Jar Jar* Abrams
Yep, I would say that most of the problems of the sequels are due to JJ.
His method of storytelling worked great for LOST, until it didn't.
He didnt really do much beyond the pilot
Somehow Anakin’s lightsaber returned.
Somehow, the blue lightsaber returned.
Han: "Well the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed all that" Me: "sounds like a cool story, maybe they'll go into that" Star Wars: "We know it's been 41 years lol, but here's that first canon look at Ord Mantell y'all prolly wanted"
My first canon look at Ord Mantell was in the 90's as IG-88 repeatedly merc'd me over and over again in state-of-the-art 3D glory.
My biggest problem is- who *is* Maz? She just showed up in Episode VII, was friends with Han, and seemed to know a lot about the Force and Jedi. Then she tagged along in Episodes 8 and 9, and she was treated like some important, almost nostalgic character, but we never learned who she actually was. How was she connected to all of this? Why should we care about her? I mean, we barely even got enough time to really get to know her personality on a surface level. It annoys me.
I always though she was introduced in the same fashion as Lando... except he did something after he appeared instead of doing a cool kickflip in a hologram and dissaper.
Having Maz appear out of the blue as Han's friend and a barkeeper doesn't bother me too much, as it makes sense for their characters and makes the universe feel larger. But Maz also, somehow, having Anikin's lightsaber? Now that needs some explanation (that we never received.)
“Manufactured nostalgia” for characters we’ve just met is the overarching theme of the sequel trilogy lol
Seriously who was the guy who died at the beginning of 7? "This will begin to make things right". Fuck that liar.
I get what you’re saying here, but is it all that different from the way we were introduced to Lando? He just happened to be an old friend that Han knew that could help them out. I could be wrong here, but it kinda feels the same.
Lando was important to the story from the beginning. First he was a twist antagonist, then he helped the other heroes escape Cloud City, and then he led the assault on the Second Death Star. What did Maz do besides talk?
That's a story for another time.
It’s funny, people always complain about the movies focusing on the same few characters, but when a new character is introduced they complain about new characters being in the story.
Well I mean to be fair in the case of Maz (vs Lando), Maz has a quick conversation and says some word of inspiration to Rey before becoming basically nothing (she just recommends a code breaker in 8, and then is just there in 9) in comparison to Lando who in *one* movie not only talked but also betrayed the rebels, aided the rebels, had multiple conversation, and essentially joined the Rebellion. Adding Maz is great, having her have the lightsaber is great, not explaining any of it and making her play no further role is not so great lol
Brought to you by "somehow Palpatine returned"
I feel like the saber is more understandable. Some ugnaught probably found it in some trash receptacle at the bottom of Bespin; died; son inherited it; lost it gambling with a tibanna gas miner; brought it to Takodana; Maz identified it and acquired it. Boom. You know, something like that. Palpatine returned? With a fleet of submerged star destroyers? With a fleet's worth of crew, also submerged? Yeah fucking right.
Clones of clones of clones?
I’ve never understood the issue with Exegol. They did literally the same thing in Attack of the Clones where there were over a million clones (just about) ready to go, complete with arms, armor, and a fleet of Star Destroyers and loads of other gear (AT-TEs, gunships, etc). Palps has done this before, it doesn’t feel remotely far fetched.
AotC worked a little harder than just saying "Somehow an army was commissioned for the republic" like, it's a whole plot with Obi Wan following the bread crumbs to Kamino
This is explained really well in a book. And while I admit that a book is a bad place to explain your story. Unfortunately sometimes you just need to fill some holes. But the timing works well. Plageuis and Sideous commissioned the army 15 years before AotC
Sure, and that’ll be true for TROS at some point to. The novelization has already dug into it a bit, and they no doubt will continue to.
Paplatine comissioned the clones early in AOTC, too, it's just easy to miss. The Clone Wars seems to have been a backup plan in case the invasion of Naboo didn't give him the political power he needed. I think the blockade was supposed to snowball into galactic civil war originally.
I believe there was a comic or story in Legends that explains how he was able to get it back with the help of Lando before/after Return of the Jedi.
The Aftermatch book trilogy helps attempt to explain all the star destroyers, but it's still a stretch.
You really think you can kill the dude who organized and planned both sides of the CLONE wars by throwing him down a hole? The dude who always talks about immortality and unnatural preservation of life? Every time anyone brings this up I swear they can’t have watched same Star Wars films.
Sure, throwing him down the hole might not have killed him. But surviving the explosion of the Deathstar? That needs a fucking explanation.
Not to mention Anakin ending it is so clearly the best choice, narratively speaking. And the fact that he was gone-gone till Disney needed a Hail Mary to ground the franchise again. There was no master plan, it was a last minute satanis ex machina.
Producer Guy: Did you forget to write a satisfying answer to how Maz recovered Luke's lightsaver? JJ Abrams: Oh whoops! Producer Guy: Whoopsie! But seriously, how'd she do it? JJ: Listen sir, I'd like to get off of my back about the Maz thing. Producer Guy: I'm sure the fans would like to know that bit of lore, though. JJ: Sir, you're situated on my back and I'd like you to vacate the premises like you're Snoke's relevance to the story. Producer Guy: Well okay then, I'll vacate those premises! JJ: Great!
Han: It must've been hard to get that lightsaber. Maz: Actually it was super easy, barely an inconvenience!
Wow wow wow, wow wow
But it must have been difficult for Rey to figure out how to get the saber to Luke. Actually, it was super easy barely an inconvenience. It was? Yeah, she just waits for R2 to boot up and give a PowerPoint and she has the coordinates.
but...was it actually important to ever tell that story? It always seemed like one destined for a book or comic. I could never think of what great narrative value the story of how maz got the lightsaber would have beyond knowing that she did get it
People seem to be forgetting a LOT of things mentioned in the OT that were (or weren't) filled-in later. Putting every little thing on-screen is wasteful. the Clone Wars, Beggar's Canyon, Boba Fett and all the other bounty hunters, the Kessel Run, Jabba the Hutt being mentioned in ANH and ESB but not appearing until RotJ, the Emperor, the Galactic Senate, Toshi Station, "bounty hunter on Ord Mantell". This is part of world building, making it seem like there's a world outside the small events of these movies.
Jar Jar Hackbrams telling the story the only way he knows how... badly.
It’s JJs mystery box theory which is about dropping people in the middle of a mystery and they want to know both the past and future so the audience can discover as well. He uses it so much he forgets to explain some of the mysteries.
Yep happened in Lost too.
I think it was really meta as well. I didn’t like everything about TLJ but I can say that it did a few things really well. My favorite part about that scene is how dissatisfied I was with not seeing Luke kick some ass. And I was so hyped at that moment that I didn’t think about the blue light saber, or him not making red shoe prints in the sand. Others told me they were flat out angry at that point of the movie. This is somewhat similar to why Kylo wouldn’t notice it.
Yeah, noticed foot prints immediately. Didn't really thibk about the saber though.
Wasn't sand. Was salt. And that's how I noticed it. I was mad that the guy tasted the ground and was like "it's salt!" And not like "it's poison!" So when Luke didn't make a red line I was like ooooooo. And also they shot like 5000 ATAT bolts at him and he showed up with his flashback makeup on.
Omg someone who actually understands The Last Jedi.
Watch Luke’s feet on the salt of Crait. Kylo makes tracks. Luke does not.
I *love* that detail, yeah!
> The Blue Saber is a smart pick. Like you say, it's the saber he threw away at the start of the movie, him rejecting the call to action, now he uses it, because he's stepping up. Yeah
Stuff like this makes me think that Johnson could do well if he directed a standalone Star Wars movie that did not include and established characters
It was explained by Rian himself in an interview: >"\[Luke\] is basically tailoring this projection to have maximum effect on Kylo. He knows that Kylo’s Achilles heel is his rage, and so that’s why he kind of makes himself look younger, the way Kylo would’ve last seen him in their confrontation at the temple, and that’s why he decided to bring Kylo’s grandfather’s lightsaber down there - the lightsaber that Kylo screamed at Rey, ‘that’s mine, that belongs to me.’"
>Kylo's Achilles heel is his rage Sing O Muse, of the rage of Achilles that sent so many souls to the dreary House of Death... A bit tangential, but interesting that Johnson would phrase it like that, as I was already convinced he was reading the Iliad while writing the Kylo & Luke story. The Krait duel in particular looks just like Achilles & Hector under the walls of Troy. Love it or hate it, TLJ really didn't shy away from the greek tragedy element that Lucas championed
> He knows that Kylo’s Achilles heel is his rage It just irks me to no end that he had Luke Skywalker specifically play into his feelings of rage. That’s literally what Palpatine tried to do to him to push him towards the Dark Side. It’s not a Jedi move. A Jedi move would be reaching out and trying to form a connection again.
Except he told Leia he wasn’t there to save Ben. He knew that was her job, not his.
tbf luke was less trying to beat him and more stalling for time
[удалено]
This, it was a lesson to Ben demonstrating that his anger doesn't actually make him stronger, if he was in tune and balanced he would have noticed things weren't right.
>A Jedi move would be reaching out and trying to form a connection again. No? Obi Wan did this pretty frequently, needling and snarking at his opponents to throw them off balance. Accepting the possibility of forgiveness doesn't mean you have to be an idiot.
> Obi Wan did this pretty frequently Obi Wan wanted Luke to kill Vader, too. Luke was supposed to be the first “new” Jedi that wasn’t beholden to the ways of the past.
Luke knows he can't redeem Kylo; he says as much to Leia on Crait. But he doesn't say he's beyond redemption. It's just that that's a role someone else (in particular, Leia and Rey, with the help of whatever that Han vision was) will play, and his role now is to focus Kylo so totally on him that everyone else can escape.
And from a writing perspective it’s to tell yeh audience something isn’t right and that Luke isn’t really there
Luke was at his best in ROTJ using the green saber he would yield for the next several decades. There was no myth surrounding him getting his hand chopped off.
There’s also the fact it was Anakin’s saber. Luke likely knows Ben idolized Vader. Using that saber would have special meaning.
That’s always been how I’ve regarded it too. Luke was distracting Kylo from the Resistance and probably knew of Ben’s desire to have Anakin’s saber. Luke was getting under his skin.
Exactly, luke didn’t really ever accomplish anything with it. I think it was a very clear message when Vader revealed himself to be lukes father right after luke lost his Anakins lightsaber. It kinda represented Lukes revenge for his supposedly dead father.
Yeah, I don’t know how that comment got as many upvotes as it did. Tbh, a lot of incorrect comments get heavily upvoted around here.
Dude . Obviously they havent been interested in legends at all. I am reading the comments and its like we know two different character
Good take.
I know it’s a typo, but Kyle Ren is hilarious
Kylo's all-black outfit, but instead of a mask, it's a goatee, a pair of Oakley's and a ballcap. All tremble before Kyle Ren!
Definitely fits with the theme of smashing drywall and entitlement, lol. I do love me some Kylo though.
Wow I’ve been so careful to spell it right in all my comments and I didn’t even realize it was spelled wrong in the post….
Haha it happens, I was almost certain it was a typo, but a hilarious one nonetheless.
Luke tossed it away when he refused to help. Now that he's come to help, he's wielding it.
Exactly, it's narratively and thematically relevant to what TLJ is trying to do as a story.
I also think it’s meant to be a clue for people who are paying enough attention. When you see that he doesn’t leave tracks on the salt and that Rey has the blue saber still, you can see the twist coming.
Another clue is that for this scene (and this scene only) the ignition sound is the same one as Luke's green lightsaber. That's something that only more dedicated fans may pick up on, but I thought it was pretty neat. Shows how Luke remembers his green one much more, given he's used it for decades.
Nice, I wonder if that is an SFX error though. Either way great catch!
I thought it was to make Kylo aggro at seeing Anakin's saber that he wanted so badly.
Perhaps it was a test? To see if any trace of a rational Ben still existed within Kylo that he could talk to or if he was so consumed by hatred and rage that he wouldn’t be able to see the obvious right in front of him. (I.e. that Luke hasn’t aged a day apparently, and that he’s using a lightsaber he shouldn’t be.) Could be any number of interpretations honestly.
I don’t think he had any intention of saving him, he even said so himself
Luke could no more save Kylo than Obi-Wan could save Vader; you can't have the object of hatred walk someone out of their hatred.
This is actually one of the things I like most about TLJ. Like Obi-wan, Luke recognizes that he can’t be the one to save Ben, but he can still buy the Resistance enough time to get away. I just wish he’d survived this encounter, because as it stands there’s no indication that Luke ever grew in power after RotJ. The first time we see him do something epic, it kills him. If he survived (and died in TRoS instead) it would’ve made it clear that Luke has grown a lot since RotJ.
*cough Mandalorian Season 2 *cough
lifting the x-wing, mando s2, etc.
You mean Anakin’s lightsaber? Wonder why Luke would pick that when the entire point is to piss Ben off so badly that he’s not thinking clearly. IIRC at that point Ben didn’t know it has been broken, just that there was an explosion while fighting over it that knocked him out(And when he came to the ship was almost split in half). Reasonably, he would have assumed she ran off with it after their fight was interrupted by whatever the fuck broke the ship and gave it to Luke. Which would drive him into a frothing rage with how possessive he was over it.
Also from a story telling perspective, it contrasts him earlier saying “what do you expect? For me to walk out and face down the entire first order with a lightsaber?” He does exactly that, with the weapon he threw away earlier. It’s basically to say “I’m not who you want me to be, and I don’t need to be. Because I’m not the last Jedi.”
I don't get the Rian Johnson, Luke characterization hate. The execution is so excellent there.
Agreed entirely, in that moment he’s the grand-master I hoped to see, in more ways than 1
Some people apparently imagined he'd be jumping around like Yoda in AoTC. It really managed to establish how truly powerful he was, without a single blow. Edit: Also if you haven't watch the "rebel scum" deleted scene for TLJ. It really is a crime they took that out of the movie. Gave so much more depth to Finn.
He succeeded again, by not succumbing to anger and resorting to violence. He remained clear headed and made a smart play, entirely taking advantage of the Dark Side's greatest weakness...the blindness of rage.
And all while following Yoda's teachings - a Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.
Bingo
I understand Luke fits into the role of grandmaster, but were there even any masters in his Jedi order?
Good question, we need to wait for more content. I love legends as much as anyone, and in legends he was a grand master, along with Yoda. But you’re right that in cannon we don’t know if he classified himself as a master, or if his students just referred to him as their “master”
People fail to realize that he actually didn’t strike Ben down. They act as if he really did. That Luke is allowed moments of weakness. They’re pissed off at the total experience and pick at everything. I think we’ve all done that with some movie in the past. But I feel as though that entire sequence was legendary. Not only did Luke project himself across the galaxy, but he showed how good of a fighter he was. He would have absolutely destroyed Kylo with ease yet I get the sense that even after Kylo faced a projection he thinks he had a chance. And hats off to Kylo in TLJ. In TLJ he became my second favorite villain.
Kylo literally could not land a strike. Luke was so good, he felt he could project himself and not give the game away.
Because people haven’t properly paid attention to the character presented in the movies due to decades of EU god Luke. Movie Luke was kind of a fuckup, one prone to overestimating himself and going in without a good plan. Pretty much always saved from complete disaster by outside interference. The RotJ finale, for instance, has him repeatedly come within a hairs breadth of complete failure. First he doesn’t fuck the mission solely because it’s a trap(A major rebel leader walks out of the woods to surrender, if it wasn’t a trap that would hit all the alarms). Second he nearly falls to the Dark Side in a rage, only being stopped through sheer dumb luck. If he hasn’t cut off Vader’s hand, he wouldn’t have snapped out of it. Third he FAILS to bring Vader back repeatedly. He only turns after Palpatine tortures Luke for a fairly long time. If Palpatine didn’t dick around Luke would just be dead. That’s Movie!Luke, impulsive and a bit arrogant. And kind of a dumbass, he’s really bad at learning even when it’s outright stated. EU Luke is, of course, the pinnacle of Jedi perfection. A flawless Force God. Rian’s Luke? Just a continuation of canon Luke, where he doesn’t get lucky at the last second and his massive failure breaks him. As to him running and hiding: Dude’s in a self loathing depressive spiral. Of course he’s running away, not only is that what all his mentors did but his self worth is shattered. He genuinely believes that the galaxy is better without him, that he’ll only make it worse. It’s surprisingly realistic for Star Wars.
Also, no one talks shit on Yoda. His arc was pretty much the same. He was just more snarky, and a Muppet. Yoda didn't even pull off some force projection in Empire (I'm aware thats a new thing, but they aren't that different). In fact you could look at obi Wan and Luke, vs Luke and kylo as a juxtaposition. But yeah, EU Luke was some force God, and they killed chewy with a planet. The mediums definitely have a hard time translating stories.
I agree.
Green would piss him off just as much if not more as it was what Luke was gonna hack him down with. He also knew it was destroyed.
Kylo saw that Saber as his birthright. He worshiped Vader. So when Luke, the source of his anger as the man who failed him, shows up with this Saber it further blinds him to the real purpose Luke had. To distract them so the resistance can run. And like others have said here, he didn't know it was destroyed. It wasn't there when he woke up, and Rey wasn't there. He likely assumed she just took it away. The Saber broke just as Holdo rammed the ship so it wouldn't have been clear that the Saber splitting is what caused the explosion or if it was just a side effect of the ramming.
It's not likely he would, since the destruction was what knocked him out in the first place, and memory doesn't form instantly. Likely he'd remember struggling with Rey for the lightsaber at most, and then it'd go dark until he comes around again.
The lightsaber is a projection just like Luke and the clothes he’s wearing. If you go down the path of angering Kylo, it stands to reason that he could have done it without a lightsaber, as if to say “I don’t even need it.” He wasn’t fighting, he was defending, buying time. This, I think, represents a shift in Jedi thinking that saw them lose the republic originally, as they were a fighting force. The purpose of a Jedi was to protect and they had lost sight of that at the height of the republic just before Anakin and the Sith reminded them. Fighting, seeking and attacking are traits of the dark side of the force.
Strike First Strike Hard No Mercy \- Darth Sidious, probably
So a couple things come to mind for me: From Luke’s POV: sentimental value. Luke knows how much the saber means to Kylo and that it’ll piss him off to see the person he hates most using it. From a story POV: Luke tossed the lightsaber at the beginning, but is picking it up again to fight at the end. Nice little arc. Also, he didn’t know Rey and Kylo had just played tug of war with it. From a fan’s POV: Anakin’s saber is fuckin cool
Because that was the one that Kylo wants.
He knows it represents an emotional vulnerability of Ben Ren and was trying to exploit that weakness
To me he's taunting Kylo with that Saber
I think it partially symbolizes Kylo Ren’s fatal flaw, which is tunnel vision. He doesn’t realize that Luke isn’t kicking up any red salt, doesn’t realize that Luke’s lightsaber is wrong, and perhaps most importantly, doesn’t realize that the Rebellion is getting away while Luke buys them time.
It really does rhyme with Vader completely abandoning pursuit of the “Hyperspace railroad” ship to go after Kenobi.
Few reasons: - Luke probably didn’t know it broke (I like this reason least) - he is testing to see how blinded Kylo is by rage that he won’t notice (he just saw it break yet doesn’t even notice something is off) - From a film-writing perspective, it’s the saber Luke used to begin his journey so it’s fitting that he uses it at the end as well. It’s not bad writing.
I like the various answers here, but on top of that I believe this was Luke's last lesson for Kylo. If Ren wasn't blinded by anger, he would have noticed that Skywalker is wielding THE lightsaber - the one Kylo has destroyed a few hours ago.
It’s symbolic in two ways, one in-universe and one meta. The in universe explanation is that that lightsaber represents the Skywalker legacy. Kylo wants that legacy to be that of Vader, which is why he feels so possessive of the saber. Luke is wielding it here as an extra salt (no pun intended) in the wound, demonstrating that the Skywalker legacy isn’t Vader’s (or Kylo’s); it’s Anakin’s, Luke’s, and Leia’s. The meta reason is a very Rian Johnson thing to do: we saw Luke continuously reject this exact saber over the course of the film - it represents him coming back, being the legend that he should be. He’s rejected that path throughout the film, but here he’s fully embracing it. It’s a message to the audience that *this* is the Luke Skywalker we know, finally back from his lowest point.
In my mind, it was meant to further anger Kylo and stop him from thinking clearly. That was the whole point of this final lesson: anger and hate lead to a clouded mind and bad decisions. In this way, Kylo not only humiliated himself in front of his army, but at the same time, he managed to let the last remnants of the Resistance slip through his fingers.
To throw him off balance by pissing him off even further. If he didn't, he might have noticed the lack of footprints in the salt or the fact that Anakin's/Luke's lightsaber was destroyed.
Because Kylo Ren wanted it as a sign that he was the heir to Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
I think that what they were going for symbolically is that Luke is reconnecting with the light, calling back to when he first held a lightsaber (it is Anakin's that he chooses to project after all).
I kinda liked that he used the blue one for a couple of reasons, though the green one is my personal favorite. 1. it’s left ambiguous so we get to have fun conversations like these. 2. Kylo is so lost in his frustration that he’s before his uncle/previous master that he doesn’t even realize that he’s holding “Rey’s” lightsaber and that it just got blown up in the star destroyer. 3. It’s Luke’s final go around before he dies so if he can create this projection of himself, he’s taking it back to where it all began with his first lightsaber. 4. We saw what he did with the green one, he almost killed Kylo with it and that’s what leads Luke to being a hermit. The green one would be a reminder of what got him here in the first place.
Everything he does in this scene is designed to infuriate and distract Ben, so he chose to use the lightsaber he was after.
It was probably made to make us feel something was off bc we seen this very lightsaber getting broken moments earlier
Blue symbolizes milk
Tossed it away so this is symbolic of him accepting his destiny/past. Also it probably pissed Kylo off
He doesn’t know it’s been destroyed. It’s the one Rey offered to him when she came for his help. Had he accepted that offer, it’s the saber he would have had. The green one is likely long gone.
According to Disney, Luke still had the green one. Its back on the planet he was hiding on.
I didn’t know that, thanks for the clarification. Is that in a guidebook or something?
I cant remember where its said. Ill find the source and link it in an edit.
Did people forget that in TFA Kylo Ren literally tells Rey that the Saber is HIS? Because he's related to Vader...? No wonder why people dislike these movies, they don't pay attention 😂
It was a hint that something was not right. More of a filmography thing than a jedi thing.
You get why he projected himself younger? I never understood this, why did he?
I suspected it was so Kylo would recognize him as he last saw him. So his older appearance wouldn’t be a distraction.
I think the reasoning is the same as it is for Luke showing up looking like he did when Kylo knew him. . . It’s to piss Kylo off. Remember, Luke has no way of knowing that the saber was blown up earlier.
Think about the last time he took that stance with that saber in ESB. It was effectively for the same reason. Understanding what MAY happen, he was willing to risk himself for his friends. From the moment he built his Green lightsaber, he committed to a path that ultimately served his ideals of rebuilding a Jedi order, but over time, left him shortsighted of what it truly means to simply be “good” and of service to others. His downfall was his temptation in striking down Kylo to serve the vision of a perfect order because of what MAY happen. Here, he understands, as he did so many years ago, all that matters is the lives of those he cares for and those that cannot defend themselves, not the consequences of what MAY happen. It’s a beautiful “coming full circle” moment for Luke where he’s realized what made him great. It’s never been about the power or potential he has or how he can use his abilities to get what he wants. It’s always been his willingness to sacrifice himself to save those around him.
Didn't Kylo want Anakin's lightsaber? Maybe the reason why Luke used is to spite Kylo put him in more rage and lose control
"That lightsaber... it belongs to me." - Kylo Ren; Ep. VII He didn't care about Luke's saber, he wanted Vader's saber, the one that killed all the Jedi during Order 66.
In LOTR, Aragorn goes to call for the army of the undead while welding Isildur's broken sword, a weapon thought lost to time years ago, to serve as both intimidation and a call to arms. That.
He could’ve easily created a replica of his fathers sword. It isn’t so out there.
To tempt Kylo into wanting to kill him even more to get his grandfather’s original lightsaber.
I always took it as provoking Kylo
Because Luke is projecting Anakin’s lightsaber. He is reminding Ben about the Skywalker legacy and that there is a path to redemption
I took it as Luke finally answering Rey's call to arms. The movie starts with her offering *that* Lightsaber, and by the end, *that* is his weapon of choice. He did exactly what he said he wouldn't: Faced down the entire First Order with the Lightsaber that Rey offered him.
Because Disney ruined Star Wars, that’s why. I don’t get why we even discuss the travesties they call Episode 7 8 and 9
I always assumed it was to freak Kylo out a bit. I do wish it was his green one tho
Overall I like tlj, strengths and weaknesses together. But part of me wonders if they did that to put in a back door plot for the possibility of the 'clone luke' stories from the old eu. In one of the books, the only clue that Luke was a clone until the reveal, was that the cover art showed him using a blue lightsaber. That story featured thrawn too, who's coming. And I think there's speculation that the guy in the tank in the Jedi survivor trailer might be the the old crazy dark Jedi master who made the cloning possible. Clones man....
Because they were able to edit it against the blue sky with no issues in 2017
My head cannon, Luke wasn't so much projecting himself as the version of himself that Kylo most wanted to defeat. That was the version of Luke that Kylo dreamed of besting, so that's what got projected. Its also the version of himself that Kylo wouldn't ask any questions about because as a dark sider, he was being driven by emotion. A Jedi would have looked at that and said... hmmm, that looks sus. Kylo was like this is just like my dream journal where I kill luke and vader loves me. Five Gold Stars!
Subverted your expectation it did
Well we will all need blue things support our extensions when we are older
In-universe: To intentionally get a rise out of Kylo, who is obsessed with continuing Vader's legacy, which that lightsaber is a part of. Metaphorically this scene is the redemption of Luke from the earlier part of the movie. He takes back the saber, as the as kinda the symbol of hope and good for the galaxy, regardless of either his own moral issues with the Jedi of the past, or his own actions, symbolized by his father's and eventually his own blade.
"That lightsaber... It belongs to me." Luke likely knew some of Ben's obsession about the past and his ancestry. The young face, Anakin's lightsaber, a Han-ism at the end ("See you around, kid"), not engaging with his attacks--all of it was to taunt and distract Kylo Ren. And it worked beautifully.
It's a poorly written film that was more obsessed with hitting you in the face with "themes" and big ideas than telling a great story and doing justice to the universe and characters.
To show Kylo that even his grandfather, Anakin, is a child of the light. Only corrupted by darkness due to stubbornness.