Contents
Summary
- A disturbing theory suggests that Darth Vader kept one of Ahsoka Tano’s lightsabers for a darker reason, potentially using its kyber crystal to improve his own blade.
- Ahsoka sensed Anakin’s fall to the dark side and left her lightsaber behind when she survived Order 66. The Empire discovered the crash site and Darth Vader kept the lightsaber – perhaps using it to create his dual phase lightsaber
- Darth Vader’s dual phase lightsaber, created with two kyber crystals, allowed him to surprise opponents by adjusting the blade length, giving him an advantage in combat.
Darth Vader kept one of Ahsoka Tano’s lightsabers after the Clone Wars, but a disturbing theory suggests there was a very dark reason indeed. Ahsoka Tano was Darth Vader’s Padawan during the Clone Wars, and the bond between Master and Apprentice was a deep one. As seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7, Ahsoka sensed it when Anakin fell to the dark side; she knew something was wrong, and this arguably saved her life, putting her on alert for the betrayal of the clone troopers. Ahsoka survived Order 66, although the capital ship she was on crashed on a snowy planet. She left her one of her lightsabers behind – a blade that had been returned to her by Anakin himself.
The Empire found the crash site a year ago, and it didn’t take Darth Vader long to discover the lost lightsaber. Surprisingly, he kept it, an apparent memento of his former apprentice. And yet, for all that’s the case, Darth Vader didn’t show any hint of nostalgia when he encountered Ahsoka again some years later in Star Wars Rebels; he was beyond Ahsoka’s ability to reach, and made a concerted attempt to kill her. This has led to some speculation there’s a darker reason Darth Vader kept that lightsaber.
Darth Vader’s Dual-Phase Lightsaber Required Two Kyber Crystals
Jedi tend to acquire the kyber crystals that power their lightsabers through pillgramage to holy sites such as the planet Ilum. Sith are different, though; they “bleed” a kyber crystal to their own will, turning the crystal to the dark side – a process that results in the signature red blade. Anakin Skywalker lost his original lightsaber after his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and he created a new blade that was rather more unusual. Darth Vader’s lightsaber was improved to make it even more deadly, because he used two kyber crystals to transform it into an unusual dual phase lightsaber.
A dual phase lightsaber contains not one but two kyber crystals; the Dark Lord of the Sith can cycle between these two crystals, with each generating a blade of a different length. This type of lightsaber had previously been seen as outdated, meaning few Jedi had trained against it. Vader could therefore surprise opponents by adjusting his blade length, giving him the upper hand in a duel.
Star Wars Has Only Revealed The Origin Of ONE Of Vader’s Crystals
Every Sith apprentice faces their own trial, in which they must pit their wits against a Jedi Master and acquire a kyber crystal that they bleed. Shortly after Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Darth Vader proved himself by defeating Jedi Master Kirak Infil’a – an Order 66 survivor who was particularly skilled in combat. Darth Vader tracked the Jedi to the moon Al’doleem, where he confronted and eventually killed him. He claimed Master Infil’a’s curved lightsaber, took it back to Mustafar, and wasted no time bleeding the crystal so he could build his new lightsaber. But this only accounts for Vader’s acquiring just one of the two kyber crystals he would use in his lightsaber.
Did Darth Vader Bleed Ahsoka’s Kyber Crystal & Use It In His Lightsaber?
As seen at the end of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Darth Vader visited the wreckage of the Star Destroyer Tribunal and retrieved her lightsabers. According to E.K. Johnston’s novel Ahsoka, Anakin Skywalker’s old Padawan left the lightsabers as a way of faking her own death; she hoped her enemies would not be able to believe she would ever leave her lightsabers behind. Whatever the truth, it’s interesting to note Darth Vader kept at least one of these lost lightsabers.
It’s tempting to assume Darth Vader kept the lightsaber out of mere sentimentality, but there could have been another reason; that he was familiar with these kyber crystas, and sought to use one to improve his own blade. If that is the case, Darth Vader bled the kyber crystals of the lightsabers he had only recently returned to Ahsoka, turning them to the dark side. Even more disturbingly, when Vader fought Ahsoka years later he used that same dual phase lightsaber against her – a ddark symmetry the Sith Lord would no doubt appreciate. It would be so very in-character for Darth Vader to turn a gift into something so brutal.