Star Wars: The Force Awakens brought us back to the galaxy far, far away for the first time in many years. When we rejoined our favorite heroes we found them all in very different places than we last left them. However, possibly no one person had quite as interesting a journey, and one so filled with questions, as a particular object did. In addition to reconnecting with people, we also once again found ourselves in the presence of a certain lightsaber. One that has had a very long journey indeed. One fan has now chronicled that trip in its entirely. Check out the video below.
The video, created by Christopher Sherwood on YouTube, is bookended by the final scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, where Rey finds Luke Skywalker and presents him with his old weapon. In that moment, all we get is an expression on Luke’s face. The video seems to give us one idea of what Luke may have been thinking in those moments, considering everything that hilt had been through, from the great, and terrible things, his father had done with it, to his losing the weapon in Cloud City. Somehow, it still found its way back to him. Of course, we can’t really tell how he feels about that. He certainly doesn’t look happy to see his old lightsaber again.
While the lightsaber itself doesn’t appear in every film, Anakin hasn’t built it in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and it’s already lost in Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi, it does make one think about just how epic the scope of the story has been over seven films. It’s not just the people who have been through massive changes. When we first meet the blade in the original Star Wars we know nothing of its history, shrouded as it is in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s "point of view." It’s a blade that was used to kill children in Star Wars: Episode III in one of the darkest moments in the entire series to date. It very nearly killed Luke’s nephew earlier in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We know that, to some extent, the blade itself has a memory. It has seen quite a bit in its years of existence.
It certainly makes us wonder if Anakin’s lightsaber has finished its journey quite yet. Will Rey continue to use it, or will she have built her own by the time we see her again in Star Wars: Episode VIII? Does Luke still have his green lightsaber from Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi, or will he pick up his old weapon once again?
You may think the answers to these questions can be predicted with some ease, but for some reason, everything surrounding Star Wars: Episode 8 just keeps getting more complicated. In fact, earlier this week, fans were blindsided with the news that Finn and Rey may not be the main characters in the next movie. To get the scoop on what the hell might be going on there, flip over to the next page... The details are still a little bit messy, but during a speech earlier this week, Star Wars lead John Boyega referred to newcomer Kelly Marie Tran as the "new lead". The actress was previously cast for an unknown role, but at the time, most assumed the part was merely a key supporting character. Apparently that's not true.
If this were another franchise, there would likely be a lot of head scratching going on. Star Wars, however, has always proven to be very adventurous when it comes to casting, often preferring to make stars rather than hire expensive, high end talent who fans may already have well-formed opinions about.
What should we expect from Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode 8? We break it down here.
