Is Anakin's lightsaber the only one remaining from the 'Clone Wars' era?

Question

In discussions and info surrounding The Force Awakens, it seems that a lot of the (now ancient) Jedi knowledge has been lost to time. Luke's Green lightsaber used a synthetic crystal, a practice usually resigned to Siths, and is said to be more cruder in design than the original ones. Likewise, Kylo Ren's lightsaber is said to be impure, primitive, and using a cracked crystal, resulting in a distorted blade with the need for side vents (the crossguards).

Of course, leading up to the end of the Clone Wars, most of the Jedi seem to have been wiped out, and, given Palpatine actively worked to erase all existence of the Jedi from public, one can assume that most of their weapons also followed suit. But do we know of any that have survived until the time of the Force Awakens? Other than Anakin/Luke/Rey's of course.

The only lightsabers I can remember from the original trilogy are:

Anakin's original (blue)
- Taken by Obi-Wan towards the end of Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith, and is kept by him until he passes it to Luke.
Obi-Wan's (blue)
- Assuming he kept his original from the end of the Clone Wars.
- likely destroyed, either by Vader as a conclusion to their fight, or if it was left on the Death Star, exploded along with it.
Vader's (red)
- I'm not entirely sure when this was crafted, but I assume it was during the conclusion of the Clone Wars or very soon after. At the very least, Anakin/Vader would've had original Jedi training on fashioning lightsabers so we can assume it's made to similar levels of quality.

Are there any other lightsabers that may have survived the Clone Wars and made it to the 'First Order' era?

Is this question asking did any lightsaber at all make it to the 'First Order' era? Or are you asking if any lightsaber that we saw used during the clone wars survive? — Firebat, Jan 14 '16 at 07:36
@S.Fruggiero - the former, sans Anakins of course. I only know of (or can only remember) the three listed above that came from the Clone Wars era, and all of them appeared on screen. I don't mind if it's an extracanonical source or not, just that I haven't read all books/surrounding materials and are wondering if any other lightsabers from the Clone Wars era are still kicking around — Robotnik, Jan 14 '16 at 07:40
in terms of strict new canon - I don't know that we can definitively say anything re: synthetic crystals or the nature of the crystal in Luke's new saber in particular. I think that all comes from now Legends material. — NKCampbell, Jan 14 '16 at 08:05
@NathanK.Campbell - I'm not necessarily restricting this to new canon - so long as its made clear whether a linked source is new or old canon :-). I.e. any story set after the time of Ep VI I'm interested in — Robotnik, Jan 14 '16 at 08:09
I'm basically trying to gauge the technological regression and 'loss' of knowledge from pre-Clone Wars to 'present day', if that makes sense :-) — Robotnik, Jan 14 '16 at 08:12
I don't know about "First Order era", but at least during the Empire, Kannan (from the Rebels cartoon) does posses knowledge on building a lightsaber. The series hasn't concluded yet, so we have no clue on Kannan's future and if he's going to live to see the First Order. — Kroltan, Jan 14 '16 at 14:11
Is that a Jedi mind trick in your question -> Episode III: The Clone Wars -> Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith? — Iwillnotexist Idonotexist, Jan 14 '16 at 15:28
Wouldn't Vader's red lightsaber have been constructed after the Clone Wars had ended? Anakin and Obi-Wan fight after General Grievous is dead and Order 66 has been executed, at which point Obi-Wan takes his ligthsaber. Anakin/Vader wouldn't get a chance to build a new lightsaber until after he's been severely burned and put into his spiffy new suit. The war is pretty much over by then, right? I see your conditions on including it as a clone wars era lightsaber, but I'm thinking it should be excluded outright (or at best a footnote). — Ellesedil, Jan 14 '16 at 19:59
Have any of them ever been confirmed destroyed? Closest I can think of is Darth Maul's, which was split in half, and each half still worked fine on its own. A lot of them fell to unknown depths, but as far as we know, Luke's original one could be still intact somewhere at the foot of Cloud City. Mace Windu's might be in a back alley dumpster on Coruscant. Vader's and Palatine's probably blew up with DS2, but other than that, there's no reason to believe that any of them were ever destroyed in the series. — Darrel Hoffman, Jan 14 '16 at 22:53
@DarrelHoffman - Maul's was technically two separate sabers - each end had it's own power supply and focusing crystal, which is why one side continued to work when split. Anakin/Luke's original was found sometime before The Force Awakens - it's the one given to Rey in that movie. and part of the Emperor's plan was to wipe out all trace of the Jedi, to make them a myth - which included burning down their buildings and destroying Jedi relics and technology. Which is why we can assume most pre-war ones were destroyed (and why I'm so interested in those which survived :) ) — Robotnik, Jan 15 '16 at 01:10
@Ellesedil - It would most likely be early in the period of the new Empire restoring order, or in the waning hours of the Clone Wars. The main reasoning for my having listed it though is because Anakin was a full Jedi and thus had mastered that art of creating lightsabers in the 'old ways' - as I said it's likely that it was built to the same sort of specifications and similar levels of quality as those from the Clone War era — Robotnik, Jan 15 '16 at 01:14
But we don't know for sure that the Emperor destroyed every Jedi lightsaber he found. I mean, why destroy perfectly good weapons when you could use them instead? That's what Grievous did. Plus, the Emperor died in VI, so any lightsabers still intact at that time he probably didn't get to. So Luke's, obviously (both of them), but probably also Yoda's (I assume stashed somewhere on Dagobah), and any others they hadn't yet found... — Darrel Hoffman, Jan 15 '16 at 14:41
@DarrelHoffman - The Emperor's game-plan was to wipe out any semblance of the Jedi ever existing. Jedi temples/buildings/outposts were destroyed, Jedi loyalists (not necessarily Jedi themselves) were weeded out, etc etc. It isn't a stretch that destroying lightsabers that he didn't need or have a use for was a part of that plan. — Robotnik, Jan 18 '16 at 02:12
The Emperor also wasn't interested in trophies, only power. Vader was his only 'prize' worth keeping. Grevious was an expert swordsman, the lightsabers he took were practical as well as trophies of his former conquests. — Robotnik, Jan 18 '16 at 02:15

NKCampbell · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-17T04:46:49.070

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Disney Canon

There is a least one - Luke comes into possession of one in the new canon book "Heir to the Jedi" (which occurs between E4 and E5)

Luke meets a Rodian named Soonta, who's uncle, Huulik, was a Jedi who fought with Kenobi during the Clone Wars. She tells Luke:

Like your father, he was betrayed. He was shot by his clone troopers who were supposed to be on his side. He made it into his ship, recorded a brief message about what happened to him with his astromech, and gave it orders to bring him back here.

Later - she takes Luke to Huulik's grave where he retrieves his lightsaber with her permission.

Huulik's lightsaber was designed for a Rodian hand and wasn't quite comfortable in my fist...it ripped into life and thrummed with energy, a brilliant amethyst blade.

Luke later disassembles this saber so as to get his first glimpse into the construction of a saber (since he was of course reluctant to disassemble his own) and discovers that there are wafer thin crystals and that construction surely requires the Force (thus he can't put it back together yet)

edited Mar 17 '16 at 04:46

answered Jan 14 '16 at 08:01

NKCampbell

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Interesting. So there is definitely a "loss" of knowledge occurring - as you say he hasn't been able to put it back together yet. – Robotnik Jan 14 '16 at 08:21
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yes indeed - it's probably the most interesting part of the entire book imo – NKCampbell Jan 14 '16 at 08:21
I'm definitely going to have to read it, that's for sure! :-) – Robotnik Jan 14 '16 at 08:23
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In the 'Star Wars' comic series currently being published (also set between episodes IV and V), there's a Hutt who has been collecting lightsabers for some time. At least a few of them are shown to still be functional – LowIntHighCha Jan 14 '16 at 13:29
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@LogicianWithAHat - that's a valid answer - go ahead and add it – NKCampbell Jan 14 '16 at 14:25
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Wait, but if Luke disassembled it between E4 and E5, how can it be said to have "survived" until E7? – Dylan Cristy Jan 14 '16 at 14:49
That's a good point @DylanCristy - however, the question doesn't say survived in a functional state :) - and, it is possible Luke did assemble it later and used it as a training saber for his new Jedi trainees later. Without more info (we don't yet have) - we simply don't know. It is not likely he just chucked the parts after this scene though so I think it's fair to say – NKCampbell Jan 14 '16 at 14:57
@DylanCristy - I'm mainly looking for evidence from the 'loss of knowledge' standpoint: Obi-Wan and Yoda were the last full Jedis of the old order, Luke had barely scratched the surface of becoming a Jedi, and Kylo had only learned from him and Snokes, meaning any skill in creating lightsabers is now about two generations removed from the 'perfected' ones of the Jedi Order. – Robotnik Jan 14 '16 at 15:07
(cont.) Therefore any lightsabers that would've survived that time would be invaluable as a learning instrument - which is why I'm trying to find out about any that may have survived in a 'where are they now' situation. Nathan's answer is compelling because Luke DID break down an old lightsaber and try and figure it out, perhaps in the time since this book Luke figured it all out and can now churn out top-notch lightsabers? Maybe there's another secretive Order hiding somewhere, tasked with preserving the old ways somewhere? – Robotnik Jan 14 '16 at 15:07

score 23 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 26 '23 at 10:06

23

More Disney canon:

The currently running Marvel comics 'Star Wars' series, set between episodes IV and V, features Grakkus the Hutt, a collector of Jedi artifacts on Nal Hutta (in issues 8-12). In his collection are numerous lightsabers, at least some of which are seen to be in working order. They've not been shown to have been destroyed in any way since that appearance.

Some (hopefully not too spoiler-y) pictures:

edited Apr 26 '23 at 10:06

fez

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answered Jan 14 '16 at 15:03

LowIntHighCha

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Side note, so much for the idea that only Jedi can safely wield lightsabers... – FuzzyBoots Jan 03 '20 at 00:26

score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 14 '16 at 08:17

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There were hundreds of light sabres in the prequel trilogy, and it seems statistically unlikely that they were all destroyed in the five decades between Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens. I'm not aware of Order 66 stating that light sabres were to be destroyed along with their owners.

answered Jan 14 '16 at 08:17

Mike Scott

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I bet there is a tiny green lightsaber chilling on Dagobah right now. Side note: I have 11 swords in my possession, each at least 5 centuries old. If a sword mostly copper or iron can last that long, I bet any Lightsaber (not intentionally destroyed) could last half a century. – Firebat Jan 14 '16 at 09:00
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While statistics make sense, I think we would need more concrete proof in proper answers. Especially since your reasoning still leaves some gaps unaccounted. Palpatine sought actively to erase all existence of the Jedi from public. Lightsabers lying around would be one such thorn: Not to mention how dangerous it would be to circulate in the black market. – thegreatjedi Jan 14 '16 at 09:02
Not to mention kyber crystals are incredibly difficult to destroy. Lightsabers are banned, and their crystals are prohibited from commerce. Therefore, they're major collectors items. – thegreatjedi Jan 14 '16 at 09:03
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@thegreatjedi Makes a good point that Palpatine wanted anything to do with the Jedi destroyed. Lightsabers are force imbued, and as discovered in the other answer, are constructed using the force. Palpatine wouldn't want remnants of light-sided force lying around, so he probably had them destroyed, although this is a guess, and therefore a comment. – John Bell Jan 14 '16 at 10:36
@JohnBell that's not how the Force works lol...but basically it's for political reasons, now that the Jedi are dead he has to wrap it up – thegreatjedi Jan 14 '16 at 11:03
How do you know that's not how it works? Maybe the force has allowed you to think that it doesn't work this way ;) – John Bell Jan 14 '16 at 11:26
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@S.Fruggiero a lump of iron can easily withstand time and only get rusty or blunt. Try putting complicated electronics in the ground for a while and see how well it stands up. I'd hazard a lightsabre would need extensive maintenance and cleaning to work again, at best. – gbjbaanb Jan 14 '16 at 14:49
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@gbjbaanb - see the canon answer of mine above. Luke obtained a lightsaber that had been buried with a dead Jedi since Order 66 - possibly as much as 30 years and it was in perfect working order. – NKCampbell Jan 14 '16 at 16:55
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General Grevious had quite the collection of lightsabers. He could only carry 4 at a time, so it's probably safe to assume he stashed the rest of his collection somewhere. Is it known where? Or should that be a new question? – Ellesedil Jan 14 '16 at 20:04
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Based on the S2 finale of Rebels, lightsabers can sit there for a few thousand years and still turn on. – Milo P Oct 18 '16 at 23:03

Is Anakin's lightsaber the only one remaining from the 'Clone Wars' era?

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