12

Kylo Ren seems determined to emulate Darth Vader, right down to keeping a little "Vader shrine" in his private chambers (complete with the helmet that Luke cremated at the end of Return of the Jedi).

We know that Ren's lightsaber contains a Kyber crystal that is cracked and broken. Could this possibly be the same one that was in Vader's lightsaber?

Valorum
  • 689,072
  • 162
  • 4,636
  • 4,873

2 Answers2

16

It's not the same crystal

During his duel with Luke, Vader's lightsaber fell into the chasm in Palpatine's Throne Room, at the bottom of which lies the Death Star II's 'reactor core'.

Per the (fully canon) Ultimate Star Wars factbook:

In their final duel, Luke momentarily succumbs to his anger and cuts off his father's hand. Thus Vader's lightsaber falls into the same energy well in which Sidious perishes.

Per the Official Novelisation:

The hand, along with bits of metal, wires, and electronic devices, clattered uselessly away while Vader’s lightsaber tumbled over the edge of the span, into the endless shaft below, without a trace.

Per the new Junior Novelisation:

But Luke slashes with his saber, slicing Vader’s arm off. The metal limb tumbles down into the shaft, taking the lightsaber with it.

Note that the Death Star II exploded shortly afterwards with very few survivors. All accounts (both within the main canon and EU) have the saber being destroyed when it fell into the reactor core.

Valorum
  • 689,072
  • 162
  • 4,636
  • 4,873
  • It is speculated that the artifact attempted to be retrieved in "The Perfect Weapon" is either the saber or (more likely) his charred helmet – NKCampbell Apr 18 '16 at 15:55
  • 10
    Well we've seen another lightsaber that fell down endlessly so why not this one lol – Probst Apr 18 '16 at 16:51
  • @Probst - Hence unlikely rather than impossible :-) – Valorum Apr 18 '16 at 16:54
  • 5
    @NKCampbell - It's a Macguffin made out of pure midi-chlorians – Valorum Apr 18 '16 at 16:55
  • 3
    @Probst At least Bespin didn't explode shortly afterwards. – OrangeDog Apr 18 '16 at 21:08
  • Perhaps it was recovered by an Ewok. – John Sensebe Apr 18 '16 at 22:09
  • Any updates to the thinking on this after post-Aftermath (1/2) and Bloodlines? There appears to be lots of Imperial artifact hunting going on and Vader's saber is included in that hunt @Valorum? I may tackle that possibility as an answer if you don't want to but it would be more speculation than certainty at this point – NKCampbell Sep 28 '16 at 20:09
  • @NKCampbell - All signs point to Vader's saber having been destroyed. People might be hunting for it, but that doesn't make it any more likely to be found than the Holy Grail or Hitler's diaries. – Valorum Sep 28 '16 at 20:13
  • 1
    @NKCampbell - "Vermia says: “Was that really Vader’s weapon?” The Kubaz shrugs. “Who knows. And really, who cares?”" – Valorum Sep 28 '16 at 20:14
0

*huge spoilers for rise of skywalker. you've been warned.

Well, if you'd asked me this question before i saw rise of Skywalker, i would have said no. the death star exploded so it couldn't have survived, right?

Well, it seems there is a chance. We don't know how Kylo got his kyber crystal, and Emperor Palpitine (excuse the spelling) managed to survive the void of space. Emperor palpitine most likely kept vader's saber, as it was an artifact from the time he was in power. in the movie, he said that he kept tabs on kylo ren using Snoke. A master will almost always give their aprentices their first kyber crystal. seeing as Snoke was a creation of Palpatine, he could have easily given Snoke the kyber crystal to pass on to Kylo. kylo ren would have been very acceptive of this if snoke had told him it was in Vader's saber. It is based of a lot of ifs, but most of Star Wars is.

random internet person
  • 1
  • I didn't get the impression that the Palpatine we see in TROS is the one that fell down the DS2 shaft (and went boom). More like one of those "unnatural" thingies Senator P learned from his buddy Plagueis the Notwiseenoughnottotrusthisapprentice. – Marakai Jan 06 '20 at 03:46