'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Villain Kylo Ren's Lightsaber Is an 'Ancient' Design
Star Wars: The Force Awakens villain Kylo Ren’s crossguard lightsaber has been a source of endless fascination since it made its debut in the first teaser last year. Now we may be getting more hints about the origins of the weapon’s unusual design. A new exhibit opened in Disneyland on Monday called “Star Wars Launch Bay” and includes some props and costumes from the movie series’ universe. Among them: Kylo Ren’s lightsaber hilt with a plaque that describes its origin (see the photo below, via Collider).
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The text reads: “Kylo Ren’s unusual lightsaber is an ancient design, although the one he carries is recently constructed. The crossguard blades, or quillions, are raw power vented from the primary central blade.”
This is the first confirmation we’re getting that the crossguard isn’t a new variation at all, but an incredibly old one that’s been resurrected by Darth Vader obsessive Kylo Ren. When we asked original Star Wars set decorator Roger Christian about the controversial crossguard earlier this year, he also hinted at its age. “I just know from that blade, that’s one of the old found Jedi ones. So that’s coming from the past,” he told Yahoo Movies.
Also, if you’re keeping track of these things, the description of the quillions as power emanating off the main blade actually jives with the rough diagram sketched out last year by Star Wars obsessive Stephen Colbert, who was kind of kidding, but kind of not.
Not mentioned on the plaque is how and when Kylo Ren constructed his red lightsaber, which is noticeably more ragged compared to the previous Jedi lightsabers we’ve seen. Back in February, a profile of Jony Ive Apple’s senior VP of design mentioned how he’d actually given Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams some advice about the new design. “I thought it would be interesting it if were less precise and just a little bit more spitty,” Ive told The New Yorker, saying the blade could be “more analog and more primitive and I think in that way, somehow more ominous.“
Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens Dec. 18.
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