The feature above begins at the end—of The Force Awakens, that is. Specifically, the part when (spoiler!) Rey hands back Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber to its rightful owner, in what would appear to be a very meaningful moment for the Force. Of course, we don’t yet know what that meaning might be, but still, it’s a return home for a weapon that’s been around the galaxy.
Join us, then, for “Path of a Lightsaber,” a Star Wars tribute by Christopher Sherwood.
We first glimpse Luke’s lightsaber in the heroic, doomed hands of Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn. From there, Qui-Gon’s co-derring-doer Obi-Wan Kenobi places the weapon in feebly acted young Anakin Skywalker’s proto-Jedi hand. Growing up to be slightly better acted (OK, maybe not), Anakin eventually does many awful things with it, as his destiny consumes him. That is until Obi-Wan takes it back from the gravely wounded Anakin—eventually giving it to Skywalker’s son, Luke. (Sorry, Leia.)
We don’t know how it got from Luke to Maz Kanata, but it’s the loyal-to-the-resistance cantina owner who gives it to Finn. When Finn loses it in battle with Kylo Ren, Rey uses the Force to pull the thing right up out of the snow and into her own proto-Jedi hand, and then, finally—whew—it’s back to Luke in the latest installment’s final scene.
It could be the journey of the lightsaber is a metaphor for the entire saga, or maybe the circle of life, but I suppose that’s the wrong Disney flick. Hopefully, all will be revealed as the Star Wars universe expands.
