Ever since the revealing trailer for The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars fans around the globe have hotly anticipated Rey with a double-bladed lightsaber: so where is it?
Theories and fan-art sprang up ever since The Force Awakens of Rey wielding a double-bladed lightsaber, and the trailer seemed to confirm this.
However, now fans are left asking: “Is Rey’s new lightsaber double-bladed? If not, will she get one eventually?”
Fear not, for we have answers! Read ahead to find out about Rey’s connection with the double-bladed saber, and how that impacted her decision when crafting a blade.
Table of Contents
First, some background.
Rey seems like the obvious candidate for a double-bladed lightsaber, given her weapon of choice on Jakku was a quarterstaff.
And Rey considered it a strong possibility: until she saw a dark side vision of herself, wielding the hinged, double-bladed lightsaber seen in the trailer.
Of note is that the double-bladed lightsaber, historically, has been a very aggressive style of lightsaber.
If not wielded by a Sith (see Maul in canon, or Exar Kun in Legends), it was usually wielded by someone with a strong fighting style (such as Bastila and Satele Shan in Legends).
So, along with that, add Rey’s strong ties to the dark side in her Palpatine lineage, and one could see how it would fit.
This dark side inclination, though, is something she would grow to reject.
Through her journey for the light side, Rey has wielded a few lightsabers: namely, the Skywalker family blade, Leia’s lightsaber, and her final, yellow blade.
The Skywalker family blade, gifted to her by Maz Kanata, was the lightsaber of Anakin and Luke Skywalker before her.
That one isn’t double-bladed.
After almost losing the Skywalker family blade, Rey was then given Leia’s lightsaber by a Force apparition of her brother, Luke.
Finally, after burying both, she constructed a lightsaber of her own.
Was Leia’s lightsaber double-bladed?
Despite only ever seeing Leia’s lightsaber ignited from one side, it’s valid to wonder if there’s another that was just never activated.
It was constructed sometime after Leia began training with Luke as a Jedi; far before Rey’s birth.
It was relinquished to her brother after a vision of Ben Solo’s death caused her to re-evaluate her path as a Jedi trainee, and her ultimate decision to stick to politics.
It was said that its design evoked Alderaanian design, with gold and white colors and mother-of-pearl inlays (she is a princess, after all).
However, its design does not feature a second blade.
What about Rey’s new lightsaber?
With only a few minutes of screentime, the yellow lightsaber Rey constructed during the events of The Rise of Skywalker doesn’t give much in terms of details of its workings.
It’s made from salvaged bits and pieces of Rey’s quarterstaff, wrapped with cloth.
The hilt itself also features a retracted emitter, which only emerges during ignition of the blade.
Such a feature would seem to fit nicely with a double-sided blade: but, alas, that’s not the case.
Rey’s yellow lightsaber only has a single blade, though at the very least it’s a cool shade of yellow, rather than the two blue ones before it.
Why didn’t she construct a double-sided blade?
It seems obvious for Rey to choose a double-bladed lightsaber, which leaves us fans scratching our heads at why she didn’t.
It has to do with the dark side.
Her Palpatine lineage, which she renounces at the end of the trilogy, leads her to a naturally close connection with the dark side.
This is so much so that she sees a vision of her Sith self in the Death Star II ruins on Kef Bir, which deeply affected Rey, an aspiring Jedi.
This vision of herself included a hinged, double-bladed lightsaber, decked out with red blades to represent her devotion to the Sith.
That image resonated with Rey, and led her to avoid making a double-bladed lightsaber for her final design, to avoid the potential lure of the dark side.
So Rey won’t have a double-bladed lightsaber in the future?
Most likely, no.
However, that ultimately depends on the direction future writers decide to take.
After all, the trilogy did bounce from Rey being ‘nobody’ to being the descendant of Palpatine, so perhaps the double-bladed design will grow on Rey in future installments.
Conclusion
So, despite her inclinations towards aggression, her quarterstaff experience, and visions of herself with one, Rey hasn’t gotten herself a double-bladed lightsaber quite yet.
Don’t let that stop you from considering alternate universe storylines, however!
Disney has been known for making numerous alternate universe comics, video games, and other media, so if double-bladed-wielding Rey is something you’re on the lookout for, those are certainly places to consider.
Has this article taught you something? Helped you understand Rey a bit more? Make sure to tell us your thoughts in the comments below, and share around to your social media of choice.
And as always, may the Force be with you!