Luke's RotJ Lightsaber Crystal?

[Absol197 5,304]

Luke has two lightsabers throughout the original trilogy.  The original one that was Anakin's obviously had an Ilum Crystal, being that it was crafted while he was a Jedi.

 

But when that saber gets lost somehow, he's forced to craft a new one.  Since the Empire had a blockade on Ilum, and Luke's new saber makes a much different noise when ignited, I'm thinking it's got a different type of crystal.  The question is, if we had to assign one of the crystal types given in the book, which one would make the most sense?

 

He does hail from Tatooine, so there's a possibility that it's a Krayt Dragon Pearl, but I'm not sure if the sound it makes qualifies as a "howling" sound.

 

If we want to be cheesy, we could say it's a Rubat stone from the GM Kit's adventure (which is statistically identical to an Ilum crystal), but I'm not sure.

 

So, what do people think?

[Vulf 911]

There's also Darth Vader's Lightsaber on Deathstar 2. Did Luke Collect it and bring it with him to Endor? He brought the helmet after taking it off his pops on the loading ramp of the Lambda Shuttle.

 

I was thinking he probably switched out the crystal from red to something else.

 

And Luke's lightsaber blade is green, so it is probably a crystal from Yoda, knowing Lucas. There might be a crystal cave on Dagobah since it is strong in the force, or Yoda probably poops out green crystals.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Vulf

[Blackbird888 4,110]

There's also Darth Vader's Lightsaber on Deathstar 2. Did Luke Collect it and bring it with him to Endor? He brought the helmet after taking it off his pops on the loading ramp of the Lambda Shuttle.

 

I was thinking he probably switched out the crystal from red to something else.

 

And Luke's lightsaber blade is green, so it is probably a crystal from Yoda, knowing Lucas. There might be a crystal cave on Dagobah since it is strong in the force, or Yoda probably poops out green crystals.

I literally just rewatched the movie. Pretty sure it fell into the poorly designed pit in the Emperor's throne room.

 

New canon material doesn't talk about where he got the crystal, but the EU said that Luke had to use a synthesized crystal because of the difficulty of getting natural ones.

[Marwynn 317]

Here's a deleted scene regarding Luke's second lightsaber: 

 

Apparently he reads Obi-Wan's journal that describes of a way to create a crystal synthetically. It was easy enough that Luke was able to make it, along with the saber. 

 

I'd say it's just a green Ilum crystal, perhaps with an upgrade already.

[Vulf 911]

Now that I think of it, I prefer Yoda poop.

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

In Legends, Luke created a synthetic crystal using instructions that Obi-Wan had left for him.

 

There was some fandom speculation that Obi-Wan had hung onto Qui-Gon's lightsaber (this was prior to Ep2 and the whole "no attachments" thing came to light), and thus Luke had used that crystal.

 

Personally, I'd just go with it being a synthetic crystal.  While the process of synthetic crystals was frowned upon by the Jedi Order, but Ben knew that if Luke needed to build a new lightsaber, a synthetic crystal would entail far less risks than trying to go to Ilum, and Obi-Wan probably didn't know the location of any other major crystal deposits since the Jedi Order had been reliant upon Ilum for longer than he, his master, or his master's master had been alive.

[eldath 202]

I have no idea where but I definitely have a memory of seeing a scene in ROTJ where Luke crafts his Lightsaber and I also remember something about the crystal being synthetic, but I can't remember if these are from the same thing or just seperate sources.

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

I have no idea where but I definitely have a memory of seeing a scene in ROTJ where Luke crafts his Lightsaber and I also remember something about the crystal being synthetic, but I can't remember if these are from the same thing or just seperate sources.

I think that was from the Shadows of the Empire novel, which had a chapter going over Luke building his lightsaber.

 

There was a "deleted scene" from RotJ which shows Luke completing the construction of his lightsaber hilt, but that's fairly recent and made zero mention about the crystal.

[Jareth Valar 481]

IIRC, it still is a synthetic in canon (comics). I will try and find the exaact one, was a 2015 issue, so canon.

[FuriousGreg 1,670]

It really was just that because the scene was shot outdoors with that bright blue sky that the blade FX didn't show up well. The rest is all just trying to come up with something to explain it... 

[Split Light 672]

It really was just that because the scene was shot outdoors with that bright blue sky that the blade FX didn't show up well. The rest is all just trying to come up with something to explain it... 

How many things in Star Wars have we retconned or made up to cover for seventies and eighties special effects or technology limitations.

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

 

It really was just that because the scene was shot outdoors with that bright blue sky that the blade FX didn't show up well. The rest is all just trying to come up with something to explain it... 

How many things in Star Wars have we retconned or made up to cover for seventies and eighties special effects or technology limitations.

 

Plenty.

[TalosX 184]

 

 

It really was just that because the scene was shot outdoors with that bright blue sky that the blade FX didn't show up well. The rest is all just trying to come up with something to explain it... 

How many things in Star Wars have we retconned or made up to cover for seventies and eighties special effects or technology limitations.

 

Plenty.

 

 

Agreed.  In an interview sometime in the 80's, Lucas mentions that the reason he was waiting to produce Episodes I-III was because they just didn't have the technology to simulate the large scale battles, dozens of lightsabers, etc. to a degree that he was happy with.  This however, was just one of the reasons he listed over the years.

[vilainn6 306]

Spoiler

 

 

Now I am curious why Luke lightsabar blade is now blue in episode 7.

[Lathrop 838]

Now I am curious why Luke lightsabar blade is now blue in episode 7.

 

The saber in Force Awakens is Anakin's from RotS/ Luke's from ANH and ESB. Somehow it was recovered after he lost it in Cloud City.

[Zar 152]

Yeah, another part of the story that is left up to someone else to fill in the gaps.

 

Speaking of effects limitations.  I think there was a scene where Obi Wan falls in water in the Phantom Menace and the water shorts out his lightsaber.  I don't think they were happy with the final results though.

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

Yeah, another part of the story that is left up to someone else to fill in the gaps.

Or to be told in a future installment of the trilogy.  You do realize that this is part one of a new trilogy, and is not and never was meant to be a completely self-contained film?  As such, not everything is going to be answered all at once.  That's a part of what the rest of the trilogy is for.

[Drew772 3]

Yeah, no kidding, I was reading about it, and Disney/Lucasfilm has said they plan to produce 1 movie per year over the next 2 years at least.  The article went into some speculative detail about the content of those films, and the speculation didn't include the next two installments of the current new trilogy, but 2 prequel origin stories for some of the older characters.  Aslo, regarding Luke's green saber crystal.  I am pretty sure that if you read through the F&D Corebook, you will find that it recounts the fact that Luke used a special furnace at Obi-Wan's old hourse on Tat to create a synthetic crystal, using the Force when he created his own personal lightsaber, as used in RotJ.  It also mentions that Darth Maul was forced by Darth Sidious to do the same for the 4 crystals he needed for his double-bladed saber that we saw in Phantom Menace, but that Sidious didn't make Dooku or Vader go through this process, instead he produced the synthetic crystals for them and just gave them to them to use.  It also mentioned that synthetic crystals produce a stronger beam (in the case of the Sith's red ones) that could possibly "Break" a Jedi's saber blade made of Ilum.

[Blackbird888 4,110]

Only for the next 2 years? That's not that much. I thought I heard a larger number for how many SW films there were going to release in the future.

[eowarion 81]

I was under the impression the next up was a Rogue Squadron, then Ep 8, and a possible Boba Fett movie as well?

 

But then, I did read it on the internet.

[Blackbird888 4,110]

All I know is Rogue One: The Movie That Should Be About Kyle Katarn, Episode VIII: The Force Needs to Sleep Because It's Unhealthy to Stay Awake for Such a Long Period, and a Han Solo movies. And some other things?

[eowarion 81]

All I know is Rogue One: The Movie That Should Be About Kyle Katarn, Episode VIII: The Force Needs to Sleep Because It's Unhealthy to Stay Awake for Such a Long Period, and a Han Solo movies. And some other things?

 

You should pitch those names to Disney.

[Drew772 3]

I am not absolutely sure, just that I know there will be at least 2 more movies, 1 each year for the next two years.  Beyond that wasn't mentioned in the article I read.  The origin stories I read as possibilities were Han Solo and Yoda's lives prior to the SW years, but again, I don't think the people at Disney/LF even know for sure yet what they are going to do, or they are probably right in the middle of making the next movie now, and they are famously tight-lipped about these things.  But sure, Rogue Squadron and Boba Fett's origin stories are also possible, as well as ep 8.  What I meant in my earlier post was that they were making AT LEAST 1 movie per year for the next two years, beyond that I haven't seen any info about, but I am sure Darth Mickey and his cronies have a long-term plan to recoup the 4 billion they spent on the franchise rights.  Of course, they've nearly made a half-billion just on the opening weekend of ep 7, so it may not take as long as some of them had originally thought to achieve that goal of profitability.  Also, with the gaming books, etc. rights and video games, etc. I am sure they're making money hand over fist atm, and will into the distant future.

[Vulf 911]

Josh "Tank" was going to direct the Boba Fett movie. They pre-fired him after the Fantastic Snore film bombed(lol).

Edited December 25, 2015 by Vulf

[Vulf 911]

The real mystery is how the Graflex 3 flash unit parts for a camera made during the 40s was so durable it survived the fall from Cloud City.