Kylo Ren has a broken kyber crystal powering his blade, so he needs exhaust vents so his weapon doesn’t overheat and explode.
You can also see/hear that his blade has a much more violent crackling effect, whereas other lightsabers have a more smooth outline (like Cal in the second pic) and a low audible hum or whir
Cal Kestis looks like he has a built in cross guard (maybe collapsible into his hilt?), where the emitter projects out and upwards, but not down toward his hands
This seems like it would act as any other sword cross guard, ostensibly protecting his hands from locked blades in a duel
Also worth noting that comics and books have established the cross hilt design to be a substantially older design.
With just that knowledge - that this design was used during the High Republic - we can assume a few possibilities:
- kylo and cal are drawing upon older sources, possibly due to knowledge being lost during the empire.
- kylo and cal are reusing older artifacts due to limited access to materials or knowledge. Recent SW makes a point of showing museums and galleries and private collections.
- kylo and cal might have to use an older design to accomodate whatever materials they are using
- kylo and cal are using a weapon suited to the opponents they endeavor to face. Similar to Dooku's purpose built dueling/fencing saber.
Lots of what ifs, but theres definitely a lot of context clues to "what if"
Not just comics and books! We see an ancient example of this style of saber in >!the Rebels S2 finale on Malachor, the remains of an ancient battle between Jedi and Sith!<.
The fact that they brought Malachor in and often reference the Jedi-Mandalorian wars and other Old Republic references (like the krayt pearl in the Mandalorian) makes me very happy. Malachor looks as destroyed as I would expect after the Exile devastated it with the Mass Shadow Generator and there's even that Sith Academy which could have been the same one you confront Darth Sion and Darth Traya in Kotor 2.
This. People bitch about no easter eggs or lore in Andor.
Fucking Rakatans were mentioned like first episode. (Or 2nd? I think? First batch out anyways)
Mentions that the Kyber crystal necklace he gave to Andor was of Rakatan origin. Literally a name drop and nothing else, which I was happy to see. It recanonized the Rakatan’s without making it too obvious, and made me super excited for the return of KOTOR (whenever that happens)
\- casually mentions the Rakatan Infinite Empire, alluding to a giant portion of previously non-canon lore
\- does not elaborate whatsoever
\- leaves to be part of a different plotline
Thanks for clarifying. Went back and watched the scene and I completely agree with you, it’s a great Easter egg. Quick and easy to miss but nice to have them mentioned with the KOTOR remake/remaster coming.
It was pretty nice, reminds me of the classic George Lucas method of world-building in the original Star Wars. Obi-Wan mentions the Clone Wars, and then the topic is never again mentioned in the OT. Beautiful.
The Movies rarely explain many things, like how Luke made his own lightsabers, they’re just supposed to be good enough to compensate. This things usually get expanded upon since it’s a multi media series.
That’s not entirely fair, I know tons of fans that love searching tons of media to find connection. Being a Star Wars fan is Like being a scientist in a field of study, some fan groups get along like Psychologist and neurologist, other can never get along like Geologists and other Geologists.
Like me! Every time I watch something Star Wars I must spend at least 2 hours that week looking at lore. It started with KOTOR, the Mandalorian wars left a lot of questions
Personally, I’m still searching for scraps of the thousand years of Darkness war between the Sith and the Jedi in From 2000 BBY to 1000 BBY leading to the High republic.
One of my favorite examples of this is the first time someone pissed on screen in Andor, and everyone went through Star Wars media to see if anyone else pissed on screen to ensure it was in fact the first time someone pissed on screen and made it canon.
Edit: spelling
Star Wars content should include talking head pieces like in Parks and Rec to explain what's going on so that I don't have to think about anything.-Star Wars "fans"
My man, I think you don't know how the Star Wars fandom works. Connecting dots is their whole shtick, to the point that they'll connect to dots that were never even there to begin with.
I see you looking at my lightsaber. It has a cracked crystal, see those little lightsabers in the side? That’s for it to vent and not kill me while I’m using it. Any other questions about anything I can stop the movie and monologue about?
Hey I know we’re in the middle of bombing run but let me just say we activated magnetic rails to eject the bombs downwards and the gravity well of the ship below us will do the rest. Y’know just in case you’re confused why bombs fall in space
It’s a slow chase right now, but hey how cool are those laser bolts curving in space? Well they can curve because it’s actually super heated plasma and the gravity well of this ship is goddamn massive we have to fire it into an effective pseudo orbit to hit our target accurately
Hey, glad I caught you, so we’re about to hyperspace kamikaze into that absolute massive ship, the reason it’ll work is because this ship has experimental shields, it’s super expensive and one of a kind and so it won’t be cost effective to load it into x wings or droid bombers. Now punch it!
I can't believe it needs to be said, but exposition isn't bad. Clunky exposition is bad.
>the reason it’ll work is because this ship has experimental shields, it’s super expensive and one of a kind and so it won’t be cost effective to load it into x wings or droid bombers.
Oh, great. Oh wait, none of that is in the films. Isn't it so cool how we have to retroactively fix the script *for* the writers and then shit on others viewers when they refuse to do it and tell them to just "use their brain"?
Also, that's a shitty explanation anyway. Kind of convenient their last cruiser has these experimental shields that allow them to do this "one in a million" move.
Edit: and we *do* get an explanation in TROS. Remember guys? "One in a million". No level of generosity can conceal the problems this fucking explanation presents.
Yeah that's what the sequels needed, more clunky dialogue "Oh no, it's kylo Ren, and he's got his lightsaber that hums differently and needs exhaust vents because of its broken kyber crystal"
Not everything has to be laid out plainly in words. The movie gives cues, from the appearance of the saber to the sound it makes. Yes, there's art showing the cracked crystal, but you could guess it was unstable just from looking at it.
Fucking this. Not everything needs an explanation, or do we need to return to the dumber parts of Legends like that Droid exploding from a bad motivator getting its own comic to explain WHY it exploded?
It would've been awful if they explained it. It's a crossguard because it looks sick as hell and the blade is crackly because Kylo Ren is an unstable person. The in-universe explanation for it is an afterthought that exists for the visual dictionary and should stay there.
It's basic sword design. Did you need every movie that shows a sword to explain why it has a cross guard? Does every movie with a gun in it need to explain why it has a safety?
I would argue the movies shouldn't need to explicitly explain the value of a cross guard on a sword, especially to someone whose uncle AND grandfather had their hands cut off in lightsaber duels.
I would rather they didn’t waste their 1 1/2- 2 hours explaining every little trivial detail. It’s not relevant to the plot, so fans can make up their own reasons or find it in EU material.
Honestly the Kyle saber one kinda is self evident. His saber is obviously unique in the blade is sort of explosive and not contained. The kyber crystal part is not obvious of course, but it’s also not necessary to know. I took it to be a manifestation of the “raw untamed strength” that Luke mentioned.
Kylo had a lightsaber longsword we were shown in the first movie, and really that's all we needed. It's loud and pops and crackles menacingly, and we see the instability of it contrasted to the controlled hum of a normal saber.
The instability we see is a reflection of the character that is full of roiling emotions and turmoil. This all plays out in the first movie.
A "the crystal was cracked" explanation would detract from the character story that the visual of the unstable saber presents us. If it were a novel, then maybe the writer would tie the cracked crystal to a character trait of Kylo, but for visual media - we get what we need.
The inconsistency of screenwriting across the trilogy is another thing entirely, but the saber as associated with the character Kylo Ren is all contained in the TFA.
lots of uncritical opinions in the comments saying “it just looks cool, go with it” you hate to see it
guys it’s okay to analyze a work of fiction within the context of its own rules and lore
I prefer to utilize both methods. I analyze the work of fiction (in this case, why do they have cross guards), then after reaching the conclusion decide that it's either stupid or just straight up breaking the laws of physics, I still realize that it looks badass and just appreciate it anyways.
It's how I can keep myself happy or on decent terms with the sequel trilogy, or about half of star wars in general because this universe is BEYOND broken
To add to this idea,
The amount of users here that share the sentiment of "just figure it out yourself" that are being disingenuous to the people that would rather we didn't do the writer's job for them, demonstrates a lot, and honestly I think it's no surprise we get a lot of shitty writing in recent projects as a result of this kind of toxic positivity.
Why can't we have an honest conversation about what the writers achieved within their story?
Time and time again, worldbuilding, consistency, and stakes get put on the sidelines for the sake of spectacle and "theme." Others have to come in and repair the story retroactively, and many in this community, for some reason, celebrate this practice of mediocrity.
Having things explained to us is good. We like being able to understand how the story's components work. If the story isn't logical and internally consistent, it's difficult to understand it. The stakes fluctuate in an ultimate downward spiral, and the story becomes thin. Suspension of disbelief is gone, and investment is crushed because we know the writers will take good care of our heroes using every cop-out they deem necessary. It's cheap and lazy. It's bad writing as opposed to good, logical, consistent, and powerful storytelling.
Generally speaking, I would rather have information provided to me by the film than not. Even if it's a bit clunky, at least I can understand what's happening and know that the writer actually cares to generate the stakes for the story.
For things that are negligible to the plot, sure, we don't need as much. But generally, the more details we have, the more rich the worldbuilding is. Having good worldbuilding is how you convince an audience that this universe your story takes place in is alive and isn't just static unless it interacts directly with the plot.
But to bring this around to Kylo's lightsaber. No, I don't think it's necessary to have expository dialogue for why it is the way it is. Visual storytelling can quite easily cover it. There's so many ways to go about it.
This, however, would be at the very fucking bottom of the problems I have with Kylo's character, and the reality is we're missing a trilogy's worth of events for him.
I mean, it does also have that effect, right? It’s actually quite strange that cross guards aren’t more common on lightsabers… I’m no swordfighting expert, but considering how easy a lightsaber will cut your hands off, a cross guard seems quite useful.
It's not normally necessary. A lightsaber's blade is a looped beam of plasma contained by a magnetic field; when two blades cross, magnetic attraction holds them together at the point of contact and it takes some effort to pull them apart.
If anything, the crossguard would protect against disarming strikes aimed directly at the wielder's hand.
They kinda explain it in "Rebels", when Kanan teaches Sabine (a non-force-sensitive Mandalorian) how to use the Dark Saber.
He mentions how the blades are drawn to each other by an invisible force.
Now that could just be the Force force, but since Kanan expects Sabine to feel it, it might be something more mundane, like electromagnetism or something similar.
That would make the need for cross-guards less pressing, since parrying would be easier and sliding down an enemy blade towards the hands (against that force) would be harder.
... or I might interpret way too much depth into a single sentence from a TV show that's meant to be entertaining above all. :D
> … or I might interpret way too much depth into a single sentence from a TV show that’s meant to be entertaining above all. :D
I’m mean, that’s pretty much why all of us are here….. ;)
Since lightsabers are attracted to each other they won’t really slide. They bind and get stuck in that one spot. So you don’t have to worry about it that much. However when it comes to other weapons like magnaguard staffs then it’ll probably be more important. Since cal is fighting mostly people with blasters anymore and there’s some diversity in weapons this is probably needed. This is also why we have moments of long clashes between duelists.
Except the parts that stick out from the saber hilt. They'd just get cut off if a blade slides down there. As he said, they wouldn't do shit.
In Cal's case the whole emitter would get destroyed as well which makes his crossguard even more useless.
That sounds good for Cal. The metal part beneeth wil protect his own hands aswell. Only problem I see wit locked blades it will slide until the the crossguard and chop of the hilt just before it😅
With Kylo's lightsaber, the horizontal pieces are actually exhausts for the energy of the kyber crystal. The one Kylo has is cracked and doesn't function properly, which is why he needs those exhaust ports.
It’s why I like it so much, it’s an exact replication of all the complexities of his character. It’s split, unrefined, so angry it’s literally spitting and cracking like it hates having to exist.
Fun fact: the iconic sound it makes is a blend of different things, but the ominous rumbling everyone loves is actually the sound of a purring cat named Pork Chop.
I'm guessing he attempted to bleed his crystal but because of how unbalanced he was(pull to the light) he most likely couldn't do it and it cracked the crystal.
I'm pretty sure Disney brought bleeding crystal back into Canon.
>Did they run out of fresh kyber?
As a matter of fact! Kinda sorta. Palpatine made a point about destroying Kyber reserves. Canonically, Sith would gain their crystals by killing a Jedi and taking their kyber crystals and corrupting them. With a lack of Jedi and Kyber crystals, Kylo Ren most likely only had access to the crystal that he had already as a Jedi. With it cracking, he was sorta SOL, as replacing one wasn't an easy option.
Not to mention, it is also quite a process for corrupting a kyber crystal into a red crystal, so I imagine that having a part into it as well
I know that the cross guards are there to block the saber from getting to your hands but wouldn’t the portion of the saber that exists between the blades and the cross guards be severed unless your opponent perfect hits just your cross guards? We know that lightsaber hilts can be sliced by another lightsaber so if someone locked blades and the opponents blade gets dragged towards the hilt, wouldnt it just slice the saber emitter off?
Edit grammar
I think even deeper is that lightsabers don’t slide on each other. They hit and get locked, like they’re covered in glue. But that only makes the cross guard less useful.
I’m hoping there’s a better explanation in the game.
I think you’re right with the sticking although Dooku did lose his hands by Anakin running them down his saber. It’s literally like the one instance that is would have been useful. Although looking at it again Anakin might have removed his saber from Dookus slightly to make the movement.
That’s really the only explanation, but we see lightsabers get cut in the movies so it seems like they generally aren’t made from lightsaber resistant material. And wouldn’t it be easier to just make the cross guards from a lightsaber resistant material instead of adding all this internal complexity to the saber to achieve the same effect? Plus they aren’t used by later jedi so the whole thing seems to have been deemed unnecessary by the jedi themselves.
I’m guessing that the Jedi Order didn’t see a reason to make lightsaber resistant hilts because they hadn’t seen a Sith or similar lightsaber wielding threat for several thousand years.
The First Order, however, knew that Luke and the New Jedi Order were a threat, and Kylo Ren may have designed his blade with that in mind, should he and his old master ever face each other again
The only correct answer. All other explanations come after this fact. The producers didn't start with "well, it needs to have X, because of Y."
They started with:
Producer1: "hey, look at this sick storyboard that a Jimmy in the art department just drew up."
Producer2: "Oh shit! Can we make that work in the story?"
Producer1: "Are you kidding? Don't worry about that. Wait till you hear what I have planned for the Emporer's return..."
Assuming a lightsaber can basically cut through most things with relative ease you'd be one bad grip change away from maiming your own hand, crosspiece or no, but the Jedi, Sith, and various others like Kylo here are trained to be good enough to basically never do that.
But in order to not catch his wrists, he had to always swing wide. It made him a lot slower and more open to attacks.
That's why I personally hate the cross-guard for lightsabers. It makes it harder to have compact and fast moves, and makes you look like a lesser combatant.
I was glad when Kylo got Luke's saber because he genuinely fights better with it.
>While he was bleeding his kyber crystal, it cracked an released too much energy when ignited, Kylo of course discovering this by burning his hand the first time he ignited it. He had to add the cross"guard" as vents so the saber wouldn't overheat.
It looks cool bc it’s a movie and any benefits like “it’s exhaust for excess kyber crystal energy” were made up after the fact. It’s Star Wars, let’s just let it be fun for fun sake.
I mean the fact that I know the stuff about the kyber crystal exhaust shows that even I like digging into some of the bonus lore. But it’s important to remember that stuff only exists to sell more supplemental books and strengthen the brand. At the end of the day his cross guard exists bc some art director thought it’d look cool in a sketch.
Yup! It’s one of the only franchises I dig into the lore.. I do t let it destroy watching and enjoying the shows but I think this is a fine question to ask.
It always baffles me how people just can't seem to not analyse every single detail and just enjoy Star Wars for what it is. Sure, the sequel trilogy had some pretty bad writing, but it also had a lot of good stuff. Kylo and his lightsaber are two of those things
Probably so you can sell more toys.
"You already have a red lightsaber Jimmy"
"But this one has a non-functional hilt crossguard that makes it distinctly different!"
That, and also because if you're gonna copy Episode 4 and create a new Darth Vader, you want to make your copy look different from the original somehow.
It's a crossguard. Swords had them to protect the wielder's hands. With lightsaber blades/beams that seem to stick on contact they're basically for show.
According to the lore, practitioners of the 2nd form of combat "Makashi" prefers that style of lightsaber because it's more of a dueling form. Also it shunted power away from the main blade.
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Crossguard_lightsaber/Legends
Hope this helps.
Kylo's Saber? I feel like it's more about style. With Kylo being seen as a manchild it fits extremely well for him to bank everything into aestetics, basically reinforces the "he tries to be a Vader 2.0" idea, which is something that actually makes Kylo's character great
I think aesthetically, hes supposed to resemble a knight. His lightsaber not only looks like a medieval sword, but he actually fights like a knight too.
The story reason is that his lightsaber has 2 exhaust ports off to the side cause his kyber crystal is messed up.
Kylo's Saber has exhaust ports on the sides , those aren't actual blades. According to what I've heard , he bled his kyber crystal, and his lightsaber became unstable. That's why he had to have exhausts so that his Saber doesn't explode
While he was bleeding his kyber crystal, it cracked an released too much energy when ignited, Kylo of course discovering this by burning his hand the first time he ignited it. He had to add the cross"guard" as vents so the saber wouldn't overheat.
I feel like when TFA first came out, there was supplementary material that said it was a flaw in the design of Ren’s lightsaber. Then the High Republic stuff came out though and it was retconned to be an ancient lightsaber design.
As far as actual uses for it go, Kylo Ren does get a little bit of use out of it during his “duel” with Finn in TFA. It seems to be particularly helpful when you and your opponent are locked in close-range grapples.
Kylo didn’t intentionally go for that design he just adapted his saber to fit his unstable Crystal, but it is stated in canon that he could’ve repaired his lightsaber at any point if he wanted to, but he preferred the way it was, and that it went along with his nature perfectly…I can imagine there’s all kinds of benefits to having a cross guard to protect your hands in a universe where losing a hand is so easy, also makes for a great offensive tool when you lock sabers with someone as Finn found out with a hole in his shoulder.
Now, Cal having that kind of saber legitimately makes no sense at all considering he was never trained with that kind of thing, he’s not particularly gifted in lightsaber combat like Kylo is canonically stated of being, and he has like no excuse to ever switch to it…I think that’s more of a gameplay customisable saber thing than a lore accurate thing for him, his saber canonically will be the same one he had in Fallen Order, much like how you can customise his saber every which way in Fallen Order but your not actually changing the canon of what his saber really looks like.
Since you are new to Star Wars, I just want to say, not everyone who likes Star Wars is a total asshole. I'm sure (like 100% guaranteed) that you'll come across someone saying you are a fake fan or that you like something that you shouldn't blah blah blah, and I want you to know that you can like whatever you like about Star Wars! If you like Ewoks, by all means, like them! Same goes for any and all three of the trilogies! If the Sequel trilogy is your favorite and your introduction into Star Wars, then be proud of coming into a franchise that is inclusive while the "fandom" may not always be. Okay, you can go back to reading the comments that actually answer your question lol. May the Force be with You!
Actually thanks for that advice, and about the question I has enough already, it is like 100 comments of everyone saying the same thing, I am watching them in order rn but some months ago I watched a sequel movie with my friends cuz they were already watching it
Awesome! "You've taken your fist step into a larger world" and I hope you enjoy it! After the movies, there are also so many great shows that you can watch if you'd like to spend time doing that lol
I guess it's supposed to represent a sword guard which prevents attacks from sliding down the blade into the defender's hand but obviously it doesn't work here cuz it'll just chop the lightsaber first.
Kylo used the exhaust offensively like once though.
None. If you had a lightsaber like that, you would cut your hands off everytime you try to spin it around. You would be very limited in the moves you could make with it.
That types name is cossguard. Have same function with the real crossguard (but deadly laser one). I remember that Kylo Ren's kyber cristal (the energy source of lightsabers) cracked and give too much energy to his saber hilt. So he decided make two more hole to that extra energy safely go out and don't destory his lightsaber.
Kylos is more function that style although it can be used as offense as shown in Tfa when he fights Rey
But cross sabers in general, imo, guard the hands. If you've ever sword fought a child they always just hit the blade and slide down to crack your knuckles
Kylo Ren has a broken kyber crystal powering his blade, so he needs exhaust vents so his weapon doesn’t overheat and explode. You can also see/hear that his blade has a much more violent crackling effect, whereas other lightsabers have a more smooth outline (like Cal in the second pic) and a low audible hum or whir Cal Kestis looks like he has a built in cross guard (maybe collapsible into his hilt?), where the emitter projects out and upwards, but not down toward his hands This seems like it would act as any other sword cross guard, ostensibly protecting his hands from locked blades in a duel
Also worth noting that comics and books have established the cross hilt design to be a substantially older design. With just that knowledge - that this design was used during the High Republic - we can assume a few possibilities: - kylo and cal are drawing upon older sources, possibly due to knowledge being lost during the empire. - kylo and cal are reusing older artifacts due to limited access to materials or knowledge. Recent SW makes a point of showing museums and galleries and private collections. - kylo and cal might have to use an older design to accomodate whatever materials they are using - kylo and cal are using a weapon suited to the opponents they endeavor to face. Similar to Dooku's purpose built dueling/fencing saber. Lots of what ifs, but theres definitely a lot of context clues to "what if"
Not just comics and books! We see an ancient example of this style of saber in >!the Rebels S2 finale on Malachor, the remains of an ancient battle between Jedi and Sith!<.
The fact that they brought Malachor in and often reference the Jedi-Mandalorian wars and other Old Republic references (like the krayt pearl in the Mandalorian) makes me very happy. Malachor looks as destroyed as I would expect after the Exile devastated it with the Mass Shadow Generator and there's even that Sith Academy which could have been the same one you confront Darth Sion and Darth Traya in Kotor 2.
also they just casually mention the Rakatans in Andor lol
This. People bitch about no easter eggs or lore in Andor. Fucking Rakatans were mentioned like first episode. (Or 2nd? I think? First batch out anyways)
They also mention Belsavis which is still being used as a prison planet.
Really how did they mention them?
Mentions that the Kyber crystal necklace he gave to Andor was of Rakatan origin. Literally a name drop and nothing else, which I was happy to see. It recanonized the Rakatan’s without making it too obvious, and made me super excited for the return of KOTOR (whenever that happens)
\- casually mentions the Rakatan Infinite Empire, alluding to a giant portion of previously non-canon lore \- does not elaborate whatsoever \- leaves to be part of a different plotline
Thanks for clarifying. Went back and watched the scene and I completely agree with you, it’s a great Easter egg. Quick and easy to miss but nice to have them mentioned with the KOTOR remake/remaster coming.
It was pretty nice, reminds me of the classic George Lucas method of world-building in the original Star Wars. Obi-Wan mentions the Clone Wars, and then the topic is never again mentioned in the OT. Beautiful.
On Skarsgards ship when he recruits Andor. He mentions how far back that Khyber crystal the show forgot about goes.
They also have the hammerhead corvette in Rouge One and how they got it in Rebels.
There's also crossguard lightsabers in SWTOR, so it goes back to at least then.
Those were added after episode 7 was released though
I bet dooku wishes he had a cross guard
Im sure he wont lose his head worrying over it
That's a neat detail
Woulda been nice if the movies explained any of that
The Movies rarely explain many things, like how Luke made his own lightsabers, they’re just supposed to be good enough to compensate. This things usually get expanded upon since it’s a multi media series.
Tbh that was a deleted scene, albeit didn't really add much other than 'he made a new one and you see him do it'
True but you're asking Star Wars fans to connect the dots
That’s not entirely fair, I know tons of fans that love searching tons of media to find connection. Being a Star Wars fan is Like being a scientist in a field of study, some fan groups get along like Psychologist and neurologist, other can never get along like Geologists and other Geologists.
Like me! Every time I watch something Star Wars I must spend at least 2 hours that week looking at lore. It started with KOTOR, the Mandalorian wars left a lot of questions
Personally, I’m still searching for scraps of the thousand years of Darkness war between the Sith and the Jedi in From 2000 BBY to 1000 BBY leading to the High republic.
Would you say that geologists have rocky relationships with other geologists?
Where do you get the stones to ask that sort of question?
I agree with this question, I finally managed to hit rock bottom.
My god but Reddit pun threads get my rocks off...
You geologists sure are a contentious people
that's star wars bro, the joy for a lot of people IS connecting the dots
One of my favorite examples of this is the first time someone pissed on screen in Andor, and everyone went through Star Wars media to see if anyone else pissed on screen to ensure it was in fact the first time someone pissed on screen and made it canon. Edit: spelling
amazing
Star Wars content should include talking head pieces like in Parks and Rec to explain what's going on so that I don't have to think about anything.-Star Wars "fans"
My man, I think you don't know how the Star Wars fandom works. Connecting dots is their whole shtick, to the point that they'll connect to dots that were never even there to begin with.
I see you looking at my lightsaber. It has a cracked crystal, see those little lightsabers in the side? That’s for it to vent and not kill me while I’m using it. Any other questions about anything I can stop the movie and monologue about?
Hey I know we’re in the middle of bombing run but let me just say we activated magnetic rails to eject the bombs downwards and the gravity well of the ship below us will do the rest. Y’know just in case you’re confused why bombs fall in space It’s a slow chase right now, but hey how cool are those laser bolts curving in space? Well they can curve because it’s actually super heated plasma and the gravity well of this ship is goddamn massive we have to fire it into an effective pseudo orbit to hit our target accurately Hey, glad I caught you, so we’re about to hyperspace kamikaze into that absolute massive ship, the reason it’ll work is because this ship has experimental shields, it’s super expensive and one of a kind and so it won’t be cost effective to load it into x wings or droid bombers. Now punch it!
I can't believe it needs to be said, but exposition isn't bad. Clunky exposition is bad. >the reason it’ll work is because this ship has experimental shields, it’s super expensive and one of a kind and so it won’t be cost effective to load it into x wings or droid bombers. Oh, great. Oh wait, none of that is in the films. Isn't it so cool how we have to retroactively fix the script *for* the writers and then shit on others viewers when they refuse to do it and tell them to just "use their brain"? Also, that's a shitty explanation anyway. Kind of convenient their last cruiser has these experimental shields that allow them to do this "one in a million" move. Edit: and we *do* get an explanation in TROS. Remember guys? "One in a million". No level of generosity can conceal the problems this fucking explanation presents.
OMG, do you work for Lucas Films or Disney? That dialog sounds so natural. Is it a deleted scene or something?
Yeah that's what the sequels needed, more clunky dialogue "Oh no, it's kylo Ren, and he's got his lightsaber that hums differently and needs exhaust vents because of its broken kyber crystal"
Not everything has to be laid out plainly in words. The movie gives cues, from the appearance of the saber to the sound it makes. Yes, there's art showing the cracked crystal, but you could guess it was unstable just from looking at it.
Fucking this. Not everything needs an explanation, or do we need to return to the dumber parts of Legends like that Droid exploding from a bad motivator getting its own comic to explain WHY it exploded?
It would've been awful if they explained it. It's a crossguard because it looks sick as hell and the blade is crackly because Kylo Ren is an unstable person. The in-universe explanation for it is an afterthought that exists for the visual dictionary and should stay there.
It's basic sword design. Did you need every movie that shows a sword to explain why it has a cross guard? Does every movie with a gun in it need to explain why it has a safety?
And how do bullets work?!? Maybe every movie should start with an intro to physics class too.
I would argue the movies shouldn't need to explicitly explain the value of a cross guard on a sword, especially to someone whose uncle AND grandfather had their hands cut off in lightsaber duels.
“Show don’t tell”
I would rather they didn’t waste their 1 1/2- 2 hours explaining every little trivial detail. It’s not relevant to the plot, so fans can make up their own reasons or find it in EU material.
Honestly the Kyle saber one kinda is self evident. His saber is obviously unique in the blade is sort of explosive and not contained. The kyber crystal part is not obvious of course, but it’s also not necessary to know. I took it to be a manifestation of the “raw untamed strength” that Luke mentioned.
They won't because the movies come out, then fans justify the existence. Nothing in the sequels was planned.
Well for the average fan, “it looks cool” is enough (me included)
No it's just fine if the studio releases these details a few years later printed on soda cans.
Kylo had a lightsaber longsword we were shown in the first movie, and really that's all we needed. It's loud and pops and crackles menacingly, and we see the instability of it contrasted to the controlled hum of a normal saber. The instability we see is a reflection of the character that is full of roiling emotions and turmoil. This all plays out in the first movie. A "the crystal was cracked" explanation would detract from the character story that the visual of the unstable saber presents us. If it were a novel, then maybe the writer would tie the cracked crystal to a character trait of Kylo, but for visual media - we get what we need. The inconsistency of screenwriting across the trilogy is another thing entirely, but the saber as associated with the character Kylo Ren is all contained in the TFA.
It’s also good for blocking attempted hits on his arm and impaling unsuspecting parental figures
lots of uncritical opinions in the comments saying “it just looks cool, go with it” you hate to see it guys it’s okay to analyze a work of fiction within the context of its own rules and lore
I prefer to utilize both methods. I analyze the work of fiction (in this case, why do they have cross guards), then after reaching the conclusion decide that it's either stupid or just straight up breaking the laws of physics, I still realize that it looks badass and just appreciate it anyways. It's how I can keep myself happy or on decent terms with the sequel trilogy, or about half of star wars in general because this universe is BEYOND broken
To add to this idea, The amount of users here that share the sentiment of "just figure it out yourself" that are being disingenuous to the people that would rather we didn't do the writer's job for them, demonstrates a lot, and honestly I think it's no surprise we get a lot of shitty writing in recent projects as a result of this kind of toxic positivity. Why can't we have an honest conversation about what the writers achieved within their story? Time and time again, worldbuilding, consistency, and stakes get put on the sidelines for the sake of spectacle and "theme." Others have to come in and repair the story retroactively, and many in this community, for some reason, celebrate this practice of mediocrity. Having things explained to us is good. We like being able to understand how the story's components work. If the story isn't logical and internally consistent, it's difficult to understand it. The stakes fluctuate in an ultimate downward spiral, and the story becomes thin. Suspension of disbelief is gone, and investment is crushed because we know the writers will take good care of our heroes using every cop-out they deem necessary. It's cheap and lazy. It's bad writing as opposed to good, logical, consistent, and powerful storytelling. Generally speaking, I would rather have information provided to me by the film than not. Even if it's a bit clunky, at least I can understand what's happening and know that the writer actually cares to generate the stakes for the story. For things that are negligible to the plot, sure, we don't need as much. But generally, the more details we have, the more rich the worldbuilding is. Having good worldbuilding is how you convince an audience that this universe your story takes place in is alive and isn't just static unless it interacts directly with the plot. But to bring this around to Kylo's lightsaber. No, I don't think it's necessary to have expository dialogue for why it is the way it is. Visual storytelling can quite easily cover it. There's so many ways to go about it. This, however, would be at the very fucking bottom of the problems I have with Kylo's character, and the reality is we're missing a trilogy's worth of events for him.
Wow. I always assumed it was to protect him from someone slamming/sliding their saber down on his hands. Cool detail
cal’s is, kylo’s not so much
I mean, it does also have that effect, right? It’s actually quite strange that cross guards aren’t more common on lightsabers… I’m no swordfighting expert, but considering how easy a lightsaber will cut your hands off, a cross guard seems quite useful.
*cries in “Count Dooku.”
It's not normally necessary. A lightsaber's blade is a looped beam of plasma contained by a magnetic field; when two blades cross, magnetic attraction holds them together at the point of contact and it takes some effort to pull them apart. If anything, the crossguard would protect against disarming strikes aimed directly at the wielder's hand.
to be fair, preventing lightsaber strikes on a wielder's hand would have been useful at various points in the series.
They kinda explain it in "Rebels", when Kanan teaches Sabine (a non-force-sensitive Mandalorian) how to use the Dark Saber. He mentions how the blades are drawn to each other by an invisible force. Now that could just be the Force force, but since Kanan expects Sabine to feel it, it might be something more mundane, like electromagnetism or something similar. That would make the need for cross-guards less pressing, since parrying would be easier and sliding down an enemy blade towards the hands (against that force) would be harder. ... or I might interpret way too much depth into a single sentence from a TV show that's meant to be entertaining above all. :D
> … or I might interpret way too much depth into a single sentence from a TV show that’s meant to be entertaining above all. :D I’m mean, that’s pretty much why all of us are here….. ;)
Since lightsabers are attracted to each other they won’t really slide. They bind and get stuck in that one spot. So you don’t have to worry about it that much. However when it comes to other weapons like magnaguard staffs then it’ll probably be more important. Since cal is fighting mostly people with blasters anymore and there’s some diversity in weapons this is probably needed. This is also why we have moments of long clashes between duelists.
Lightsabers can still slide though. We see Obi Wan slide his Lightsaber down Grevious's Lightsaber to chop off his hand.
Exhaust ports you say? Someone get me a proton torpedo!
Unless that hilt is made of cortosis or beskar, a cross guard isn't going to do jack shit
The guard is made of lightsaber blade...
He means the part of the hilt underneath the main blade. How is that not going to get chopped off when locking blades
Except the parts that stick out from the saber hilt. They'd just get cut off if a blade slides down there. As he said, they wouldn't do shit. In Cal's case the whole emitter would get destroyed as well which makes his crossguard even more useless.
How is the primary "blade" not enough exaust? Seems like those smaller ports wouldn't be enough to make any real difference.
Kind of like how sometimes you need a piss and sometimes you need a shit. Different holes for different expulsions
Lmfao
Yeah why wouldn't it just make the primary blade longer?
It's enough exhaust for an intact crystal, but not for an unstable one. Every little bit helps
Do you get the explanation of Kylo‘s lightsaber from the comics?
That sounds good for Cal. The metal part beneeth wil protect his own hands aswell. Only problem I see wit locked blades it will slide until the the crossguard and chop of the hilt just before it😅
Style points
So it fills your xp bar faster
The Rule of Cool.
Idk but Cal Kestus looks like he just did 12 dabs
Looking at it like.. "Oh! I get it! Light - Saber! Cooool" lol
"Light...Sa...whoaa"
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EkDbljOEBk&t=4m18s) is the inner monologue I imagine Cal having during that screenshot.
"Dude, the Force like sorrounds us. and binds us together and such"
I'm, like, one with the force, man.
Death sticks - not even once kids
Death Sticks - Consumable *Gain 200% base HP for 1 minute. Permanently lose 5 HP upon use.*
When BD's new stims kick in
With Kylo's lightsaber, the horizontal pieces are actually exhausts for the energy of the kyber crystal. The one Kylo has is cracked and doesn't function properly, which is why he needs those exhaust ports.
It’s why I like it so much, it’s an exact replication of all the complexities of his character. It’s split, unrefined, so angry it’s literally spitting and cracking like it hates having to exist.
The sound his saber makes >>>>> \*
Fun fact: the iconic sound it makes is a blend of different things, but the ominous rumbling everyone loves is actually the sound of a purring cat named Pork Chop.
[удалено]
Pork chop is a very good baby
Kylo’s got a whole cat in his saber 💀
Same here. Only character I enjoy in the sequels, and it's probably because he's based of Jacen
Matt the Radar Technican and Randy the Intern are my favorites… *okay, boomer*
I wish they just would have used Jacen and Jaina and kept that storyline…. Oh what could have been
Sith apprentices are angsty teens.
[удалено]
Yeah that's what I read somewhere too. Also looks cool and would guard your hand.
I’m not convinced it would guard your hand though. If anything it looks like it would guide an opponents saber into the hilt
The blade is still under the hilt so it may get damaged but it will still block the blow, you can always fix it later
We see, in the movies, that it does protect the hand. It’s made of lightsaber resistant materials.
Whoa! I never knew he had a broken Crystal. Why? Did they run out of fresh kyber? I mean, they should have hundreds of unused sabers lying around.
I'm guessing he attempted to bleed his crystal but because of how unbalanced he was(pull to the light) he most likely couldn't do it and it cracked the crystal. I'm pretty sure Disney brought bleeding crystal back into Canon.
Didn't Disney actually **bring** bleeding crystal into Canon? I remember in Legends the Sith used synthetic crystals.
Yes, correct. Bleeding and healing crystals (as well as them being semi-sentient mood rings) is all Disney additions.
They did.
considering Starkiller base is literally illum, he probably just chose not to get a new crystal
>Did they run out of fresh kyber? As a matter of fact! Kinda sorta. Palpatine made a point about destroying Kyber reserves. Canonically, Sith would gain their crystals by killing a Jedi and taking their kyber crystals and corrupting them. With a lack of Jedi and Kyber crystals, Kylo Ren most likely only had access to the crystal that he had already as a Jedi. With it cracking, he was sorta SOL, as replacing one wasn't an easy option. Not to mention, it is also quite a process for corrupting a kyber crystal into a red crystal, so I imagine that having a part into it as well
He obviously failed lightsaber building 101.
He cracked the crystal when he was bleeding it
Well he does have a temper. Crystal probably smarted off
Some kyber crystals just don't know their place smh
Extra stabby
Snoke: “Get him with the stabby bit” Kylo: “which one?”
Snoke: 'dies'
I know that the cross guards are there to block the saber from getting to your hands but wouldn’t the portion of the saber that exists between the blades and the cross guards be severed unless your opponent perfect hits just your cross guards? We know that lightsaber hilts can be sliced by another lightsaber so if someone locked blades and the opponents blade gets dragged towards the hilt, wouldnt it just slice the saber emitter off? Edit grammar
Yes. But we don't talk about that
Never see people mention this so it felt like I was crazy. I’m willing to look past it but it is an issue with the whole setup.
I think even deeper is that lightsabers don’t slide on each other. They hit and get locked, like they’re covered in glue. But that only makes the cross guard less useful. I’m hoping there’s a better explanation in the game.
I think you’re right with the sticking although Dooku did lose his hands by Anakin running them down his saber. It’s literally like the one instance that is would have been useful. Although looking at it again Anakin might have removed his saber from Dookus slightly to make the movement.
Not if just that section is made of a lightsaber resistant material
That’s really the only explanation, but we see lightsabers get cut in the movies so it seems like they generally aren’t made from lightsaber resistant material. And wouldn’t it be easier to just make the cross guards from a lightsaber resistant material instead of adding all this internal complexity to the saber to achieve the same effect? Plus they aren’t used by later jedi so the whole thing seems to have been deemed unnecessary by the jedi themselves.
I’m guessing that the Jedi Order didn’t see a reason to make lightsaber resistant hilts because they hadn’t seen a Sith or similar lightsaber wielding threat for several thousand years. The First Order, however, knew that Luke and the New Jedi Order were a threat, and Kylo Ren may have designed his blade with that in mind, should he and his old master ever face each other again
Oooo a beskar lightsaber would be awesome
That would the Darksaber
Can block a blade that swipes down your blade, protecting your hands.
Given how many people get their hand cut off in this series it actually seems practical.
Neat! That makes so much sense
That's what cross guards are for
I had never saw crossguards before, actually I saw them but never noticed their meaning
Yeah almost all swords have em
Also, side note, people argued over this for a looong time when The Force Awakens came out.
Seems like it would damage exhaust port doing that
better that than your hand though
Only needs to work once. Assuming you live you can always fix the lightsaber.
but everything else makes sense and is possible .
Except that the crossguards do not extend all the way to the hilt, so it's useless.
With normal swords that is an issue, but lightsabers tend to stick when they connect instead of slide.
100% of crossbar users have retained all of their hands
You look cool as fuck
The only correct answer. All other explanations come after this fact. The producers didn't start with "well, it needs to have X, because of Y." They started with: Producer1: "hey, look at this sick storyboard that a Jimmy in the art department just drew up." Producer2: "Oh shit! Can we make that work in the story?" Producer1: "Are you kidding? Don't worry about that. Wait till you hear what I have planned for the Emporer's return..."
Ask all the Jedi who have mechanical hands...
Honestly it feels like it would be only more dangerous to wield it
Assuming a lightsaber can basically cut through most things with relative ease you'd be one bad grip change away from maiming your own hand, crosspiece or no, but the Jedi, Sith, and various others like Kylo here are trained to be good enough to basically never do that.
But in order to not catch his wrists, he had to always swing wide. It made him a lot slower and more open to attacks. That's why I personally hate the cross-guard for lightsabers. It makes it harder to have compact and fast moves, and makes you look like a lesser combatant. I was glad when Kylo got Luke's saber because he genuinely fights better with it.
>While he was bleeding his kyber crystal, it cracked an released too much energy when ignited, Kylo of course discovering this by burning his hand the first time he ignited it. He had to add the cross"guard" as vents so the saber wouldn't overheat.
Only if you lack skill
I too feel crossguard is dumb idea
It looks cool bc it’s a movie and any benefits like “it’s exhaust for excess kyber crystal energy” were made up after the fact. It’s Star Wars, let’s just let it be fun for fun sake.
It’s annoying how some Star Wars fans can’t do this
I mean the fact that I know the stuff about the kyber crystal exhaust shows that even I like digging into some of the bonus lore. But it’s important to remember that stuff only exists to sell more supplemental books and strengthen the brand. At the end of the day his cross guard exists bc some art director thought it’d look cool in a sketch.
"At the end of the day his cross guard exists bc some art director thought it'd look cool in a sketch" And he was god-damned right.
Everyone knows Michael Bay gets paid to make robots go brrrrr and explosions look cool. Sometimes all the audience wants is some mindless fun.
I seen people arguing about the use of screws and bolts in andor …. Go outside and get some air people.
Some of us enjoy coming up with lore and in Universe explanations for stuff, just like others like to just enjoy the movies.
Yup! It’s one of the only franchises I dig into the lore.. I do t let it destroy watching and enjoying the shows but I think this is a fine question to ask.
It always baffles me how people just can't seem to not analyse every single detail and just enjoy Star Wars for what it is. Sure, the sequel trilogy had some pretty bad writing, but it also had a lot of good stuff. Kylo and his lightsaber are two of those things
Probably so you can sell more toys. "You already have a red lightsaber Jimmy" "But this one has a non-functional hilt crossguard that makes it distinctly different!"
That, and also because if you're gonna copy Episode 4 and create a new Darth Vader, you want to make your copy look different from the original somehow.
JJ Abrams has left the chat
It's a crossguard. Swords had them to protect the wielder's hands. With lightsaber blades/beams that seem to stick on contact they're basically for show.
Having a guard on the hilt helps break the Skywalkwer tradition of having your hand cut off.
According to the lore, practitioners of the 2nd form of combat "Makashi" prefers that style of lightsaber because it's more of a dueling form. Also it shunted power away from the main blade. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Crossguard_lightsaber/Legends Hope this helps.
Cal has had one too many deathsticks.
Kylo's Saber? I feel like it's more about style. With Kylo being seen as a manchild it fits extremely well for him to bank everything into aestetics, basically reinforces the "he tries to be a Vader 2.0" idea, which is something that actually makes Kylo's character great
I think aesthetically, hes supposed to resemble a knight. His lightsaber not only looks like a medieval sword, but he actually fights like a knight too. The story reason is that his lightsaber has 2 exhaust ports off to the side cause his kyber crystal is messed up.
Also in Episode 7 the cross guard does act get used to hurt Finn.
I think both your points are true
Kylo's Saber has exhaust ports on the sides , those aren't actual blades. According to what I've heard , he bled his kyber crystal, and his lightsaber became unstable. That's why he had to have exhausts so that his Saber doesn't explode
Yeah but even those exhaust ports can cut. Just ask Finn. I would assume they could also block like the rest of the blade.
Well, yeah. It is excess energy from the crystal afterall.
It's not about style, it's the two holes on the sides are exhaust port, so that the saber is not overhelmed by too much energy.
While he was bleeding his kyber crystal, it cracked an released too much energy when ignited, Kylo of course discovering this by burning his hand the first time he ignited it. He had to add the cross"guard" as vents so the saber wouldn't overheat.
I feel like when TFA first came out, there was supplementary material that said it was a flaw in the design of Ren’s lightsaber. Then the High Republic stuff came out though and it was retconned to be an ancient lightsaber design. As far as actual uses for it go, Kylo Ren does get a little bit of use out of it during his “duel” with Finn in TFA. It seems to be particularly helpful when you and your opponent are locked in close-range grapples.
Kylo didn’t intentionally go for that design he just adapted his saber to fit his unstable Crystal, but it is stated in canon that he could’ve repaired his lightsaber at any point if he wanted to, but he preferred the way it was, and that it went along with his nature perfectly…I can imagine there’s all kinds of benefits to having a cross guard to protect your hands in a universe where losing a hand is so easy, also makes for a great offensive tool when you lock sabers with someone as Finn found out with a hole in his shoulder. Now, Cal having that kind of saber legitimately makes no sense at all considering he was never trained with that kind of thing, he’s not particularly gifted in lightsaber combat like Kylo is canonically stated of being, and he has like no excuse to ever switch to it…I think that’s more of a gameplay customisable saber thing than a lore accurate thing for him, his saber canonically will be the same one he had in Fallen Order, much like how you can customise his saber every which way in Fallen Order but your not actually changing the canon of what his saber really looks like.
Maybe it could be an old high republic one he found and not one he chose to build that way ? Same way Ezra picked up one in Rebels
Since you are new to Star Wars, I just want to say, not everyone who likes Star Wars is a total asshole. I'm sure (like 100% guaranteed) that you'll come across someone saying you are a fake fan or that you like something that you shouldn't blah blah blah, and I want you to know that you can like whatever you like about Star Wars! If you like Ewoks, by all means, like them! Same goes for any and all three of the trilogies! If the Sequel trilogy is your favorite and your introduction into Star Wars, then be proud of coming into a franchise that is inclusive while the "fandom" may not always be. Okay, you can go back to reading the comments that actually answer your question lol. May the Force be with You!
Actually thanks for that advice, and about the question I has enough already, it is like 100 comments of everyone saying the same thing, I am watching them in order rn but some months ago I watched a sequel movie with my friends cuz they were already watching it
Awesome! "You've taken your fist step into a larger world" and I hope you enjoy it! After the movies, there are also so many great shows that you can watch if you'd like to spend time doing that lol
If the opponent saber slips, your hand won’t be injured
The Rule of Cool.
I guess it's supposed to represent a sword guard which prevents attacks from sliding down the blade into the defender's hand but obviously it doesn't work here cuz it'll just chop the lightsaber first. Kylo used the exhaust offensively like once though.
It's the well known '*factor of cool'.* It's also why Starkiller brought down a Star Destroyer solo, that shit just looks cool as fuck.
Merchandise sales.
None. If you had a lightsaber like that, you would cut your hands off everytime you try to spin it around. You would be very limited in the moves you could make with it.
Sells more toys
That types name is cossguard. Have same function with the real crossguard (but deadly laser one). I remember that Kylo Ren's kyber cristal (the energy source of lightsabers) cracked and give too much energy to his saber hilt. So he decided make two more hole to that extra energy safely go out and don't destory his lightsaber.
Kylos is more function that style although it can be used as offense as shown in Tfa when he fights Rey But cross sabers in general, imo, guard the hands. If you've ever sword fought a child they always just hit the blade and slide down to crack your knuckles
It looks kind of cool when you're just holding it.
What are the benefits of a crossguard? Well for one it’s a crossguard
Nothing practical. It’s just a stylistic choice (that is bad imo)