A Tale of Two Lightsabers

Hey all,

I was thinking about this the other day I thought I'd post it here. I am an O-OT-junkie and an ESB addict from way back when. I have an obsession with the "Skywalker" lightsaber, the one built by Anakin, and given to Luke. The journey of this saber, and Obi-Wan's from ANH, fascinates me.

Both of these sabers have the rare distinction of having been built prior to Episode IV. Both, we assume, met in battle in the final duel between Anakin and Kenobi that marked the end of the Jedi and the rise of Vader. Both are relics from the last days of the Jedi before the fall of the Republic. And both of these sabers meet their end at Vader's hand (licensed fiction nonwithstanding).

The Skywalker saber also has the distinction of going from the hands of Anakin to Kenobi to Luke Skywalker.

All of this raises a few interesting questions.

One: What do you think Vader did with Kenobi's saber after he dies on the Death Star?
Two: Is there intentional narrative meaning behind the tragic and permanent loss of these "last two" sabers in ANH and ESB?
Three: Isn't it kind of poetic the way Luke loses his only physical connection with his father (the saber) a mere instant before he learns that his father is standing before him (and additionally learns that his father is the scourge of the universe)?
Four: Why is it that you can't eat more than 8 to 10 Saltines in a row without drinking anything?

nohandluke

 

Cool thread. It seems that Lucas wanted to show how valuable the lightsaber was from when we see that Obi-Wan has carefully looked after this ancient weapon and his speech in AOTC "this weapon is your life". Which puzzles me even more when you see the Jedi handing them out like sweets at the end of AOTC. Maybe this shows how desperate they were though eh?

Going back to your main point...

I reckon Vader would have wanted to completely destroy any memory of Obi-Wan and would have incinerated his lightsaber to extuingish all memory of it. (Obi-Wan can no longer help him) We also know that Anakin didnt have the slightest regard of the weapon from AOTC.

 

I believe there's a Young/ Junior Jedi Knights book entitled "Kenobi's blade" in which they find it. Never read it, though.


Nice interpretation of the father thing

 

Wow. An intelligent thread. And one that doesn't have to do with special effects. Rare.

What do you think Vader did with Kenobi's saber after he dies on the Death Star?

I think the lack of learning what happened to Obi-Wan's saber after "A New Hope" is a result of Lucas missing a good opportunity story-wise. The saber is simply forgotten about, which is a shame considering the character development it could have added to Vader - i.e. Does he destroy it? Does he save it? Unfortunately, Vader's character had only been developed at that point as the epitome of evil and little else (it seems).

Is there intentional narrative meaning behind the tragic and permanent loss of these "last two" sabers in ANH and ESB?

I doubt there's any intentional narrative meaning in the loss of the two sabers because there's nothing conclusive in the films that says Kenobi's saber is destroyed. It's simply forgotten after the duel with Vader.

Isn't it kind of poetic the way Luke loses his only physical connection with his father (the saber) a mere instant before he learns that his father is standing before him (and additionally learns that his father is the scourge of the universe)?

Poetic? Sure. The loss of Luke's hand and Anakin's saber struck me as the final and clear division between the Anakin Luke believed his father to be and the man he actually was. The hand is cleaved off and the lightsaber (the one physical connection Luke has to his father's memory as a "great Jedi") is lost for good. Immediately afterward, Luke's image of his father is destroyed by Vader's confession. Essentially, the death of Luke's father happens at this point. Up until then, Luke held the belief that he was following in his father's footsteps. The loss of the lightsaber and Vader's confession signaled the death of Luke's father and the start of Luke's turn to manhood (i.e. becoming a Jedi Knight). I think this theory is supported by Obi-Wan and Yoda's insistence that Luke kill Vader. It's not only so the Empire could be destroyed (otherwise they would have insisted he kill the Emperor), but so Luke could become a man by carving a path away from his father.

Why is it that you can't eat more than 8 to 10 Saltines in a row without drinking anything?

A harder task than the saltine trick is eating half a dozen powdered donuts without licking your lips once. (Or eating half a dozen powdered donuts in general.)

 

I believe there's a Young/ Junior Jedi Knights book entitled "Kenobi's blade" in which they find it. Never read it, though.

This is correct. I won't go into EU-mode, but suffice to say, that the lightsaber is recovered by Han and Leia's son Anakin about fifteen years after ROTJ, and presumably given to look from what I can recall.

The EU also grants Luke the return of the ANH/ESB saber in the "Heir to the Empire" trilogy. If you do only read one EU tale ever, it should probably be that, it fits in the context well, and has the feel of the classic trilogy.

Anyway, enough EU banter.

 

Poetic? Sure. The loss of Luke's hand and Anakin's saber struck me as the final and clear division between the Anakin Luke believed his father to be and the man he actually was. The hand is cleaved off and the lightsaber (the one physical connection Luke has to his father's memory as a "great Jedi") is lost for good. Immediately afterward, Luke's image of his father is destroyed by Vader's confession. Essentially, the death of Luke's father happens at this point. Up until then, Luke held the belief that he was following in his father's footsteps. The loss of the lightsaber and Vader's confession signaled the death of Luke's father and the start of Luke's turn to manhood (i.e. becoming a Jedi Knight). I think this theory is supported by Obi-Wan and Yoda's insistence that Luke kill Vader. It's not only so the Empire could be destroyed (otherwise they would have insisted he kill the Emperor), but so Luke could become a man by carving a path away from his father.

Nice, I like this. Although I disagree that Yoda and Ben wanted Luke to kill Vader, all they ever say is that he must comfront him, Luke assumes that means killing him, but as for the rest, this gives me another reason to love ESB even more, thanks.

 

Thanks for all the insightful imput guys. Much appreciated.

Mike