Saga New canon inconsistencies: lightsabers

The way I see it, there are major inconsistencies regarding lightsabers. I'll just post some canon facts taken from the StarWars.com databank (official canon) so you guys can see for yourselves. Please pay attention to the phrases in bold.

I. Kyber Crystals:


"At the heart of every Jedi lightsaber is a kyber crystal found on several planets, most notably the icebound caves of Ilum. This crystal is attuned to the Force, and connected to a Jedi Knight on a deeply personal level. In this way, a lightsaber is an extension of a Jedi's Force awareness. Because Jedi let the Force guide their selection of the crystal, the vibration that the crystal creates in the lightsaber blade helps Jedi center themselves and find balance in the Force. In this way, a Jedi can center his or her attention beyond the distractions of combat. A lightsaber crystal is colorless until first attuned and connected to a Jedi -- at which times it glows either blue or green, or in some rare instances, another shade. From that point on, it retains that hue."

II. Lightsabers:

"Although use of the lightsaber is the mark of a Jedi, it is also used by their sworn enemies, the Sith. Typically, a Jedi’s lightsaber blade is colored green or blue. Other colors are rare but possible, most notably seen with Jedi Master Mace Windu’s purple blade. Sith uniformly use red-bladed lightsabers -- an intense, aggressive color that represents their view of the Force. "

III. Lightsaber Pike:

"Similar to the double-bladed lightsaber, the lightsaber pike featured two blades (yellow hued) at each end of a staff. It was used by the Jedi Temple Guards. "

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First, we see that every crystal is colorless until first attuned and connected to a Jedi. Then we see that Sith UNIFORMLY use red-bladed lightsabers. I don't know if that was a poor choice of words, but "uniformly" means, in one interpratation, that they can choose their color red. And finally, we see that Lightsaber Pikes used by the Temple Guards are yellow hued, which also can be interpreted as a choice or that Lightsaber Pikes are naturally yellow.

Maybe I'm stretching myself thin here or being to hardcore on said matter. What do you guys think?

 

What's the inconsistency?

 

Take the Lightsaber Pikes for example. The Databank says "the lightsaber pike featured two blades (yellow hued) at each end of a staff." But the color of the blade depends on the Jedi that first connects to it. "A lightsaber crystal is colorless until first attuned and connected to a Jedi -- at which times it glows either blue or green, or in some rare instances, another shade. From that point on, it retains that hue." Why all Temple Guardians have yellow blades? Do all jedi that eventually bond with their crystals so they become yellow get turnet into guardians?

 

I guess whatever traits make for good temple guards turn the crystals yellow.

 

I think this is something that stops just short of being an inconsistency.

 

Yeah, I don't see the inconsistency. It just sounds to me like darksiders get red blades because of their aggression.

This info on lightsaber wielders and their connection to the crystals got me thinking, though: Anakin's lightsaber is calling out to Rey. This suggests a significant spiritual connection between Rey and Anakin.

 

^^ Like the spirit of Anakin is choosing her to bring a new balance to the Force? Interesting.

Still don't understand why Rey showed Luke his father's lightsaber. I had almost hoped that in the scene he would have just smiled, gone to his hip and then show her his lightsaber from ROJ in reply.

 

Pretty much everything written matches up to what's shown in "The Gathering", "A Test Of Strength" and "Path Of The Jedi". Why the blades turn into a particular color is something that has not real rhyme or reason, beyond the red crystals. It just is. Personally, I tend to favor that the crystals were already colored and that it was whatever said Jedi chose to use, as it was in the old EU.

 

I think the old EU explanation was better too.

 

In canon red lightsabers use synthetic crystals. But yeah the Temple Guards thing doesn't mesh great. Basically only one very rare, incredibly specific type of person is thought to be able to contribute to the Temple Guard.

 

You mean in Legends? Hidalgo confirmed that there's no such thing as synthetic crystals in canon.

 

Hidalgo's statements seem to be taken inconsistently as fact in the new canon. Some things he says seems to corroborate, other things are stated as "non canon".

 

My point was that there's no canon basis for Sith using synthetic crystals.

 

The Visual Dictionary acknowledges their existence. Whether or not you consider those to be canon, however, depends on your point of view.

 

Well, in the old EU, it was either crystals that developed naturally like on Ilum. Or they were manufactured from scratch like Luke and Jaina. I recall reading that Palpatine had a case full of the latter which he, Maul, Tyranus, Vader and Ventress used. To date, we have not seen the Sith, the Ren or the Inquisitors construct their own sabers in the cartoons or films.

 

The only canon visual dictionary is the TFA one, and it says that Kylo used a cracked kyber crystal.

 

People still refer to the OT novelizations as if they were canon. I see no reason why the original visual dictionaries would not be.

 

The OT novelizations are contradicted by Rebels, canon novels and comics, and TFA.

 

The biggest inconsistency I see is the sound the sabers make when activating. Especially in TFA with the Skywalker saber

I admit, I'm not really knowledgable about TCW, but what about that black lightsaber sword thing Maul used?

Also, interesting it points out that detail about Sith when Kylo Ren is explicitly not a Sith

 

That was a Vibro Blade if I remember correctly. Also mentioned on one of the canon novels I do believe.

 

If lightsabers and their wielders are indeed as intimately linked as the databank says, it's entirely possible that the sound and speed of the activation is affected by the urgency of the situation.

 

No, Maul's sword was a Darksaber, an ancient Jedi weapon. It had a higher pitch sound effect than a normal lightsaber, and the blade was shaped like a samurai's sword.

 

I'd say the the OT novelizations are still canon for the OT unless single issues contradict the actual OT films. And I'd rank the original visual dictionaries by Dr. David West Reynolds still as the best pseudoscientific books on Star Wars ever published, because he researched and cared about continuity.

If "canon" has no interest in research or continuity, then it's pretty much useless, IMHO.

 

Than why did Pre Vizla have it? That's where maul got it from afterall.

 

Viszla's ancestors once warred with the Jedi. One of them stole the Darksaber from the Jedi Temple, and it's passed down in his family.