ST How did Kylo know that lightsaber was Anakin's?

holograms, i think.

what did it say?

 

Care to fill us in?

 

The novelization doesn't say much at all, but it does imply some recognition on Kylo's part.

“Rey—Rey!”
Finn started toward her, but the sound of Ren’s lightsaber igniting made him turn. In the darkness, the hum and glow of the gleaming red weapon was mesmerizing. With nothing else to fall back on and unable to reach Rey’s blaster, Finn resorted to the only defense at his command: He pulled and activated the Skywalker lightsaber.
For some reason, the sight of it was enough to give Ren pause. He stared at it for a moment before reacting.
“That weapon—is mine.”
Finn all but snarled his reply. “Come and get it.”
Drawing himself up, a towering figure in the snow, Ren did not even bother to gesture. “I’m going to kill you for it.”
He rushed forward.

 

Great question. Perhaps Leia (or Luke) told Kylo (in his younger years) about how Luke lost his hand and lightsaber battling Vader at Bespin. And perhaps Kylo simply deduced that it was said lightsaber.

Or...perhaps the lightsaber called out to Kylo through the Force: "Kylo, I belong to you. Reach out your hand and take me. Wait....wait....I think I like the girl better."

 

I guess if a loved one dying on another planet can be 'felt' by a force user, then sensing the heritage of a Lightsabre from 2m away surely isn't that great of a stretch?

Then again, it could be as simple as the fact that wanting what doesn't belong to him is just in keeping with the petulant, adolescent nature of Kylo's character in TFA.

 

I just assumed he knew what it looked like through his research or through his former master Luke.

Maybe Luke recovered it at Bespin sometime after ROTJ and Kylo actually used/saw it during his Jedi training, with Maz recovering it after the massacre of Luke's Jedi and his subsequent disappearance.

 

Yeah, we're not going to know the answers to all of our burning questions until Episodes VIII & IX come out. But it's fun this way.

 

I believe he may have had the lightsaber at some point. He seemed to be collecting Vader artifacts. I have read theories (here even) that the rainy Knights of Ren scene shows Kylo with another lightsaber strapped to his belt (although I could not see this). Also, apparently, there was supposed to be an extended part of the flashback scene showing the lightsaber being stolen from the Knights and Kylo, by Maz or Naka(?) I think it's in the call sheets? Does anyone know where the call sheets are? Of course, this may no longer be the case.

 

I assume as others said he either held it himself at some point or having studied Vader recognized it or perhaps it had a familiar force signature the Kylo could sense. Like in A New Hope when Vader was in the docking bay on the Death Star and he said he felt a presence

 

That's a good question. Assuming that Luke never had it after ROTJ, how does Kylo know what it physically looks like? One possibility is that images of Anakin using that saber passed from the Jedi temple to the inquisitors to the Death Star to the First Order. He mentions that he got the big part of the map from old Imperial files, so it's likely that he's also inherited other things Empire knew about the Jedi. Maybe it was even the very holo that we see Yoda and Vader watch in ROTS.

A more interesting possibility is that Vader essentially made a classified "wanted poster" for this and other Obi-Wan-related items and spread it to inquisitors throughout the Empire, even to bounty hunters, black marketeers, and other non-official types. He's often portrayed as seeing the Jedi hunt as a Kenobi hunt first, an everyone else hunt second. We don't know that this happened, but it's plausible. Very "I will finish what you started."

 

Anakin is a hero of the Clone Wars. I'm sure there are images of some kind of his lightsaber. Ren simply did research and recognized the weapon on site.

 

I liked how we were shown in a subtle way that Rey had seen where Luke was in her dreams. Regularly. 8D

I really gotta make a list of questions TFA raised ... that makes me an obsessive fan doesn't it.

 

Another explanation is that Kylo watched the OT. Hey, I get a feeling everyone watched the OT, especially Rey and Kylo, but Finn as well.
It explains Rey's fascination with Han the smuggler and his 14, oops, 12 parsecs, explains the fact they think Luke is a legend, etc.

Edit: on a more serious note, sometimes I think Kylo might have had this lightsaber before. He either got it or found it, and, as people mentioned, he might have found pictures of Anakin in the Clone Wars or other historical material. Plus, I bet he could feel it, no? He's good at getting feelings and images from people, he might be able to do that to objects as well.

 

I'm hoping that he had it (or someone he knows had it) previously which would make Maz's statement about "A good story for another time" much more interesting.

 

I am sure how saw it in holorecordings of Anakin during the Clone Wars. It is also possible that he may have seen it in a vision. There is also a possibility that Luke drew schematics of how the saber looked like.

 

Kylo Ren has access to the Empire's files - if nothing else, Ren would have seen it in there. In Darth Vader's diary...
He's probably been searching for it his whole life.

 

Han would have been well known on Jakku as a smuggler, since that was what he had been doing for the last 20 years.

Finn would have been told about Han as part of the history of the Empire/First Order.

That is why they each have different perspectives on the name Han Solo.

 

Would it have even made sense to show how he recognized it? That is the kind of detail that would seem absolutely pointless to include in a movie. Talk about bringing the climax to a screeching halt.

"That belongs to me!"
"Um excuse me, sir? Can you please explain HOW you recognize this?"

 

Of course not...and nobody is suggesting otherwise.

Weird post.

 

The persons post that I quoted specifically says I learned to stop asking these questions with TFA. Implying that you expected to get answers for these types of things but later realized to ignore these kinds of questions. I'm simply saying it's not a question that even needs addressing and in fact doing so would be a detriment to the film

 

It's not something that makes sense to show in the movie, but it opens the door for more stories connecting Kylo to the saber.

 

Kylo is a huge admirer of Vader. I would assume there is books or whatever it is they read in the Star Wars universe the same way we are able to read about these things in the visual dictionary. Knowing that Kylo Ren is a huge admirer of Vader is enough for me to realize he had the motivation to find out everything about the guy.

 

Same way he knew how Darth Vader's helmet/mask looked like. He also wasn't born yet when Vader lost it.

 

"Oh, Yeah? I don't see your name on it!"

 

That's an awful comparison for many reasons.

1. Vader's mask was a prominent symbol in the Empire/His lightsaber was one of thousands used during the clone wars
2. Kylo is currently in possession of the helmet/Kylo is not currently in possession of the lightsaber
3. Prior to Kylo's birth, Vader's mask was in commission for 30 years/His lightsaber was hidden or lost for most of those 30 years
4. We have no idea if Kylo DID recognize Vader's helmet when he first saw it.