Fanclub Dawn of the Jedi Fan Club

Here is the Wookiepedia article for Forcesaber:
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Forcesaber

​

A vision experienced by Daegen Lok during his travel into the Chasmon Tython saw him witness a blade made of fire that had never been seen before. His dark vision saw the Je'daii Masters banish him to the moon of Bogan. Lok would only discover that the weapon was called a Forcesaber when the Force Hound Xesh had been exiled to the Tythonian moon. He would ask the Force Hound to construct a new Forcesaber in order to show it as proof of his vision to the Je'daii Order.

The basic principles of this technology would later be developed into the prototype lightsabers used by the Jedi Order.

Because of its ties to the dark side, any and all Je'daii were at great risk of succumbing with each and every use of the Forcesaber. During the Rakatan invasion of the Tython system, the Je'daii Order showed signs of a great divide of those who wished to use the Forcesaber, and those who wished not to. It can be said that the Forcesaber was the catalyst of the great divide between the light and dark side of the Force.

Remember This?
​

 

Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me.

 

They have given our imaginations lots of room to play with the development of lightsabers.

Issue #2 of Prisoner of Bogan delves into the force energies that allow the Je'daii to emit the blade. Some of the Je'Daii can activate the blade. Some hold the hilt of the forcesaber but resist. Tem Madog (pictured below) was a rather fascinating character.

I'm still not convinced we got the complete story and historical full picture on lightsaber development in the Expanded Universe. I'm not totally convinced the ancient Je'daii of Tython used steel swords as weapons. I read the forcesabers as a twist but not final word on how a lightsaber came to become the weapon of the jedi.

Here is a snippet if people don't mind.

​

 

I think that in one of the fact books that came out before DotJ (I think it could be Jedi Vs Sith or Atlas) described that the proto-Jedi crafted swords with Force sensetive crystals in the metal.

 

And it gives the name “lightsaber” additional meaning.

 

Here we have some images prior to the introduction of Xesh's Forcesaber. The first two images are from Queen Hadiya's Despot War. The Despot War occurred 12 years before the opening moments at the end of Dawn of the Jedi #1 where Master Ketu is seated with the two children.

​

Je'daii fighting with swords in the Despot War.

​

Cover of Force Storm #3 with the Sith Pureblood Sek'nos Rath holding a sword.

​

 

Thanks for the info^^^^

 

Just found the Wookiepedia article on the Je'Daii swords. The two names I have seen for them are "Force-Imbued Blades" and "Force-Forged Swords."
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Force-imbued_blade

And some noteworthy history copied from the article:

The Force-imbued blade was first conceived on Tython in the forges of Vur Tepe by the ancient Je'daii Order,[1] and would become the Order's signature weapon until the introduction of the Forcesaber circa 25,793 BBY by the Force Hound Xesh.[2] From the Forcesaber, the Je'daii Order would take basic principles of Forcesaber technology and eventually develop the Protosaber, which would become the new standard weapon for the order circa 5000 BBY.[3] Nevertheless, the Force-imbued blade saw widespread use throughout the Despot War, the Force Wars between the followers of the Ashla and Bogan, and up until the First Great Schism circa 24,500 BBY.

​

 

Yeah it talks about that in Dawn of the jedI : Into the Void

 

I might need to reread parts of that book. I read it before the Force War arc was released.

 

Yeah it is a good and informitive read.

 

There seems to be a narrative in the three comics arcs and novel showing how the Rakata Infinite Empire infiltrated the Je'Daii Order through Xesh. Xesh's infiltration then ultimately destabilized the Tython system as seen in the Force War arc. The introduction of Rakata forcesaber technology splintered the Je'Daii Order. We are given a view of the order as it was just before the Tython system collided with the Infinite Empire.

The many native races brought to Tython aboard the Tho Yor pyramid spaceships generally lived in harmony with each other in isolation from the rest of the galaxy for thousands of years. Obviously, there were battles and strife like the Despot War. The planet Nox was an industrial world so full of pollution that domes were required for breathable air. The system is shown ~10,000 years on from the Tho Yor Arrival (T.Y.A. dating convention).

The point I am likely getting to is that the Tython system started off in balance and harmony immediately after the Tho Yor arrival. The first settlers were likely not savages and not primitives. They likely lived with fresh knowledge astronomy from their gathering to Tython. Where did Ostrander and Duursema get these ideas? They could have only been inspired by ancient cultures on Earth that show advanced knowledge of astronomy. These advanced cultures advanced knowledge of astronomy connected them to specific groups of stars visible in the sky as it looked at night to the ancients. These cultures have left us stone carvings and structures which have lasted for thousands of years. They knew future generations would be their audience.

The signs of unredeemable degradation took at least 10,000 years to set in. This should also remind us of our planet with the level of pollution, brought on by greed and corruption. There are many teaching moments for what we see in Dawn of the Jedi. I'm afraid I have not found anything comparable in the new canon era under Disney, even though the majority of DOTJ was published under Disney ownership.

 

I think along those same lines

 

Late to the party but still chiming in on sole topics:

corded Lightsabers with battery packs:

Previous versions without a corded batterypack do work and did exist. But their energy requirement was high and even if comparable to later lightsabers in power, using them was on the clock so to speak. You do not want to have power run out midcombat and replace energy cells which equals certain death by the enemy. So corded battery packs were invented maybe to solve that problem. Of course fighting with the cord attached is problematic in its own right and limiting, as well as cutting the cord a risk. But, the blade does not vanish if the cord is cut. Remember, the cord just recharges the energy cell in the hilt, which still got leftover energy from the charging, so if a cord is cut, the saber still works for the same time a fully charged older saber would have, which usually is enough to defeat the opponent. It is each Jedis own decision to start fighting with cord attached or unplug himself for more flexibility.
Later then with improved battery tech, no charging was needed anymore given longer life of energy cells and energy conserving improvements to the blade emitting and recharging the cell automatically in a near perfect cycle as other books have described the blade looping back in on the emitter.


Forcesabers and the Dark Side:

A weapon is a tool, you can wield it for defense or attack. Attacks and overtly violent defenses though are an act of the dark side. The way Xesh wields a Forcesaber it clearly is dark. No wonder early Jeedai feared it. The Rakata may have imbued them with the dark side, corrupted Kyber crystals so that only darksiders could activate them! After all, Holocrons with Kybertech do not speak to everybody (unless from Baatu ) so why not sabers that not everyone can wield and activate.
The Jedi replicated and basically re-invented the Lightsaber from this older concept. Calling it a Light-Saber though is selfdelusion for it too can be used for evil and the fallen Jedi and Sith proof that later on. The weapon itself is neither light nor dark, though usage with dark intent or bleeding crystas may taint it.

Kyber Crystals without energy blade in bladed weapons:

I need a quote on the being forged into metal hilts for forceimbued metal blades please! Art showed metal blades with a forceimbued colored glue around the blade akin to Lightsaberblades but that may just be artistic impression. The kyber helps the wielder be in touch with the Force and battle precognition even if not producing an energy blade. But I am intrigued if the glow around metal blades has any effect on the battle or if imbued meets nonimbued blade! The steelblade aura so to speak even had traditional colors of green, red and blue like later lightsaber colors and thus may be tied to the kyber attuning to the wielder.

Lego Freemakers Kybersaber and Art of TFA/TLJs concept art protosabers (for Ach-To?) that both use raw Kyber crystals:

Freemakers have a saber with the entire blade made from kyber and destructive abilities akin to death stars. The Kybersaber though could shatter and while the energy surrounding the blade is volatile and can even be fired off, the blade itself can shatter into pieces. Metalblades including kyber are less likely to shatter but loose the ability to shoot of blasts. Still they too share the same colored Aura as a Kybersaber would have.
Art of books have protosabers ranging from a raw hiltsized kybercrystal wrapped in some cloth to a hilt with such a raw kyber sticking out of the emitters top end. These Art of versions are intended to emit an energy blade directly from the kyber without any emitter tech in between! Also interesting is that users apparently could use them by holding bare crystals in their hands no tech or hilt involved at all. I know unused concept but still interesting train of thought of the makers and designers. Imagine raw kyber emitting a blade that is not kept in check by tech but the Forceusers Forceabilities alone, and that needs no power source but draws energy directly from the Force/Forceuser! Epic ancient times stuff I want to see reused!

Starforge technology and Lightsabers:

Starforges draw in sunenergy. Starkillerbase uses the same concept and channels it through kybers to shoot off a blast or kyber projectiles. What if Starforge tech, miniaturized can be used to power lightsabers but instead of sons the energy is drawn from the wielder of the blade or the Force itself. Maybe this is used in Forcesabers and Jedi feared it to weaken them by drawing energy which is invasive, and explains why only those strong in the dark side can properly use Forcesabers, given the dark side gives them power or the illusion of it.
Also, if a raw kyber without tech can do the same effect as described above, starforge tech is kyberbased and uses kybers to draw in solar energy!

 

I have always been amazed at how difficult it is to flesh out how the corded lightsabers were used in combat with the inherent vulnerabilities of the design.

 

I guess you never actually tried it? Just use a retractable zipline attached to your belt and clip it into the lightsabers end and try some martial arts moves. I once did, it was... more fun than glorious looking.

Tactically it is better suited to defense and blocking incoming blasts when corded than actually duelling another blade. But in an age of more style and with rules for duels and combat, corded versions may work without impediments, think of fencing more than swordfights. Medieval or japanese swordstyles are not very cord-friendly. Fencing though is very much so.

 

Nope, I cannot say that I have done much sword-fighting in any style, let alone with a corded saber. I figure the corded sabers were only recharged when not in use. They could recharge during downtime. When you add more pieces to weaponry, there's got to be more variations.

 

No never tried it either. But I came across a mention of corded saber combat in " Crosscurrent" by Paul S. Kemp.

 

I wonder if it could be used like a long, swinging flail. That would be quite scary.

 

Lightwhips must be invented and born of something... corded lightsaber mishab that energized the cord could be just it

But on a more serious note: Lightwhips exist in various forms:
-one where a metal or cord is energized with an energy aura (akin to force imbued sith and jedi swords of old). Unpowered the cord can be worn like Indiana Jones whip on the belt
-same as above but with a retractable cord as whipblade to be energized
-Full modern lightwhip with a lightsaberstyle energy only blade that is flexible and retracteable and needs no physical core aside the hilt.

So yes, kyber-enhanced metal can be forceimbued/powered up with an energy aura as in swords or whips. So technically it is possible a mishap energizes the cord of a corded lightsaber

 

You bring up some good points, I have searched for the invintion of lightwhips but have struck out so far.

 

There may be no "invention date" per se in the galaxy for certain types of energized weaponry. It may be a matter of an outside culture acting upon another more insulated culture to introduce new forms of technology. The technology is then backwards-engineered.

 

TRUE^^^^^