Lightsaber Bombs?! A Shocking New Twist in Star Wars canon!
Lightsabers: From Jedi Weapons to Explosive Devices!
Lightsabers are iconic. They're synonymous with Star Wars! Yet, despite appearing often in the franchise, in-universe, they're surprisingly rare. They're the main weapons for Jedi and Sith, and other Force-users (like the Knights of Ren and the Prophets of the Dark Side—although this second group is from Legends continuity). But get this—modern Star Wars canon now has a way to turn those amazing weapons into bombs. Seriously.
Both Legends and the modern canon rely on special crystals to power lightsabers, originally focusing on these mystical gems: in Legends, these are standard, and the colors denote blade color; whereas the modern version, which calls them Kyber crystals, starts clear and then change color when the Jedi use them. And here’s where the bombs enter.
Synthetic Kyber Crystals: The Key to Lightsaber Explosives
Modern Star Wars canon reveals the key– those highly unstable synthetic Kyber crystals! Way less stable than cracked ones like Kylo Ren's lightsaber’s crystal. It makes using them incredibly risky!
We still don't fully know how these synthetics are made, but they’re unusable and extremely explosive, turning your lightsaber into a walking, swinging bomb. Those crossguards in Kylo Ren's lightsaber, might’ve done more than provide an additional weapon: this addition helps stabilize the highly unstable blade it created; meaning a weapon that shouldn’t function as a lightsaber– functions better in certain ways because the structural stability provided creates a functional weapon in some unusual sense. We are not necessarily talking weapons here, it’s completely different in its purposes and effectiveness!
Legends vs. Canon: A Different Kind of Synthetic Crystal
In Legends continuity, those synthetic lightsaber crystals are perfectly safe, initially appearing in Steve Perry's Shadows of the Empire (1996) novel! That famous green lightsaber Luke Skywalker built was powered by a synthetic crystal. Why? The Empire destroyed almost all those naturally occurring gems which explains that necessity to resort to synthetics for this particular purpose; another point to keep in mind! The Sith frequently used synthetic gems almost always.
Synthetic crystals get made with both technology and the Force, though Sith use the dark side. The Jedi were not particularly fond of making synthetics but ended up heavily using these synthetic gems at the close of the original trilogy, showing just how great the need truly was! And the New Jedi Order in Legends relied heavily on synthetic gems in that period and even afterward, emphasizing the larger, longer lasting importance of such inventions, completely changing the very dynamics surrounding the development of lightsabers overall. Even though those are from the now non-canon Legends stories, there are several relevant thematic parallels!
Conclusion: The Explosive Potential of Lightsaber Technology!
This addition to the Star Wars canon adds another layer to those fascinating weapons! We already have lots of potential plots; even showing surprising ways those lightsabers can function as devastating explosive devices. While those Legends synthetic crystals present a distinct approach, this article shows that it's surprisingly not completely that separate and disconnected; adding those significant parallels across both Legends and modern Star Wars which adds considerable significance across different continuities. It really makes a good point regarding creative approaches towards technological aspects within the greater Star Wars narrative!
