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- "Well, it's…different, but that seems about right for you."
- ―Kanan Jarrus, to Ezra Bridger
Ezra's lightsaber was the personal, prototype lightsaber of Ezra Bridger, a Padawan and rebel who lived in the years prior to the Battle of Yavin. Bridger spent several weeks building his lightsaber after receiving a kyber crystal in the Jedi Temple on Lothal. The weapon, which was built out of spare parts donated by fellow members of the Ghost's crew, was a lightsaber-blaster hybrid. When in lightsaber mode, the weapon had an adjustable blade and could be used in combat. Blaster mode was set to stun and was built as a result of Bridger's lack of skill in deflecting blaster fire with his blade. After being rescued, Kanan Jarrus borrowed this weapon to fight the Grand Inquisitor, using it and his own lightsaber to defeat the Inquisitor. Darth Vader would destroy this weapon in a duel with Ezra Bridger during the mission to Malachor. Bridger later replaced his lightsaber with a green-bladed one.
Description
- "He was pretty specific about what he was looking for."
- ―Hera Syndulla
Ezra Bridger, a Padawan who trained as a Jedi in the years following the destruction of the Jedi Order, built his own lightsaber when he was 15, four years prior to the Battle of Yavin.[3] The weapon was a lightsaber-blaster hybrid, allowing him to engage in lightsaber combat as well as firefights.[2] The lightsaber blade was light and swift, which complemented Bridger's speed and size. The blaster component was built as a result of Bridger's lack of skill at deflecting blaster bolts with his blade. Blaster mode, which required disengaging the lightsaber blade because the powerpack could not handle both at once, fired stun blasts at an enemy, giving Bridger time to escape dangerous situations.[6] Members of the Jedi Order would never have built such a weapon, and although some wayward Jedi did use blasters, they were never condoned by the Jedi Council. However, Bridger was not a typical Jedi[1] and valued surviving dangerous encounters over Jedi traditions.[2] Additionally, using a lightsaber in the era of the Galactic Empire drew too much attention, so Bridger only did so as a last resort. The built-in blaster function gave him the ability to engage in combat without revealing his identity, and it provided an advantage in confrontations that other Jedi would not have.[1] The design and utilitarian appearance also made it much less likely to be recognized as a lightsaber.
Specifications
- "No lightsabers, not unless we're—"
"You worry too much."
"Hey, mine doesn't do that."
"Nope. I might not be able to sword fight yet, but I can shoot."
"Kid, you continue to impress." - ―Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, when the latter revealed the lightsaber's blaster function for the first time
Ezra Bridger ignites his lightsaber.
At the heart of the lightsaber was a kyber crystal,[7] which Bridger received in the Jedi Temple on Lothal.[3] The crystal was attuned to the powers of the Force.[7] In addition to the crystal, the lightsaber was built out of a number of parts from different members of the rebel crew of the Ghost. Kanan Jarrus, Bridger's master, had spare lightsaber parts that he had found over the previous fifteen years. Sabine Wren, a fellow crew member, donated modulation circuits and an energy gate. C1-10P, an astromech droid nicknamed Chopper, donated a power cell. Hera Syndulla, the owner and pilot of the Ghost, likewise provided additional technology based on Bridger's specifications.[3] Those specifications included a blade emitter shroud, handgrip ridges, a blade length adjuster, an activator, and a blaster barrel.[2] Several parts were also secretly acquired from Garazeb Orrelios's supplies.[1]
The unconventional double-bar design was necessary because the outer bar contained the blaster components. This design was unusual and unproven and posed some risk of a short-circuit at crucial moments. As Ezra had to learn how to build the entire assembly through trial and error, the blaster component was designed to be easily removed to facilitate maintenance and repairs.[1] It also had a low-power setting to avoid injuring a sparring partner during practice. In this mode, the blade had a different shade of blue, and made a noticeably higher-pitched humming noise than usual.[8] The lightsaber was also designed such that its kyber crystal was easily removable.[9]
History
- "He's been working on that thing for weeks. What kind of lightsaber could he possibly build with the junk we have laying around?"
- ―Garazeb Orrelios
Kanan Jarrus examining Ezra's lightsaber.
Five years before the Battle of Yavin, Bridger — then a street orphan on Lothal — joined the crew of the Ghost after learning that he was Force-sensitive. As a result, he agreed to be trained as a Jedi by Kanan Jarrus, a former Padawan who escaped the destruction of the Jedi Order.[10] The two trained together, and Bridger's powers with the Force grew quickly.[3] Later, on the fifteenth anniversary of the rise of the Galactic Empire,[11] Bridger accidentally tapped into the dark side of the Force to save Jarrus from the Jedi hunter known as the Grand Inquisitor.[12]
Sometime after escaping, Jarrus led Bridger to a Jedi Temple on Lothal, where Bridger's readiness to be trained as a Jedi was put through a series of tests. During the tests, Bridger had to overcome his fear of abandonment, and in doing so was anonymously guided by Jedi Master Yoda, who communed with Bridger from afar. The boy passed his tests and was given a kyber crystal from within the temple, which signaled he was ready to construct his own lightsaber. After several weeks of trial and error,[1] using spare parts and technology from other members of the crew, Bridger assembled his lightsaber and presented it to his master before igniting it for the first time in front of the crew.[3]
Kanan trained Ezra to use the lightsaber in combat, sometimes throwing rocks for Ezra to deflect. In total, Ezra missed 328 of the rocks thrown at him.[13] When first in battle, Ezra usually used the lightsaber's blaster. He soon began to use his weapon like a lightsaber during later missions. During the mission to rescue Kanan,[14] the lightsaber played a major role in the defeat of the Empire's Grand Inquisitor. Ezra loaned his lightsaber to Kanan, as his Master's own lightsaber had been taken from him by the Inquisitor. During the battle, Ezra managed to take Kanan's lightsaber from the Inquisitor to help fight him. Kanan used both Ezra's lightsaber and his own to defeat the Inquisitor after Ezra was knocked out.[15]
During the Mission to Malachor, Kanan received a message from C1-10P that a TIE fighter was heading toward them, while Ezra was discovering the secret of the Sith temple. Ezra encountered the Sith Lord Darth Vader who had arrived to claim the temple's power for his master. During the duel that followed between them, Vader outmaneuvered Ezra by slashing at his lightsaber, destroying it immediately. Before Vader could strike Ezra down, Ahsoka Tano intervened.
Behind the scenes
Ezra's lightsaber was first revealed in Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide, a reference book by Adam Bray.[2] It was further previewed in "Designing Star Wars Rebels," an article in Star Wars Insider 154.[6] It made its first appearance on the animated television series Star Wars Rebels in the episode "Path of the Jedi."[3]
Appearances
Non-canon appearances
Sources
- Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide (First identified as Ezra Bridger's lightsaber)
- Rebel Journal by Ezra Bridger (Cover only)
"Designing Star Wars Rebels" — Star Wars Insider 154- Ultimate Star Wars
- Star Wars Rebels: Rebel Power!
- Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
- LEGO Star Wars Rebels (Set: 75090 Ezra's Speeder Bike)
- LEGO Star Wars Rebels (Set: 75158 Rebel Combat Frigate)
- Star Wars: Lightsaber Battles
- Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles
- Star Wars: The Secrets of the Jedi
- Ezra's Lightsaber in the Databank (backup link)
Notes & references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Ultimate Star Wars
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14
Star Wars Rebels — "Path of the Jedi"
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels began five years before the Battle of Yavin, which placed it after fourteen years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. The lightsaber was built in the episode "Path of the Jedi," which took place after the two-parter consisting of "Empire Day" and "Gathering Forces." "Empire Day" established that it was the fifteenth anniversary of the Empire, which came to power in Revenge of the Sith. As such, we can deduce that the construction of Ezra's lightsaber occurred approximately four years before the Battle of Yavin, which in turn takes place nineteen years after Revenge of the Sith.
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "Twilight of the Apprentice"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Designing Star Wars Rebels" — Star Wars Insider 154
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kyber Crystal (Lightsaber Crystal) in the Databank (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "The Mystery of Chopper Base"
- ↑ Star Wars Forces of Destiny — "A Disarming Lesson"
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "Empire Day"
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "Gathering Forces"
- ↑ Please cite Star Wars, everything you need to know
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "Call to Action"
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "Fire Across the Galaxy"