Ever since the first movie in Disney’s Sequel Trilogy established Rey with a staff, fans have wanted to see her wield a double-bladed lightsaber like Darth Maul. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker actually came close to giving her one, but the movie forsook that idea in favor of Anakin’s blue lightsaber.
The last film in the Skywalker Saga was ultimately a lackluster final act that left much to be desired in terms of narrative and character resolutions. And if not for that, the movie felt rushed and incomplete. As fans pointed out, many of Episode IX‘s scenes could’ve been fleshed out in a more meaningful and cohesive way, but Abrams had to work his script around a limited runtime. Namely, one of these abrupt encounters involved ‘Dark Rey,’ who appeared as a vision to persuade her counterpart to embrace the Dark Side.
As you may recall, Dark Rey had a double-bladed red lightsaber. A feature which, considering the scene’s short length, didn’t contribute much to the plot other than being a coy tool for the movie’s promotional campaign. This obviously ended up disappointing a lot of fans and enraging others. However, according to the new novel adaptation, Rey was working on building such a weapon, which explains why she saw it manifest in her nightmarish hallucination.
The following excerpt from the book reveals that Rey almost built a double-bladed lightsaber, but didn’t manage to finish it in time:
“She eyed the unfinished lightsaber on her workbench. It wasn’t ready yet, and the one she’d painstakingly repaired — Luke’s — didn’t belong to her. So her quarterstaff would have to suffice as a weapon. Which was just fine. It had served her well on Jakku for years. In fact, someday, once she had mastered this lightsaber-building business, she might design one that felt more like a quarterstaff in her hand. Familiar and hefty. Two business ends. Maybe with a hinge in the middle for portability.”
Of course, by the end of the movie, Rey buried Luke and Leia’s blue lightsabers on Tatooine and had in possession a new one, which was yellow in color. The film didn’t confirm if that was the lightsaber she was working on, or if it was double-bladed, though the long hilt somehow confirms that it was.
Either way, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker didn’t manage to give us any moments with Rey and her signature weapon, so let’s hope that we’ll get to see it one day with the continuation of her story through other mediums.
