‘Ahsoka’: Here’s Why Ezra Didn’t Use His Lightsaber

While we already knew that Ezra Bridger would be forced back into action after Sabine Wren found him, we saw in episode 7 of ‘Ahsoka’ that he wasn’t even willing to take back the lightsaber that he once wielded. Of course, this surprised Sabine because she willingly handed the lightsaber over to him, only for him to reject it quite a few times. So, why didn’t Ezra use his lightsaber?

Ezra Bridger didn’t use his lightsaber because it wasn’t his lightsaber anymore. He had already given it to Sabine Wren about a decade before he disappeared with Thrawn. Of course, it has been long since he last held a lightsaber, and he now prefers to fight unarmed.

The fact that Ezra Bridger now completely fights without using any weapon is new. We know that the Jedi can fight unarmed and have the Force on their side. But they almost always rely on their lightsabers. Nevertheless, Ezra had the option to use a lightsaber but opted against it, as this is something that we are here to look at.

It’s no longer his lightsaber

One of the most heroic moments in Ezra Bridger’s life happened in 1 BBY when he decided to leave his friends behind to ensure that Thrawn wouldn’t be a threat to them and the people of Lothal. However, before his self-imposed exile, he handed his lightsaber down to Sabine. And Sabine has been holding on to it for around ten years already, thinking that it was only in her possession for safekeeping until Ezra’s return.

But in episode 2 of ‘Ahsoka,’ Huyang noticed that Sabine had introduced modifications to the lightsaber. He also said that this weapon was no longer Ezra Bridger’s but was already hers because he handed it down to him years ago with the intent that she would hold on to it permanently. Of course, while Sabine used the lightsaber, she still wanted to return it to her long-lost friend.

Episode 7, however, allowed us to see Ezra and Sabine in a bit of a pickle when the bandits of Peridea attacked them and the Noti caravan under the orders of Shin Hati. When they realized that they needed to fight back instead of trying to escape, that was when Ezra asked Sabine for a plan. Instead of giving him a plan, she handed him the lightsaber so that he could use it in the fight.

Of course, Ezra refused to take the lightsaber and didn’t even try to touch it. He rejected it over and over again as Sabine thought that he was only joking. But Ezra reaffirmed that this was no longer his lightsaber but was already hers because he had given it to Sabine long ago. As such, he didn’t want to use a weapon that was no longer his, even though Sabine thought that he was better off with the lightsaber than her.

He hasn’t held one in a decade

Of course, let’s not forget that Ezra Bridger came to Peridea unarmed when he and the Chimaera were blasted off to another galaxy by the Purrgil around a decade ago. There were no lightsabers on that planet, which meant that Ezra didn’t have a weapon to use against the Imperial troops that Thrawn sent after him for ten years.

As such, Ezra may have been rusty with his skills in the ten years he spent on Peridea without ever touching a lightsaber. We know that Ezra wasn’t the best lightsaber duelist before he disappeared a decade ago, and his not having a lightsaber for a very long time means his skills may have rusted already. He wasn’t keeping up with his swordsmanship, and he wasn’t even a lot better than Sabine when it came to sword fighting.

Ezra even reaffirmed that Sabine should use the lightsaber because it was already hers and because she had been training with it for a longer time than Ezra ever did. Remember that Ezra started training with a lightsaber when he was 14 years old. He disappeared at the age of 18, and that means that he only had four years of experience with a lightsaber. 

On the other hand, Sabine started training with the Darksaber around 11 years ago and went on to train using the lightsaber that Ezra gave her for around a decade. This means that she has had more experience using a lightsaber than Ezra, even though Ezra was always the more talented of the duo when it came to the Force.

Let’s not forget that a lightsaber is a very dangerous weapon that can be just as dangerous to the wielder as it is to the enemy if it is in the wrong hands. Ezra must have realized that it has been a long time since he last held one, which means he wouldn’t have been able to wield it properly.

Ezra is now space Jackie Chan

On top of the fact that the lightsaber no longer belonged to him and that he was rusty in terms of his swordsmanship, Ezra Bridger was now an entirely different fighter. He may have lagged behind in his lightsaber training, but he mastered using the Force in the ten years he spent on Peridea. That means that he became even stronger before he disappeared, as he claimed that the Force was the only ally he needed.

Of course, Ezra also honed his unarmed combat skills as he became more of a martial artist during his absence from the known galaxy. A decade of fighting Imperial troopers and local bandits is a long time for anyone to learn how to masterfully fight unarmed, and Ezra became an expert hand-to-hand fighter in the ten years he spent on Peridea.

Ezra also learned how to combine his mastery of the Force with his martial arts to form a fighting style that is quite unique to him. He often used kicks and open-palm strikes that were enhanced with the power of the Force. On top of that, he became a master of evading strikes such that it was quite effortless for him to evade all of Shin Hatti’s attacks. Ezra became so strong in the Force that he could now block lightsabers by using Force push, proving that he continued to train as a Jedi while in exile.

In short, Ezra Bridger transformed into a different kind of fighter who learned how to use the Force differently. Instead of using it lethally by wielding a lightsaber, he learned how to fight barehanded while strengthening his attacks using the Force.

Of course, this isn’t something novel because the Jedi are supposed to be expert hand-to-hand combatants. But because more and more Jedi relied on using the lightsaber in a fight, unarmed combat became a lost art among them. That’s why Ezra’s new Force-based martial arts is a refreshing sight to see in the world of Star Wars.

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