Here’s Why Luke Skywalker Has a Green Lightsaber

While we do know that the color blue used to be the first lightsaber color used for a Jedi onscreen in the world of Star Wars, we eventually saw Luke Skywalker carrying a green lightsaber during the events of ‘Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’ and used the same weapon to defeat Darth Vader in what was the most iconic fight in the storyline of the franchise. But why is it that Luke Skywalker has a green lightsaber?

George Lucas decided to give Luke Skywalker a green lightsaber instead of a blue one because the color blue blended with the blue sky of Tatooine in the fight scene against Jabba the Hutt and his men on his barge. As such, the saber needed to be changed to green so that they could see it better.

This was one of the biggest changes a director and his crew made about a movie franchise because it opened up the possibility of more lightsaber colors appearing. That is why we now have more lightsaber colors instead of sticking to the first two colors we saw in Star Wars. Now, with that said, let’s talk more about how Luke’s lightsaber’s color changed.

Why did Luke change his lightsaber from blue to green?

If there’s one thing that we know about Star Wars, it’s that the Jedi use a lot of different lightsaber colors. That’s because the color of the Kyber crystal that powers the lightsaber actually depends on the Jedi that resonated with the crystal. In that regard, the color of the crystal will depend on the nature of the Jedi’s personality and his affinity with the Force. And that’s why not all lightsabers have the same color.

Nevertheless, there was a time when there were only two lightsaber colors. In ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,’ we learned that the lightsaber is the weapon of the Jedi and that the lightsabers that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker owned had blue blades. Meanwhile, Darth Vader was revealed to have a red blade lightsaber, thus paving the way for the blue vs. red battle between the Jedi and the Sith.

Of course, Luke first used a blue lightsaber that his father owned. He used the same lightsaber in the first two movies before losing it on Bespin in a duel with Darth Vader. And that was when he had to create his own lightsaber in time to face his father once more and defeat him.

So, when Luke reappeared in ‘Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi,’ he now sported a new lightsaber with a green blade instead of a blue one. And while this changed the entire concept of the color of a Jedi’s lightsaber, there was a good reason why Luke’s blade had to be green.

In ‘Return of the Jedi,’ there were scenes on Tatooine because that was where Jabba the Hutt was keeping a carbonite-frozen Han Solo. Luke and Leia had to go there to rescue them, only for Jabba to escape with Leia and Han’s carbonite on his sand barge. Luke and his allies gave chase, which paved the way for a battle between the good guys and the gangsters during broad daylight.

That was when George Lucas decided to change things up. While filming that scene, they noticed that it was harder to see Luke’s blue lightsaber because it blended with the sky. This made it difficult for them to film the sand barge battle scenes between Luke and Jabba’s forces. As such, they had to make a massive change that made it easier for them to see the lightsaber.

Lucas and his team gave Luke a green lightsaber because it was easier to see it during broad daylight while filming the barge scene. And this paved the way for what ultimately became one of the biggest things to happen to Star Wars, as the Jedi eventually went on to have more lightsaber colors.

Of course, George Lucas never considered adding more lightsaber colors during that time. In fact, in a discussion with Samuel L. Jackson regarding the color of his lightsaber, Lucas said that the good guys get blue and green while the bad guys get red. So, while Lucas eventually gave Jackson a purple lightsaber, the fact was that he was supposed to stop at the blue and green colors for the lightsabers of the Jedi instead of adding more of them to the lore.

It all started when they decided to change Luke’s lightsaber from blue to green due to some technicalities brought about by the conditions under which they were filming the movie. And we should be thankful for the bright sunlight for giving us the green lightsaber.

How does Luke get a green lightsaber?

Of course, Luke got a green lightsaber due to some real-world technicalities involving trouble shooting that sand barge scene. But the canon lore of Star Wars had to fill out the in-universe details to explain how and why Luke got a green lightsaber.

We all know he lost the Skywalker Lightsaber on Bespin after losing to Darth Vader in their Cloud City duel. And that meant that he needed a new lightsaber that he could use against the Empire, especially because he didn’t have a way to get back the Skywalker Lightsaber, which we know was salvaged by Maz Kanata.

After he got his new arm, Luke went on a mission to find a new lightsaber. This led him to a yellow lightsaber in a ruined Jedi Temple on a remote planet. However, this lightsaber was already badly damaged and on its last legs. Eventually, the yellow lightsaber stopped working, as Luke wasn’t surprised about it because it was already badly damaged when he first found it.

Luke eventually set off to find a new Kyber crystal to construct his own lightsaber instead of a new one. This led him to the planet Christophsis, where he met a woman named Gretta. The woman took him to Dr. Cuata, who gave him a blank Kyber crystal that was yet to resonate with a Jedi.

Luke took the crystal and received a vision from Yoda while he was attuning to it. As such, the Kyber crystal turned green as it was possible that the vision from Yoda, who was also green and had a green lightsaber, was what turned the crystal into that color.

Although Luke didn’t know how to construct a lightsaber and was only aware of the little things that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda told him about the parts that make up a lightsaber, he used the Force to guide him to understand what needed to be used to create this new weapon.

Eventually, he found the parts he needed by trusting in the will of the Force. And he used the notes he found in Kenobi’s home on Tatooine to finally construct his green-bladed lightsaber.

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