Recently released concept art for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker revealed that Dark Rey could have had a lightsaber that was much closer to Rey’s final saber design. At the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey unveiled her new yellow lightsaber for the first time. This not only signaled the completion of her Jedi training, but her acceptance of the Skywalker name. However, Rey’s yellow lightsaber was not her only important new lightsaber in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
During Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey had to travel to the ruins of the Death Star to find a Sith wayfinder. While searching for it near Emperor Palpatine’s throne room though, Rey had a vision of a dark version of herself, Dark Rey, similar to Luke Skywalker’s experience in the cave on Dagobah. In this vision, Rey had fallen to the dark side and wielded a red lightsaber. This lightsaber was hinged, double-bladed, and contained subtle nods to Darth Vader’s lightsaber style.
However, Dark Rey’s lightsaber could have looked much more similar to Rey’s yellow lightsaber at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Matthew Savage, a concept artist, recently posted an image of an unused design for Dark Rey’s lightsaber. This concept art included elements that were ultimately used to design Rey’s yellow lightsaber instead. If Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had used this earlier design for Dark Rey’s lightsaber, they could have better connected Dark Rey’s lightsaber to her past and enhanced its symbolic meaning.
Like Rey’s yellow lightsaber, Dark Rey’s lightsaber could have reflected Rey’s childhood on Jakku. Savage’s original concept art drew strongly upon Rey’s quarterstaff. For example, the handle included cloth wrappings on the grip, matching those on her staff. Additionally, the lightsaber was designed to be double-bladed without a hinge, which would have been more similar to the shape of Rey’s quarterstaff. These design elements would have made Dark Rey’s lightsaber more personal to Rey and her past, rather than mimicking Darth Vader’s aesthetic.
This connection to Rey’s history would have given Dark Rey’s lightsaber greater symbolism. Since Dark Rey served as a warning of what Rey could become, using design elements from her quarterstaff would have better shown how Rey’s past influenced her growth and potential fall to the dark side. In addition, Dark Rey’s lightsaber would have had more significance if it had been similar to Rey’s yellow lightsaber, which directly used parts from her quarterstaff. These shared design elements would have provided a link between the two versions of Rey, recognizing that although Rey rejected the dark side, it – and Dark Rey – were still a part of her. Although both of Rey’s new lightsaber designs in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker reflected her character growth, Dark Rey’s discarded lightsaber would have better connected not only the two sabers, but the two sides of Rey.
