As Disney’s
Star Wars franchise continues to expand at a rate that outreaches its own Clone Army, we’re heading back in time to solve one of the galaxy’s many mysteries.
Unearthed footage from George Lucas’ prequel trilogy pinpoints the exact moment
Mace Windu’s iconic
purple lightsaber was born.
Alongside the likes of Christopher Lee, Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson, Samuel L. Jackson was one of the prequel trilogy’s biggest castings. It turns out the
Pulp Fiction Star was so big, he even got to pick his own colour lightsaber. Posting on
Reddit, u/EKRB7 shared footage from when Jackson turned to Lucas and simply asked for a
purple lightsaber.
In the short clip, Jackson boldly asks, “Who do you have to talk to about your
lightsaber colour?” Lucas then tries to deflect the question to explain
lightsaber logistics and is quickly rebuffed by Jackson saying, “No purple?”. This is followed by the star’s very own Jedi mind trick as Lucas relents with a simple: “You might get purple”.
<span class="lqip lazyload" data-expand="2000" data-lqip="https://hameed.nwar.uk/vb/w101/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mace-Winduâ??s-purple-lightsaber-mystery-is-finally-solved.jpg&frame=1&lqip=yes"/>
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Disney
Back when the
Star Wars franchise was a youngling, fans were taught that Jedi fought with blue lightsabers and the villainous Sith swung red blades. It was only in
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi that Luke was given his new and improved green lightsaber.
Ironically, it originally appeared blue in the trailers and marketing posters, but the production designers decided to make it green to stand out against the blue sky of Tatooine. These days, it seems like it’s a free-for-all on
lightsaber colours.
Some background: lightsabers get their power from Kyber crystals (the Empire was robbing them from the Holy City of Jedha in
Rogue One). Kyber crystals appear colourless but take on a specific shade depending on their owner’s personality. This doesn’t really make sense when they change hands, but who are we to nitpick?
<span class="lqip lazyload" data-expand="2000" data-lqip="https://hameed.nwar.uk/vb/w101/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1581684987_211_Mace-Winduâ??s-purple-lightsaber-mystery-is-finally-solved.jpg&frame=1&lqip=yes"/>
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Lucasfilm
Over the years, a whole rainbow of these have been added to canon, and at last count, there are eight possible
lightsaber colours.
So, just where does
Mace Windu’s vibrant weapon fit into the mix? In real-life it was because
purple was Jackson’s favourite colour. But in-universe, the
purple lightsaber has an actual backstory. The
Star Wars Tales comic ‘Stones’ featured Windu having a vision of his signature weapon and travelling to the planet Hurikane to get the necessary parts.
Even though Lucas gave Jackson only a handful of scenes in
Episode I, he got to flex his muscles and swing that snazzy saber in
Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones. It was during the climactic Battle of Geonosis that Windu really stood out from the crowd, decapitated Jango Fett, and inadvertently set up
Boba Fett to be one of the most unconventional fan-favourites of the franchise.
<span class="lqip lazyload" data-expand="2000" data-lqip="https://hameed.nwar.uk/vb/w101/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mace-Winduâ??s-purple-lightsaber-mystery-is-finally-solved.jpeg&frame=1&lqip=yes"/>
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Lucasfilm
Sadly, Windu met his maker in
Revenge of the Sith and was memorably blasted out a window by the villainous Sheev Palpatine. Much like the recent tease of how
Luke Skywalker’s famous lightsaber found a new owner, Windu’s weapon seemingly changed hands.
It was never confirmed, but in
Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi book series, Senator Sano Sauro was sold a broken
lightsaber that reportedly belonged to the fallen Jedi Master. Elsewhere, the complicated lore of
Star Wars claims the fact Windu’s
purple saber is a mix of red and blue represents the user’s affinity with both the light and dark side of the Force.
Only recently, JJ Abrams rounded off the nine-movie Skywalker Saga with the divisive
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Before the credits rolled, Daisy Ridley’s Rey headed to Tatooine to bury Luke and Leia’s sabers at the Skywalker Ranch, but it looks like she took something from each. The
Palpatine outcast formed her own yellow-bladed lightsaber by presumably combining the two Kyber crystals as the ultimate nod to days gone by.
purple and yellow lightsabers aren’t the only unusual colour combinations. The forgotten Yoda-inspired Yaddle twirled her own orange blade in the expanded universe, and
who could forget the ebony Darksaber? Jon Favreau’s
The Mandalorian rounded off its gripping freshman season with the jaw-dropping reveal of Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon slicing his way out a wreckage with the Darksaber in his grasp.
<span class="lqip lazyload" data-expand="2000" data-lqip="https://hameed.nwar.uk/vb/w101/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1581684988_235_Mace-Winduâ??s-purple-lightsaber-mystery-is-finally-solved.jpg&frame=1&lqip=yes"/>
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Disney
In fact, it seems the ‘new’ era of that galaxy far, far away is obsessed with giving us different coloured blades. The release of
Jedi: Fallen Order brought orange lightsabers back into canon, and let’s also remember the beloved (but currently MIA) Ahsoka Tano wields a white lightsaber. Still, is anything white as cute as
Mace Windu’s Ribena lightsaber? No, we thought not.
</p> Star Wars – The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) [Blu-ray] [1977] [Region Free]
</p>
</p> Star Wars: The Complete Saga – Episodes I-VI [6DVD] (English audio. English subtitles)
</p>
</p>
</p> Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episodes IV-VI) [Blu-ray] [1977] [Region Free]
</p>
</p> Star Wars: The Force Awakens [Blu-ray] [2015] [Region Free]
</p>
</p> Star Wars: The Last Jedi [4K UHD] [Blu-ray] [2017]
</p>
</p> Star Wars: The Last Jedi [Blu-ray] [2017]
</p>
</p> Rogue One: A Star Wars Story [Blu-ray] [2017] [Region Free]
</p>
</p> Solo: A Star Wars Story [4K] [Blu-ray] [2018] [Region Free]
</p>
</p> Solo: A Star Wars Story [Blu-ray] [2018] [Region Free]
</p>
</p>
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