The Legendary Darksaber
Featured heavily in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian, the Darksaber is one of the coolest swords in all of Star Wars. Part of the Darksaber’s allure comes from the power it commands from other Mandalorians; the one who wields the Darksaber has the right to rule Mandalore. Nevertheless, there are also combat rules involved with “winning” the saber, ensuring the wielder properly earns it. But the Darksaber’s unique color and design also set it apart from other lightsaber-esque weapons. Nothing else in the franchise looks or acts like the Darksaber, prompting many to theorize how and why it’s so different from other blades.
Pre Vizsla with the Darksaber in Star Wars The Clone Wars.
The Darksaber was crafted over one thousand years before the Skywalker Saga by a Mandalorian Jedi named Tarre Vizsla. As such, not much is known about its make-up, since few are left alive in the franchise who remember that time. Now that the Darksaber has been destroyed by Moff Gideon, its unlikely Star Wars will ever reveal what made the saber so unique. Of course, the rules surrounding the Darksaber were made-up by the Mandalorians after its creation, and have little to do with the blade’s actual construction. Nevertheless, there may be enough hints scattered throughout the franchise to piece together why the Darksaber is so unique.
Sabine Wren with Darksaber in Star Wars Rebels.
The Darksaber's Unique Properties
The franchise has added a lot of cool lightsaber colors to its repertoire since the weapon’s first appearance in A New Hope. What initially started out as green, blue, and red has evolved to comprise almost any color imaginable, with some colors being more rare than others, such as Mace Windu’s purple lightsaber. Nevertheless, the general make-up of most lightsaber blades remains unchanged. While most lightsabers are cylindrical and colorful, the Darksaber appears flat and colorless. Its blade is also noticeably shorter than other lightsabers. However, the Darksaber's most unique aspect is the black color of the blade, combined with its white, crackling outline.
Din Djarin Wielding The Darksaber In TBOBF Chapter 5
In addition to its strange appearance, the Darksaber also behaves differently depending on who wields it. Both Din Djarin and Sabine Wren experience this first-hand in The Book of Boba Fett and Star Wars Rebels, respectively. While wielding the Darksaber, it becomes noticeably heavier, to the point where Din Djarin has difficulty even keeping it upright. In Rebels season 3, episode 15 “Trials of the Darksaber,” Kanan Jarrus explains that the weight of the blade has to do with the energy flowing through the crystal in the Darksaber. When the wielder doubts themselves, their energy causes the blade’s weight to increase, making it more difficult to wield.
Bo-Katan Kryze Wielding the Darksaber
The Mystery Behind the Darksaber's Color
For most lightsabers, the kyber crystal inside it dictates what color the blade becomes. In Star Wars Legends, kyber crystals come in a variety of colors for the wielder to choose from. But in Star Wars Canon, kyber crystals change color depending on who first imprints on them with the Force. Before The Mandalorian came out, Ultimate Star Wars by Ryder Windham, Tricia Barr, Adam Bray, and Daniel Wallace described the Darksaber utilizing a kyber crystal just like any other lightsaber. But nowhere else does the franchise specify that the Darksaber’s crystal is kyber. In fact, Kanan Jarrus vaguely refers to the Darksaber’s heart as a mere “crystal.”
Star Wars: Kyber Crystal
According to Huyang in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the kyber crystal is the heart of the lightsaber. However, this definition can be a little misleading. The kyber crystal itself did not actually power the lightsaber blade. Instead, crystals merely channeled power from a diatium power cell into the blade emitter. In other words, crystals were essential for “translating” energy into the blade, but they didn’t give the lightsaber its power on their own. Another example of this is Starkiller Base’s need to drain power from the Dassal system’s sun—in Star Wars: The Force Awakens—before using the planet’s kyber crystal core to redirect it.
Moff Gideon destroying the Darksaber as Bo-Katan holds it
