So this is why we have red lightsabers

[Reverend]

Also, if dark side users can't use normal kyber crystals, why was Anakin able to use his Blue sabre when he went all Dark Side in EP3?

It's not that they can't use an already built one, but the process of them building their own turns it red. Either because they forcibly acquire one from a planet like Iilum or that re-purpose one taken from someone else.

It actually makes Kylo's saber make a little more sense now. He was still very much out of balance and unsure when he made it, neither fully dark nor light. It's no wonder he made a hash of the process.

 

[O'Dib]

Except Rebels made it into an ancient design that lightsiders used as well (Ezra ignites a mummy's green blade vented saber on Malachor)

 

[Reverend]

Except Rebels made it into an ancient design that lightsiders used as well (Ezra ignites a mummy's green blade vented saber on Malachor)

Not the cross-hilt design, just the instability of the blade itself. The ancient cross-hilt had a perfectly stable blade just like any other saber. At least until the power cell gave out anyway.

 

[Saul]

I'd prefer the idea that they just went to a sith world and got rare red crystals. The bleeding crystal things sounds like something from Super Shadow.

 

[Kahless the Unforgettable]

The colour choosing thing is dumb though. They could keep the colour chosen via the force, just make the crystal they find already be the colour

Or, even more simply, that red crystals allow one to channel the dark side of the force a bit easier than most of the other colors. And vice-versa with the other colors.

Buuuuut, why keep it nice and simple when you can come up with poorly thought-out, nonsensical reason that makes no sense whatsoever? I mean, one of the most ridiculous things about this concept is that, for some reason, it implies you can't use someone else's saber and instead have to "bind" the crystal to one you personally made. As if making the saber was a requirement in the first place (Luke says hi, btw.), rather than just a Jedi ritual. And, you know, nevermind all the times we've seen them use other people's sabers without a problem. Or even non-Force users using them, like Greivous, Finn, or that Mandalorian fellow from one of the recent animated series.

 

[JD]

I think I found the specific section being discussed and all is says is that the crystals turn red when the dark side user "bent them to their will", and that "they call it making the crystal bleed". So the bleeding thing is just a metaphor for the color changing, it's not literal.
I actually like the idea of the crystals being connected to the Force, it makes the lightsabers feel more special.
I don't think any of this is saying non-Force users can't use lightsabers, it's just that the can't have the connection necessary to build them. They are also probably a lot less efficient with them, which does seem to fit what we've seen before.

 

[Venardhi]

They were already special. They're goddamn laser swords.

 

[Ithekro]

Anakin's saber doesn't change when he did because it was his crystal to start with. It called to him while he was a Jedi.

As for people being able to use any lightsaber, they can. However a lightsaber seems to work better if the user has a connection with the crystal inside. "This lightsaber is your life" has a little more meaning with you and the crystal are connected via the Force. The crystal was also suppose to help the Jedi focus, which is something a non-Force users cannot do. Waving a sword around and having skills with a sword are one thing, being able to do the feats a Jedi or Sith Lord can with a lightsaber is something else.

Having the Sith dominate a crystal that turns it red as a symbol makes some sense. The crystal/Force didn't choose to be with the Sith, the Sith took it and owned it. The thing that is different here than potentially before is the ability to change a color of a crystal again after it has been harvested. I suppose this process takes place when the lightsaber is under construction and the Force-user is meditating on the crystal to "give it life" as the old droid said. I suppose that is when it gets its color, and way lightsabers are personal weapons, perhaps more so than the fine crafted samurai swords of old.

Perhaps if Anakin had recovered his old lightsaber crystal to build a new lightsaber, he might have caused it to bleed while channeling the Dark Side into it, but we don't know that for certain, since it was his crystal.

 

[Reverend]

Yeah, we've seen non-force users use lightsabers more than once but it takes skill to use effectively without cutting your own head off and going up against a trained force user is next to suicidal. In such hands they're merely weapons, not an extension of one's being. Also, good luck trying to deflect blaster bolts without force sensitivity.

I think there's actually a line in the Ahsoka novel, where she says something to the effect that non-force users with lightsabers are only really dangerous to other non-force users.

I do wonder though if a force user could somehow help guide a non-sensitive in the construction of their own saber. They'd still be limited in their perception, but a blade that connects to them personally would still be a massive advantage. Who knows, maybe that's what the Darksaber really is? Just because it was looted from the Jedi Temple doesn't necessarily mean a Jedi built it. Or a Sith for that matter.

 

[Jedi_Master]

They were already special. They're goddamn laser swords.

Exactly. All this extra baloney is stupid.

Why oh why oh why do the creative folks running the whole Star Wars show feel the need to add extra complexity? Star Wars works because you DON'T need a fifty-two page executive summary to get into the story, you can watch it with little to no knowledge and grasp the basics instantly.

The Jedi use laser swords because their awesome.
Other people can use laser swords to slice open stuff or - with some training - to fight a defensive and/or offensive battle.

The Jedi can build the laser swords because reasons, and the Sith can build laser swords because reasons and the Sith have red ones because their the bad guys.

Anything else is needless complexity.

 

[Ithekro]

Epic mythologies get epic tales of where the powerful stuff comes from, even if it is legendary or mundane.

 

[Tuskin38]

Exactly. All this extra baloney is stupid.

Why oh why oh why do the creative folks running the whole Star Wars show feel the need to add extra complexity? Star Wars works because you DON'T need a fifty-two page executive summary to get into the story, you can watch it with little to no knowledge and grasp the basics instantly.

You don't need to know this to understand them.
This is for the people who want to know everything that there is to know.

 

[JD]

It's just an extra bit of world building, I don't see why people have such a problem with it. It doesn't actually change anything, it just gives us a bit more of an understanding of the relationship between Jedi/Sith and their lightsabers.

 

[Set Harth]

They then added Michchlorians to the mix....

Midichlorians don't ruin any "magic" ( unless magic is synonymous with abhorrence of detail ). They just explain why living things are sensitive to the Force, and why some are more sensitive than others. Differential innate Force strength didn't arrive with the prequels. It was right there in the Original Trilogy, sitting comfortably side by side with all the "magic".

 

[Tuskin38]

two quotes from Pablo regarding the saber crystals from twitter

"The book describes where red crystals could come from. But a saber won't change just from someone using it."

"It factors into the construction of the saber, not the use."

 

[Ithekro]

The explanation that Midichlorians were in all living things also does not change the situation at all. The explanation was that they allow the creature to be aware of the Force, to hear the will of the Force, to feel it. All living things are still connected via the Force, and all have potential. Those with a higher count can hear the Force better than others (The Force is screaming at Anakin all the time, which is why he doesn't listen). Someone with a very low count would have extreme difficulty hearing the Force, but it would not be impossible.

It is still magic and the Force is still this unknown thing that surround everything and binds the galaxy together.

 

[Reverend]

It occurs to me that this may tie directly into 'Rogue One'. We already have a pretty good idea that the Death Star will feature Kyber crystals as key components and that they're likely to be after at least one from Jedah. So if these are crystals essentially acquired by the Sith, then why are they green and not red?

Perhaps they're not being mined but re-purposed? Maybe the ancient Jedi built terrible weapons of their own or perhaps they have some other use for them? Super-holocrons perhaps? We know both Jedi and Sith holocrons react to a person's force "alignment", be it light or dark, so it's a good bet they use Kyber crystals in their construction too. Also, the Sith and Jedi holocrons in Rebels are red and blue respectively. That can't be a coincidence.

The explanation that Midichlorians were in all living things also does not change the situation at all. The explanation was that they allow the creature to be aware of the Force, to hear the will of the Force, to feel it. All living things are still connected via the Force, and all have potential. Those with a higher count can hear the Force better than others (The Force is screaming at Anakin all the time, which is why he doesn't listen). Someone with a very low count would have extreme difficulty hearing the Force, but it would not be impossible.

It is still magic and the Force is still this unknown thing that surround everything and binds the galaxy together.

I had wondered in the past if part of the mechanism midi-chlorians use to connect through the force could be via tiny nano-scale kyber crystals within their membranes, which resonates with the living force produced by their host organism.

 

[Kahless the Unforgettable]

They were already special. They're goddamn laser swords.

Even more, when Kenobi was talking about them in the first film, it was pretty blatantly clear that they were just weapons from a bygone era in the same way swords are today. There was nothing 'special' about them other than their rarity or the fact that no one else used them in favor of modern weaponry.

This whole thing to make them Jedi/Sith-only weapons that are magical in and of themselves is ridiculous.

 

[Ithekro]

There was an episode in production for the Clone Wars that dealt with the Separatists attempting to buy a giant Kyber Crystal (which was probably going to the Death Star). It was green and intensified energy put through it.

Perhaps huge crystals are naturally green, or became green when they are weaponized by a non-Force user.

The First Order (and perhaps the Galactic Empire) were using kyber crystals in their ship mounted weapons for more destructive power. All Imperal weapons fire green blasts. Clone Wars era weapons were red or blue usually. Could it be that after the Jedi are wiped out and the Empire gains control of serveral crystal rich planets, they start putting them in their weapons to make the Empire's guns deadlier than their older Republic predecessors'? This might be why a cheap TIE fighter, with its two cannons, can do massive damage to shielded Rebel fighters and even capital ships.

The Jedi known of legends that are likely true of ancient Sith superweapons from thousands of years ago. All had kyber crystals at their hearts. (While unlikely, it is also possible the Jedi/Republic has superweapons to counter the Sith Empire).

 

[fireproof78]

The explanation that Midichlorians were in all living things also does not change the situation at all. The explanation was that they allow the creature to be aware of the Force, to hear the will of the Force, to feel it. All living things are still connected via the Force, and all have potential. Those with a higher count can hear the Force better than others (The Force is screaming at Anakin all the time, which is why he doesn't listen). Someone with a very low count would have extreme difficulty hearing the Force, but it would not be impossible.

It is still magic and the Force is still this unknown thing that surround everything and binds the galaxy together.

Which would explain things like Jedha in Rouge One, and Lor San Tekka in TFA. People with kind of an awareness of the Force but can't here it without deeper meditation or the right environment.

I never felt the midichlorians "ruined" the Force but it felt a bit clumsy and random aspect of the lore, inserted to show just how awesome Anakin was. I felt like the if there was a prophecy centered around the Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force (which is still odd to me, but I digress) there would be a Bene Gesserit style breeding program to aid that along.

As for the lightsabers, I don't see it as being that big of a deal. Sith crystals were already supposed to be synthetic, and the crystal has already been shown to be connected to the user in some way, so it's just a detail to the lore.

Like midiclorians, some will find it annoying and needless whle others see it as adding to it. Your parsecs may vary.