Summary

• Recent Star Wars literature, particularly The High Republic novels, has introduced a variety of new lightsaber designs and styles.
• The reintroduction of the lightspear in The High Republic: Light of the Jedi draws inspiration from the Knights of the Old Republic video game series.
• Jora Malli, a Jedi Master in The High Republic, wields a lightsaber with a kyber crystal from a Sith lightspear, a unique and rare weapon in the Star Wars universe.

As Disney’s Star Wars continues to expand its frontier, it inevitably draws from old Legends material. Recently, the franchise has become obsessed with introducing new lightsaber styles and colors to Canon. For example, not only did the Ahsoka series bring the first orange lightsabers on-screen to Star Wars, but Baylan Skoll may also have the first on-screen great lightsaber in Disney’s new canon. Nevertheless, while the movies and tv shows tend to introduce one or two new lightsaber variants at a time, recent Star Wars literature has been filled to the brim with groundbreaking new weapons.
In particular, The High Republic novels have been reintroducing a plethora of cool lightsabers from Legends and other Star Wars media. Namely, Vernestra Rwoh brought back the lightwhip into Canon, which had been a part of Legends since 1977. Additionally, Stellan Gios’ lightsaber features a foldable crossguard design similar to Kylo Ren’s saber from The Force Awakens. Orla Jareni also utilizes a hinged white lightsaber reminiscent of Pong Krell’s design from The Clone Wars. But in any case, one High Republic novel recently mentioned a weapon that hasn’t really been seen since the Knights of the Old Republic video game series.

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