Five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars: The Bad Batch has introduced another yellow lightsaber – but what does this mean? George Lucas originally intended there to be only a few lightsaber colors, but Samuel L. Jackson changed his mind when he persuaded Lucas that Mace Windu should have a purple lightsaber. Since then, Star Wars has introduced many different lightsaber colors.
According to Star Wars lore, the color of a lightsaber indicates something about the Force-user who wields it. Every lightsaber is powered by a kyber crystal, and most crystals are white when they are found by a Jedi; but when a Jedi bonds with the crystal, it transforms into a color indicating something about their character and nature. Mace Windu’s purple, for example, pointed to his deep-rooted dark nature, and the depths of his self-control to keep it in check. But what does the yellow lightsaber, increasingly common in Star Wars lore, mean?
It’s currently unclear what a yellow lightsaber means in Star Wars canon. When the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw Rey activate her new yellow lightsaber, most viewers assumed it indicated Rey would reform the Jedi as agents of balance. After all, in RGB computer models, yellow is made by combining red and green at equal intensity – the colors of Sith and Jedi. Rey is part of a Force Dyad transcending light and dark. She’s learning from records dating back to the dawn of the Jedi, before the Order swore to serve the light alone.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episode 9 features Asajj Ventress’ return, and she too wields a yellow lightsaber. The episode seems to confirm this interpretation of yellow lightsabers, because Ventress is portrayed as an agent of balance rather than light or dark. Batcher still senses a darkness about her, fleeing from her presence, but she demonstrates the light side when she tames a monstrous sea creature called a vrathean. It really does seem likely yellow indicates a lightsaber-wielder who is neither light nor dark.
In Star Wars Legends, a yellow lightsaber was associated with two different types of Jedi. Some wielders of yellow lightsabers were noted for their wisdom and knowledge, their dedication to unraveling the mysteries of the Force. Others, however, were essentially Jedi Sentinels – a Jedi who sought to protect and defend using combat, with many serving as Temple Guards. Some of these ideas do seem to have been incorporated into canon too, with Jedi Temple Guards still using yellow lightsabers, and Luke Skywalker himself using one of these old yellow lightsabers in canon comics.
Yellow lightsabers have been turning up in Star Wars canon for quite a while, as can be seen with the Jedi Temple Guards. But most viewers will have been somewhat surprised to see one at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, when Rey triggered her new lightsaber after burying Luke and Leia’s blades in the sands of Tatooine. Asajj Ventress is now another prominent example of a Force-sensitive using a yellow lightsaber; she first used this color blade in Christie Golden’s Dark Disciple, but it’s unclear whether this is the same lightsaber.
Yellow lightsabers appear to have been more common in the High Republic Era, the golden age of the Jedi and the Republic. Lucasfilm recently released the first trailer for The Acolyte, the next live-action Star Wars TV show, and this featured several yellow lightsabers. It’s likely Charlie Barnett’s character, Yord Fandar, will have a yellow blade; there have been hints he works with the Temple Guards to protect the Jedi Order, so it would be fitting.
It must be noted, though, that Asajj Ventress’ yellow lightsaber may not be imbued with quite so much meaning as these other examples. According to Christie Golden’s Dark Disciple, she didn’t construct her own lightsaber at all after she was abandoned by Count Dooku in Star Wars: The Clone Wars; rather, she purchased it on the black market. That said, the design of the lightsaber in The Bad Batch is subtly different to concept art from The Clone Wars, and it looks as though Ventress has either built her own at last or heavily modified the one she bought.
The Bad Batch does indicate Ventress has bonded with the kyber crystal inside the lightsaber. While non-Force-sensitives swing lightsabers like swords, to a Force-sensitive using one is more like directing a flow of current; Ventress is clearly skilled and capable, easily deflecting countless shots from members of Clone Force 99. This kind of skill should only be possible when she’s bonded to the blade.
Looking beyond Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Rey’s yellow lightsaber sets her up as founder of a New Jedi Order. Depending on the canon interpretation of yellow, it may mean she is the defender of the Jedi, standing as their protector. Alternatively – and hopefully more likely – it may instead indicate Rey is reforming the Jedi as agents of balance rather than swearing them only to the light side. If this is the case, Rey’s Jedi Order could finally end the cycle of light versus dark that has wracked the galaxy for decades.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, episode 9 is streaming now on Disney+.