The droid Huyang is one of Star Wars’ oldest aspects of the Jedi Order, and he might just be set to make another appearance… along with one important counterpart. The Star Wars timeline indicates that Huyang was created over 25,000 years ago as a lightsaber architect. The upcoming Star Wars movie Dawn of the Jedi will be covering the earliest days of the Jedi, making it the perfect time to bring Huyang and his ship back to the screen.
Though the details of his origin remain mysterious, Huyang was integral to the Jedi Order as he was who introduced Jedi younglings to the process of constructing their lightsabers after the ritual known as the Gathering. During the Gathering, younglings would collect their own specific kyber crystal, and Huyang would help them design the lightsaber hilt that would house the blade. According to Huyang, he’s instructed over a thousand generations of Jedi how to craft their lightsabers, including Grand Master Yoda – and his age is only matched by one other thing.
First introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Huyang is remarkably important to the Jedi Order. The droid piloted his ship, the Crucible, to and from Ilum as younglings participated in the Gathering. The Crucible is where they would ultimately put their lightsabers together before heading back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Complete with a training room, the Crucible was effectively the first place these young Jedi would use their lightsabers. Despite the special role the ship plays in the Jedi’s traditions, it has yet to appear on screen after its introduction in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
The Crucible dates back to the early days of the Old Republic. According to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia, the ship’s construction timeframe is closely connected to Huyang’s, placing the two machines among some of the oldest items in Star Wars. Since Star Wars has yet to explore much of the timeline dating before the prequel trilogy, they’re certainly two of the oldest items in mainstream knowledge.
One of Huyang’s critical roles in the younglings’ early days as Jedi was to tell them stories of past Jedi. Having existed for so long, Huyang has first-hand experience with Jedi who have been long gone before even Yoda’s time. This puts him in the unique position of being an expert on the Jedi, and thanks to the upcoming Dawn of the Jedi, he could have the perfect opportunity to show off where he first collected some of that knowledge.
James Mangold’s upcoming project, Dawn of the Jedi, will be focused on the origin of the Jedi Order, which has yet to be the focus of any Star Wars movie. The Jedi Order changes drastically with every trilogy that covers a different generation of Star Wars. With a chance to finally elaborate on the first Jedi organization in the galaxy, Huyang and the Crucible create the perfect chance to seamlessly blend the Star Wars timelines together as this new period is explored at last.