The Meaning Of Rey’s Yellow Lightsaber Explained By Star Wars Actor

Summary

• Rey buried Skywalker sabers, revealing her own yellow blade, sparking intense debate on the meaning of its color.
• According to Charlie Barnett, Yellow lightsaber represents balance, duality, strong connection to both the Force and physical grounding.
• Jedi Guardian Yord Fandar in The Acolyte will also wield a yellow lightsaber, adding to the significance of this unique color.

Five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, we’re finally learning what a yellow lightsaber really means. The end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw Rey bury the Skywalker sabers in the sands of Tatooine, only to reveal she now wielded her own blade. Surprisingly, Rey’s new lightsaber had an unusual color – it blazed a beautiful yellow. Ever since, there’s been intense debate on the meaning of Rey’s lightsaber color.

Rey isn’t the only Jedi to use a yellow lightsaber, though, and Charlie Barnett will be playing Jedi Guardian Yord Fandar in The Acolyte. Speaking in an interview with Total Film, he confirmed he’ll have a yellow lightsaber, and explained its significance:

“I have a yellow lightsaber. At first I really wanted to have a purple one. And I was given a different color initially, but I can’t say what because it relates to another character… And they took that one away and gave me a yellow one, and at first I was like, ‘What? I’ve barely seen yellow used. What is this?!’ But I think
yellow represents balance, duality, a person who’s just as much connected to the Force as to their own physical grounding.
”

Rey’s New Lightsaber Represents Her Character Growth – & Perhaps Her Role

The yellow lightsabers were used by Temple Guardians

Barnett’s comment suggests Rey has finally found a place of inner peace and harmony after learning she is Palpatine’s granddaughter via cloning. She presumably learned how to build her lightsaber from the sacred Jedi texts she retrieved from Ahch-To, and these have presumably helped her connect to the Force as much as to the physical world. This puts her in a position where she can lead her New Jedi Order with confidence.

There may, however, be a deeper meaning to the yellow lightsaber too. In Star Wars lore, yellow lightsabers were typically used by Temple Guards; Charlie Barnett’s character Yord Fandar has been described as a guardian in the High Republic Era, so he fits the pattern. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Rey now envision herself as the guardian of the Jedi, protecting her reborn order from the forces of darkness.

If that is the case, she will inevitably be drawn into conflict in the upcoming New Jedi Order movie. This will see a disillusioned galaxy ask whether it needs the galaxy in the first place, essentially repeating Luke Skywalker’s downbeat assessment from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rey may be flourishing after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but she will not go unopposed.

Source: Total Film