66
Ahsoka Tano’s Lightsabers
Location: Corvus
Date: 9 BBY
An ancient Jedi proverb states: “Your lightsaber is your life.” For the Force-wielders who found their ilk thrust into the crucible of the Clone Wars, this adage became extremely pertinent. It was not uncommon for a Jedi to lose their weapons over the course of their lives, rebuilding new hilts and securing new kyber crystals to power them. Building a new blade signaled a turning point in a Jedi’s life. In the case of an individual who had been lost to the Order, it could signify that they had embarked upon a very different path.
Ahsoka Tano was apprenticed to Anakin Skywalker at the age of 14, learning from the troubled young Jedi Knight in the early days of the Clone Wars. At 16, Tano returned to the ice planet Ilum to obtain a second kyber crystal. Although she retained her first saber, Ahsoka also built a shoto lightsaber with a shorter blade and began learning the art of Jar’Kai combat. Tano abandoned these lightsabers after she witnessed the implementation of the Empire’s Order 66, when the clone troopers she had fought alongside became mindless drones bent on destroying the Jedi.
Like most Jedi survivors, cut off from the life she had known, Tano went into hiding. It is believed that early in the time of the Empire’s reign, Ahsoka had a vision in which she built a new set of lightsabers. Some claim these sabers were forged in conflict, like Tano herself, possibly trophies from the defeat of an Inquisitor hunting Tano. If they once glowed crimson in the hands of the Inquisitorius, Tano must have healed them and fashioned new, curved hilts, which still served her in the age of the New Republic. When ignited, their blades glowed a brilliant white, indicating that the crystals had been restored to their purest form.
