A new Star Wars reference book may explain what made Baylan Skoll’s lightsaber so unique in Ahsoka – and why Ahsoka Tano herself struggled during their duel. Baylan Skoll was one of the more surprising aspects of Ahsoka. His mysterious history as a Jedi – one who knew Anakin Skywalker, no less – and his present role as a dark side-wielding mercenary make him an incredibly compelling character. Sadly, Baylan’s actor Ray Stevenson passed away last year, but hopefully, the character’s story will continue.

Though Baylan Skoll’s overall character design in Ahsoka is relatively simple, his lightsaber is anything but. The most intriguing thing about his lightsaber is that the blade is orange, rather than the standard blue, green, or red. Jedi have been known to wield yellow, purple, and even white lightsabers in Star Wars canon, but orange was, until Baylan and his apprentice Shin Hati entered the scene, a color relegated to the pages of Star Wars’ Expanded Universe and the Star Wars Jedi games. Now, however, one Star Wars: The High Republic book offers an explanation for Baylan’s unique and hard-to-beat lightsaber.

What Baylan’s Lightsaber Means For Star Wars

In Star Wars: The High Republic – The Lightsaber Collection by Daniel Wallace, Lukasz Liszko, and Ryan Valle, a Jedi’s lightsaber and the way they use it is described as follows:

“Jedi can use the Force to perform incredible feats, and the lightsaber is an extension of that skill. While its blade can slice through most materials with ease, its frictionless design makes it difficult to wield without preternatural precision. Only a Force user can use a lightsaber at its full potential.”

Essentially, a lightsaber doesn’t generate friction on its own. Only the hilt has any weight to it, and that weight will cause minimal strain on the user, depending on the design. When the blade is activated, the heft of the weapon doesn’t change. This is why Jedi make fighting with a lightsaber look so light and effortless; holding it barely takes any effort, as it’s the reflexive nature of lightsaber duels that requires the most energy. Baylan Skoll’s lightsaber is different, though. It evidently does have a certain heaviness to it, one that is more pronounced when the lightsaber is active.

It’s likely Baylan’s lightsaber is something known as a Great Lightsaber, a rare weapon specially designed for larger and physically stronger Jedi. The hilts were heavier to accommodate a longer blade. It’s also reminiscent of the crossguard lightsaber Cal Kestis eventually wields in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which is noticeably heavier and less agile. When Ahsoka duels Baylan in Ahsoka, she struggles. If Baylan’s lightsaber was modified to be heavier and have a stronger impact when brought down, it makes sense that Ahsoka lost to Baylan. She would have had to change her fighting style, and there simply wasn’t enough time to do so.

Other types of crystals have already been known to activate lightsaber-like blades in
Star Wars
canon.

Given the apparent weight of Baylan’s lightsaber, it’s theoretically possible that his lightsaber is powered by something other than a kyber crystal. Kyber crystals are stones with a strong connection to the Force. Each kyber crystal is found by a Jedi because they can hear its call. It’s what powers a lightsaber’s blade. However, other types of crystals have already been known to activate lightsaber-like blades in Star Wars canon.

In the novel Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray, for instance, Obi-Wan Kenobi briefly uses a lightsaber powered by a kohlen crystal – the blade even turns orange. However, the kohlen crystal-powered lightsaber isn’t as powerful as a kyber crystal-powered one. As such, it stands to reason that there may be another powerful crystal out there, one that powers Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati’s lightsabers and gives them that menacing weightiness.

This could potentially mean that Star Wars will soon start introducing different types of lightsabers powered by a diverse array of crystals. If each crystal creates a different type of lightsaber blade, Force users in the galaxy could be introduced to and start using a whole new range of fighting styles, making the franchise’s upcoming lightsaber duels, from the New Republic era and beyond, all the more varied and compelling. How did Baylan Skoll modify his Jedi training to compensate for his heavier blade? What did he teach his apprentice? Hopefully, Star Wars will provide the answers one day.

Our Take On Baylan Skoll’s Lightsaber

If we assume that Baylan Skoll’s lightsaber is powered by something other than a kyber crystal – logically speaking, in a galaxy so vast, there must be other power sources out there – it could have massive implications for Star Wars’ future. Baylan Skoll’s unique lightsaber could have set up an entire storyline for Rey Skywalker’s New Jedi Order movie. If Rey is attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order, her students will need a power source for their lightsabers, as most of the galaxy’s kyber crystals were mined by the Empire and other thieves.

Why couldn’t Rey’s students discover the same hypothetical crystal as the one used by Baylan Skoll? Why shouldn’t they use an amplified kohlen crystal? Lightsabers are an intrinsic part of Star Wars lore. Without them, the Jedi are all but lost; they are an extension of their power. Baylan Skoll’s menacing lightsaber may have changed the game entirely, opening up an entirely new world for Star Wars’ future Jedi and even the Sith.