Here’s Why Anakin Actually Changed Ahsoka’s Lightsaber Colors on ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’
Star Wars is no amateur when it comes to working backward. Since its inception, it’s been doing that. From the early 2000s prequels to the spinoff, Rogue One, fans of the franchise are used to new shows or movies coming out with outcomes we already know the end to. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is no different. The final season is going to show what happens on Ahsoka and Rex’s side of things when Order 66 breaks out, and we’ve already seen a lot of Revenge of the Sith tie-ins and Easter eggs. Ahsoka’s lightsabers are another thing fans know the “end” to, so to speak. And now we know why they changed color, officially. [Spoiler alert: Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, through Episode 10, Season 7].
Anakin changing Ahsoka’s lightsaber color was a way to highlight their connection
Episode 9, “Old Friends Not Forgotten,” showed Ahsoka reunite with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. While it was very brief, and Ahsoka didn’t really let herself celebrate the reunion with her former master, Anakin still gave her one last gift before he ran off to save Chancellor Palpatine from Grievous. He gave Ahsoka her lightsabers back, which were taken from her when she was banned from the Jedi Order.
Fans of the character know that Ahsoka’s lightsabers were always green, however, now they’re bright blue just like her master’s. “I took care of them, they’re good as new… Maybe a little better,” Anakin tells Ahsoka as she lights them up. She gives him a very sisterly look, as if to say, “Oh, here we go again.” It’s all a very sweet moment. Probably the last sweet moment between the two of them. Dave Filoni, supervising director and executive producer, said that Anakin purposely changed her color to make it like his.
“Anakin knows enough about lightsabers to be able to alter the angle or frequency of a saber blade or crystal, to make it more like his own,” Filoni said on the newest “Clone Wars Download” video on YouTube. “As far as the story goes, I wanted to show a clear connection between the master and apprentice relationship of Anakin and Ahsoka. So I decided to shift her lightsabers to blue, like Anakin’s.”
Sure, it’s Anakin being a bit cocky and very him. But it’s also the last we see of Skywalker and Ahsoka, that we know, and it’s a nice way to show she’s been on his mind even though she left.
“[Anakin] tinkering with her lightsabers while she’s gone shows that he was always thinking of her,” Filoni continued. “And the lightsabers are then a representation of her in the story and his thoughtfulness regarding her.”
It was also the last remnant of his protectiveness with Ahsoka
While Anakin was a very good master to Ahsoka, he did have his issues. For one, he was always way too attached to her and failed to let her go multiple times which made it infinitely harder for him when she walked away in Season 5. Jedi are not supposed to be attached to anything, but as we know, Anakin did not adhere to that rule. So any chance he could, his protective, brotherly side came out, like for the mission to the Citadel. He didn’t let Ahsoka go because he wanted to shelter her from any harm. However, Ahsoka snuck along anyway, because she wasn’t about to let his protectiveness get in the way of her being a Jedi.
With that said, Anakin changing Ahsoka’s lightsabers color stems from that controlling, defensive nature he has over her.
“His changing the color can also be seen as him exerting control or being too protective, which is very Anakin,” Filoni pointed out. “He means well, but often takes things too far when trying to express how he feels. Changing the sabers, modifying them, improving them, shows his care. But also his ego, something that Ahsoka’s familiar with. So the simple adjustment of the lightsaber color serves as many aspects of the relationship between the two characters.”
Just like with many things in Star Wars, there’s a double meaning behind the gift, whether Anakin knew it or not.
Ashley Eckstein, who voices Ahsoka, said in another “Clone Wars Download” video that it was a “touching moment” for the two characters. “You can definitely tell that meant so much to Ahsoka,” she said.
Ahsoka lost these lightsabers in Episode 10; how does she get them back in ‘Star Wars Rebels’?
[Spoiler alert: Spoilers ahead for upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes].
In Episode 10, “The Phantom Apprentice,” Maul disarms Ahsoka near the end of their duel. Even though she’s able to outfight him and win the battle, she lost her lightsabers in Mandalore below. Thanks to a snippet in a promotional video Disney+ released on April 25, fans know Ahsoka gets them back sometime afterward. And unfortunately, it looks like she’s deflecting Clone trooper blaster fire, which means it’s during Order 66.
However, even though she gets them back, these are not the same lightsabers she wields in Star Wars Rebels when she shows up 15 years later. Without giving too much away for the end of the season, the Ahsoka novel by E.K. Johnston gives a lot of insight into how this season ends. One of them is that Ahsoka has to get rid of her lightsabers, the ones she just got back from Anakin. But in about a year, she fights off an Inquisitor and purifies his kyber crystals. She then turns these into the white lightsabers she uses in Rebels.
There is so much to look forward to in just two more episodes, but knowing this series, it’ll be worth the wait and heartbreak.
