ORANGE LIGHTSABERS

In the trailer for the Star Wars Ahsoka show, we were introduced to a pair of Dark Jedi, Baylan Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati. The most striking feature these two Dark Jedi possessed was their distinct orange-bladed lightsabers. Normally, dark side practitioners would wield lightsabers with red blades, but these two had a type of lightsaber blade that has only begun to make appearances in the new Canon. For some time, I wondered what the significance of the orange lightsabers were. Recently, the video game called Jedi Survivor gave us an answer. It turns out that Force wielders that wield orange lightsabers possess a trait called “Righteous Fury”. Red and orange lightsaber crystals seem too endure the same process called “Bleeding”, which involves a dark side practitioner to imprint their rage, pain, and hatred into their crystal, which causes it to turn red. However, with Force wielders like Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, it seems they have only partially made their lightsaber crystals bleed. The reason for this could lie in the phrase “Righteous Fury”, which implies that fallen Jedi like Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati may have called upon the dark side’s power for selfless purposes and did not fully submit to the dark side’s influence. In the past, fallen Jedi like Dooku and Anakin Skywalker initially turned to the dark side for selfless purposes. Dooku turned because he was tired of the injustice and corruption that was taking place in the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order’s refusal and inability to do anything about it. As such, Dooku became the Sith Lord Darth Tyrannus in an attempt to create a stronger galactic government and remake the Jedi Order into a more just organization even if it meant using the dark side. With Anakin Skywalker, he turned to the dark side and became Darth Vader because he was desperate to save his wife and those he cared about. While both Dooku and Anakin Skywalker both turned to the dark side for selfless reasons, they were corrupted by the hatred and lust for power that came from being Sith, which is signified by their red lightsabers and why they did not turn orange. With fallen Jedi like Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, it seems that although they have turned to the dark side, they may not have forgotten the selfless reasons for why they turned in the first place, which would explain why the lightsaber crystals were only partially bled and had orange blades. This would explain why the demeanor of both Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati seemed different from dark side practitioners we have seen in the past. Baylan Skoll seemed stoic and methodical in the way he fights while Shin Hati is wild and aggressive yet disciplined enough to not let her inner beast completely off the leash. I heard rumors that these two Dark Jedi intend to finish what Dooku started by remaking the Jedi Order in their image under Grand Admiral Thrawn’s new empire. Overall, this new version of Dark Jedi and orange lightsabers are going to be an interesting take on what other practitioners of the dark side are like.