Summary

• Star Wars introduced a lightsaber with a knuckle-bow guard, a subtle but potentially important change to traditional lightsabers.
• The knuckle-bow guard may suggest ancient Jedi used shields or materials like Beskar or cortosis, revealing insights into Jedi history.
• The new lightsaber type raises questions about the evolution of lightsabers and early Jedi combat practices, offering a unique history lesson.

new lightsaber colors and introducing new and inventive ways to use kyber crystals, which power lightsabers. New reveals about lightsaber lore are generally a pretty big deal, but there was one very subtle lightsaber introduction from 2017 that went under the radar.

There are plenty of lightsaber whip used by Vernestra Rwoh. Most of those variations in the typical lightsaber design were quite obvious, but there was one introduced years ago that only had a small - but potentially very important - change to the most common lightsabers. There isn't much information about this new type of lightsaber, but the most likely theories surrounding it could redefine huge swaths of the history of the Jedi Order.

Star Wars Introduced A Lightsaber With A Knuckle-Bow Sword Guard

In "Star Wars: Darth Vader 2017 #10," the Jedi librarian Jocasta Nu used a lightsaber that was only slightly unusual: it had a knuckle-bow guard. Her personal lightsaber was destroyed after it overheated when Jocasta used the kyber rifle, a secret Jedi weapon that could use a lightsaber's kyrber crystal as the power source of a blaster. As she was fleeing from the Jedi archives, Jocasta used the Force to grab a unique lightsaber off a wall of relics, and the blade she chose had a guard that went over the 's fingers, something never before seen in Star Wars canon.

Hand protection has been seen on lightsabers in the past, such as on Kylo Ren and Stellan Gios' crossguard lightsabers, but those were both part of the lightsaber's blade, not made of physical material.

Why Would A Jedi Lightsaber Have This Kind Of Sword Guard?

Knuckle-bow guards are somewhat common in real-life swords, like cutlasses and rapiers. They're meant to act as additional protection for a warrior's hand and fingers along with a crossguard. Knuckle-bow guards work well in real life, where typical swords can't cut through the steel the guard was made of, but they have a much more mysterious purpose in Star Wars. Lightsaber blades can cut through almost any material, so it seems like a knuckle-bow guard wouldn't provide any protection at all in a lightsaber duel. Knuckle-bow guards had another function, though, that might reveal a secret about the Jedi.

Aside from protecting a warrior's hand from their opponents, knuckle-bow guards also helped keep a warrior's hand from slipping up the handle and onto their own blade when thrusting. Given that Jocasta Nu got this lightsaber off a wall in the Jedi archives, it's possible that the knuckle-bow guard is ancient, from a time before the Jedi had developed advanced lightsaber combat forms. If it was that old, the Jedi might have used a knuckle-bow guard simply because they weren't very experienced with lightsabers, and every time they used a thrust they may have risked injuring their own hands.

If Jocasta's found lightsaber wasn't that ancient, however, there were two other possibilities for its knuckle-bow guard. In real life, knuckle-bow guards were also very common for warriors who used shields, as shield bearers would often thrust more than they would slash. At least one Jedi was known to use a kyber-powered light shield during the High Republic era, and a lightsaber with a knuckle-guard would have perfectly complimented it. Alternatively, the knuckle-bow guard could have actually functioned as protection if it was made out of a material that could block lightsabers, like Beskar or cortosis.

What Does The Knuckle Bow Sword Guard Mean For The Jedi?

The three most likely explanations for Jocasta Nu's knuckle-bow guarded lightsaber all present intriguing possibilities about the history of the Jedi Order. If it was simply a product of a less experienced time in the Order's history, then it's essentially tangible proof of the evolution of lightsabers and early attempts to help the Jedi use them more effectively. If it was used in combination with a light shield, then it's evidence that light shields were once much more common than they were towards the end of the Order.

Perhaps the most interesting potential purpose of the knuckle-bow guard, however, is the idea that the guard was made of either Beskar or cortosis. If it was made of Beskar, it could be evidence that the Jedi had a working relationship with the Mandalorians at some point. If it was cortosis, however, it may be a sign that the Jedi Order had fundamentally different values in its early days. More modern Jedi didn't use cortosis, partially because shutting down an opponent's lightsaber was seen as a dishonorable advantage. If ancient Jedi used cortosis, however, they might not have had such notions of honor in battle.

No matter why the Jedi developed a lightsaber with a knuckle-bow guard, its existence is a glimpse into the Order's past.

No matter why the Jedi developed a lightsaber with a knuckle-bow guard, its existence is a glimpse into the Order's past. Though it's only a glimpse, and it didn't reveal much concrete information, it's still quite valuable. Star Wars canon has generally avoided going very far into the past of movie Dawn of the Jedi should give a much more in-depth look into that time period, but until then, Star Wars will likely leave the questions raised by Jocasta Nu's temporary knuckle-guard lightsaber unanswered.