Summary
- The Empire and the First Order outlawed the ownership of kyber crystals and lightsabers.
- The Empire and the First Order used kyber crystals to power the Death Stars and Starkiller Base.
- Rey's new Jedi Order may face a kyber shortage since the availability of kyber crystals has been greatly reduced.
The past two Star Wars: New Jedi Order movie. Having successfully taken down the First Order and the Emperor, Star Wars is likely in an era of peace as Rey rebuilds the Jedi Order from the ground up. Nevertheless, the galaxy far, far away never seems to stand still. Taking place 15 years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, some sort of new evil has likely arisen to challenge Rey’s New Jedi Order, and if Disney’s learned its lesson, it won’t “somehow” be Palpatine again.
how Rey got a kyber crystal for her saber still remains a mystery.
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Owning Kyber Crystals And Lightsabers Was Illegal During The Empire And The First Order
Anyone with kyber was a target
It’s worth noting how merely owning a kyber crystal or a lightsaber could get a person arrested during the reign of the Empire and the First Order. In the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Obi-Wan Kenobi needed to bury his lightsaber—and Anakin’s old saber—on Tatooine to prevent them from being found. In the series, a young Jedi named Nari attempts to conceal his lightsaber on him, despite Obi-Wan’s insistence that he bury it. His foolishness ended up getting him hanged by Inquisitors at Anchorhead, demonstrating just how dangerous owning kyber was during the Empire.
Similarly, Star Wars Rebels also showed how dangerous it could be to openly wear a lightsaber. Kanan Jarrus preferred to keep his lightsaber dismantled on his belt, so that if he was ever taken prisoner, the weak-minded Imperial Stormtroopers would likely not realize Kanan had a lightsaber. On the other hand, Ezra Bridger’s first lightsaber was a bit less conspicuous. However, his saber could be ed off as a blaster in sticky situations given its unique design. But if either Jedi were ever caught by the Empire and killed, their lightsabers—and the kyber crystals along with them—would be confiscated.
Both The Empire And The First Order Used Kyber To Power Their Superweapons
Even Palpatine's Xyston-class Star Destroyers ran on kyber
Having outlawed kyber crystal ownership, the Empire constantly confiscated and stole kyber from its citizens. Furthermore, the ransacked Jedi Temple during Order 66 provided an enormous surplus of kyber crystals for the Empire to use as they pleased. Rebels season 1, episode 6 shows how the Empire transported and used massive kyber crystals to power the Death Star’s destructive laser. And because the Empire made two Death Stars, they likely utilized some or all of their stock of kyber taken from fallen Jedi. In other words, much of the galaxy’s kyber went toward creating superweapons to destroy itself.
Similar to the design of the first two Death Star, the First Order’s Starkiller Base was also powered by kyber crystal. But rather than seek out and source the kyber from across the galaxy, the First Order chose to carve Starkiller Base out of Ilum, a planet already rich in kyber. Before the fall of the Jedi Order, younglings often traveled to Ilum exclusively to find and select their first kyber crystals. And because Ilum had a core made of kyber, the First Order’s superweapon was even more deadly than the Death Stars that inspired it.
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The Galaxy Has Lost A Lot Of Its Kyber
Starkiller Base wasted a whole plant of kyber
Of course, all three planet-sized superweapons were eventually destroyed by the Rebellion and the Resistance. And with their destruction, the galaxy lost an enormous amount of kyber. There may be some salvageable pieces of kyber within the wreck of the second Death Star that crashed on the moon of Kef Bir, but there is seemingly nothing left from the destruction of the first Death Star. Meanwhile, Starkiller Base ended up imploding into a brand new star due to the dark energy stored within it, effectively incinerating all the kyber Ilum once boasted.
Not all the kyber in the galaxy was aboard the three superweapons when they met their fiery end, but it was likely enough to create a dent in the galaxy’s supply. What little kyber is left is likely hidden away in old Imperial and First Order storehouses, or is being sold on the blackmarket for exorbitant prices due to the uptick in demand and decrease in supply. In any case, because the Empire and the First Order wasted their kyber on superweapons, the material has likely become a lot more difficult to come by.
Where Will Rey’s Students Get Kyber Crystals For Their Lightsabers?
The galaxy is in a kyber shortage
Given the last few decades of kyber misuse by the Empire and the First Order, Rey’s New Jedi Order should be facing a massive kyber shortage by now. Whether or not the plot of the film will even touch on this subject is unclear, but there will need to be some sort of explanation for where Rey’s new students plan to get their kyber crystals. Ilum’s destruction means Rey’s new students will have to look elsewhere for kyber crystals, or else forego owning traditional lightsabers.
Kyber crystal has only been confirmed to be found on a dozen or so planets in the Star Wars galaxy, and with Ilum out of the picture, there are only a handful of planets with kyber left. Another well-known source of kyber for the Jedi was Jedha, but that too was partially blown up by a Death Star test in Rogue One. Other options such as Lothal, Utapau, and Christophsis, could also supply Rey’s students with kyber, but unlike Ilum, these planets aren’t necessarily known for their abundance of the crystal.
In all likelihood, the New Jedi Order movie will either gloss over Rey’s new source of kyber, or it will invent a new planet for Rey’s students to find their kyber on. Each trilogy and show tends to introduce new planets and locations for characters to visit, so it’s not out of the question for Disney to make up a hidden kyber planet that hasn’t been seen or mentioned before. Nevertheless, just finding kyber for her new students could be a compelling plot point on its own as Rey attempts to rectify the kyber shortage in Star Wars.
Star Wars: New Jedi Order
- Director
- Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
- Writers
- George Nolfi
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
