Why Ahsoka’s Lightsabers Are White in Star Wars

The Ahsoka Disney+ series contains many nods for fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. And yet, the question of why Ahsoka’s lightsabers are white is the type of query that only fans who have watched the entirety of the two series and consumed some of the supplemental material can fully answer. The galaxy far, far away, has never been good about explaining the little things. For clarity’s sake, let’s start with the present. In Ahsoka, the aforementioned character wields two lightsabers, both of them white, with one of them being shorter than the other. However, Ahsoka’s lightsabers haven’t always been white, and fans who have only watched Star Wars: The Clone Wars might be surprised to see her wielding these white lightsabers. Here’s why Ahsoka’s lightsabers are now white in Star Wars.

Ahsoka’s Original Lightsabers Weren’t White

When Ahsoka is introduced in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie, the first lightsaber we see her wield is green. Later, as seen in Tales of the Jedi, Ahsoka hones her combat skills and crafts a second lightsaber – also green – to compliment the original. But that wasn’t the only color lightsaber we saw Ahsoka wield. After Ahsoka is put on trial for sedition and murder and leaves the Jedi Order, her original lightsabers are confiscated. When she temporarily returns to fight beside her former master, right before the Siege of Mandalore, he returns the lightsabers to her.

However, the lightsabers Anakin returns are now blue. There’s no clear explanation given as to why, other than Anakin saying that he made some improvements to them. But those are still not the lightsabers we see Ahsoka wield today, as her original lightsabers are abandoned at Captain Rex’s burial site, with Ahsoka faking her own death and going into exile. It’s only after this that the white lightsabers come into play.

Related: In ‘Far Far Away,’ Ahsoka Provides an Excellent Entrance For Thrawn

Ahsoka’s White Lightsabers Make Their Appearance in Star Wars: Rebels

Fans first get a glimpse of Ahsoka’s white lightsabers in Star Wars Rebels, but the explanation for them comes from the 2016 novel Ahsoka, by E.K Johnston. In the aforementioned book the Seventh Brother attacks Ahsoka and after she defeats him, she takes the kyber crystals from his dual red lightsaber. She then proceeds to “heal” them, turning them white, and goes on to craft appropriate hilts.

According to Dave Filoni, one of the show’s creators, the color white is symbolic and it’s meant to reflect the fact that Ahsoka has chosen to not align with the Jedi or the Sith. That pretty much describes the Ahsoka we saw in The Mandalorian and the one see in the show named after her and explains why she’s still wielding her two white lightsabers and likely will continue doing so.

If you’re looking for more on the Disney+ show, check out our explainer about where Ahsoka falls in the Star Wars timeline.