Star Wars Does A Better Yellow Lightsaber Story Than Rise Of Skywalker

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Wars Vision episode 4, “The Village Bride.”

Star Wars Visions has come to Disney+, featuring a better yellow lightsaber story than Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While Rey’s yellow lightsaber was featured in the film’s final scene, the scene itself was largely panned by fans and critics alike, as was her ultimate character resolution surrounding its debut. In contrast, Visions has an episode in its animated anthology where a fallen Padawan reembraces her Jedi path in the aftermath of Order 66, and the ignition of her yellow lightsaber marks the pivotal moment in a much stronger fashion.

Coming from a variety of leading anime studios in partnership with Disney and Lucasfilm, the individual stories told with each episode are non-canonical, allowing said studios an impressive amount of creativity, allowing them to make bold narrative and style choices. As such, the series’ fourth episode entitled “The Village Bride” from Kinema Citrus features an unnamed and masked Jedi (Asami Seto/Karen Fukuhara) who is in hiding, scarred from the death of her master (presumedly at the hands of a Sith Lord) while also being on her own in the wake of Order 66 and the Jedi Purge.

However, upon seeing the struggles of an oppressed village where she’s found refuge with a friend of her master’s, this fallen Jedi determines to hide no longer. When raiders arrive to take the recently wedded granddaughter of the village chief as collateral, the Jedi intervenes on the village’s behalf, choosing to cut off her Padawan braid and take off her mask. Not only that, she then ignites her yellow-bladed lightsaber resembling a katana for all to see, marking her choice to be a true Jedi once more, resulting in a much stronger lightsaber debut than Rey’s in the final episode of the Skywalker saga.

Unfortunately, the reveal of Rey’s yellow lightsaber has been largely viewed as too little, too late. Featured in the last scene of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey revealed the lightsaber she built with its yellow blade, forged from the staff she had used as a scavenger on Jakku. While this was meant to be a significant moment, it happened while she was largely alone on Tatooine with the sole witness being an elderly woman with no connection or context for what it meant to Rey and her Jedi path, nor for her character on a personal level. Furthermore, many have argued that Rey’s yellow lightsaber would have been much more significant had she forged it earlier in the film and been given the chance to actually wield it (rather than just turning it on at its end).

In contrast, the fallen Jedi of “The Village Bride” had a much stronger arc in connection to her own yellow lightsaber. Those who witnessed her lightsaber activating knew its significance in terms of how it identified who she was as a Jedi, while the friend of her master understood what it meant to her on a personal level, understanding her rebirth who’s reembraced the light side of the Force. As it stands, it’s rather impressive that “The Village Bride” managed to have a stronger and more compelling yellow lightsaber story in a 17-minute episode over the entirety of The Rise of Skywalker.

Star Wars Visions is now streaming on Disney+.

About The Author

Kevin Erdmann
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Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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