Luke Skywalker Lightsaber Archive: The Origins and Differences of All Versions

Luke EP4—The Beginning of the Skywalker Lightsaber

The first Luke Skywalker lightsaber appeared in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. This lightsaber was given to Luke by Ben Kenobi, also known as Obi-Wan Kenobi, who told him it had once belonged to his father.

As we later learned from the prequel trilogy, this was originally Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber. After Anakin was defeated on Mustafar, Obi-Wan recovered the weapon and kept it until the day he passed it on to Luke.

The original prop was built from a Graflex camera flash handle, which is why collectors often refer to it simply as the Graflex lightsaber.

Luke EP5—The Graflex Lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back

In Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke continued using the same Graflex lightsaber, although several small changes were made to the prop.

The glass eye near the emitter was replaced with a red button, the bubble strip was changed to a PCB edge connector, the Graflex logo was covered, and additional screws or rivets were added to secure the T-track grips.

Luke V1 – The Famous Luke Skywalker Lightsaber

Luke EP5 lightsaber was ultimately lost during Luke’s duel with Darth Vader on Cloud City, when Vader severed Luke’s hand.

Because of this, Luke no longer carried the Graflex lightsaber in Return of the Jedi. Instead, he constructed a completely new weapon.

This is where things start to get confusing.

During the production of Return of the Jedi, several different versions of Luke’s green lightsaber were used. As a result, collectors today often refer to Luke V1, Luke V2, and even Luke V3.

Luke V1 is commonly known as the Luke Hero Lightsaber. After the film’s release, many toy companies and licensed manufacturers based their products on this version, which is why it became the image most fans associate with Luke’s green lightsaber.

Interestingly, the Luke V1 lightsaber never actually appeared in the final theatrical cut of the movie.

After most of the film had already been completed, additional scenes needed to be filmed. For some close-range action sequences, the production team created a shorter stunt saber to reduce the risk of injuring actors. This prop was originally known as the Yuma Stunt Saber.

Over time, the stunt saber was repainted and modified until it eventually became what collectors now know as the Luke Hero Lightsaber, or Luke V1.

When Darth Vader holds the lightsaber and says, “I see you have constructed a new lightsaber,” he is holding an earlier version of this prop. Collectors often refer to this configuration as the ISYHCANL version.

Later, in a deleted cave sequence, the control box was modified once again with a sliding card mechanism that revealed the internal circuitry. This final configuration became the Luke V1 lightsaber we recognize today.

As a result, the version most people call Luke V1 only appears clearly in deleted scenes.

Luke V2—The lightsaber that truly runs through Return of the Jedi

The lightsaber that actually accompanied Luke throughout most of Return of the Jedi was Luke V2.

For many collectors, Luke V2 is the true Return of the Jedi lightsaber.

This prop was created by modifying Obi-Wan Kenobi’s stunt lightsaber from A New Hope. At the same time, another Obi-Wan stunt saber was converted into what collectors now call the V3 stunt version.

Unlike V1, Luke V2 appears repeatedly throughout the film and is seen in many of Luke’s most memorable scenes. If your goal is to own the most screen-accurate Luke Skywalker lightsaber replica from Return of the Jedi, Luke V2 is usually the version collectors recommend.

Luke EP7 – The Return of the Skywalker Lightsaber

Although many people think of it as a new lightsaber, it is actually the same Skywalker lightsaber that was lost on Cloud City in Episode V.

At some point after its disappearance, the lightsaber came into the possession of Maz Kanata. When Rey formed a connection with it, Maz passed the weapon on to her.

While collectors often refer to this version as Luke EP7, Luke himself never uses it in combat during the film. There are also several subtle visual differences between the Episode V and Episode VII props.

Luke (Rey) EP9 — The Repaired Skywalker Lightsaber

During the events of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey and Kylo Ren struggled over the lightsaber, causing it to split apart. The weapon was later repaired, resulting in the appearance collectors now refer to as the EP9 version.

At the end of the film, Rey buried both Luke’s lightsaber and Leia’s lightsaber in the sands of Tatooine.

And that brings us to the end of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber timeline.