The entire storyline of Star Wars focuses a lot on the never-ending conflict between the Jedi and the Sith, as we know that both groups use the lightsaber as their primary weapon. Of course, we know that Sith Lords often only use red for their lightsabers. But we also know that the Jedi use different colors that tend to differ from one Jedi to another, depending on certain circumstances.
But while we often look at common lightsaber colors such as green, blue, and red, we know there are also other lightsaber colors. One of the rarest lightsaber colors in the history of Star Wars is white, which isn’t even a color. So, with that said, let’s talk more about the white lightsaber color so that you would understand its meaning and how it differs from the other lightsabers in Star Wars.
What Does the White Lightsaber Color Mean?
When it comes to the lightsaber, we know that this is a very colorful weapon that tends to have different colors. Different Jedi Knights and Sith Lords have different lightsaber colors depending on certain circumstances. But we know that the Jedi use almost all colors for their lightsabers, while the Sith tend to restrict themselves to red. Then again, there are rare lightsaber colors that tend to be one of a kind.
The white lightsaber comes into mind regarding some of the rarest lightsaber colors out there because, just like the purple lightsaber and the Darksaber (black lightsaber), it is restricted to only one user as far as the canon is concerned. But what does the white lightsaber color mean in Star Wars?
Ashoka Tano white lightsabers
For starters, the lightsaber color tends to be random whenever a Jedi constructs a lightsaber. According to the present canon, the color of the lightsaber tends to be out of the control of the Jedi and doesn’t mean anything. As such, in most cases, the Jedi don’t have any control over the color of their lightsabers. But there are some exceptions.
First, the red color doesn’t occur naturally whenever a Jedi constructs a lightsaber. That’s because this color only appears whenever a Sith uses the dark side of the Force to “bleed” the Kyber crystal used to construct a lightsaber. As such, the color red occurs whenever a Sith wants to achieve this color on purpose. And it is only when a lightsaber is red that the white lightsaber color can be achieved.
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That’s because the white lightsaber color can only be achieved whenever the Kyber crystal used in a red lightsaber is purified using the Force. This purges the darkness within the Kyber crystal and leaves it colorless. As such, whenever someone constructs a lightsaber using a Kyber crystal that has already been purged of its darkness, it comes with a white-colored blade.
Of course, the color of the blade doesn’t mean a thing when it comes to the power of a lightsaber, as all lightsaber blades have similar strengths and capabilities. In most cases, the performance of a lightsaber relies more on the length of the blade and the shape of the hilt, as those can make a difference in how a Jedi or Sith fights. That means the white lightsaber isn’t stronger than any of the other lightsabers in Star Wars.
However, the white lightsaber color does have a hidden meaning. As mentioned, we often associate lightsaber colors with the different Force users in Star Wars. For example, the Jedi use almost all types of colors for their lightsabers, while the Sith prefer red for their sabers. But the white lightsaber isn’t associated with either of these orders.
As such, the white lightsaber color represents one of the gray areas of the Force, as we all know that the Force was never only about good and evil. There are gray areas between the Jedi and the Sith, especially when we consider that neither the Jedi nor the Sith is perfect. That is why a lot of former Jedi became disillusioned with the Jedi Order as they realized that there were imperfections within it.
In that regard, the white lightsaber color represents that the Force shouldn’t only be seen as black and white because there are gray areas between it. Considering that white is not even color but is the absence of color, the white lightsaber represents the absence of extreme and rigid philosophies that tend to tie down both the Jedi and the Sith. And you’ll understand this more once we talk about the first and only person to ever wield a white lightsaber.
Who Uses the White Lightsaber?
Like the purple lightsaber and the Darksaber, the white lightsaber color is unique because there aren’t many of these in Star Wars. Mace Windu is the only one to ever wield a purple lightsaber in canon, while the Darksaber is the only lightsaber with a black blade. Meanwhile, only two white lightsabers are in Star Wars canon, and Ahsoka Tano wields them.
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Ahsoka wields two white lightsabers; one acts as her shoto lightsaber in her Jar’Kai fighting style, while the other is a saber with a standard length blade. She often uses both of these sabers together as she has wielded two since her time as Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan.
The white lightsabers that Ahsoka Tano wields were created using the red Kyber crystals found in the lightsaber of an Inquisitor. While she was hiding a year after the events of Order 66, Ahsoka came across the Sixth Brother, one of the Inquisitors hunting down any Jedi that survived the fall of the Jedi Order. Ahsoka defeated and killed the Sixth Brother by overloading the Kyber crystal in his double-sided lightsaber using the Force.
After the death of the Sixth Brother, Ahsoka salvaged the Kyber crystals in his double-bladed saber and purified them using the Force. That was how she was able to acquire her white-bladed lightsabers.
The fact that Ahsoka left the Jedi Order just before the fall of the Jedi means that she was never completely a Jedi. She left the order when she realized how rigid the Jedi were after they blamed her for the bombing of the Jedi Temple. While Ahsoka was proven innocent, she decided that she had no place in the Jedi Order, and that means that she was an outcast that dwelled within the gray areas in the sense that she was neither Jedi nor Sith but was loyal to the light side of the Force.
In that sense, Ahsoka personified the absence of the rigidness of the Jedi Order because she wasn’t a Jedi but was genuinely a good person. And her white lightsabers represented the fact that she dwelled within the gray areas of the Force and was not tied down by the philosophies of either the Jedi or the Sith.
