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During Luke's confrontation of Kylo Ren toward the end of The Last Jedi we see that

the lightsaber Luke uses a blue lightsaber (which I thought was his original one but that really doesn't matter), not the green one of his own construction.

Given that Kylo Ren and Rey has just

fought over and broken the blue lightsaber

Why did Kylo Ren not notice this "inconsistency" and realize that

Luke's physical body was not there?

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  • 7
    Are you sure it was that one? I didn't see too closely, but it looked like it was a different model which just happened to be blue.
    – Jeremy French
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 12:55
  • I agree with Jeremy, would the Luke have left it at Maz's before he went into exile? Or did he lose it before?
    – Edlothiad
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 13:01
  • @JeremyFrench See edits. Also, not trying to spoil anything in the comments, but the color is what was important, not the model.
    – Skooba
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 13:05
  • @JeremyFrench it was indeed the lightsaber the post referenced - I paid really close attention to that when it lit up the wrong color
    – Wraith Leader
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 15:10
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    Whew - I was afraid you were going to tell me Luke has a talking lightsaber now....
    – RDFozz
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 23:29

4 Answers 4

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This has now been directly addressed in an interview with director Rian Johnson.

First, he explains that Luke is tailoring his projection specifically enrage Kylo.

"[Luke] is basically tailoring this projection to have maximum effect on Kylo," Johnson explained. "He knows that Kylo’s Achilles heel is his rage, and so that’s why he kind of makes himself look younger, the way Kylo would’ve last seen him in their confrontation at the temple, and that’s why he decided to bring Kylo’s grandfather’s lightsaber down there -- the lightsaber that Kylo screamed at Rey, ‘that’s mine, that belongs to me.’" As far as Johnson's concerned, Luke believes that Anakin's lightsaber will have a much more visceral impact on the erstwhile Ben Solo than Luke's own green blade.

So why doesn't Kylo Ren notice it? According to Johnson, Kylo Ren doesn't totally know what happened to the lightsaber.

"We as an audience saw that... The truth is, we see the lightsaber split in half -- Kylo sees a blinding flash of light and is knocked unconscious, and then Rey takes the lightsaber away before he wakes up," he said. "So if you really want to dig into it and get an explanation, you can say that he doesn’t 100 percent know what happened to the lightsaber."

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91

Luke has no way of knowing that his blue lightsaber had been destroyed. He was on Ahch-To when it happened and presumably was still cut off from the Force.

As for why Kylo didn't notice the inconsistency, that's an intentional choice by the filmmakers. You may have noticed during the fight that at one point they zoom in on Luke's feet. It was previously established that the planet has a thin layer of salt, and stepping on it leave bright red footprints. Kylo also fails to realize that Luke isn't leaving footprints. His emotions and hatred blind him to the obvious.

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  • 44
    Well I totally missed the no footprints as well!! You make a good point, but it still doesn't make sense why Luke would choose a lightsaber he didn't have in his possession. He has been using his green one since RotJ... Kylo would know Luke as using the green one.
    – Skooba
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 13:17
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    @Skooba not necessarily. I got the impression that Kylo knew Rey was with Luke when they were connecting.
    – phantom42
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 14:01
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    Things Luke knows: Kylo knows about the existence of the Anakin saber; Kylo and Rey were connecting. Things Luke doesn't know: Anakin saber is destroyed. It's a bit sloppy, but I think acceptable that Luke believes he should be using the Anakin saber. Also, it's sort of a mind-game, isn't it? He's there to throw Kylo off - what better saber to "use" than one that Kylo is obsessed with in an effort to enrage him even further?
    – phantom42
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 14:09
  • 1
    I think it's also possible that Luke would have considered this and figured it'd seem more like Luke was teamed up with Rey if Luke used the Lightsaber Kylo assumes Rey has, not knowing it was already destroyed.
    – Wraith Leader
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 15:12
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    Also, what's to say that Luke doesn't have another blue lightsaber? I don't think it's unreasonable for him to have constructed more than one, it's been a few years since the last time he and Kylo saw each other. Kylo could easily have assumed the green one was lost/destroyed in the fire at the Jedi academy.
    – Paul
    Commented Dec 16, 2017 at 22:09
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Could it be something else:

Luke is choosing to present an idealized version of himself, he looks younger, he beard is dyed and trimmed. He is choosing the ideal lightsaber for him the Legendary one. This is not Luke as he is, this is the legendary Luke Skywalker, coming to save the day. Him arriving is a huge morale boost for the Resistance as much as anything. It harks back to some things he talks to Rey about earlier in the film.

The details of his appearance are inconsequential to Kilo Ren, as @TenthJustice says he is blinded to what is in front of his eyes. In fact

Looking nearly as Kylo Ren remembers him, possibly plays to his rage better than a wizened old man would.

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  • 8
    I like Legendary aspect of your reasoning.
    – Skooba
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 13:29
  • 3
    I think this is probably the more 'correct' answer, given the talk about becoming a legend earlier in the film. I hadn't thought of this while viewing the movie, but it makes perfect sense now.
    – Brian R
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 15:44
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    Good point about his appearance being the Legendary Luke Skywalker. I decided his appearance was the way it was when he had last been seen by anyone (Kylo and Leia). Only Rey and Chewie know his beard is gray and his hair is shaggy.
    – scott
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 16:40
  • Are these quotes from somewhere? If so, please provide attribution. If they are not quotes, and just your own thoughts, please remove the quotation embedding.
    – TylerH
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 2:51
  • @TylerH it's spoiler tags, not quotes.
    – Jeremy French
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 9:38
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Remember that Kylo has no way of knowing how many light sabers there are. Luke has been gone for years. Maybe he built another one. Blue is a fairly common lightsaber color in canon. Obi-Wan's was also blue.

Kylo was also not exactly being rational, a point the movie went way out of its way to emphasize. I mean he does

have half a dozen AT-ATs shoot at Luke continuously for a ridiculously long time, until Hux finally makes them stop

I don't have a problem with him missing a minor detail, like the color of a lightsaber.

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  • This is very true. For all Kylo knows, Luke, in addition to or alternatively to building another lightsaber, could have recovered other older lightsabers. Perhaps Vader kept Obi-Wan's blue lightsaber and Luke later recovered it.
    – Robert Columbia
    Commented Dec 16, 2017 at 15:44
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    Is constructing a lightsaber even supposed to be that difficult, even? Kylo Ren apparently made his own despite clearly being less experienced. Luke managed to put together his second lightsaber himself, without outside help. In TLG's flashbacks, Kylo Ren had a blue lightsaber, which seems to hint that all the trainees had their own. Sure seems to indicate that Luke absolutely could have acquired multiple other lightsabers (and in fact probably should have had spares around from the trainees). I don't see any reason Kylo Ren would question the saber colour as a result.
    – Kat
    Commented Dec 28, 2017 at 14:26

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