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I always assumed that Kylo Ren's lightsaber was different from Ben Solo's because of the cracked kyber crystal. After all if it was the same lightsaber it should have the same kyber crystal which wasn't cracked. However, in Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker The Visual Dictionary it says the following confirming that apparently it is the same lightsaber:

Kylo modified his lightsaber upon falling to the dark side, channelling dangerous amounts of power through a cracked kyber crystal.

How come it uses a cracked kyber crystal and not the original? Or, if it is the original, how did it become cracked in the first place?

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  • I can't pull a reference, but I recall from one of the Asoka comics/books or Darth Vader comics that due to the immense amount of (force) energy being put into a kyber crystal when "bleeding" it that the krystal can crack or break completely. – Boolean Jan 20 at 11:10
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    Also Starkiller base was built on Ilum, a planet rich with kyber crystals that the First Order was mining, I'm sure he could have gotten a replacement. – TheLethalCarrot Jan 20 at 11:37
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In the (canon) comic Rise of Kylo Ren #4 we see Ben "bleeding" the crystal from his original lightsaber, presumably at the urging of his master, Snoke. When he does so, it causes the crystal to crack. He installs it in his lightsaber and, when it overloads, he add crude vents on either side of the blade emitted to remove the excess energy and create quillons.

I have extracted the relevant panels.
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Note that at this point he has access to several lightsabers, including Ren's (which has a red blade and hence a red crystal) so we're able to make three deductions:

  • He can, if he wants, have a ready-made red-bladed lightsaber to use.

  • He has at least four other crystals at his disposal to try again if he wants to (which he apparently doesn't, possibly because doing so resulted in hand injury and nearly destroyed his vessel).

  • He seems satisfied with the ragged but powerful lightsaber that he's created using the crystal from his original lightsaber.

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In-universe answer:

The Sith bleed their lightsabers by applying the dark side to them, which makes them red (Old canon suggested that red crystals are found in the caves known to the Sith only). In this process, the crystal resists. It is possible, that Kylo Ren cracked it by accident, because he was not patient and exerted too much dark side Force on the crystal.

At the moment, the story of Kylo Ren's crystal is not yet told in any canon source. Only speculations and non-canon material exist.

Out of universe answer:

The creators wanted to use a cracked crystal, which gave an unstable force field and thus needed side vents, to emphasize Kylo/Ben's unstable nature.

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    The main part of your answer hinges on the possibility of cracking the kyber crystal during bleeding it. Do you have any evidence for this that you could edit in? It would greatly improve it. – TheLethalCarrot Jan 20 at 12:22
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    I thought the old cannon was that the Sith used synthetic crystals that came out red (though they could make them other colors)? – Phyneas Jan 20 at 16:15
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    "the story of Kylo Ren's crystal is not yet told in any canon source" - Aside from the canon comic which explains the story of Kylo Ren's crystal? – Valorum Jan 20 at 18:23
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    To think that long ago, in a cinema far away a lightsaber was just some heirloom with absolutely no magic in it. Like a Colt Peacemaker or maybe a sword made by master swordman Masamune 50 years ago. Don't crack it! – David Tonhofer Jan 20 at 18:25
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    @DavidTonhofer, Yeah, but it's no match for a good blaster at your side, Kid. – Solomon Slow Jan 20 at 22:25

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