Luke Skywalker Carried A Sith's Lightsaber Crystal In 'The Last Jedi'
The Star Wars films are filled with various objects that may not be noticeable right away and are later discovered to have huge stories behind them. An example of this is the dice that Han Solo has on the Millennium Falcon. While these dice are barely noticeable in the original film, the more recent films Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi have emphasized how much meaning there is behind the dice that Han Solo carries. They are now seen as an important part of the character.
As it turns out, the latter film has another object that is not quite at the forefront but carries some meaning behind it. In fact, Luke Skywalker has quite a few artifacts with him on Ahch-To pertaining to the Jedi. In the time between the original trilogy and the sequel trilogy, Luke collects various Jedi artifacts as he tries to recover whatever knowledge remains of the Jedi Order he tries to rebuild. He finds a compass, and he finds the Sacred Texts. But the one that we are focusing on at the moment is a particular necklace with a piece of a crystal on it. Of course, when it comes to crystals in this franchise, the assumption tends to be that they are kyber crystals, which are made to create lightsabers. In this instance, that is correct. However, this one is red. That's right. It belonged to a Sith, as confirmed by Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary.
The entry specifies that the crystal piece is a "Trophy made from fragmented Sith lightsaber crystal." Some speculated that perhaps this is made from the crystal in Darth Vader's lightsaber, but this is not the case. The necklace as a whole is labeled as a "Recovered Jedi Crusader Pendant." According to the lore, the Jedi Crusaders, at a time when the Sith are plentiful, wear these as trophies after they defeat their Sith opponents.
Looking from the outside, this feels like an odd practice for the Jedi to do. The Jedi we have seen in the prequel trilogy era are very much against attachments and possessions, with the exception of the whole "This weapon is your life" mentality connected to lightsabers. However, I do see this practice as tying into the arrogance and hubris of the Jedi that look touches upon in The Last Jedi. The Jedi believe that they are all powerful, and that there is nothing that can defeat the entire Order in the end. And it is this arrogance that allows Darth Sidious to wipe them out. Luke has the pendant on display in Ahch-To. Perhaps he is displaying it as a trophy, or perhaps he is displaying it as a reminder of how flawed the Jedi really were at times.
Following Luke Skywalker's death, it is possible that the pendant still remains on Ahch-To. Rey takes the Sacred Texts, but we do not know if she takes anything else. In any case, she would probably have access to this and other artifacts collected by Luke Skywalker over the years. It is possible that we may never find out which specific Sith Lord the crystal belonged to, or even which Jedi took the pendant belonged to. Then again, there is no need for these things to be attached to big familiar names. They could simply be mysteries out there for fans to think about as they look at the lore as a whole. Just the presence of certain mysteries are enough to make the galaxy feel bigger.
Source(s): Screen Rant