It looks like Rey (Daisy Ridley) really wanted in a double-bladed lightsaber during her training.
The novelization of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has offered fans quite a number of surprising reveals, and while some of these details have proven to add controversy to the contentious Star Wars sequel trilogy movie, details like this double-bladed lightsaber add texture to the sequel trilogy narrative.
While Rey mostly used Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) blue lightsaber throughout Disney's Star Wars sequel trilogy, the novelization of The Rise of Skywalker offers a moment where Rey wanted a different design for her own lightsaber (via Screen Rant).
Early on in the book, we get to read about Rey working on her lightsaber, repairing the weapon after it had been broken in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In the book, Rey's lightsaber isn't ready yet, so she in the meantime she has to turn to her quarterstaff as a weapon. While repairing Luke's lightsaber, Rey considers designing her own lightsaber after her quarterstaff. Turns out, Rey actually wanted a double-bladed lightsaber for herself.
"She eyed the unfinished lightsaber on her workbench. It wasn't ready yet, and the one she'd painstakingly repaired — Luke's — didn't belong to her. So her quarterstaff would have to suffice as a weapon. Which was just fine. It had served her well on Jakku for years. In fact, someday, once she had mastered this lightsaber-building business, she might design one that felt more like a quarterstaff in her hand. Familiar and hefty. Two business ends. Maybe with a hinge in the middle for portability."
Perhaps this lightsaber design is reflected in Rey's fears, the one that we get to see when finds herself face to face with the Dark Side version of herself on the Death Star in The Rise of Skywalker. In the illusion, fans get to see Dark Side Rey dressed in dark robes carrying a red, retractable, double-sided lightsaber.
It's such a shame that Rey didn't turn her yellow saber into the retractable one that she had originally planned in Episode IX.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is available on Digital HD. The film is set for release on DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K Ultra HD on March 31, 2019.
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