Mace Windu's lightsaber


Mace Windu's lightsaber was a Jedi lightsaber constructed by Jedi Master Mace Windu following his appointment as a senior member of the Jedi High Council. One of the most distinctive lightsabers in the Jedi Order due to its purple plasma blade, Windu would carry this weapon into battle on multiple occasions during the Clone Wars in which he served as a Jedi General in the Grand Army of the Republic. The lightsaber was ultimately lost when it fell out a window during a confrontation between Windu and the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who then killed the Jedi Order's champion through the use of Force lightning.

Description


Mace Windu's lightsaber emitted a purple blade.

Mace Windu's lightsaber emitted a purple blade.

As one of the most notable members of the Jedi Order, Jedi Master Mace Windu carried a Jedi lightsaber distinguished by its unique purple plasma blade. Its distinctive color served as warning to adversaries that the Jedi Order's greatest champion was ready to fight.

Despite serving as his final lightsaber, Windu constructed it in his youth. After many years of experience, he used the highest standards to make a superior weapon. In addition to a specially designed handgrip, the lightsaber's electrum finish indicated Windu's status as a senior member of the Jedi High Council.

Construction and early use


Through the teachings of Huyang, a young Mace Windu was able to overcome the difficulty of building a lightsaber.

Through the teachings of Huyang, a young Mace Windu was able to overcome the difficulty of building a lightsaber.

As a Jedi Initiate Mace Windu struggled to construct his lightsaber; feeling unable to fit the components of his weapon together, Windu despaired until the architect droid Huyang reminded him that it was the Force that bound the pieces together through Windu, essentially making the Jedi the weapon instead of the lightsaber he wielded. With the droid's help, Windu completed the task of his lightsaber's construction, finishing the purple-bladed weapon that he would carry for many years. Windu used his lightsaber against pirates when he rescued Depa Billaba and Sar Labooda, sisters who he then brought into the Jedi Order.

Windu's lightsaber was dismantled during a on Oosalon, where he was taken as a prisoner by Guattako's army. The pieces of his lightsaber were kept in a box which Kyossk displayed to Guattako when Windu was taken to the warlord. Though Guattako did not consider the Jedi Master a threat without his lightsaber, Windu sent a call to his fellow Jedi through the Force and revealed it had been his intention to get captured in order to find the insurgents' camp. He reassembled his lightsaber by using his telekinetic powers and proceeded to fight Guattako's followers, cutting off Kyossk's arm in the process. He engaged Guattako in single combat until one of the warlord's captives, a youngling, killed him with a blaster shot to the back in a bid for freedom. Windu used his saber to cut his bonds, and reunited with his fellow Jedi.

Clone Wars


Windu defeated Jango Fett by using his lightsaber to sever the bounty hunter's head from his body.

Windu defeated Jango Fett by using his lightsaber to sever the bounty hunter's head from his body.

On the eve of the First Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY, Windu led a Jedi assault team to the Separatist world of Geonosis in an effort to rescue the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, resulting in a confrontation between the Jedi and a force of battle droids. During the battle, Windu was confronted by Jango Fett, a bounty hunter employed by the Separatist leader Count Dooku. The expert swordsman calmly deflected Fett's blaster shots and killed the mercenary by severing his armored head with one slash of his lightsaber. Afterward, Windu carried his lightsaber into the main battle where he led the newly formed clone army of the Galactic Republic against the Separatist Droid Army.

Like his fellow Jedi, Windu supported the war effort as a Jedi General of the Grand Army of the Republic. During the Clone Wars, General Windu wielded his lightsaber on multiple occasions, leading his clone troopers in battles, such as the Battle of Ryloth and the Battle of Malastare. At one point during the wars, Windu used his lightsaber to disarm the Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon, of his beskar deathblade, when the assassin tried to kill Depa Billaba on Malathon IX.

As the Clone Wars drew to a close, Windu fought Darth Sidious in a last-ditch effort to save the Jedi Order.

As the Clone Wars drew to a close, Windu fought Darth Sidious in a last-ditch effort to save the Jedi Order.

After three years of war, the Jedi discovered that the Republic's leader, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, was in fact Darth Sidious—the Dark Lord of the Sith who conspired to destroy the Jedi in order to take over the galaxy. Knowing that the Jedi Order's fate hung in the balance, Windu attempted to arrest the chancellor before his plot came to fruition. Although the Sith Lord succeeded in killing three of Windu's colleagues in an ensuing lightsaber duel, the Jedi Master ultimately prevailed and disarmed Sidious of his weapon.

Refusing to accept defeat, Sidious attacked Windu with a blast of Force lightning, forcing the Jedi Master to block the lightning with his lightsaber. As a result, the lightning was redirected to its source, leaving Sidious' face disfigured in the process. Before he could strike down the Sith Lord, the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker used his own weapon to sever Windu's hand in order to save Sidious' life, leaving the hand, alongside the lightsaber it carried, to fall into the streets of Coruscant. With Windu injured by his former ally and bereft of his lightsaber, Sidious renewed his attack by unleashing torrent of Force lightning, resulting in the death of the Jedi Order's great champion.

Behind the scenes


Mace Windu's lightsaber first appeared in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, the second installment of the Prequel trilogy. The lightsaber's blade color was chosen by the actor portraying Windu, Samuel L. Jackson, who wanted a purple lightsaber because he was "the second baddest Jedi in the universe" and so he could find himself in the Battle of Geonosis scene.

In Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Windu is depicted with a different lightsaber, with the character actually having several different designs during the events of that film judging by the lightsabers seen across reference photographs. While reference material often states that Windu made the lightsaber first featured in Attack of the Clones later in his life, the story "The Weapon" depicted Windu creating the lightsaber during his days as a youngling. Indeed, the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi episode "Choices" depicted the Attack of the Clones-style lightsaber in Windu's possession before the events of The Phantom Menace. When asked if these appearances negated earlier reference material that said he constructed it as a senior council member, Pablo Hidalgo responded that there is not a definitive answer. He reasoned that there could be more than one lightsaber with the Attack of the Clones-style design, with Windu possibly remaking the design multiple times over his life. Hidalgo also noted that, given the Attack of the Clones design was used in Tales of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace design would likely be ignored moving forward.

Non-canon appearances


Non-canon sources


  • LEGO Star Wars: Choose Your Side: Doodle Activity Book

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