Star Wars' most iconic weapon is undoubtedly the lightsaber. All lightsabers are made of five main parts: the power cell, the casing, the focusing lens, the emitter, and the kyber crystal. Kyber crystals, AKA living crystals, are the heart of the lightsaber, and what gives it its color. A connection is formed between the wielder and the right crystal. A raw kyber crystal is clear, but when a Jedi meditates on a crystal and awakens it to the force, it will change its color to match the nature of the Jedi.

The exception to this are red and white crystals. 2016's Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston introduced the concept of "healing" and "bleeding". Red crystals are formed when a dark side focuses all their pain onto a crystal, causing it to "bleed". White crystals are bled crystals that have been purified. "Healing" is an exercise of empathy where the Jedi must understand the pain of the dark sider who has embedded their memories in the crystal. Though the concepts were introduced in Ahsoka, they were focused on in much more detail in Star Wars (2020) #42-43 and Darth Vader (2017) #5.

Luke Skywalker Consults With Yoda to Get His Green Lightsaber

Even the Jedi Need Help From Time to Time

Marvel's Star Wars #34-35 by creative team Charles Soule, Madibek Musabekov, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Clayton Cowles reveal the exact process of how a Jedi changes the color of their kyber crystal through Luke Skywalker. After Luke lost his father's lightsaber, and his repurposed Temple Guard lightsaber was crushed in Star Wars #33, he was stuck with the difficult task of finding a new crystal. Skywalker traveled to Christophsis where he met Dr. Cuata, a kyber crystal expert. Cuata gave Luke a red crystal and a clear crystal to connect with them and let the future play out.

"What it wishes to show you... or whatever you bring with you."

In Star Wars #35, Luke is told the following about his crystal: "What it wishes to show you... or whatever you bring with you." This further emphasizes the connection between Jedi and crystal. Luke reaches out to the crystal through the force and has a vision where he encounters Yoda, who tells him all Jedi must walk their own path. Frustrated, Skywalker leaves the vision to find the clear crystal turned green. Luke's frustration with Yoda's teachings and choice to walk his own path culminated in a green crystal. The connection between Jedi and crystal has been formed.

Ahsoka Tano and Luke Skywalker Face Different Trials to Heal Their Kyber Crystals

No Two Force s Have the Same Roap

Kyber crystals are attuned to the force. They demonstrate a collective consciousness, and are even able to non-verbally communicate with other living beings. When a kyber crystal is bled and the dark-sider pours all their pain into the crystal, the crystal can feel it. A year after the Clone Wars, when an inquisitor arrived where Ahsoka Tano was hiding, she searched for new kyber crystals. She heard their call and followed them back to the inquisitor. Ahsoka defeated the sixth-brother and pulled the crystals from his lightsaber. Tano knew they belonged to her, and she healed them, turning them white.

Luke Skywalker demonstrates the complex process of purification in Star Wars #42-43. Skywalker meditates on the red crystal he was given, and appears before a Sith. Luke finds a younger version of the Sith and raises him without pain. However, healing is an exercise in empathy, so Luke must face his own pain. In a vision with Darth Vader, Skywalker realizes, just like the other Sith, Vader was someone before he was evil. Luke realizes his destiny isn't to destroy Vader, but to bring out the good in him. When Luke awakes from his vision, the crystal has become white.

Darth Vader Confronts Trials From His Past to Corrupt His Kyber Crystal

Darth Vader's Kyber Crystal Is One of a Kind

Any kyber crystal could be bled by any dark side , even their own crystal of a Jedi who had fallen to the dark side. When Anakin Skywalker was tempted to the dark side by Emperor Palpatine with the promise of power, he became known as Darth Vader. After losing his lightsaber in a duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar, Vader has to build a new one. Most Sith believe that the kyber crystal that powers their lightsaber must be stolen from a Jedi lightsaber, so Palpatine sends Vader on a mission to kill Jedi master Kirak Infil'a.

In Darth Vader #5, after Vader returns successfully from his mission, Palpatine sends him to Mustafar, the location of his greatest failure, to complete the construction of his new Sith lightsaber. Kyber crystals are naturally aligned with the light side of the force, so when Vader tries to bend the crystal to his will, the crystal fights back, urging him to turn back to the light side. The dark lord is shown visions of killing Palpatine and returning to Obi-Wan, but Vader refuses to give in, successfully filling it with his pain and corrupting it.

These comics expand on the lore of the kyber crystal, the crystal used to power lightsabers and the death star laser, and demonstrate how truly complex the process of building a lightsaber is. Luke discovers the incredible amount of empathy required to purify kyber, and Vader learns the pain that comes with the dark side, and turning away from his past. Luke's in-depth experience with getting his own kyber crystal demonstrates even further the strong connection between Jedi and crystal, and how each Jedi gets different colored lightsabers, as the crystal shifts to match the nature of the Jedi.