Only a Sith deals in absolutes, but Luke Skywalker has dealt Grogu an irreversible choice. He could choose the beskar chainmail shirt and return to Mando, or he can choose Yoda’s old lightsaber and continue his Jedi training. It’s a hard choice that requires deep consideration, but the circumstances don’t hold up to scrutiny.
How did Luke end up with Yoda’s saber? It’s the subject of much speculation, and like all fan theories, some are more plausible than others. But when do fan theories cross the line from prediction to wishful thinking? It may be tempting, but not every plot hole is secretly an explanation.
Faced with Luke somehow owning his old master’s lightsaber, some fans assumed Luke found it in the ruins of Coruscant, or that Yoda had a spare one kicking around Dagobah when he died. But other fans took this plot hole as evidence the sequels take place in an alternate timeline created when Ahsoka Tano traveled through time in the animated series Rebels. This far-out theory has the added “bonus” of rendering the divisive Star Wars sequels trilogy completely superfluous from the “true” Star Wars canon seen in The Mandalorian and Boba Fett. As evidence, theorists point to a recent (and canon) comic that showed Yoda’s lightsaber being publicly burned.
But is this the smoking saber fans are looking for? Yoda lived for 900 years. How likely is it he would only have one saber and not think to have a backup? Lightsabers are hard to procure, but given all the younglings Yoda must have assisted in building their first sabers, he could have easily made one just in case. What’s more, Star Wars: The Complete Locations lists Yoda’s saber among the items in Yoda’s hut.
Star Wars is no stranger to time travel. The introduction of the mystical World Between Worlds plane in Rebels provides most of the justification for the alternate timelines theory, and the otherworldly element is rumored to be returning in Ahsoka’s upcoming Disney+ spinoff.
The Star Wars timeline is already fractured, with the vast majority of past works, formerly the Extended Universe, now written off as non-canon Legends. By making the sequels non-canon, Lucasfilm would technically be on its third attempt of writing the post-Original-Series timeline, which seems excessive.
If this plot hole could be explained with something as simple as “Yoda kept a spare saber for emergencies,” why are fans pointing towards this as indelible proof that this Luke isn’t the same Luke whose newly built academy is burned years later? It’s a bit far-fetched, but sometimes the best fan theories are just that.
Thankfully, Star Wars has a chance to set the record straight in The Book of Boba Fett’s finale. We’ve already seen the beginnings of Luke’s academy; if anything else happens to confirm this series is in the same continuity as the sequel trilogy it should put these theories to rest.
That doesn’t mean we’ll never see the World Between Worlds or time travel in the Star Wars universe again. It would be a missed opportunity to not bring those elements to live-action. But it’s also unlikely we’ll see three of the most successful blockbusters of the last few years rendered completely worthless to the greater Star Wars canon or shoved off into the multiverse.
And that’s fine. The great thing about Star Wars is you can simply enjoy the parts you enjoy. Don’t care for the sequels? Ignore them! With everything Mandalorian-adjacent filling in the gap between the original trilogy and sequels, this has never been easier.
The Book of Boba Fett is now streaming on Disney+.
