New Star Wars book reveals how Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber was repaired

A brand-new Star Wars book, titled Star Wars: Legacy and written by New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux, is slated to hit the shelves on July 28, and Parade can exclusively reveal that the story will finally solve a major mystery about Anakin Skywalker's iconic blue lightsaber.

After debuting in A New Hope as Luke Skywalker's lightsaber that was confirmed to have previously been his father, Anakin's (although no one, including George Lucas, knew that Anakin was also Darth Vader yet), this legendary lightsaber went on to play a key role in all three Star Wars trilogies thus far. Obviously, it returned in the prequel trilogy, as those movies were primarily focused on Anakin's Jedi story and his fall to the dark side of the Force.

However, the weapon returned in the sequel trilogy, with Rey wielding it for all three movies until the reveal at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that she had crafted her own yellow saber for whatever her Star Wars future held—yet another mystery that, currently, remains unanswered.

Anakin's saber's appearance in The Rise of Skywalker was particularly surprising, though, as the previous movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi had seen the weapon ripped apart, torn between Rey and Kylo Ren. Star Wars had yet to reveal how the lightsaber had been repaired—sort of another "Somehow, Palpatine returned" situation—but now, Star Wars: Legacy, which focuses on Princess Leia Organa and Rey between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, has given an answer.

An excerpt, exclusively shared with Parade, reads:

"Rey sped through the corridor of the ship, hammering her fist on the

button to lower the ramp. Outside, dawn spread its pink and purple

fingers across the sky. A light rain fell, a luxury Rey still wasn’t used

to, even if Jakku felt like a far distant memory. The rain felt even

better that morning, full of promise. Revitalizing. She and Chewie

would take the Falcon for a quick diversion to Tython, using the

coordinates to find this hidden forge. There Rey would repair the

crystal, house it at last in the rebuilt hilt, and return to Pacara with

renewed energy to take on the fight. She needed this, this little

sojourn, this time alone to get her thoughts in order. The First Order

had them on the run, and while there had been a few minor victories

since the Battle of Crait, there was no denying their position was

precarious. Every day seemed to bring a new challenge, a new

threat, and as the sole Jedi with the Resistance, the sole Jedi in the

galaxy, it was up to her to never waver in confidence.

Not in front of anyone else, anyway.

She had hoped to find the command center nestled in the tunnels

relatively empty at that early hour. Instead, she found herself

stumbling into an ongoing meeting. General Organa stood at the

center of the gathering. Rey usually had the chance to opt out of

Lieutenant Connix’s briefings, insisting that her training took

precedence, excusing her from the duller day-to-day requirements of

running their operation. She could tell they were surprised to see

her. Poe Dameron, black hair perfectly coiffed despite the early hour,

acknowledged her with a toss of his head, continuing to the others

with, “We still need evac plans, mobilization specs, and, maybe most

important, flight path falsification records for three more shuttles of

volunteers.”

“I can make sure they’ve got someplace to recover,” Finn hurried to

add. “Feel like I could snap together those shelters in my sleep at

this point.”

While the briefing continued, Leia seemed to be watching her. Rey

hovered on the edge of the group, matching the bounce of her leg to

the scanner pings coming from the monitoring station to her left. The

clay floor had been packed hard by Resistance boots. Long, tall

screens filled the space behind Leia, green lanterns strung along the

ceiling lending a forested light, a welcome bright touch in the

otherwise gloomy warrens. It felt like the inner chambers of a seed,

luminous and close. Rose dived into a list of new First Order

operations discovered by their scouts and spies. Fleet activity in the

Terrabe and Rayter sectors. Skirmishes over Ryloth. She played an

intercepted propaganda broadcast from her home planet, Hays

Minor, where the First Order had lost two soldiers killed in an

ambush.

“Who’s left on Hays Minor?” Finn interjected, leaning with arms

crossed against the scanner console.

“The First Order is extracting everything they can. There are miners

there being forced to work—probably will be until the planet is

nothing but dust, but they’ve been rebelling, trying, in their way,”

Rose said with a small, distant smile. “There are more resources on

Hays Major. They must be coordinating with resistance cells there.

This transmission came from someone calling herself the Edge of

Dawn, but it sounds like their team went dark, scattered.”

“Can we pick them up? Bring them in?” Poe asked, his eyes down

as he continued consulting his datapad.

Rose shook her head. “Hm, maybe, but not until they resurface. And

it would take some convincing. There were hard feelings when so

many of us left to fight with the Resistance.”

The little BB unit that followed Poe everywhere spun in a circle

excitedly at the sight of Rey. Usually, she would spare a few minutes

to greet BB-8, but she was in a rush.

Rey’s eyes danced with urgency, and Leia was quick to respond.

“If you’ll excuse me,” the general said, ducking out of the group and

going to Rey. “You found something.”

“Yes—well, Threepio found it, not me, but we have coordinates for a

forge.”

Leia’s brown eyes widened. “A lightsaber forge?”

Rey nodded. “It was hidden in the texts, the location written in a

cipher. The Forge for the Broken.”

“Sounds promising.”

“Which is why I have to go. Right away. I’ll just take Chewie and

Threepio. You won’t even miss us.”

Leia nodded, serious. Coming to Rey’s side, she reached out and

brushed her hand over the scorched hip bag attached to Rey’s belt.

“I won’t be able to miss you. I’m coming along.” Rey’s stomach

dropped. Lowering her voice, Leia added just for her, “I told you,

you’re not alone. Whatever Luke taught me, it’s yours.”

“But . . . but they need you here.” She shied away.

“I don’t think so. They’ll manage.” Turning at the waist, Leia called

back to the others engrossed in their meeting. It had become

suspiciously quiet. “You’ll be fine here without me, right?”

“Sorry?” Poe snorted back.

“You’re terrible eavesdroppers,” Leia muttered. “This war doesn’t

have only one front, you know that. Rey is needed elsewhere, just

for now, and I’m going with her.” She raised her voice, addressing

the whole room. “Evacuation plans, mobilization, flight records for

Bek,” Leia re-peated, delegating with a pointed finger as she went

down the list. “Save any broadcasts, lies or not. We want to know

what the message is. It might give away their next steps. Keep

Rose’s scanners up and running; they work.”

Finn lowered his head with a groan.

“I know. The storms are a nuisance, and machines hate moisture,

but you’ll figure something out.”

Rey was numb with cold. What if she lost the Resistance their

general? Part of her was desperate for the help, the company, but another part of her burned with dread. She had tried and failed to

heal the kyber crystal several times now, each attempt more

frustrating than the last, and every time the specter of Kylo Ren

appeared to her. It would be that much harder if his mother, of all

people, was there beside her. She was trying to escape the thought

of him, not keep a living, breathing re-minder close at hand. The old

saying “Never meet your heroes” seemed to apply to her in a

specifically punitive way, like her mere presence was a death mark.

She couldn’t take another loss on her conscience. Besides, the

Resistance needed Leia. Rey would find the path alone, as she

always had.

“I can do this on my own.”

“I know you can, but you shouldn’t have to,” Leia replied in a

respectful undertone. Warm but with no room for argument. “Check

in with Zay Versio when you can,” she said loudly again to those in

the room. “We need options if the First Order discovers us here.”

“Her last communication indicated that she was headed for the

Cademimu sector,” Connix said, taking copious notes on her

datapad, bun-haired head bobbing up and down with concentration.

A strange expression flitted across Leia’s face, then her eyes

focused more intently on Rey. “That’s as good a sign as any.” And

with that, she swept out of the command center, the short train of her

dark-blue cape fluttering behind her like tattered wings. Rey

shrugged helplessly and hurried out of the tunnels after her.

“Sign? What sign?”

“Ajan Kloss is in that sector. It’s where Luke began training me.”

It wasn’t supposed to go like this. Maybe she should’ve just left with-

out telling anyone, but the Falcon was a Resistance asset. She was

a Resistance asset. The veil of drizzling rain had lifted, leaving the

world outside the caves slick and almost blinding under the early-

morning sun. A-wings on the landing pad glimmered like shards of

bone, the prefab shelters egg-white and shining. All the moss and

mud had been washed away. Rey’s mind spun forward and

backward as she tried to

come up with the right way to argue Leia out of her decision.

“But you said he didn’t teach you anything about—”

“Fixing a crystal,” Leia finished for her. They had almost reached the

small plasticene hut where Leia was staying. R2-D2 waited for them

in the open doorway. “But he did train me for half a year. Which is

more than nothing, and that more than nothing should be yours.”

Rey stopped and threw a look over her shoulder toward the

command center. Members of the Resistance had trickled out and

up the slope, standing in the shadow cast by the towers, either

because the briefing had concluded or because curiosity had gotten

the better of them.

“Ah. You’re worried they can’t survive without one of us,” Leia added.

She gestured for R2-D2 to follow them, and they started off toward

the Falcon, itself sparkling after the rain shower. That did little to

detract from the dings and dents, but somehow it made the ship look

at least clean enough for another adventure.

“It sounds arrogant when you put it like that,” Rey muttered. “Not

arrogant, prudent. You’ve saved us before.”

On Crait, the Resistance had been backed into a single, narrow

cave without an exit while the forces of the First Order left a blood-

red path across the salt flats, intent on finishing the job. Rey had

arrived in the Millennium Falcon just in time to provide a means of

escape. The image of their relieved faces was burned into her

memory. That picture floated up before her as she looked at Finn,

Poe, Rose, Connix, BB-8 . . .

Leia ducked into the hut, leaving Rey with her squirming thoughts.

What if he comes for them while I’m gone? What if I’m not here to

protect them?

A moment later, Leia reappeared, this time carrying a small case.

R2-D2 wheeled up beside her. Poe glanced at the others and tugged

on Finn’s and Rose’s sleeves until they relented and shuffled back

into the warrens, though Finn hesitated long enough to give Rey a

quick wave goodbye.

“Will this forge help you finish the lightsaber?” Leia asked, direct.

Rey nodded. Kyber. A forge. “It’s the best lead we have.”

Leia’s eyebrows rose. “‘We’?”

“I just meant that—”

“And will rebuilding your lightsaber help you protect the Resistance?”

Rey set her jaw. “Yes.”

“Then you have your answer.” Leia smiled at her, nodding toward the

Falcon on the landing pad."

Credit: Reprinted from Star Wars: Legacy by Madeleine Roux. © 2026 by Lucasfilm Ltd. Published by Random House Worlds, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.