Star Wars: What Happened To The Lightsabers Owned By Darth Vader's Order 66 Victims?

Order 66 was a galaxy-altering event within the "Star Wars" mythos. The Jedi held the peace for thousands of years, but in one fell swoop, Darth Sidious and Darth Vader squashed that, killing countless Jedi. However, so much bloodshed begs the question: What happened to all the lightsabers?

While it's hard to say what happened to every lightsaber following Order 66, 2017's "Darth Vader" #1 shows fans what happened to thousands of the Jedis' legendary weapons. The issue picks up after the closing moments of "Revenge of the Sith," with Darth Vader screaming in agony following Padme's death. Afterward, Sidious escorts his apprentice to a ceremony held by Mas Amedda at the former Jedi Temple. During the event, the newly-established Galactic Empire incinerates thousands of lightsabers taken from the fallen Jedi, with a large explosion signaling the destruction of their kyber crystals.

During Order 66, Sidious instructed the Clone Troopers to collect the lightsabers of the Jedi they killed and bring them back to him. However, instead of harvesting their crystals or giving one to Vader for his Sith weapon, he uses them to send a message throughout the galaxy that the Jedi are no more.

There's something truly dark about how Darth Sidious chose to deal with the Jedis' lightsaber following Order 66. While "Star Wars" has generally always remained family-friendly, it hides not-so-subtle comparisons to real-world oppression throughout its fantasy space opera.

Publicly burning the lightsabers directly correlates to book burning, something oppressive regimes have taken part in throughout time. Ancient Chinese dynasties did it during the rise of Confucianism. Spanish conquistadors burned Aztec and Mayan texts during their colonization efforts. The American South set fire to anti-slavery books after Harpers Ferry. Most infamously, Nazi Germany publicly burned books that went against their ideologies, primarily Jewish texts.

Based on these regimes, Sidious' lightsaber-burning event is a natural step the Empire would take, especially in its early years, as it quickly attempts to secure its grip on the galaxy. It's not only a show of strength, but it also removes all hope from the universe, deterring potential uprisings. While many are left oppressed following the overthrow of the Galactic Republic, the burning of lightsabers also destroys the very weapons the survivors of Order 66 would use to fight back, showing there's nothing they can do but submit to the Empire. 

The act is made even darker when you remember that many of those lightsabers were used by younglings within the Jedi Order, signaling that no one is safe from the Empire.