Star Wars: Why Does Ahsoka Have White Lightsabers & What Does The Color Mean?

The newest Disney+ series, "Ahsoka," shows how far the former Padawan has come since her days under the tutelage of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen).

At the beginning of the show, taking place after the events of "Return of the Jedi," Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) tracks down Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). But there are plenty of enemies in her path, and she has no problem busting out her dual white lightsabers to take down any combatants. It's an unusual color, as most viewers are probably familiar with Jedi using green or blue lightsabers while the Sith use red. It's one of several unusual lightsabers present in the series, as Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) use orange lightsabers, which could hint at them being Gray Jedi. 

First, it's essential to look at where Ahsoka acquired these weapons. She originally had green lightsabers when she was a Padawan, and she even used blue blades for a time. However, she got her white lightsabers after defeating the Imperial Inquisitor, called the Sixth Brother. These were red by being tainted from the Dark Side, but she purged that energy from them, turning them white. Ahsoka's white lightsabers made their first official appearance in the Season 1 finale of "Star Wars Rebels" — "Fire Across the Galaxy." But the white coloring symbolizes more than just a way to make Ahsoka stand out from the crowd.

Dave Filoni, the writer for the "Ahsoka" Disney+ series and the creator of Ahsoka Tano as a character, spoke about her lightsabers during an interview discussing "Fire Across the Galaxy." He explained how giving her white lightsabers signified that she had no affiliation with Jedi or Sith. She was completely neutral, which makes sense given how she walked away from the Jedi Order toward the end of "The Clone Wars." By the time "Ahsoka" comes around, she's still using those lightsabers and doesn't see herself as a Jedi.

However, white blades can have an even deeper meaning for Ahsoka. The finale of "Star Wars Rebels" sees Ahsoka with a white cloak and staff to go along with her blades. It symbolizes the journey she's been on from being a plucky Padawan and now representing everything a Force user should be. In most stories, white as a color is meant to symbolize purity, and Ahsoka purified those lightsabers she got from the Sixth Brother. She may not be a Jedi, but she still fights for what's right, attempting to avoid the mistakes of the Jedi Order and how they became blinded right before the rise of the Empire.

Ahsoka's white lightsabers are a change of pace from what people are used to seeing in "Star Wars." They're unique to her, but depending on how the rest of the series shakes out and what happens on the film side of things, more characters could get white lightsabers to depict something similar. The Jedi Order may never rise again, but something new could take its place, led by Ahsoka, that actually stands the test of time.