Summary
- Ahsoka’s lightsaber design had to be adjusted for her own show, with the batteries now inside the hilt instead of in the actor’s sleeves.
- The change in lightsaber design allowed for more freedom of movement in Ahsoka’s lightsaber duels, making them more impressive.
- Ahsoka’s lightsaber duels feature some of the best choreography in Star Wars, blending different styles seen throughout the franchise.
Ahsoka changed the lightsaber design of its titular character for the series’ lightsaber duels. Ahsoka Tano has fought with lightsabers since her animated debut in The Clone Wars movie in 2008. After becoming a fan-favorite character in The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, Ahsoka made her live-action debut in The Mandalorian season 2, played by Rosario Dawson, and paving the way for her own live-action series. Bringing Ahsoka into live-action required many practical adjustments
A video from Screen Rant‘s Rob Keyes at Destination D23 featuring Ahsoka‘s props master Josh Roth reveals one of these adjustments, specifically how Ahsoka’s lightsaber design was changed after The Mandalorian season 2. Check out the video and Roth’s comments below:
“The design for Ahsoka’s saber here was very important. We had to slim it down, we had to work with it, and it was really challenging because we didn’t have, at the time, the technical ability to keep the batteries inside the hilts. So we had to keep the batteries in Rosario’s sleeves, for the first time starting in season 2. Now when we saw Rosario getting her own show, for number one, we had to change that. So we were able to work with my team to create a new saber that was totally integrated, so she could do all the stunts and fighting.”
As Roth explains, Ahsoka‘s lightsaber duels wouldn’t have been possible without putting the batteries inside the lightsaber hilts. This is a change from The Mandalorian season 2 when the batteries were kept in Dawson’s sleeves. Without this change, Dawson’s movements would’ve been more restricted in Ahsoka and the show’s lightsaber duels wouldn’t be as impressive.
Ahsoka’s Lightsaber Duels Have Shown Some Of Star Wars’ Best Choreography
Ahsoka has already set itself apart from other live-action Star Wars television series through the quantity and quality of its lightsaber duels. Most of the other series have been relatively light when it comes to lightsaber action, but only four episodes in, Ahsoka has already featured multiple duels between Ahsoka and Marrok, Sabine Wren and Shin Hati, and a duel between Ahsoka and Baylan Skoll. Part of what makes these lightsaber fights work so well is that they feature some of Star Wars‘ best choreography.
The duels in Ahsoka balance out the many styles of lightsaber action seen throughout years of Star Wars projects. The original trilogy’s lightsaber fights were more slow and methodical, with the conflict relying more on emotion than artistry. The prequel trilogy created highly choreographed fights that made lightsaber combat look more fluid, while the sequel trilogy emphasized the actual weight of the lightsaber and the physical toll of each duel. Ahsoka blends all these influences, with duels that rely on emotional stakes, while also featuring impressive choreography and fluid, yet grounded movements.
Baylan’s lightsaber combat seems like a marriage of these elements as he is incredibly methodical while also carrying a certain weight and physical effort behind each movement. Ahsoka and Marrok staring each other down and settling into their stances in episode 4 also felt reminiscent of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul’s final duel in Star Wars Rebels, with the anticipation gradually escalating before the killing blow occurs in a matter of seconds. As Ahsoka heads into the second half of its first season, the lightsaber duels will undoubtedly continue to be one of the strongest aspects of the series.
Source: Rob Keyes/Twitter