For over a thousand generations the Jedi maintained peace in the galaxy; the Force as their
guide, the lightsaber at their side.
However, the Jedi viewed their lightsabers as more than just tools or a
means to dispense with enemies - they saw them as a means of
concentrating attention and becoming attuned to the Force. That
isn't to say the lightsaber wasn't deadly in the hands of a trained
Knight; with the Force as their ally, Jedi could use lightsabers
to cut through almost anything - the only exceptions being
certain specially designed armour
and, of course, another lightsaber blade - and to deflect laser blasts back at their enemies.
This use for the lightsaber did not present itself until much later after the sabers were created. The first lightsabers used many of the components that made up modern lightsabers, including the Adegen crystal which determined the blade's colour, though these early laser-swords relied on portable power packs to operate. Later lightswords refined this simple technology to present a formidable challenge to a foe. Soon, both the Jedi and the Sith orders were using lightsabers in combat. However, in the later decades of the Republic, when the Sith were (wrongly) thought to be extinct, lightsabers were used almost exclusively against blaster-wielding enemies. Classical duels were practiced in the Jedi Temple as part of standard training, not regarded as an immediate threat in the modern galaxy.
Because of the Clone Wars and the Jedi Purges, lightsabers were mostly destroyed along with the Jedi themselves. However, many Jedi kept records detailing the construction and use of a lightsaber - either in leather-bound books like the one Luke Skywalker found in Ben Kenobi's home, or in mystical Jedi Holocrons - ensuring that the new generation of Jedi Knights were just as able to uphold justice as they had been. |
