The end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw Rey claim a yellow lightsaber, and The Acolyte has finally explained why – in the most surprising way. Daisy Ridley’s Rey used the legendary Skywalker saber throughout the sequel trilogy, but at the end of The Rise of Skywalker she buried both this and Leia’s old blade. She then drew her own lightsaber, an unusual yellow one built from the staff she previously used as a weapon.

Traditionally, yellow lightsabers were used by the Jedi Temple Guards as seen in the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. They were rare during the prequel era, though Luke Skywalker was shown to wield a yellow lightsaber between losing his father’s and crafting his own. Because of this, many people have wondered what the color of Rey’s lightsaber could mean for the franchise going forward. But The Acolyte, however, has answered this question – in a way nobody expected.

The Acolyte Suggests Lightsaber Colors Really Aren’t All That Important

There Is More Variety To Lightsaber Color Than Ever Before

The Acolyte is set earlier in the Star Wars timeline, a century before the Skywalker saga bega. It seems having a yellow lightsaber was not nearly as rare at this time. Yord Fandar notably wields a yellow lightsaber and carries on as normal, with no one commenting on the supposedly odd color choice. Vernetra Rwoh even uses a purple light whip to fight, something even further removed from the traditional lightsabers that many fans are used to.

This continues a trend that was started with the television series Ahsoka, where villains Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati fought with orange lightsabers, something that has never been seen before in Star Wars canon. Throughout the entire season, no one mentions the odd color of their lightsabers, though there were plenty of opportunities to do so. This suggests that aside from red determining the Sith, perhaps the color of a person’s lightsaber doesn’t mean that much in the end.

Rey’s Yellow Lightsaber Is Simply “The Rule Of Cool”

The Yellow Color Goes Well With Her Overall Aesthetic

It is possible (indeed, likely) that there’s no real meaniing behind Rey’s yellow lightsaber. Throughout the sequel trilogy, she is seen wielding a variety of different lightsabers, including Anakin Skywalker’s original lightsaber as well as Kylo Ren’s. The choice to give Rey a yellow lightsaber could have been made out of the simple desire to set her apart from those who came before, making her a more unique character visually.

This, coupled with the fact that yellow goes very well with her overall appearance, makes the answer much more simple than many previously thought it to be. Star Wars characters can have yellow lightsabers for the simple reason that yellow lightsabers are cool. Not every lightsaber has to have a complicated story attached to its origins.

The Acolyte episodes 1 and 2 are streaming now on Disney+.