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In Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #7, a highly-respected Jedi master reveals the heartbreaking reason why he has so many lightsabers.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #7, on sale now.
Throughout the various Star Wars eras, Jedi have used many different forms of lightsabers and combat styles. Most Jedi only use one lightsaber, but there are a few exceptions. In the High Republic era, Jedi Master Obratuk Glii uses at least five lightsabers. While other Jedi use multiple lightsabers due to their combat style, Obratuk uses multiple lightsabers in an effort to honor his former Padawans.
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures has focused mainly on the Padawans thus far. However, Obratuk receives a small spotlight in Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #7 by Daniel José Older, Harvey Tolibao, Rebecca Nalty, Jake M. Wood, Heather Antos and Riley Farmer. In a flashback, Obratuk explains why he has so many lightsabers to Padawan Farzala Tarabal. At first, Farzala innocently assumes that the reason is that Obratuk, as a Parwan, has “so many arms.” Instead, Obratuk explains that he constructed each lightsaber in honor of his Padawans who have died and become one with the Force.
Obratuk is around a thousand years old, but, as explained in Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #6, Parwans often hibernate during their home planet’s seasonal changes, which occur over centuries. Therefore, Obratuk may have spent a few hundred of those years sleeping. Still, he has been alive for a long time, and many of his former Padawans probably became Jedi Masters and lived full lives before finally passing on. Obratuk’s age makes it understandable that he has faced much loss, but he uses that loss to guide Farzala into working through his fears about dying or losing friends.
Obratuk’s lightsabers also show that the Jedi of the High Republic era are not prohibited as strongly from forming connections. They are taught to let go when the people they care about die, and they must be sure not to place individual friends and companions over the greater good. However, they still are encouraged to form friendships and attachments as long as those attachments do not interfere with their duty. In Obratuk’s case, he uses the lightsabers as a reminder of those he taught in the past, but he does not let his sorrow over their passing interfere with his ability to guide more Padawans on their journey in the present.
Obratuk is not the only character in the Star Wars franchise to use more than one or two lightsabers, but his collection forms a poignant contrast to that of General Grievous. The droid general is not a Force user, but his ordinance shows that lightsabers can be skillfully wielded by people (or droids) who are neither Jedi nor Sith. General Grievous’ hatred of the Jedi is clear throughout his appearances in the Star Wars saga, but the story behind Grievous’ lightsabers is expanded upon in “The Lair of Grievous” episode in season one of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In the episode, Kit Fisto and his former Padawan Nahdar Vebb discover that Grievous’ lightsabers come from Jedi Knights and Padawans that Grievous has killed, but the Padawan braids in Grievous’ collection show that most of those lightsabers probably came from the murder of children or teenagers. While Obratuk uses the lightsabers to honor the dead, Grievous revels in his carnage and uses his lightsabers as trophies.
Thus, while Obratuk’s lightsaber style may resemble that of Grievous, Obratuk’s lightsaber collection has a very personal meaning. As more Star Wars canon is created in subseries such as the High Republic and in new television shows such as Star Wars: Visions, the creators in the franchise are given more space to form new understandings of why Jedi pick their weapons and how they choose to honor the friends and comrades lost along the way.
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