Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 8 Huge Questions Finally Answered

2. Why Does Kylo Ren's Lightsaber Look Like That?

Kylo Ren's unique looking lightsaber has been a topic of serious debate since it was first revealed in the teaser trailer, but the movie doesn't provide much in the way of a solid explanation as to why it looks that way. As a result, many have assumed it has something to do with him neither being a fully trained Jedi nor Sith, but it turns out that those crossguard blades/quilons are the result of his lightsaber housing a cracked kyber cyrstal. The Visual Dictionary doesn't reveal why it's cracked, but it does explain that the blade looks unstable because the crystal isn't whole, and even goes on to confirm that those crossguards are there for a good reason. Kylo needs them to split the plasma stream, both to distribute and balance the power surging from the crystal and to protect his hands from attacks by smaller blades. The movie actually features him putting them to good use as a weapon when he battles Finn, but the main advantage of the quilons being there is no doubt to ensure that he doesn't lose a hand as both his uncle and grandfather did in battle before him.