Star Wars comic reveals where Luke’s lightsaber ended up after Empire Strikes Back

(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

A new Marvel-published Star Wars comic has teased how Luke’s lightsaber went from falling through Cloud City to becoming Maz Kanata’s gift to Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Star Wars #4 (H/T ComicBook.com) goes some way to answer a question most fans will have pondered since the young Skywalker’s lightsaber took a tumble after his climactic duel with Darth Vader at the end Empire Strikes Back. It’s, uhh, in a pile of trash and spare parts, eventually recovered by a pig-nosed Ughnaught-looking creature. Lucky he got there before a compactor did.

What happens next will surely be revealed in the forthcoming issues, but at least we now know its temporary resting place – which is especially useful in light of a prior issue suggesting that an unknown hooded figure caught the lightsaber. That was, presumably, a vision of a possible future, or one of Luke’s fears manifesting itself. For now, his father’s old weapon is in the hands of a tinkerer – and who knows how Maz finds herself in possession of the legendary lightsaber.

The ongoing Star Wars comic series has been a treasure trove for fans of the original trilogy, with a previous chapter also telling an unseen side to Leia’s pre-Return of the Jedi story, as a captive of the Empire and encased in Carbonite.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.