Summary

• Star Wars may have quietly introduced a new lightsaber variant called the proto-saber in the VR experience Secrets of the Empire.
• The proto-saber has a different design from traditional lightsabers, with twin metal blades that glow blue when ignited.
• The proto-saber may have a deep connection to ancient Star Wars history and could potentially be featured in the Dawn of the Jedi movie.

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge theme park.

The story of Secrets of the Empire takes place shortly before Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with the participants playing as covert Rebel agents going undercover on Mustafar. They infiltrate a secret Imperial installation near Diego Luna's Cassian Andor at the beginning of the experience. Upon opening the crate, the contents are revealed to be an ancient lightsaber – a proto-saber that looks much different than anything ever seen in Star Wars before. There's more than just this single appearance of the mysterious weapon, as it does have a deep connection to other parts of Star Wars history.

Star Wars Introduced The Proto-Saber - Forerunner Of The Lightsaber

The Weapon's Design Is Different From Any Lightsaber Fans Have Ever Seen

The proto-saber revealed in Secrets of the Empire vastly differs from any other saber seen in Star Wars, in that it doesn't even have a plasma blade. Instead, it has twin metal blades that glow blue when ignited. The unfortunate part about this is an official image of this proto-saber has never actually been revealed, and the commonly circulated images are by artist Venamis, who created an artistic rendition of what's seen in VR. Additionally, Secrets of the Empire was never released for personal consumption, with it only being available at Galaxy's Edge - meaning this art is the closest we can get to seeing the weapon. This art, however, makes it clear this is a design much older than a lightsaber, and it actually may predate the Jedi themselves, as it looks like an ancient concept from Star Wars Legends.

Proto-Sabers Are Ancient Lightsabers From Star Wars Legends

Both Proto-Sabers And Force-Imbued Blades Were Used By Ancient Force s

Proto-sabers aren't a new concept in Star Wars canon, though, as the term originated in Kevin J. Anderson's Tales of the Jedi comics, not to be confused with the animated series of the same name. These sabers have simple designs that look somewhat similar to the more common lightsaber design, but were attached by wire to a power pack storing energy for the weapon. They needed to store energy externally because technology wasn't advanced enough to have it internally, and these blades needed the energy to fight many opponents, including the Sith.

Force-imbued weapons from Secrets of the Empire, however, are more similar to the proto-saber. This was another concept in Legends that consisted of a Force- channeling energy into their physical weapons, such as a sword or staff, in order to make them more powerful. Force-imbued weapons glowed, could strike lightsabers without being cut, and would pack an intense punch upon making with an enemy. The canon proto-saber looks a lot like what these weapons looked like in Legends, which could hint to an origin going back further than the Jedi Order. Despite this, the proto-saber's connection to the Dawn of the Jedi movie is likely because of a very specific hint that went under the radar.

Secrets of the Empire's Writer Worked On The Dawn of the Jedi Movie For A Time

David S. Goyer's Clues May Hint At The Proto-Saber Being Important

James Mangold is currently helming the Dawn of the Jedi movie, which will explore the origins of the Jedi Order itself 25,000 years before A New Hope, but his name isn't the only one attached to the movie. David S. Goyer, a comic and movie writer who is currently working on the Foundation series on Apple TV+, was also writing for the Dawn of the Jedi movie at one point. Coincidentally, Goyer also wrote Secrets of the Empire, which he was interviewed for on The Star Wars Show on YouTube. In Goyer's interview, he had this to say about the proto-saber:

The idea is it's kind of a prototype of a lightsaber, and it may find its way into other mediums, you know, in the Star Wars universe.

Goyer mentions here that the proto-saber may show up in other places within Star Wars right before he discusses being involved with secret projects. It's possible, then, he may have included the proto-saber in Secrets of the Empire as a hint to where his Dawn of the Jedi movie could go. This seems likely, as he was thoroughly involved in both projects and continued to hint at further appearances in the interview. Since 2018, however, the proto-saber hasn't made an appearance - leaving it up to Mangold's Dawn of the Jedi movie to depict what ancient lightsabers originally looked like in Star Wars canon.