So is the idea that Rey modified Luke’s lightsaber to make it crackle? If so why would she do this? Sounds iffy like people have run out of things to edit on this movie.
The reason why Kylo’s blade appears crackly and serrated is because when Kylo turned it red, the kyber crystal that powered it cracked. It serves as a pretty good visual metaphor of Kylo’s own nature, unstable and volatile.
So, making the Skywalker blade also distorted serves two purposes:
- continuity fixing. It acknowledges the ending of TLJ, where the lightsaber was split in half. Rey repaired it, but in an imperfect way, leaving the blade unstable as a result. The actual kyber crystal IS seen when Rey holds the pieces of the broken saber. So it’s less of a retcon and more of an actual consequence.
- storytelling tool. Rey wielding a crackly lightsaber represents her inner conflict and her struggle with the dark side. It mirrors Kylo’s blade, and also serves as a subtle irony when Ben finally claims his grandfather’s weapon, but it’s damaged and imperfect.
The subject of kyber crystals, despite being a well-known staple of Star Wars lore is surprisingly absent from the movies, beingd developed in either The Clone Wars or canon novels. But I think a casual viewer that hasn’t dived into the EU could still associate the new appearance of the saber with the fact it was broken onscreen the previous movie.