InStar Warslore, the lightsaber is the signature tool of a Jedi. But in one little-remembered story fromStar Wars Legends continuity, fans are shown a completely different understanding of the lightsaber. Not for battle, but enriching life to honor the Force like never before.
Featuring a former Jedi turned cook named Zao,Star Wars #33(2001) by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema shows Zao fashioning his lightsaber into a cane and using it for everyday tasks, turning it into an essential part of his day-to-day existence.
Jedi Master Zao Finds A Different Use For His Lightsaber
Transforming The Weapon Into A Cane Totally Redefines Its Meaning
Part of the non-canonStar Wars Legendsuniverse, this four-issue arc followsJedi Quinlan Vosas he investigates a disastrous event on the prison planet of Kiffex. Along the way, Quinlan crosses paths with Zao, a blind Jedi Master who rejected the Order and is now living as a cook, completely in tune and at peace with the Force.
A Veknoid who has repurposed his lightsaber into an unassuming cane, Zao uses his Force weapon to walk and prepare meals with. He now goes wherever the Force sends him, fights whoever the Force pits him against, and finds ways to use the Force to bring his cooking “in harmony with itself.”
Honoring the Force in the sense that Zao is essentially “going with the flow” at all times as he allows its mysterious energies to guide him, Zao takes things a step further.Concealing his lightsaber in a cane, the instrument lends itself to his more pacifist nature, but doesn’t stop him from being an efficient fighter when needed.
Possiblythe only Jedi of his kind who regarded his lightsaber as being something more than just a weapon, Zao found multiple unique and inspiring ways to incorporate his lightsaber and the Force into his life. Not just as tools to be employed, but as essential parts of his seemingly quiet non-Jedi life.
Could This Unique Lightsaber Idea Ever Join Star Wars Canon?
Though this comic arc is now considered to be an out-of-continuity Star Wars story, the idea that a Jedi doesn’t need to use theirlightsaber solely for battleor when defending themselves is a novel idea that other Star Wars projects can easily adopt in the film, comic, or television landscape.
From introducing a comparable character to Zao, to showing how lightsabers can be used as more than just weapons of violence, to finding the balance between utilizing the Force as a means of manipulation and as a way to enrich life in all its facets, there are countless ways this idea can be iterated upon and explored.
Zao’s perspective on the relationship between the Force and his weapon can be traced to theChirrut Îmwe characterfromStar Wars: Rogue One. Also blind and someone who had fully surrendered himself to the Force, Chirrut didn’t wield a lightsaber, but hedidhave a similar cane-like weapon that he used for more than just beating people up.
Chirrut is one of the only characters who has come close to replicating Zao’s philosophies in the way he uses the Force and his cane-saber. But with Star Wars having plenty of future projects in the works, this sprawling sci-fi saga has more than enough opportunities to examine how the Jedi’s greatest weapon can honor the Force in meaningful ways.
