Mmm, I love writing cryptic thread titles...I have a theory I want to share with you ladies and gentlemen. Well, one big theory and then lots of subtheories in the same direction.
Try and bare with me as these ideas came fast and not at the same time. They may have been thought of before, but I'll take the chance. Keep in mind that I'm discussing theories here, not proclaiming laws.
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Maybe a Jedi padawan uses force as a barometer in the last stages of sabre construction, to find out what frequency his blade should have.
It must precisely match the delicate force-frequency of the padawan that activates it. Thus, the sabre gets an individual colour. And so, two seemingly similar sabres can have small differences in colour tone (Ep I Obi-Wan's blue sabre vs. Anakin's Ep IV blue-white sabre).
This doesn't have to mean that red is bad and blue is good, just that they are different. Like blood types. There are a lot of blood types, but they're not better or worse than one another, just different.
This could involve the whole midichlorian concept as well, if the force "stuff", flowing through the Jedi, clots or slows down around his sabre when the sabre's not entirely his frequency, his colour.
As far as we know, the essence of a sabre is just plasma energy, not laser light. But what if that radiating energy, coupled with the violent and fast gyroscopic effects in and around it's core, is so sensitive during it's first activation that the sabre would short out or even explode if the jedi holding it upon activation had too differing a force-frequency than the frequency he had tuned the sabre to.
The midichlorians or the "force stuff" irritates rather than envelops the blade, exposing it to stress.
Kind of like two magnets of the same polarity. Or salt water vs sweet water.
This is why the sabre construction and first-ever activation is the final test of a padawan. He could only make it work if his force aura has matured enough and expanded enough to envelop him, and if he is sufficently "in touch" with it that he can determine it's very frequency and adjust the sabre to match! Now that's one approved jedi!
So why doesn't a sabre explode every time a jedi activates it that isn't tuned with it, like Luke or young Kenobi?
Because the only time it is absolutely critical that the two frequencies match is that very first time the sabre is activated, when it for the very first time impales the air and is vulnerable for a fraction of a second.
The very first sabre-activation is literally do-or-die. After the first use, the most sensitive parts of the sabre and the rod-like containment field it forms have been tried and true.
Later, anyone can wield it, but not with the same bond to it, or the same ease, as the constructor. It flies best and most freely inside HIS aura.
This could also mean that one can't change the colour of a sabre once it is set, the frequency-critical parts fuse with eachother once the sabre has been active inside it's owners force aura for a short while.
It does not, however, prohibit a Jedi from constructing an additional sabre, whether he wants to do things the akimbo way or just needs to replace his first sabre that was stolen/destroyed.
In fact, a Jedi can make as many as he wish, as long as he has spare parts and a steady hand. :-)
When Luke got Anakin's sabre in ANH he had no obvious trouble using it, partly because his powers hadn't come to fruition yet, but also because he never had experienced a sabre that WAS tuned to his force-type. A truly bad start for a sabre-virgin like Luke, to be forced to use the former tool of the most midichlorian-intense padawan ever to have existed, wouldn't you say?
Maybe his sabre was indeed slowing him down or compromising his performance at the Bespin duel, because it wasn't HIS sabre.
Of course, Luke's lack of training, combined with fear, did the most damage to his style. :-)
As for Kenobi using Jinn's sabre to defeat Maul in TPM, Kenobi was obviously more experienced with sabres than Luke. Also, he could be more compatible with Jinn's force-type than Luke was with Anakin's, having had the luxury of having Jinn as a master and working and living with him for a long time. (living???)
The fact that young Kenobi didn't execute a more sophisticated manouver than a basic side-sweep to slay his foe could be interpreted as a sign of justified inconfidence. He had felt his master's sabre frequency before (while training, no doubt) but wasn't sufficiently secure in wielding it like his own, therefore he restricted his repertoire to "basic sabre techniques 101".
Some Jedi Knights/masters eventually decide to take on a pupil. What if they choose their padawan based on how compatible they feel they are with them, force-wise. If so, Kenobi really was destined to fail with Anakin, as their force-types were radically different and disharmonic.
It could also explain why Jinn and Kenobi were so very "on the same level" through the whole movie, very at ease with one another, except when debating Anakin.
In fact, the very emotional (one might even say cuddly) death scene of Jinn could almost lead one to believe that they had something more in co...NO! STOP IT, BACK ON TRACK, GUY!
Ahem, my main theory also supports an alternative to why Anakin loses his old sabre and later builds a new one, during/after his journey to the dark side.
Episode II or III will most definately depict him dropping or losing his sabre in the fateful fight with the now bearded Kenobi, but what if he indeed throws it away because he has suffered from a radical change of frequency and type of his force??
His old sabre couldn't match his force any longer and instead obstructed his new self, forcing him to build one that is "up-to-date" with his aura.
Midichlorians have been shown to be concentrated in the bloodstream (TPM). Say a jedi develops a force-type later in life that differs from the one he had when he was born (or when he started using it actively as padawan).
Either through converting (like Vader) or simply being out of touch with oneself (Palpatine) the "new" midichlorians fight the body and its immune system because they weren't made for it originally.
Thus, the subject develops pale, sick skin and lacerations.
Summary: The Jedi have a stronger bond to their sabre than we thought, and the colour DOES matter, to the person building the sabre.
But not necessarily meaning that the colour spectrum is also an attitude spectrum (volatile vs calm fighter), nor a barometer for dark/bright jedi.
Obviously Lucas gave Vader a red sabre and Luke a blue sabre (originally) just as cowboy heroes had white hats and bandits had black.
But since we have only seen two "real" red sabres, Vader's and Maul's, the trend could still be turned if some good Jedi gets a red sabre and a sith has a blue one in Ep's II and III (In one non-canon production Palpatine had a small, purple sabre).
Thank you for your attention.
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"Babies haven't any hair;
old men's heads are just as bare;
between the cradle and the grave
lies a haircut and a shave."
Samuel Hoffenstein
. by the way, could you give me the URL's to some of those star wars forums? i am getting into star wars after a rather long hiatus, and i am ineterested in seeing some good, dedicated boards.
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