Dafne Keen's New Jedi Padawan Has A Secret Lightsaber Connection To Ahsoka Tano

Summary Dafne Keen, who plays Jecki, reveals that a custom lightsaber was made for her since the weapon kept hitting her chest.

Jecki's custom shoto blade adds uniqueness to her character and sets the stage for dynamic, high-energy duels in The Acolyte.

The shoto blade, wielded by Yoda and Ahsoka Tano, requires a different fighting style and is associated with aggressive Jedi combat.

The Acolyte star Dafne Keen reveals some details about her lightsaber in the upcoming Star Wars show. With a two-episode premiere around the corner, The Acolyte will showcase an era of Star Wars never seen before in live-action, the High Republic. The show takes place 500 to 100 years before the Skywalker saga and will follow the Sith’s rise in the shadows and an investigation by Jedi to find out who’s killing them. The Acolyte cast includes Amandla Stenberg (Mae), Carrie-Anne Moss (Jedi Master Indara), Lee Jung-Jae (Jedi Master Sol), and Dafne Keen (Jecki Lon).

In an interview with Empire Magazine, Keen revealed that she had a custom lightsaber made for her. She referenced a scene in The Acolyte trailer where all the Jedi pull out their weapons — her piece kept hitting the floor. She said that a lightsaber is ideally supposed to hit your waist, and her lightsaber hit her chest since she was 5 foot 2 inches. She said that it looked silly. Thus, a custom, shorter lightsaber blade was made for her. Read her full comment below:

It has a cool handle. They kept having to clean my ‘saber, because the white hand makeup kept getting all over the leather. The shot that you see in the trailer where we all pull out our sabers – I'm 5’2”, okay, and the ‘sabers are all the same size. Mine kept hitting the ground, because I'm too short! They had to make me a custom ‘saber for someone who's 5’2”, they’re supposed to hit your waist, and mine would hit my chest. It was so long and ridiculous! They were like, ‘No, we need to give you a short ‘saber, because this looks silly.’ It was like I was skiing.

Shoto Blades Are Very Unusual Lightsabers

Only A Few Jedi Can Possess Such A Weapon.

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The Acolyte should have some visceral duels involving Keen’s character, which could possibly include the features of the Ataru fighting form like acrobatic, ricochet movement.

Keen’s custom blade is actually already a part of the canon. Not to be confused with a training lightsaber — characterized by being shorter than a regular lightsaber and wielding a low intensity to prevent injury — Keen’s Star Wars lightsaber is called a shoto blade. The shoto blade is best known as Jedi Master Yoda’s weapon of choice and Jedi Ahsoka Tano’s off-hand blade. The shoto blade is commonly used by more aggressive fighters and sometimes requires a different fighting style.

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One form of lightsaber combat comes to mind when the shoto blade is mentioned: Form IV, Ataru. Also known as one of the most aggressive forms, Ataru is more commonly used by warriors who are highly attuned to the Force. The form utilizes acrobatic, Force-enhanced moves intended to end a one-on-one duel quickly. In the live-action films, the lightsaber combat form is used by Jedi Master Yoda, which is showcased in his duel with Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and his climactic fight with Darth Sidious in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.

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The reveal that Keen’s Jecki uses a shoto blade is an exciting development rife with opportunity. It possibly sets up Jecki as a strong Force user and a lethal combatant. If giving Jecki a shoto blade prompted creator Leslye Headland to dive deeper into the lore, The Acolyte should have some visceral duels involving Keen’s character, which could possibly include the features of the Ataru fighting form like acrobatic, ricochet movement.

Source: Empire Magazine