Jm419
Sr Member
***Spoiler Alert. If you haven't played Knights of the Old Republic or The Force Unleashed and plan on doing so in the future, don't read this thread. Major plot spoilers to follow.
I've always wanted Darth Revan's lightsaber. The character always fascinated me; master duelist, tactician, politician, and Jedi. So, when I found someone offering a Revan lightsaber for sale within my price zone, I jumped on it. As it turned out, he was also offering a Starkiller lightsaber, and I figured, "Well, chances are I'll never see a Starkiller lightsaber at this price again." I got both sabers in the mail yesterday, and after a bit of playing with them, I figured I'd post a review of the two lightsabers for you to see.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The Story
Darth Revan is an interesting character. He was a Jedi Knight who lived around 3900-3800 BBY. He trained with Masters Vandar, Zhen, and Dorak on Dantooine, and was also a pupil of Kreia, or Darth Traya. He quickly made fast friends with a colleague at the Dantooine Enclave, a man who would be known as Malak. The two friends worked together on many missions, and they made a good team; with Revan's planning and Malak's prowess in battle, the two were rarely defeated, and returned to the Enclave victorious time after time.
About twenty-five years after Revan was born, the warmongering Mandalorians began attacking planets on the Outer Rim of the Republic that Revan loved and served. He, along with Malak and many other Jedi, petitioned the High Jedi Council on Coruscant to send Jedi to the battlefront, hoping to turn the tide of the war. Though the Jedi Council refused, Revan took Malak and hundreds of other Jedi to the Outer Rim in an effort to stem the flow of the Mandalorians. Once Revan assumed command of the Republic forces in the Outer Rim, his tactics astounded and baffled the Mandalorians. The turning point of the Mandalorian War was on a small planet called Dxun, a moon of Onderon, one of the most populous planets in the Outer Rim. Revan led his forces, including the Jedi Exile, against the heavily entrenched Mandalorians. Ten Republic soldiers fell for every Mandalorian killed, but the Republic carried the day and took the moon.
After that battle, the Mandalorians were slowly but surely routed from planets across the Outer Rim. Revan was a brilliant tactician, not afraid to take risks in order to create the opportunity for larger gains. He understood that some fights needed to be lost in order for more important battles to be won. After nearly two and a half years of war, the Mandalorians fled the Republic fleet, but Revan set a trap for them above Malachor V, a forbidden world for the Mandalorians. The Republic fleet, crewed with soldiers and Jedi whose loyalty to Revan was in doubt, ambushed the entire remaining enemy fleet. The Mandalorian forces were superior, and began to slowly chip away at the Republic fleet, but the commanding Jedi General, the Jedi Exile, had a backup plan. She ordered for a superweapon, the Mass Shadow Generator, to be activated, and the resulting explosion wiped out both fleets. Immediately after, Revan arrived with a third of the combined Republic fleet, and met Mandalore the Ulitmate in single combat. When Revan triumphed, he took Mandalore's mask, an important part of Mandalorian culture, and disbanded the clans. When the survivors of the Battle of Malachor V tried to flee into Hyperspace, Revan led his massive fleet in pursuit of the remaining Mandalorians. The Republic fleet was not heard from for some time after that, and Revan, along with all of his forces, was presumed lost.
Some six months after the Republic fleet disappeared, Revan returned to the galaxy, this time as Darth Revan, at the head of a massive Sith fleet. The soldiers and Jedi who followed Revan into the Outer Rim were still behind him, though they had joined him in conquest of the Galaxy. Darth Revan hadn't changed; he quickly conquered nearly a quarter of the galaxy, the new ships of his fleet outclassing the Republic vessels in every respect. The Jedi Civil War had begun, and within mere months, the Sith fleet led the assault against the Core Worlds. Desperate, the Jedi set a trap for Darth Revan. When the Sith fleet came out of Hyperspace, a small group of Republic capital ships distracted the Sith, while a squadron of Jedi fighters landed on Darth Revan's flagship. The Jedi fought their way to the bridge, led by a famous Jedi known as Bastila Shan. Shan had a rare gift called Battle Meditation - with mere concentration, she could determine the fate of a battle by inspiring her own followers and discouraging enemy soldiers. When Bastila's strike team reached the bridge, Darth Revan drew his lightsaber and prepared to engage. Just before the duel began, however, Darth Malak, the Dark Lord's apprentice, fired upon the bridge of Darth Revan's flagship. He was knocked from his feet and badly wounded, and Bastila Shan acted quickly to save his life, though his memory had been damaged.
After nearly three years of intensive medical and psychological therapy, the amnesiac Revan was reenlisted with the Republic fleet as a common soldier. When the Endar Spire came under fire from Sith fighters over Taris, Revan fought his way through the Sith boarders and escaped the vessel shortly before it exploded. After meeting up with Bastila on Taris after many trials, Revan, Bastila, and a Republic hero named Carth Onasi led a small crew of vagrants and misfits to Dantooine, where Bastila had business with the Council. Though he didn't remember them, the Jedi Masters immediately recognized Revan, and gave him a quest; to explore ancient ruins nearby. There, Revan found an ancient Star Map, though it was incomplete; the data was damaged. Four other planets were shown, however: Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan, and Korriban. The Jedi Council tasked Revan, Bastila, and the rest of the party to go locate the other maps and find what they led the way to.
The small group did just that; yet before they reached the fourth planet, their ship, the Ebon Hawk, was captured by Darth Malak's flagship, the Leviathan. There, Malak revealed to Revan his true identity, and Revan defeated Malak in a short duel. Bastila interfered and sacrificed herself to allow Revan to escape, and the small party did; the Ebon Hawk continued on its mission. They discovered an Unknown Planet, Lehon. There, they discovered the primitive remains of an ancient galactic force, the Infinite Empire. The remaining Force-sensitive Rakata told Revan that, due to the Dark Side influence of the ancient battlestation above, they had turned on each other and destroyed themselves. With the warning to not fall prey to the Dark Side, Revan went into an ancient temple nearby, where he met the fallen Bastila Shan in combat. He defeated her, yet she tried to turn him to the Dark Side. He resisted the pull, and she escaped. Revan followed her to the Star Forge, the great factory orbiting the planet's star, and called the Republic fleet for aid. On the Star Forge, alongside his companions, he fought his way through hordes of Sith Troopers and Dark Jedi, some of whom recognized him. Revan once again met Bastila Shan in single combat, where he defeated her once again. She begged him to kill her, but he refused, telling her instead that he loved her. Bastila returned the sentiment, and remained in the Control Center along with the rest of Revan's companions, in order to use her Battle Meditation to aid the Republic fleet doing battle with the infinite reinforcements of the Star Forge. Revan went ahead to meet Darth Malak alone.
The two former Jedi engaged on the Observation Deck of the Star Forge. After a lengthy battle, Malak finally fell under Revan's blade, and as he lay on the deck of the Star Forge, he tried to recant his ways. Revan told him that he had made the wrong choice, and now had to face the consequences. Malak, hearing this, agreed, saying "And now it ends, as I somehow always knew it must. In darkness." As he died, Revan stood by, watching his old friend and former enemy pass into the Netherworld of the Force.
The Republic fleet destroyed the Star Forge, and the de-facto head of the Jedi Order awarded Revan and his companions the Cross of Glory, the Republic's highest award for bravery.
Revan, according to his companions and those close to him, never technically fell. According to G0-T0, Revan only joined the Dark Side because he understood that the Republic was weak. When he pursued the Mandalorians into the Outer Rim, immediately following the Battle of Malachor V, he saw something that really scared him. He saw something that was poised to invade the Galaxy, so he knew that he had to unite the Galaxy in order to keep it strong. When Darth Revan invaded, at the start of the Jedi Civil War, he left the infrastructure of the Republic intact, so that if he failed, the Republic would be able to stand against the threat. He understood that if the Republic could be united under one leader, it would stand a chance of survival. So, instead of returning after the war, Revan joined the Dark Side in order to use it to his advantage; to use it to preserve the Republic. Indeed, Revan understood how to take risks for the greater good.
So, then, I wanted his lightsaber. I got this in the mail yesterday:
The Review
It's a Luxeon III (I think) Red, and it's a fairly good quality lightsaber. This is the blade that Darth Revan wielded when the Jedi strike team boarded his vessel - not the same blade Revan used to kill Malak. This is his original lightsaber, the same blade he carried during the Mandalorian Wars - though he changed the crystal to reflect his choice.
This is an aluminum hilt, so it is fairly light. The weathering is well done, and it really does look like a lightsaber that has seen some usage over the years. There's no sound, as this is a stunt saber. I like the detail on the neck particularly, as it really makes the rest of the lightsaber pop.
Pros:
--It's a fairly accurate representation of Darth Revan's lightsaber. Of course, this lightsaber only appears once on screen, so some artistic license is necessary. However, I'd say that this is a good copy of what it looks like ingame, but of course, this one isn't hexagonal.
--It's well detailed. The weathering is good, not overdone, and it adds to the character of it.
--The hilt is comfortable to hold. It's actually quite wieldable in either one hand or both, and one can really grip it anywhere, unlike the MR ones, where there are some places where there's no way to hold it.
--There's a covertec clip.
--It's a big roomy hilt, so it'd be easy to install sound.
Cons:
--It is a little lighter than I would have wanted, but there's an easy way to fix that. It'd be easy to put a weight inside the hilt, as there's so much space in there.
--The hilt is a bit nicked, but I got it at a discount.
--It's a little long for my tastes, but that's not really a problem. It's about an inch longer than the Anakin FX.
The Bottom Line: - 8/10. It's a good looking hilt, comfortable, roomy, and fairly well made.
I've always wanted Darth Revan's lightsaber. The character always fascinated me; master duelist, tactician, politician, and Jedi. So, when I found someone offering a Revan lightsaber for sale within my price zone, I jumped on it. As it turned out, he was also offering a Starkiller lightsaber, and I figured, "Well, chances are I'll never see a Starkiller lightsaber at this price again." I got both sabers in the mail yesterday, and after a bit of playing with them, I figured I'd post a review of the two lightsabers for you to see.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The Story
Darth Revan is an interesting character. He was a Jedi Knight who lived around 3900-3800 BBY. He trained with Masters Vandar, Zhen, and Dorak on Dantooine, and was also a pupil of Kreia, or Darth Traya. He quickly made fast friends with a colleague at the Dantooine Enclave, a man who would be known as Malak. The two friends worked together on many missions, and they made a good team; with Revan's planning and Malak's prowess in battle, the two were rarely defeated, and returned to the Enclave victorious time after time.
About twenty-five years after Revan was born, the warmongering Mandalorians began attacking planets on the Outer Rim of the Republic that Revan loved and served. He, along with Malak and many other Jedi, petitioned the High Jedi Council on Coruscant to send Jedi to the battlefront, hoping to turn the tide of the war. Though the Jedi Council refused, Revan took Malak and hundreds of other Jedi to the Outer Rim in an effort to stem the flow of the Mandalorians. Once Revan assumed command of the Republic forces in the Outer Rim, his tactics astounded and baffled the Mandalorians. The turning point of the Mandalorian War was on a small planet called Dxun, a moon of Onderon, one of the most populous planets in the Outer Rim. Revan led his forces, including the Jedi Exile, against the heavily entrenched Mandalorians. Ten Republic soldiers fell for every Mandalorian killed, but the Republic carried the day and took the moon.
After that battle, the Mandalorians were slowly but surely routed from planets across the Outer Rim. Revan was a brilliant tactician, not afraid to take risks in order to create the opportunity for larger gains. He understood that some fights needed to be lost in order for more important battles to be won. After nearly two and a half years of war, the Mandalorians fled the Republic fleet, but Revan set a trap for them above Malachor V, a forbidden world for the Mandalorians. The Republic fleet, crewed with soldiers and Jedi whose loyalty to Revan was in doubt, ambushed the entire remaining enemy fleet. The Mandalorian forces were superior, and began to slowly chip away at the Republic fleet, but the commanding Jedi General, the Jedi Exile, had a backup plan. She ordered for a superweapon, the Mass Shadow Generator, to be activated, and the resulting explosion wiped out both fleets. Immediately after, Revan arrived with a third of the combined Republic fleet, and met Mandalore the Ulitmate in single combat. When Revan triumphed, he took Mandalore's mask, an important part of Mandalorian culture, and disbanded the clans. When the survivors of the Battle of Malachor V tried to flee into Hyperspace, Revan led his massive fleet in pursuit of the remaining Mandalorians. The Republic fleet was not heard from for some time after that, and Revan, along with all of his forces, was presumed lost.
Some six months after the Republic fleet disappeared, Revan returned to the galaxy, this time as Darth Revan, at the head of a massive Sith fleet. The soldiers and Jedi who followed Revan into the Outer Rim were still behind him, though they had joined him in conquest of the Galaxy. Darth Revan hadn't changed; he quickly conquered nearly a quarter of the galaxy, the new ships of his fleet outclassing the Republic vessels in every respect. The Jedi Civil War had begun, and within mere months, the Sith fleet led the assault against the Core Worlds. Desperate, the Jedi set a trap for Darth Revan. When the Sith fleet came out of Hyperspace, a small group of Republic capital ships distracted the Sith, while a squadron of Jedi fighters landed on Darth Revan's flagship. The Jedi fought their way to the bridge, led by a famous Jedi known as Bastila Shan. Shan had a rare gift called Battle Meditation - with mere concentration, she could determine the fate of a battle by inspiring her own followers and discouraging enemy soldiers. When Bastila's strike team reached the bridge, Darth Revan drew his lightsaber and prepared to engage. Just before the duel began, however, Darth Malak, the Dark Lord's apprentice, fired upon the bridge of Darth Revan's flagship. He was knocked from his feet and badly wounded, and Bastila Shan acted quickly to save his life, though his memory had been damaged.
After nearly three years of intensive medical and psychological therapy, the amnesiac Revan was reenlisted with the Republic fleet as a common soldier. When the Endar Spire came under fire from Sith fighters over Taris, Revan fought his way through the Sith boarders and escaped the vessel shortly before it exploded. After meeting up with Bastila on Taris after many trials, Revan, Bastila, and a Republic hero named Carth Onasi led a small crew of vagrants and misfits to Dantooine, where Bastila had business with the Council. Though he didn't remember them, the Jedi Masters immediately recognized Revan, and gave him a quest; to explore ancient ruins nearby. There, Revan found an ancient Star Map, though it was incomplete; the data was damaged. Four other planets were shown, however: Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan, and Korriban. The Jedi Council tasked Revan, Bastila, and the rest of the party to go locate the other maps and find what they led the way to.
The small group did just that; yet before they reached the fourth planet, their ship, the Ebon Hawk, was captured by Darth Malak's flagship, the Leviathan. There, Malak revealed to Revan his true identity, and Revan defeated Malak in a short duel. Bastila interfered and sacrificed herself to allow Revan to escape, and the small party did; the Ebon Hawk continued on its mission. They discovered an Unknown Planet, Lehon. There, they discovered the primitive remains of an ancient galactic force, the Infinite Empire. The remaining Force-sensitive Rakata told Revan that, due to the Dark Side influence of the ancient battlestation above, they had turned on each other and destroyed themselves. With the warning to not fall prey to the Dark Side, Revan went into an ancient temple nearby, where he met the fallen Bastila Shan in combat. He defeated her, yet she tried to turn him to the Dark Side. He resisted the pull, and she escaped. Revan followed her to the Star Forge, the great factory orbiting the planet's star, and called the Republic fleet for aid. On the Star Forge, alongside his companions, he fought his way through hordes of Sith Troopers and Dark Jedi, some of whom recognized him. Revan once again met Bastila Shan in single combat, where he defeated her once again. She begged him to kill her, but he refused, telling her instead that he loved her. Bastila returned the sentiment, and remained in the Control Center along with the rest of Revan's companions, in order to use her Battle Meditation to aid the Republic fleet doing battle with the infinite reinforcements of the Star Forge. Revan went ahead to meet Darth Malak alone.
The two former Jedi engaged on the Observation Deck of the Star Forge. After a lengthy battle, Malak finally fell under Revan's blade, and as he lay on the deck of the Star Forge, he tried to recant his ways. Revan told him that he had made the wrong choice, and now had to face the consequences. Malak, hearing this, agreed, saying "And now it ends, as I somehow always knew it must. In darkness." As he died, Revan stood by, watching his old friend and former enemy pass into the Netherworld of the Force.
The Republic fleet destroyed the Star Forge, and the de-facto head of the Jedi Order awarded Revan and his companions the Cross of Glory, the Republic's highest award for bravery.
Revan, according to his companions and those close to him, never technically fell. According to G0-T0, Revan only joined the Dark Side because he understood that the Republic was weak. When he pursued the Mandalorians into the Outer Rim, immediately following the Battle of Malachor V, he saw something that really scared him. He saw something that was poised to invade the Galaxy, so he knew that he had to unite the Galaxy in order to keep it strong. When Darth Revan invaded, at the start of the Jedi Civil War, he left the infrastructure of the Republic intact, so that if he failed, the Republic would be able to stand against the threat. He understood that if the Republic could be united under one leader, it would stand a chance of survival. So, instead of returning after the war, Revan joined the Dark Side in order to use it to his advantage; to use it to preserve the Republic. Indeed, Revan understood how to take risks for the greater good.
So, then, I wanted his lightsaber. I got this in the mail yesterday:
The Review
It's a Luxeon III (I think) Red, and it's a fairly good quality lightsaber. This is the blade that Darth Revan wielded when the Jedi strike team boarded his vessel - not the same blade Revan used to kill Malak. This is his original lightsaber, the same blade he carried during the Mandalorian Wars - though he changed the crystal to reflect his choice.
This is an aluminum hilt, so it is fairly light. The weathering is well done, and it really does look like a lightsaber that has seen some usage over the years. There's no sound, as this is a stunt saber. I like the detail on the neck particularly, as it really makes the rest of the lightsaber pop.
Pros:
--It's a fairly accurate representation of Darth Revan's lightsaber. Of course, this lightsaber only appears once on screen, so some artistic license is necessary. However, I'd say that this is a good copy of what it looks like ingame, but of course, this one isn't hexagonal.
--It's well detailed. The weathering is good, not overdone, and it adds to the character of it.
--The hilt is comfortable to hold. It's actually quite wieldable in either one hand or both, and one can really grip it anywhere, unlike the MR ones, where there are some places where there's no way to hold it.
--There's a covertec clip.
--It's a big roomy hilt, so it'd be easy to install sound.
Cons:
--It is a little lighter than I would have wanted, but there's an easy way to fix that. It'd be easy to put a weight inside the hilt, as there's so much space in there.
--The hilt is a bit nicked, but I got it at a discount.
--It's a little long for my tastes, but that's not really a problem. It's about an inch longer than the Anakin FX.
The Bottom Line: - 8/10. It's a good looking hilt, comfortable, roomy, and fairly well made.
