Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Episodes 1-4 of Andor.Although Tony Gilroy has insisted that Andor won’t be adding the sort of unnecessary fan service that has become all too common within the Star Wars franchise, that doesn’t mean that his Disney+ series is completely divorced from the larger saga. This is still a story within the Star Wars universe, so the terminology, ships, and devices that are inherently part of the universe are bound to show up. What makes Andor unique is its tone and direction; it feels like the first gritty Star Wars project that is completely disconnected from the Skywalker saga.
This week’s episode, “Aldhani,” revealed an item that has been part of the Star Wars universe since the beginning: a kyber crystal. The term “kyber crystal” was first coined by George Lucas in the 1974 rough draft of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope, which at the time he called Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars. In this version of the outline, the hero Luke Starkiller must find a “kaiburr crystal” to save the “Jedi Ashla” against the forces of evil. Kyber crystals would play a major role in the first Expanded Universe novel ever, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, which was released in 1978.
Kyber crystals are now an important part of the Star Wars canon, but Andor is using them in a new context. In “Aldhani,” Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) offers Cassian (Diego Luna) as payment for his involvement in a heist to undermine the Empire. He offers it to Cassian in the form of a necklace.
Kyber Crystals Are Vital to Star Wars and Also Connect to Rogue One
Kyber crystals are rare gems that possess a natural connection to the force. Kyber crystals have to be mined from deep within the ground, and so they are only found on specific worlds like Ilum, Exegol, Jedha, Lothal, and Utapau among others. The Jedi refer to “the water of the kyber” in reference to their inherent beauty. However, the crystals’ scarcity make them a commodity among traders like Rael. A kyber necklace is a luxury item, especially for an impoverished character like Cassian.
Kyber crystals have the power to generate bursts of light, and thus can be used for weapons. They are rarely used for decoration, but this actually isn’t the first time that Gilroy has used a kyber necklace in one of his Star Wars projects. In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) has a special kyber necklace that was given to her by her father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen). It’s the only item she has to remember her father by after they are separated when she is young.
Kyber Crystals Are Commonly Used for Lightsabers
Kyber crystals are primarily known in the Star Wars universe as what powers lightsabers. Colors like green, blue, and purple are formed out of stable kyber gems that can be safely used elegantly. The red crystals that the Sith used are more volatile and unstable. However, the process of finding a kyber crystal is not an easy one. In the Jedi culture, finding a kyber crystal and constructing a lightsaber is a right-of-passage.
In the Expanded Universe, it was explained that kyber crystals can be found on the icy planet Ilum. This later made its way into the official Star Wars canon. In season five of The Clone Wars, we see Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) mentoring a group of Jedi younglings during their trip to Ilum to begin the lightsaber construction process. Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray) later discovers kyber crystals on Lothal in a storyline on Star Wars Rebels.
Kyber Crystals Power the Death Star
Although one kyber crystal is enough to generate a lightsaber blade, they can be used in mass to power super weapons. In Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones, we see Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) transporting the early Death Star plans in secret. Krystals were first used as part of the Death Star’s system when Galen was recruited by Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) for the Project Celestial Power project. Ilum and other sacred worlds were stripped of their resources to generate enough power for the Death Star’s super laser.
We see the origins of the hunt for kyber crystals in a storyline from Star Wars: The Clone Wars that sadly never aired. A planned four-part storyline followed Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) as they try to stop General Grievous (Matthew Wood) from stealing crystals from Utapau. The four episodes “A Death on Utapau,” “In Search Of The Crystal,” “Crystal Crisis,” and “The Big Bang” were released as unfinished story reels on the Blu-Ray disc for season 6 (also known as The Lost Missions). They were later made available on the official Star Wars website for fans who wanted to see the Death Star’s origin story.