Why Is Kelleran Beq Missing His Purple Lightsaber In The Mandalorian? An Investigation
This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of The Mandalorian.
The new episode of "The Mandalorian" — Chapter 20 – The Foundling — brought a character into the official canon that many of us never expected to see. Kelleran Beq was first introduced in "Star Wars" for a YouTube show called "The Jedi Temple Challenge." This show was a love letter to the obstacle course shows of Nickelodeon from the '80s and '90s, like "Double Dare" and "Legends of the Hidden Temple." Ahmed Best (who portrayed Jar Jar Binks in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy and in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars") hosted the show in character as a Jedi Knight named Kelleran Beq, and it was his job to train Jedi younglings. The show itself followed his lead as a teacher. His character was nicknamed "The Sabered Hand" and he was renowned for his skills. More than that, he wielded a purple lightsaber on the show. That saber, incidentally, was made from the Protection and Defense pieces of lightsabers that you can build at Savi's workshop on Galaxy's Edge.
Why purple?
Purple is a rare color for lightsaber blades in the "Star Wars" universe. So far, we've only seen one on the big screen and it was wielded by Samuel L. Jackson as he played Mace Windu in the prequels.
In an Instagram post, Ahmed Best explained why he chose a purple lightsaber and it all had to do with the concept of balance:
"Balance is one of the challenges in "Jedi Temple Challenge" and something I truly believe in. The inspiration behind the lightsaber has to do with the balance of peace and justice. I chose purple because of the balance between the red and blue kyber crystal. The leather on the hilt is large enough for one hand. I took inspiration from a Filipino Martial Art that I study called Escrima and Musashi Miyamoto for a one handed style of fighting. Kelleran Beq is nicknamed "The Bladed Hand" for his effectiveness with the one handed lightsaber style and the empty hand which wields the Force simultaneously like another Lightsaber."
In another instance, in an interview with StarWars.Com, he said that his choice for a purple lightsaber was also to pay respects to Mace Windu, who wielded the first purple blade in "Star Wars."
The first purple lightsaber
When Samuel L. Jackson, the actor behind Mace Windu, asked George Lucas what color lightsabers came in, Lucas responded that good guys got to pick between blue and green and that was it.
"No purple?" Jackson asked.
"You might get purple," Lucas responded on the set of "Attack of the Clones."
You can watch that entire behind-the-scenes exchange here, as easy as it was.
And that's as simple as it was for the first purple lightsaber to make its way on screen. Interestingly enough, the lightsaber boasts a "Pulp Fiction" reference. On an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon," Jackson said that the prop team engraved the letters BMF on the off switch when they gave it back to him to keep. BMF, obviously stands for "Bad Mother F******" which is what his "Pulp Fiction" character's wallet had written on it.
Samuel L. Jackson is the sort of guy who just asks for what he wants and everyone likes him so much they want to give it to him. In fact, that's really how he got the part in "Star Wars" in the first place. In the 46th issue of "Star Wars Insider," Jackson recalled:
"When reporters asked me, 'Are there any directors you want to work with that you haven't worked with before,' I would say, 'George Lucas is about to do the Star Wars thing, I'd really love to work with him.' And I said that often enough that somebody heard it and told him. I got invited to the Ranch to see if I was serious about that. Yeah, sure! You can make me a stormtrooper if you want, I don't care—as long as I know I'm in the movie, I don't care if anybody else knows or not."
That was how he first got the part, though he had no idea who he would be playing. When he showed up for set on the first day and they put him in Jedi robes, he realized he was going to be a Jedi Knight.
The rest was, as they say, history.
Where was Beq's purple saber?
So what happened to Kelleran Beq's purple lightsaber? In "The Mandalorian," he's clearly wielding both a green and blue lightsaber, rather than the purple blade he was known for on the "Jedi Temple Challenge."
Well, first, it's important to remember that "Jedi Temple Challenge" isn't canon, even if Kelleran Beq now is. So his purple lightsaber there might just be something they do for the YouTube show and not the "Star Wars" canon in general. It's fair to assume that they wanted to reserve the special nature of Mace Windu's purple lightsaber for Samuel L. Jackson in the on-screen iterations of "Star Wars."
But there's a specific shot in the episode that lets us know that at least one of those lightsabers wasn't his. He picks it up on the floor of the elevator when he retrieves Grogu and uses it to swat away the blaster bolts of the oncoming Clone troopers. These sabers are green and blue, meaning the saber he already had on him was not his purple saber either.
It seems as though Beq fought his way to that landing balcony, there's every chance that we just didn't see him lose his purple lightsaber, too, and these two were simply the ones he picked up to defend himself.
Regardless of the color of sabers he used, Kelleran Beq defended himself and Grogu valiantly as they made their escape from the Jedi Temple as the purge unfolded. He'll remain a hero in the "Star Wars" lore and a vital part of Grogu's history.
"Star Wars: The Mandalorian" is streaming only on Disney+. New episodes come every Wednesday.