In the first episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Master explains that he buried two lightsabers in the desert dunes of Tatooine. Obi-Wan Kenobi thought his time as a Jedi Master was coming to an end when he arrived in Tatooine. After all, the Jedi had failed; they were supposed to be champions of the light; yet they had failed to perceive the dark side’s growing power in the Republic’s heart. They were then wiped out in Star Wars’ Order 66, as a result of the clone troopers’ unanticipated defection.
In Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan told Anakin Skywalker, “This weapon is your life.” This wasn’t simply sound advice; the lightsaber is a tool that allows a Jedi to focus on the Force by allowing them to become attuned to the kyber crystal at the saber’s heart. When Obi-Wan Kenobi exiled himself on Tatooine, he buried his lightsaber in the desert sands, as shown in Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 1. The Jedi Order had crumbled, and Obi-Wan would not serve as a Jedi for the next two decades. His mission was to keep his head down and wait for Luke Skywalker to mature before attempting to train the youngster.
Two lightsabers were buried by Obi-Wan. There was his own lightsaber, and then there was Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber, which Obi-Wan had grabbed after defeating his apprentice on Mustafar. Obi-Wan felt Anakin had perished there, and by removing the lightsaber and presenting it to his son, he was striving to respect his former Padawan’s legacy. Obi-second Wan’s lightsaber would have reflected so much to him: it would have represented both his regrets and his wishes for Luke to become what Anakin was not. According to the Star Wars Rebels episode “Twin Suns,” Obi-Wan grew to believe Luke, rather than Anakin, was the Chosen One. Obi-Wan hoped Luke would succeed where Anakin had failed, and the lightsaber was a symbol of this.
It’s remarkable to note how easily Obi-Wan was able to locate the lightsabers. Obi-Wan episode 1 plainly showed no visible landmarks as he buried them in the shifting dunes of Tatooine. Despite this, Obi-Wan was aware of the general region in where he had buried them, and he must have detected the kyber crystals within. A Jedi’s lightsaber has been characterized as “a lens that concentrates the light within the Jedi” in tie-ins, implying that the lightsaber he had wielded for decades had nearly become a part of him. It’s no surprise he was able to detect the lightsabers so quickly.
Obi-Wan’s lightsabers, of course, are strikingly similar to the two lightsabers Rey buried at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Whereas Obi-Wan buried both Anakin’s and his own lightsaber, Rey buried Luke’s and Leia’s while creating a new one for herself. She lived in a different era, when Jedi light was re-emerging and she had nothing to fear. Her decision to bury Luke and Leia’s lightsabers was an attempt to give them a new legacy. She chose a site with a landmark so that even someone without a direct link to the kyber crystals may find them one day. Rey’s decision to bury the lightsabers in the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ TV series is thus a perfect inversion of Obi-Wan’s.