Darksaber / Legends The Darksaber was an ancient , black - bladed lightsaber . Unlike most other lightsabers , the Darksaber ' s blade was nearly flat , thin , and curved to a point more typical of a metallic sword . The black core of the blade appeared to draw in all surrounding light and color , leaving a faint white , electrical aura along its edges , it hummed with a higher - pitched whine than its more common lightsaber counterparts when the blade was active , and made a sound like a whistle when it was swung . Once held by the Jedi Order , during a period of collapse in the Galactic Republic ' s power , the Darksaber was stolen by members of the Mandalorian warrior clans . Over time , the black lightsaber was passed down through generations of the Vizsla clan , and when Tor Vizsla founded the radical Mandalorian splinter group known as the Death Watch , he chose the Darksaber as the symbol of his authority as the sect ' s Secret Mandalore . Upon Tor Vizsla ' s death , the ancient blade was entrusted to his clan kinsman Pre Vizsla , the current leader of Death Watch , and reigned as the Secret Mandalore well into the pan - galactic Clone Wars . Early in the war , the Darksaber was brought against the Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi in a duel on Mandalore ' s moon , Concordia . Vizsla ' s skill with the black blade was such that he could fight evenly with Kenobi for a time . After Death Watch was banished from the Mandalore system , Vizsla led his people to the planet Carlac . There , the Death Watch leader came into conflict with the Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano whom Vizsla attempted to kill with the Darksaber . After a short but heated bout , the young Jedi fled from Vizsla , and escaped the world with her life . In 20 BBY , Vizsla led the Death Watch into an alliance with the Sith Lords Darth Maul and Savage Opress , assembling a criminal army with which they were able to bring down the leaders of the pacifistic New Mandalorians . When Vizsla betrayed the Sith in the wake of their victory , Maul challenged the Mandalorian soldier to single combat for leadership , and upon killing Vizsla after a fierce struggle , Maul claimed the Darksaber as his own , and with it leadership over Death Watch . Only weeks later , Maul was forced to use the Darksaber in a duel against his former master , the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious , who sought to bring the renegade Sith Lord back under his control . Despite wielding the Darksaber alongside his own red - bladed lightsaber , Maul was defeated and subdued by Sidious . Description . An ancient incarnation of the lightsaber , the Darksaber was a unique weapon that produced a flat , black blade of plasma . Thin and curved to a point , a shape more similar to a metal sword than contemporary lightsabers , the Darksaber ' s black blade was a meter long and appeared to draw in the very light and color around it like a black hole . This effect gave the Darksaber a faint aura of white light around the edges of its blade , and made looking at it for an extended period uncomfortable . The hilt of the Darksaber was thin and rectangular , and long enough to be grasped with two hands . It featured an angled crossguard and a serrated blade emitter . When the Darksaber ' s blade was activated by pressing its activation stud , the hum and pitch of the blade was notably higher than contemporary lightsabers , and the blade gave off a sound like a whistle when it was swung through the air . When the Darksaber came into contact with another object or a lightsaber blade , the Darksaber blade screeched , and the white aura that surrounded the black core of the blade crackled . History . Ancient and powerful , the Darksaber had been kept in the Jedi Temple on the galactic capital world of Coruscant . When the Galactic Republic suffered a blow to its influence , Mandalorians from the Vizsla clan raided the Temple and stole the Darksaber from within . Over time , the Darksaber was passed down through the clan ' s generations , and became responsible for the deaths of many Jedi over the years . By 60 BBY , the Darksaber had come into the possession of Tor Vizsla . As Tor Vizsla assembled to him a group of malcontents who resented Jaster Mereel , the ruling " Mand ' alor " — traditional leader of the Mandalorian clans — for his attempts to rein in their lifestyles of unaccountability , and promised them the downfall of the pacifistic New Mandalorians they so despised , he formed a splinter group known as the Death Watch . Taking his place as their leader , a Secret Mandalore in opposition to both the traditional " Mand ' alor " chosen by the warrior clans and the one appointed by the peaceful New Mandalorians , Vizsla made the Darksaber a symbol of his authority as leader . Vizsla kept ownership of the Darksaber through the Mandalorian Civil War between Death Watch and Jaster Mereel ' s army of True Mandalorians , as well as the subsequent Great Clan Wars that erupted on the Mandalorians ' cultural homeworld of Mandalore . However , Vizsla was killed by Jango Fett not long after the end of the Great Clan Wars , and the Darksaber passed into the possession of Tor Vizsla ' s clan kinsman , Pre Vizsla . By the time the Galactic Republic clashed with the droid forces of the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems in a pan - galactic conflict known as the Clone Wars , Pre Vizsla had taken his place as the leader of the Death Watch , succeeding Tor as the new Secret Mandalore . Publicly the benevolent New Mandalorian governor of Mandalore ' s moon , Concordia , bequeathed to the stewardship of Clan Vizsla after the end of the Great Clan Wars , Pre Vizsla secretly kept the Darksaber in his possession while plotting against the New Mandalorians ' latest leader , Duchess Satine Kryze . Vizsla took to keeping the inactive Darksaber hilt slung on his back , just behind his right shoulder . When the Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi — a friend and former lover of Duchess Kryze — uncovered Death Watch ' s hidden base among Concordia ' s " beskar " mines , Vizsla engaged Kenobi in a lightsaber duel as his troops evacuated aboard their " Kom ' rk " - class transports . Vizsla ' s skill with the Darksaber allowed him to battle Kenobi evenly for a time before Vizsla resorted to calling upon the aid of his Death Watch subordinates , who opened fire on Kenobi and forced the Jedi Master to retreat . Stripped of his governance and driven from the Mandalore system , Pre Vizsla led the Death Watch to settle on the snowy world of Carlac . The Mandalorian rogues eventually made contact with the young senator of Onderon , Lux Bonteri , and agreed to an alliance in order to bring down the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems , Count Dooku , as retribution for the count ' s trespasses against both parties . Not long after Bonteri arrived on Carlac in the company of the undercover Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano , Vizsla unleashed his Death Watch forces on the native Ming Po people that had bristled under the Mandalorians ' occupation . Personally killing the granddaughter of the Ming Po chieftain with the Darksaber , Vizsla earned the ire of Padawan Tano , who broke her cover and attempted to protect the Ming Po from Death Watch , only to be subdued and captured . At the Death Watch ' s camp , Vizsla made to execute Tano with the Darksaber before his lieutenants , but the Jedi was able to escape her bindings with the aid of droid companion , and engaged Vizsla in a heated duel . The two fought evenly matched for a time , but Tano slashed Vizsla ' s jetpack with her lightsaber , forcing Vizsla to discard it before the ruptured fuel cells could explode ; with Vizsla temporarily distracted , Tano fled the Death Watch encampment and departed Carlac with Bonteri . With Republic military forces moving to combat the Death Watch presence on Carlac , Vizsla led the renegade sect to establish their operations on Zanbar . In 20 BBY , while passing over the planet Florrum , Death Watch encountered a seemingly derelict escape pod floating in space . Docking with the pod , Vizsla carved open the door with the Darksaber , and discovered the Zabrak Sith Lords Darth Maul and Savage Opress unconscious inside . Vizsla ordered the two Sith to be returned to Zanbar , where once they were conscious and their wounds healed , the three entered into an alliance of mutual benefit : the Sith would aid Death Watch ' s attempts to depose the New Mandalorians , while the Death Watch backed Darth Maul ' s plan of vengeance against Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi , who had nearly killed Maul over a decade prior . To this end , they assembled an army of criminals from the Pyke Syndicate and the Black Sun . On Nal Hutta , negotiations for an alliance with the Hutt Grand Council failed , and in the resulting skirmish , Vizsla cut down numerous Nikto soldiers in the Hutts ' service using the Darksaber . Lord Maul and Vizsla were then able to force the cooperation of the Hutt Cartel s by threatening the " kajidic lorda " Jabba Desilijic Tiure , and put their plan to bring about the downfall of the New Mandalorian government into action . On Mandalore , the criminal collective began a chaotic assault on the New Mandalorian capital city of Sundari , against which the city ' s police units proved ineffective . As the people called upon their leaders for aid , Death Watch appeared to the Sundari populace with a pledge to protect them . Death Watch troops clashed with their secret criminal allies , and Pre Vizsla personally used the Darksaber in a staged battle against Savage Opress , defeating and arresting the Zabrak Force - user . Winning the support of the people for their role in defeating the criminal threat , Death Watch was lauded as heroes , the Duchess Satine Kryze was deposed , and Pre Vizsla ascended to take her place . With his own goals met , Pre Vizsla betrayed his Sith allies and had them imprisoned . However , Maul and Opress soon escaped their confines , and in the process , recruited the services of their fellow prisoner Almec — the former New Mandalorian Prime Minister . Storming the Royal Palace , Darth Maul challenged Vizsla to a deadly duel for leadership of Death Watch . Wielding the Darksaber , Vizsla battled Maul in a furious bout that left the palace throne room scarred . Despite making use of a myriad of weapons his Mandalorian armor had equipped , Vizsla was eventually disarmed and defeated , only to be summarily executed with his own Darksaber by Maul ' s hand . Maul then claimed the Darksaber as his own , and with it — in accordance Death Watch ' s own code of honor — proclaimed himself Death Watch ' s new leader . Several members of the Mandalorian group followed the lead of the deceased Vizsla ' s lieutenant , Bo - Katan , and refused to follow the command of a non - Mandalorian . Darksaber in hand , Maul ordered the dissenters killed , forcing the breakaway group to fight their way out of the palace . Almec was reinstated as the Prime Minister of the New Mandalorians , a puppet ruler for Maul who , with the Darksaber now in his possession , was the Death Watch ' s new Secret Mandalore . Soon after , Maul lured Obi - Wan Kenobi to Sundari , where he captured the Jedi Master in the act of attempting to free Duchess Kryze . Returning to the palace with both prisoners , Maul chose to take his vengeance on Kenobi by killing his former love before his eyes , stabbing Kryze through the abdomen with the Darksaber . After allowing Kenobi to watch as she perished , Maul had him imprisoned to live with his emotional suffering , though the Jedi was able to escape with the assistance of Bo - Katan and her rebellious group . Amid the chaos the Death Watch offshoots wrought in escorting Kenobi out of Sundari and off of Mandalore , Darth Maul ' s former master , the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious , arrived in Sundari to put an end to his renegade former apprentice ' s actions . Confronting Maul and his own Sith apprentice Savage Opress in the Sundari throne room , Lord Sidious engaged both combatants in a two - against - one duel that soon spilled out into the palace plaza . Initially making use of only his own lightsaber , after Sidious struck down Opress on the palace steps , Maul took up the Darksaber in concert with his own blade , and dual - wielded both weapons against the Dark Lord . Even with the added boon of the Darksaber , Maul proved unable to beat his former master in combat ; Sidious disarmed and violently subdued Maul with the Force , the Darksaber was cast away as he brought the defeated Maul to heel before releasing deadly amounts of force lightning at his defeated foe . Behind the scenes . The Darksaber first appeared in the twelfth episode of the television series ' . Entitled " The Mandalore Plot , " the episode premiered January 29 , 2010 , and featured the Darksaber being wielded by the newly introduced character of Pre Vizsla , who provided a brief backstory for the blade . Though it had originally been intended for Pre Vizsla to fight using a vibroblade , a familiar weapon in the " Star Wars " Expanded Universe , the vibroblade was later modified at the request of George Lucas , with the creative team altering the blade into an archaic , black - bladed lightsaber they deemed the Darksaber . The Darksaber was subsequently featured in the online game , as well as " " comic book . It continued to appear alongside its owner Pre Vizsla in the animated " The Clone Wars " television series as well , including the episode " A Friend in Need , " and the episodes " Eminence , " " Shades of Reason , " and " The Lawless . "