Knighting ceremony / Legends The Knighting ceremony was the ceremony in which a Jedi Padawan or apprentice was made into a full Jedi Knight . An ancient ritual , it was presided over by members of the Jedi High Council or of the other three Councils and led by the Grand Master . This ceremony could be repeated for a Knight who achieved the rank of Master . Overview . Old Jedi Order . The Knighting ceremony was an ancient ritual dating back to the beginnings of the Order ' s history and each Padawan was responsible for preparing themselves and reviewing their role in the ancient rite . Only the High Council could promote an apprentice to the rank of Knight by the end of the Republic ; though in the past the student ' s master was also permitted to knight their own students . After passing the Jedi Trials , the student was assigned a date that the ceremony was set to take place on . The day before the ceremony the Padawan was required to ascend to the heart of the Tranquillity Spire where they were to meditate within the preparation chamber located there . While typically alone , it wasn ' t unheard of for several Padawans to meet there at once ; though socializing was frowned upon as each apprentice was supposed to be searching for their future path . The following day , the Padawan was summoned to the next level of the Tower : the Hall of Knighthood . Entering into the darkened chamber , the Padawan would kneel in the center of the room as the Masters present ignited their lightsabers in a ring around the student . Led by the Grand Master of the Order , the other Masters were typically those who sat on the High Council and other prominent Jedi who helped in the apprentice ' s journey . If the High Council was unavailable , members of the other three Jedi Councils could step in to complete the ring . Reciting the ancient passages used in the traditional ceremony , the Grand Master would lower their lightsaber to just above each of the Padawan ' s shoulders and , for those of hair - growing species , sever the braid that hung behind the ear of the newly appointed Knight . The Jedi was then able to collect the braid and depart the chamber in silence , the ritual completed . While the ceremony was the norm , sometimes expedience overrode tradition . During times of war or on extended journey missions , Masters would knight their own students if they could not return to the Temple or field promotions were necessitated by another ranking military personnel ' s death . In addition to raising a Padawan to Knighthood , the Council also brought Knights to the Hall to grant them the rank of Master . To achieve this rank , a Knight could opt to take a modified version of the Trials , or successfully train a Padawan to Knighthood themselves . New Jedi Order . Following the Great Jedi Purge , the exiled Grand Master Yoda trained the last Jedi of the Old Order , Luke Skywalker . Because Yoda died before Skywalker completed his training , the Human never was formally knighted and thus did not initially continue the rite in his resurrected Order . Beginning a new praxeum on Yavin 4 , Skywalker trained several classes of apprentices , pronouncing them Knights once they had completed a battery of tests and completed their own lightsabers . Without ceremony , the practice of raising students often took place in casual conversation or during an informal gathering , as was the case with Jaden Korr in 14 ABY . It wasn ' t until 24 ABY that Skywalker came to possess the last remaining copy of " " , a guidebook from the Old Order that outlined the knighting ceremony . Working towards formalizing a ceremony that would fit his new Order , Skywalker performed the knighting of Jacen and Jaina Solo , Zekk , Tenel Ka Djo , Lusa , Raynar Thul , and Lowbacca following their year of service in aiding the downfall of the Diversity Alliance and Black Sun . More celebratory than the rituals of the past , the ceremony was held in the Great Temple ' s Grand Audience Chamber before the entire Order . Incorporating a lightsaber salute from all ranking members of the Order , Master Tionne performed a ballad of the deeds of the newly promoted Knights . Three years later , as the first act of the reformed High Council , Skywalker knighted the Padawan survivors of the Mission to Myrkr at a ceremony on Dac . Each student was called individually to be given a brief and private speech by the Skywalker , and then received their formal robes of Knighthood . Following the horrors of the Yuuzhan Vong War , the Temple on Coruscant was reconstructed , and the majority of the Order relocated there . Rebuilding the formal knighting hall , the Council once more continued the formal ceremony of the Old Order . Formal passages of the knighting ceremony . At each formal ceremony , the Grand Master recited the same ancient words when knighting each Padawan . The formal opening of the ceremony welcomed the participating Masters , and focused their minds on why they were there . With that said , the Grand Master would call the Padawan by name and bring their lightsaber down above each of the kneeling student ' s shoulders . With the ceremony complete , the Knight would take up their lightsaber and exit the chamber in silence , signaling the end of the ritual .