In The Force Awakens, Rey meets the wise old Maz Kanata on the lush green planet Takodana. Maz Kanata keeps the Skywalker saber, created by Anakin and passed down to Luke, in her castle, which is situated by a lake.
Visually, the location of Maz's lakeside castle bears more than a passing resemblance to the depiction of King Arthur's castle, Camelot, in John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur:
In Excalibur, the titular sword enters the story when Merlin retrieves it from the magical Lady of the Lake. It is later plunged into a stone, out of which only the worthy can pull it; the young Arthur proves his worthiness to be King by pulling the sword from the stone.
It is appropriate that Maz's castle evokes Excalibur's Camelot, because it is where the Skywalker saber enters the story of The Force Awakens through the intervention of Maz – a lady who lives by a lake. At the climax of the film, Rey and Kylo Ren compete to pull this sword from the snow on Starkiller Base, and Rey proves her worthiness by winning the challenge.
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Characters: Maz Kanata / Rey
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Concepts: water
Influences: Arthuriana / Excalibur
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