Friday, November 28, 2014

Enter: The Broad Saber



The Internet exploded today with the release of the teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams hotly anticipated sequel in the Star Wars series. Check out the trailer below.


I've been avoiding as much news on this as I possibly could, because I've heard a lot of spoiler talk is making its way around the Web, but a teaser trailer is something I could not ignore.

Seeing images of X-Wings, TIE Fighters and the Millennium Falcon doing a loopdy-loop in mid-battle had me absolutely giddy, but like everyone else the focal point of the teaser is the introduction of a dark figure with a - now - infamous new light saber.

The Broad Saber
I don't know what the Internet, as a whole, is calling this new weapon, but I'm calling it The Broad Saber, because it looks like a huge broad sword. There is a lot of complaining and joking going on that the design makes no sense and will only end up in the wielder cutting his or her hands off, but I wholly disagree.

If you think about it, a broad sword always has a huge hilt and crossguard, to block opposing blades from cutting the swordsman's hands. Wouldn't it make sense that a light saber would need a guard just like that to block other light sabers?

MINOR SPOILERS AND WILD SPECULATION TO FOLLOW

This final piece is complete conjecture on my part, but I'd like to surmise why this cloaked Jedi/Sith is using a light saber like this; I believe we're seeing Luke Skywalker. It's often quoted that in the Expanded Universe, Luke Skywalker walks the line of the Light and Dark sides of The Force. If this film continues to play with this idea, I don't think it would be out of character for Luke to brandish a red light saber, even though you would expect it to be blue or green.

Also, I think this is J.J. Abrams' and/or Lawrence Kasdan's clever idea to explain light saber battles between the Prequel Trilogy and the Original Trilogy. In the Prequel Trilogy, we see Jedi and Sith trained by the absolute best from a young age to battle with the light saber, so that explains why the fights are so much more fast and intense. In the Original Trilogy, we're seeing an ageing Obi-wan try to quickly teach Luke how to use the Jedi's weapon in a matter of days. As to why Darth Vader fights so sluggishly after we've seen Anakin Skywalker at work, you can try and fill that gap yourself. Maybe it's the new body after the events of Revenge of the Sith? I dunno. Moving on, though, one way to explain the way that Luke continues to fight in such a sluggish style would be if he were fighting as if he were using a large broad sword, which would require less flourishes and would be a much slower weapon.

Anyway, like I said this is total conjecture and just an idea I had after a few viewings of the teaser trailer. Regardless, I haven't been this excited for a movie in a long time and I don't know how I'm going to wait a whole year for Star Wars: The Force Awakens to finally hit the big screen. This certainly won't be the last Star Wars post you'll see on the blog in the next 12 months.

Hope you enjoyed,
R

EDIT - 04-12-2014: I just accidentally saw more concept art for The Force Awakens that throws my theory above out the window. I really need to stop searching for anything Star Wars related on the web. Anyway, I won't say too much and spoil anything, but I saw some early concept art of the Broad Saber and the character holding it, which clearly shows it isn't Luke Skywalker, but another character from the expanded universe. I'll hide the name here, so it'll be up to you to uncover, should you choose to: Revan

I still think the Broad Saber's origins lie in the original concept that Light Sabers were to be wielded like broadswords, but my ideas on the character holding the weapon are completely out the window.