How come Luke didn't use his lightsaber in the trash compactor?

Why didn't he use it to slice through the door like Qui Gon Jinn did in TPM. Does he not realize he possesses one of the most powerful weapons one could have?

In Luke's defense, I just think he was not trained enough to use the lightsaber. He probably wasn't sure what it could do. I never fired a gun before in my life, so if someone gave me a Desert Eagle (which can stop an elephant!) without proper instruction, I'd still hesitate to use it or I might lose my own leg.

 

Was it inside or outside his stormtrooper armor? He might not have been able to get to it.

He also might have assumed that a door that could bounce back a blaster bolt with the 'magnetically sealed' thing goin' on could also stop a lightsaber.


Rick McCallum loves you!

 

I'ma check but I don't think he brought it with him off the Falcon.

 

This has been discussed before. It was left on the falcon.
The question should be how did Chewie get his bowcaster back when they were in the compactor!

 

Even if he HAD brought it, he has ignited it twice as far as we see: in Ben's (love) hermitage, and onboard the Falcon, where he used it to deflect blaster shots.

Although, point in your favor: he saw Ben dismember a punk in Mos Eisley with little effort.

Still, cutting through an arm is not the same as melting steel.

That's exactly what I thought the first time I saw TPM and Qui-Gon was melting the door: "Wow, Luke knows nothing compared to them!"

 

I agree he probably left it on the falcon, however you would think (since the falcon was searched) that if a Storm Trooper found it the would have reported finding one. Then imagine what Vader would have done if he found Anakin Skywalkers lightsaber aboard a rebel ship.

 

He also might have assumed that a door that could bounce back a blaster bolt with the 'magnetically sealed' thing goin' on could also stop a lightsaber.

My thoughts exactly

 

I read in a book version that it was simply under his stormtrooper armor so he didn't have access to it. I'm not sure but maybe you can see the lightsaber when they're outside the trash compactor door.

 

He left it on the Falcon.

 

Even if he did have it on him he was an apprentice with only a few weeks of training at that time, how was he supposed to know the limitations of lightsaber technology?

 

Why would he leave it on the Falcon though?

 

E_V: He really didn't have any use for it. He probably wasn't confident enough to be able to use it to block blaster bolts, he can't duel to save his life, he barely knows of the Force, and he's going on a rescue mission were blasters would probably be more useful and stand out less.

 

Luke didn't feel like it. Or he forgot. After all, he had just recieved the lightsaber and maybe he didn't remember.

 

Why would he leave it on the Falcon though?

Because most stormtroopers don't go around carrying lightsabers.

 

Yes, but he could have hid it under his armor.

I just don't see why he would leave it behind since it is the only posession of his fathers that he had, and he was really eager to learn about his father. I just can't see him leaving it behind even if he did not know how to use it, it just seems out of character to me.

Is this in the ANH novel where it is mentioned, or is it in some other work?

 

Let's assume arguendo he did have the lightsaber. Even then, he probably 1) couldn't reach it from under his armor and 2) did not believe a lightsaber could cut through thick doors like that, and finally 3) Sometimes in a life and death situation, simple solutions never cross your mind. Like for instance, a man well versed in various life saving procedures who saw his loved one on the bottom of a pool and had to ask an EMS dispatcher what to do. It's happened.

 

regarding chewie's bowcaster...

without watching the scene, chewbacca wore belt across his chest, he easily could have concealed the weapon strap and just slipped the bowcaster behind his back...

or, we could call it a movie blooper, but i want to think possibilities