Saga The Lightsaber

Ever since we saw the lightsaber for the first time in A New Hope, we always felt that sense of power that had come from it: a feeling of near-invincibility that you could use to defeat any enemy. As we saw more and more of it within the six movies and even the Force Awakens, do you think that that feeling mentioned above had changed at all? I have heard this from many fans of the Force Awakens that they felt as if the lightsaber's importance and that feeling of invincibility had returned. This was probably due to the many people who had complained greatly that the prequels did not have that feeling considering how we would see dozens of jedis wielding lightsabers in some scenes. Truthfully, I felt as if this argument was wasted energy considering the lightsaber, in the end, is a tool used by the Jedi to defend themselves. The symbolism for the lightsaber is, I believe, reserved for ones that had seen a lot of history such as Anakins during Episode VII. For me, a lightsaber is not the symbol of the Jedi, it is their alignment to the force and them using it.

What are your thoughts?

 

Just another claim of something having "returned" that in reality was never gone to begin with. Just like they "returned" to a real desert, or "returned" to pratical effects, or "returned" to that feeling™. Just BS.

 

LOL i do agree with you on that. Lots of harping about the "returns" of so many things...

 

Well, mainly, the "returned" feeling regarding the lightsaber in TFA is the feeling of the lightsaber being a mystical weapon from a bygone era. In the PT, if felt like just about every Tom, Dick, and Harry had a lightsaber. It lost it's unique value. In the OT, only 3 people was ever seen using a lightsaber across the entire trilogy, and one of them died in the first movie. It felt more exclusive, special, and mysterious. In the OT, the Jedi were an ancient organization dispatching peace across the Galaxy carrying what seems like an invincible sword. Even Anakin sowed some of that sentimentality in TPM. "I saw your laser sword." "NOBODY can kill a Jedi!" Then our misconceptions, like young Anakin's, get's destroyed. The dream is lost, as we are awakened to the truth of being a Jedi: Jedi are not invincible. Sure, we kinda already knew this deep down, but what really brought it home was the brunt, tell-all writing that was the PT. The PT felt compelled to explain every little teeny tiny detail. It didn't allow for personal interpretation, or mystery. It was "No, the Force isn't magic, it's science!" "No, the Jedi aren't invincible! In fact, here, watch 10 of them in a row die right on screen!" It was just so blatant, and inarticulate. The thing that TFA returned to was a higher, more subtle way of story telling. Where you're left to figure some things out on your own, rather than being sat down and everything told to you like you're a child. You're allowed to once again believe in the dichotomy of good and evil. That there's some good in the world, and that it's worth fighting for. It's like the great stories. The ones that really mattered.

 

To hear the critics tell it, the prequels are the exact opposite of overly explanatory. In fact, half the critics claim to have no absolutely no idea what's going on in them. They can't even grasp the fact that the Jedi are supposed to be portrayed as flawed. I think you're mistaken in how the prequels came across to most people who were disappointed in them. People didn't like them because they weren't like the OT, full stop. There's no way to subtly portray hundreds of Jedi charging across a battlefield with lightsabers held high. Lucas did the best job anyone could do. Some people just desperately didn't want to see that. Like Plinkett, who apparently thought it would be better if none of the Jedi in the prequels actually used lightsabers....even though it was well-established by the OT that a lightsaber was the weapon of a Jedi Knight, and a symbol of their power.

 

The Eagles are coming, Mr Dinos4ever, the Eagles are coming!

 

The lightsaber being used quite infrequently in TFA was a positive callback to the OT. It makes the lightsaber feel more special and more otherworldly.

 

I don't understand how the lightsaber is special for not being used often. The lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi. The prequels are focused around the Jedi. Therefore, it isn't hard to come to the conclusion that we'd see a lot of lightsabers.

The lightsaber has always been unique in that it is exclusively a Jedi weapon (or Sith). George Lucas made the active decision that Stormtroopers wouldn't wield lightsabers to keep them unique to Jedi. The big exception to that is Grievous, of course.

Anyways, The Force Awakens was great, but isn't inherently "more Star Wars" than any of the previous six films. It's grasping at straws to say it's a complete return to the minimalist style of the OT when we're introduced to a cross guard blade.