Red smoke

Does anybody remember the red smoke that came out of Darth Maul when Obi-Wan sliced him? What was that? My freind says that it was the Dark side escaping Maul. Others say that it is the smoke from the cauterizing blood. But if that was true, then why did it not happen to any of the other lightsaber victims? I don't know what I believe in now.

 

I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be a mist of blood.

 

I've always thought it was blood, as well.

 

Yes. It was blood. The lightsaber wound that Maul recieved was so intense that a mist of blood escaped the wound when Obi-Wan cut him in half.

To say the least, I think Maul felt a little light-headed afterwards

 

Don't you mean, "light-torsoed".

 

Red smoke

In my business, we call it "pink mist".

 

Simply put, it was blood.

 

Okay, but if it was blood, howcome all the other lightsaber victims you saw in the movies didn't have the "Red Smoke/pink mist"

 

There's a lot more blood vessels in the chest then in the arms. So even though it cauterized the wounds, the sheer amount of blood causes some blood to come through.

I once read a post that explained this better. I don't know if it still exists though.

 

I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be a mist of blood.

But don't lightsabers instantly cauterize wounds? How would there be blood?

 

I already explained it.

 

Or perhaps it's a bizarre trait of Zabrak physiology, like that of the Aqualish having un-cauterizable arms.

 

BLOOD!

 

I.... See...... Any other theories?

 

It was his brain. duh. -_-

 

There's a lot more blood vessels in the chest then in the arms. So even though it cauterized the wounds, the sheer amount of blood causes some blood to come through.

Yes, that's why we don't see blood when Maul's halves plummet down the shaft.

Also, the blood mist effect can be seen in other films when someone gets shot, like in The Matrix, when Trinity shoots the Agent point blank in the head ("Dodge this."), or in The Godfather, when Michael shoots the the mob boss and cop in the restaurant.

 

Obi-Wan cut through Maul at the largest section of his body, a quick strike at that wouldn't cauterize all the blood in his torso. Of course I'm just pulling this out of my a$$.

 

I've got a new theory!

It wasn't blood. It was the little man hiding behind the compter graphics screen!

Bada Bing! (drum sound)

Thank you! I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress!

 

Hee hee

 

It may very well be blood seeing as how many of you have provided a way to Prove your Theory. Heres Mine:

Remember in ROTJ when Palpatine falls down the Reactor? Well maybe when Maul died his Darkside/Evil escasped. Just like Palpy's did in ROTJ.

 

Let me see what Medical-Droid has to say about this.

 

So glad you asked, Quix.

The red cloud is, indeed, blood. As other posters have elaborated, when Maul was bisected, the major artery and vein in his torso were severed (comparable to the thoracic aorta and the vena cava in humans). When humans are normally bisected - not that this happens with any great frequency - the tendency will be to exsanguinate; that is, bleed out and get the carpet all messy. The larger the artery and vein, the more difficult the cauterization - smaller blood vessels have less open tissue.

This explains why we see blood when the unfortunate fellow loses his arm in the cantina - his brachial artery and vein were severed, so there was a little leakage. When Luke loses his hand, there is little to no blood shown, because the vessels are rather narrow. It's the difference between a coffee stirrer (roughly) and a garden hose. Maul loses more blood than our cantina patron initially, but it is a safe assumption that his vessels were cauterized. It is entirely possible that his heart ceased pumping shortly after his bisection, as systemic shock can do that to you. With no force behind the fluid, we don't get geysers of blood, we get normal exsanguination (part of the reason morticians need a little hydraulic help in clearing the body of blood and adding embalming fluid). For those of you still concerned about the amount of blood shown, I'd encourage you to examine the bottom of the reactor shaft, as I heard the results of Maul's landing were Gallagher-esque. Force = mass x acceleration, and all that.

Now, the mist is generated by the rapid vaporization caused by the heat of the lightsabre. Qui-Gon establishes rather definitively that the blade is hot - he doesn't chill his way through the door. When water hits red hot metal, steam results; the same holds true for most liquids. Blood, therefore, would likely turn into a mist or steam when it comes into contact with a lightsabre blade.

Call me crazy, but this has a more plausible ring to it than "The Dark Side" leaking out - you don't see any "Light Side" leaking out of Qui-Gon after he gets shish-ka-bobbed, now do we?

EDIT: There is no such thing as a 'lightsbare'.

 

Theres a scientific mouthfull.

 

Boy Obi-Wan sure gave Maul a Half Chance to beat him the battle was a real slice okay I should stop now.

 

I have one thing to say to Medical-Droid: Whoa.