Well A bit about the dark saber that might help. But to answer your first question all the lightsabers were based off of katana technically... Kylo rens was really the big outlier. I kinda feel like the dark saber was more hybrid katana/machete or Messer (the smaller Messer obviously 😅). But the style blade is partially utilitarian I think. Cause the magnetic properties of the white part of the blade make it attract to lightsabers. Vs the whole blade being attracted to other lightsabers. So the magnetic electricity properties are also due to the wielders "force" being sucked out. Apparently the dark saber has weight to it as well. It's not technically a "light saber" and is made by non force users to combat lightsabers. But still amazing video man! Love all your videos!
There are some videos on Dookus saber design that shows the way it was used in the movie by Christopher Lee is perfect for it. Its not a flashy fighting style it more akin to Medieval Nobility dueling.
Christopher Lee was an amazing duelist long before star wars. I like Dookus sabre the best as it looks like an actual sabre my preferred fencing style is with sabre type weapons.
THANK YOU for saying lots of normal Saber hilts are uncomfortable to hold with all their random bits. Huge Star Wars fan and I dislike so many iconic hilts because they either look uncomfortable to hold, or I have held replicas and know they are uncomfortable to hold. When people start talking about their favorite hilt designs in the series I am always blown away by them picking ones that look uncomfortable to hold. Have been and always will be more of a fan of Qui-gon's Lightsaber and when I saw Kyle Katarn's lighsaber it was another that look both nice to hold and is actually made for two hands.
Another Saber you might like is Jaro Tapal's lightsaber. It's got a spot where you're supposed to hold the saber and no real bits and bobs to get in the way.
Yeah, I have a few toys of Anakin's lightsaber and every time I tried to do a few moves with it, the giant activator button always go in the way. Darth Vader's lightsaber is a bit better since that's typically replaced with a small circle activator, but the weird bars on the bottom made spinning the hilt very uncomfortable and almost impossible. Kylo Ren's lightsaber hilt is honestly my favorite for how long it is, meaning you can use both hands on it with ease if need be, and how it was very smooth all around, very little in the way of greeble.
Always been a fan of obi-wan's from before he got the new one. He has it on the desk in this video, no random bits and made for 2 hands. Good pommel, even. Obi-Wan's replacement saber is a nightmare, unfortunately it became more "iconic"
In legends continuity, the Darksaber is a "broad-blade" lightsaber. And if it operate the way they do, then the flats can still cut and do damage, but far less efficiently, the edges however are far more efficient at cutting than a standard lightsaber. They are less versatile, but more powerful cutters along their edges. As Jedi philosophy emphasizes restraint and control and with a broad-blade lightsaber being more about raw power and cutting force, it didn't really align with their ways, they also preferred the versatility and precision of the typical lightsaber.
To be fair the broad edge should make blocking blasters easier, right? And considering thats most of what jedi were doing you would think that would make broad blades MORE popular.
@@eslin2845 technically yes, but it doesn't look that much wider if at all. If it was like a Buster Sword, that would do it. I think if the Jedi wanted a weapon that was more focused on deflecting blaster fire, they would want that or more of a light-badminton-racket. I think an advantage of the broad-blade then would be that you have the option of non-destructively slapping physical objects. Like, you could cut a droid in half, and sweep the flat to push it to the side in the same motion, keeping the way in front of you clear, or to position the debris for advantage. Which actually counters the "blade has more power, so don't do it cuz aggressive," since it also gives a more "peaceful" action on the flat.
Yep, in A New Hope, the lightsabers used in the Vader vs Obi-Wan fight were glass rods, and they weren't meant to be swung around with abandon. For an in-lore reason why they were slow with fighting each other, the last time Vader fought Obi-Wan, he got his limbs cut off, and didn't want to take any chances this time, so instead of going all out with acrobatics and such, he takes a much more cautious and reserved approach. Hence, the slower swings and keeping the blade between him and his opponent. Also, with Vader's suit, Palpatine intentionally added in drawbacks to keep his apprentice under his thumb, i.e. not being able to lift his arms above his shoulders for very long, if at all. As for Obi-Wan, he's up there in age, and was planning on sacrificing himself so Luke and the gang could escape: he had no intention of beating Vader, just delaying him long enough. Aaaaanyways, back to the Darksaber: i agree with your assessment of it, and i think others have said this before, but the darksaber is a bit of an ancient relic, so it could be that’s why the blade is shaped the way it is. The hilt and weight problems though, i got no idea on
You cant come up with an 'in lore' excuse for something 30 years after the fact. At the time, with no further explanations, the in lore reason they fought like that was because that's how one fought with a lightsaber.
It is worth noting that Prowse was worried about hurting Sir Alec Guiness, so he wasn't exactly going as hard as he could. And the movies the fight is based on, the various samurai dueling ones, start out that way, slower paced, sizing up. They are not fast, martial art extravaganzas.
In terms of the weight issue, one thing that seems to be a bit of a theme with the dark saber is seems to have some kind of ability to feed off of and have some kind of effect on its user. In animated media, it’s been noted that whenever it’s user gets their emotions heightened, they _seem_ to get a power boost; non force users with little experience suddenly putting an experienced Jedi against the wall. Unless I’m mistaken, within the Madalorian, the blacksmith says something to the effect of the saber sensing Mandos conflicted feelings, and that was making it feel heavier for him, so there’s gotta something mystical about that blade in particular. Probably why there’s been a lot said in its clone wars appearances about just how special, mysterious, and unique it is. Of course now all kyber crystals are supposed to be some kind of semi-sentient thing, (neat idea in my mind, I like the implications this has for sith blades) so take that for what it’s worth.
Professional Welder/Fabricator here: after just a few minutes of using electric arc welding or plasma cutting processes, you will have a significant UV sunburn on any exposed flesh. A plasma arc the size of a lightsaber blade would blind you, light you on fire and cause anybody you managed to hit with it to *explode.* A real lightsaber martial art would either minimize the amount of time that the blade is ignited or rely on the ambient damage caused by simply being near the thing.
You apparently missed the scene in the beginning of one of the seasons of Mandalorian where Din burns his leg on the flat of the blade and limps for a couple episodes from it. It was clearly a wide ass burn, almost cutting a half inch into his leg.
In addition to everything else you've said here and in the previous videos, my issue with the Darksaber (beyond just being a dumb design that was only added in because Lucas vetoed Pre Vizla using the much more logical and preexisting weapon of a Beskad, a Beskar sword) is that it reshaped the perception of a black blade must be the Darksaber. Call it edgelord stuff all you want, and you'd be right, but one of the coolest things I loved in the Force Unleashed games was getting the black crystal and having a black bladed lightsaber. It wasn't The Darksaber, it didn't have a flat blade. It was a lightsaber that had a black blade. It was a concept I loved so much that in a Star Wars RP group I was a member of for several years, my Sith master character made a black bladed lightsaber as a symbol of her mastery over the Dark Side, having used Sith Alchemy to mess with her saber's crystal and made a blade that was narrower, stronger, and hotter than a normal blade, with the color shifting to black as a result. Then TCW comes out and gave us the Elder Wand in laser sword form and mucked it all up. Now if anyone sees a black blade, "oh my god its the Darksaber!"
On the lightsaber vs beskar thing and how the Darksaber appeared to be slowly heating it up, that is indeed the case with all lightsabers vs beskar. Beskar is not lightsaber PROOF, just lightsaber RESISTANT. A lightsaber can and will melt through beskar armor, it just takes so long that even a Mandalorian with zero combat skills or awareness in the middle of a daydream will snap back to reality, see what you're doing and stab you in the face long before your lightsaber gets through the beskar. Any lightsaber would perform the same way we see against beskar. Most of the time we just see a quick blow that bounces off and the saber user going for another strike. Take Luke's saber and press it to the beskar spear, it would melt through exactly the same way the Darksaber did.
My question is, was it actually even melting through? If you heat any metal to a certain temperature it'll start to incandesce. Many metals do this without melting or deforming, your oven and lights do it all the time. So it makes sense the beskar would be incandescent even if it's not cutting through. I can't remember if the darksaber left notches in the spear though
Okay so from what I know is in A New Hope, the Obi Wan Vs Vader duel was slow due to the material the blades were made of. If I remember this correctly, the blades they were using were fiberglass rods. In one of the documentaries for A New Hope, the fight choreographer had to tell Sir Alec Guinness and David Prowse to swing them but not actually make the hits because every time the blades would hit, they would shatter. One has to imagine how many stunt lightsaber blades they broke 😂
My thoughts exactly. The guard (tsuba) even shows some similarities to saber guards, with the back piece sweeping upwards. If the guard would extend downwards in the front to form a knuckleguard, the inspiration would be clear as day.
You know, Star Wars world doesn't give much canonical explanation of how light sabers actually works. You only can speculate on the matter by looking on the shown effects and bits of information that actually get explained. I'm personally not an expert of Star Wars canon. Just seen some movies and series. So my take might be wrong. But I'd say, that light sabers in general works by cycling charged particles aka plasma in some kind of field that defines the blade. In case of the regular light sabers the stream of plasma is equally spread along the blade axis. That makes blade omnidirectional. But when the blade comes in to the contact with cutting media, most of the energy just goes around the target not actually dealing damage. In most cases that is not a problem because of absurd power light saber has. But the Dark saber is a different story. It was made by the ruler of mandalorians. It was meant as a symbol of power and the mean to defend it and the right to rule. Meaning it was made to fight other mandalorians that pretend to the throne. Mandalorians uses beskar armors and uses weapon made out of beskar. We know that regular lightsabers cant deal much damage to the beskar. So how a mandalorian could approach to making a weapon that can damage at least not a pure beskar armor? For example by focusing the flow of plasma by making it cycle in tight looped stream around edges of the blade. So when it hits something most of the energy goes into the media and cut at least not so pure beskar and heat up pure beskar. So this way not so great form of the blade and limited versatility is a tradeoff for better satisfying to the main purpose of the weapon.
i think that the design of the darksaber is supposed to be based off of the mandalorian sword called a beskad. that’s why the general design looks more like an actual sword. also i believe it was also meant to be a one handed saber since the beskad also was, and it was meant to be used either with a blaster or a smaller dagger called a kal. this may not be exactly true but it would make more sense
On the heaviness of lightsabers in episode four, another reason why they were fighting slowly (in universe) is because kenobi was something like sixty.
It was mainly that Lucas hadn’t really figured out what lightsabers were, and that the initial props in that movie were severely limited in what they could do. Extremely fragile so even the relatively soft sparring (though they weren’t that gentle. XD)they were doing was much too rough on them.
not a massive star wars nerd but i understand that there are certain things that a normal lightsaber cannot cut through, the obvious solution to this is to make the darksabre cut through things that a standard lightsabre can't due to the energy being concentrated on the edges
Bingo. The actor was trained in fencing. He wanted his hilt to reflect that style. Also partly the reason Dooku uses form 2 which is specifically for dueling.
The dark saber isn't single edged. It just looks like it is. It's still a light saber. It still cuts in any direction. They don't show that in the media because they think it looks cooler to have edge alignment. That's it. Also, it isn't lore breaking for the blade to curve. There is some sort of technology containing the blade of a light saber. They can be adjusted to any length. There is no reason to think they can't be shaped into curves by that same containment technology.
14:47 Fun fact: According to the ROTJ Director's Commentary, the lightsaber materials used for ESB and ROTJ were the exact same as ANH. They just got better at using it. However, ROTJ was the limit of how far they could take that specific technology. Simply being able to do a sweeping wide shot like at the end where Luke is hammering into Vader was apparently considered a huge deal
@@ScreenTested It's only the DarkSaber with that quality. Because it was the kyber crystal of a Mandalore, only those who are fit to rule, AKA the strongest willed warriors, were accepted.
Expanding on this. We saw Sabeen Wren having issues learning how to use the Darksaber in her initial training with it in Rebels because she was trying to fight and force the blade to work for her instead of connecting with it as every Jedi/Sith is taught to do and Rebels was still heavily influenced by George Lucas as he was still brought on as a consultant and was the final say on everything was Dave Filoni who learned everything lore-wise from George Lucas.
@@ScreenTestedThat's not entirely accurate... It may not be a thing in any of the original mainline films, but there's some EU stuff (as in non-disney) that discusses a similar concept. There's at least some kind of connection going on between a kyber crystal and lightsaber wielder and this is not a new/strictly Disney concocted concept.
That "suba" drives me absolutely bats**t. It is 100% backward. If I had one of those, I would flip the blade connection and put the switch on the other side. As it is, it's DUMB.
If you're right and Both edges can cut then I believe the "proper way" to hold it is backwards. Therefore they are purposefully using the blade backward to show off how skilled they are using it wrong.
Funny cuz a lot of people think the dark saber is like the greatest lightsaber but may I suggest a video idea could you do a video on halos energy sword
the thing about the darksaber being "heavy" is that it more has a "spirit" than other sabers. it'll resist people who it deems as unworthy, which usually just means conflicting emotions. about the melting through beskar thing: it happened faster than a normal lightsaber, so that is the assumption. the hilt and shape is just rule of cool at play. some things just need to be fun
Is it the dark saber considered more powerful than other lightsabers? Hasn't it been said that that added power comes from the energy being condensed to a thinner form? Aside from that it's still the same type of energy as any other lightsaber. All surfaces of the blade should be able to cut no problem.
Heavy lightsabers is actually a throwback to the original movies... here and there... depending on George Lucas' mood. Mark Hamill has recounted a few times that Lucas instructed him that he needed to hold his lightsaber with both hands in Empire because it was so heavy that it required it, suggesting it effectively weighted 50+ lbs, essentially because it was projecting so much energy and there was more or less a push to it, like an actively firing jet engine. Of course that kinds flies in the face of Luke swinging it around in A New Hope when Kenobi first hands it to him, and everything seen in the prequels and whatnot, but... Lucas was always kinda changing things as he went.
Wow. I know he wanted them to be superhuman but that's so strange. I totally understand who it never made it's way into canon. I know a lot of people (myself included) have tricky estimating weight. I also noticed that a few American authors seem to have trouble converting imperial to metric system given that Star wars measurements tend to go that route (when not using something unique to that universe). In the old EU they were about a single kilogram, baked by materials, for instance. One made from a rancor tusk world be lighter than one made from junk from crashed fighters or speeders. (The one made an I, Jedi was from crash scrap for instance. Speederbike Handle, iirc or fighter yoke)
Dooku's saber came closest to almost being used like a rapier in the movies. Would be awesome if they actually go rapier/ fencing style (with an elegant design that make sense)... but all we got from Mickey was an impractical handle and blade used in slow clunky fight scenes.
I may have a future Project with Dooku's saber to prove that its one of the best although I will admit a fencing/rapier fighting style I don't think is engaging to watch as its very thrust heavy . Thanks for the support man!
I completely agree with your stance on the dark saber Tyranth. Did you know there was a black bladed lightsaber in the game "The Force Unleashed 1 and 2" long before disney got their hands on the franchise. Also, my theory of baskar is that it has its' own magnetic field which repels the containment fields generated by lightsabers much like trying to push both positive poles of two neodymium magnets together.
The Dark X design from Sabneo fixes all the issues of the Darksaber. It even has the option to orientate the activation button either on top or bottom.
I wouldn't mind the whole blade shape thing if the excuse was that it concentrated the heat and cutting power in some way. Yeah, it still doesn't really make sense but at least it still gives it a reason Also, I always thought the saber fights in episode 4 being slow was because Alec Guinness was an old man, but the props being too fragile for proper hits makes a lot of sense
I do agree with the hilts design, it's weird and the guard thing is unnecessary and pretty useless. However, the indexing of the handla could be attributed to the creator of the saber. In the lore the saber was made by a Mandalorian who became a Jedi and as I understand it later returned to Mandalore to unite his people which he did and his Darksaber became a symbol of leadership. I would imagine that he would have created the darksaber after returning to Mandalore and as the Jedi and Mandalorians have a troubled history, creating a unique saber based on Mandalorian style and not traditional Jedi style of sabers would be a way of uniting the people, to separate himself from the Jedi but still showing power. I also agree that the design of the blade isn't as effective as a normal lightsaber but it's just goes back to culture, Mandalorian culture. Mandalorians are a war like people, they prove themselves in battle and they use pretty much everything. Vibroblades among those (if those are still cannon, I imagine so after the Mandalorian and the future KotOR remake) and as Mandalorians traditionally used such blades, making the saber into something that is unique and that reflects their culture and not the Jedi, that's a win for them and something they can look up to. Yeah... The Darksaber being heavy... I want to chop that up to what they sort of.. Kind of explained in the Mandalorian, something about purpose was it or want to use it? But yeah it's random and didn't need to be there at all.
Well technically Darksaber blade is double-edged, so it doesn't matter which way you hold the handle, you can flip it how it fits you. You can even melt with the flat surface of the blade.
As a kid who grew up with Star Wars, I learned very fast that some hilts just suck. Qui-gon's is the best. Even just play fighting, you'll find that the bits and nobs dig into your hand and make it very uncomfortable to weird.
Counterpoint for indexing (lightsabers in general): You may not need to know where your edge it, But knowing where your on and off button is seems kinda important. Excuse for edged saber (silly but eh we could make up some BS): If I am not mistaken, the same amount of the same plasma with the same thermal energy condensed into a smaller space should seem hotter on contact. A very small amount of thermal energy condensed to a small point can create high temperatures. The punch of a mantis shrimp creates light brighter than and heat hotter than the surface of the sun in a very tiny space. Taking a large amount of thermal energy and condensing it into a very small space should have such a result. If we assume the dark saber is very very thin or that the apparent flat of the blade is just a visual side effect and the edge is the only cutting plasma, with the same energy as a normal lightsaber that should be even hotter. Someone check me if I'm wrong, i have too much of a migraine to look into the actual math.
Well, Idk if I'm right or not, but I think the jedi's can activate or deactivate their light saber with the force, and they can protect their light saber with their force to avoid others to deactivate their light saber.
There is a lot of conflicting lore on the origins of the Darksaber. One idea I’ve seen is that it’s based on very very old lightsabers that had to be flat due to technological limitations, back in the days of a separate power pack. It’s the only one of its kind “now” because all the others were scrapped or reworked when the 360 degree version became practical. The thickness of lightsaber hilts is my evil hobbyhorse. Originally they were designed around photo flash units that are much thicker than any real world sword hilt ever, but they looked cool so they went with it. The Darksaber hilt and some of the others you showed are much closer in size to a real world sword hilt. To me that’s a very good thing regardless of any need for edge alignment in that a round sword hilt doesn’t matter when indexing isn’t an issue. Otherwise your assessment of the shortcomings of the Darksaber make good sense to me. The only in-universe excuse for it being used is that it’s an antique with a near-mythical history that automatically puts an adversary at a psychological disadvantage.
A light saber should have some weight to the blade. Take any hilt and remove the blade then swing it around, it is super awkward. look at the SABNEO dark X. It’s a dark saber inspired hilt. It corrects everything you don’t like about the dark saber hilt.
So did Dooku because Form II, his specialty, is very much based on rapier fencing. The very kendo-esque stuff we see Luke & Anakin doing is Form IV. It’s a neat detail in the lore than can add so much to a lightsaber wielder’s character that gets ignored in most major projects with the IP…but it’s still there
The 'blade' is still omnidirectional...you can't make something hot enough to melt through steel not be. They are science, not magic, though the kyber crystal sort of bridges the gap a bit between the science and force aspects a bit...but still. She shape of of the blade would just give it a slimmer profile on one axis, which would make it a far better 'cutter' on that axis and than any lightsaber that is thicker.
Honestly, any lightsaber type weapon, other than maybe a spear, would be a pretty bad weapon for a non-Jedi. It's a weapon that has an above average chance of hurting its user and nearby friendlies, because of that 360 degree blade that cuts through anything. And that's why the spear is a maybe as well... definitely don't want to be using that in formation, for example.
Like, I watched the video and I hear your points and all that but my thought is "...but it looks cool." And that just kinda trumps all the points you made. 😆
Honestly i Always thought it resembled more of a falchion ( or falcione in Italian) than a katana but maybe it a little bit of both, also if i Remember correctly the dark saber is more ancient and the jedi who built it was a mandalorian so maybe that the reason for having that false edge alignement 🤔
The darksaber was clearly designed by an artist for a cartoon. If somebody'd had to make a prop before its introduction, the prop engineer would have unfucked it.
The weight thing is only ever shown with the darksaber. And it's more like the crystal in the saber connects with the user, and if they are not clear on their purpose, or have a heavy heart so to speak, the crystal makes the saber seem heavier than it should be.
so just a few things, have you watched "the clone wars" cartoon, and rebels? they go into a lot of the history and whatnot of the dark saber there. and i believe Gar Saxon when he fights Maul uses the flat of the blade, but the reason the dark saber is the shape it is has to do with its creator a Mandolorian Jedi. when he made his blade he wanted to reflect his lineage and homeworld, also he wanted to make an heirloom that would stand the test of time.
If I remember correctly, Pre Vizsla was originally suppose to use a viroblade to fight Obi-Wan, however David Filoni chose to create a unique light saber instead after John Favreau was cast that why the dark saber has an edge as it was based off a viroblade. The weight of the lightsaber isn't explained until Star Wars Rebel were Kanan was training Sabine to use the dark saber, it was basically that the wielder need to bond with the kyber crystal to make it lighter.
I’ve always thought the dark saber blade shape was for getting in between the gaps of mandalorian armor. Also might be paying homage to the blades the mandalorians normally use.
My best guess is that since the darksaber in lore is a status symbol blade, maybe the single-edge-edness is more of a flex? Yes, *YOU* can use any weapon angle to fight, but *I* can and will beat you using only one.
. Steak knives have indexing, for the very reason you say. We can also say forks and spoons, have indexing so you know where the object's "useful" sides are. As to why the Dark Saber has indexing, I can only guess it looked cooler, but as for function, probably because Tarre Vizsla as a Mandalorian was used to making indexing. The rest... No Idea.
Keep in mind the Dark saber is a very old lightsaber. It could be that some aspects of its design are a result of constraints from when it was made. I'd suspect the guard is a heat shield, while the edged design may be from a design deficiency in older sabers making a cutting edge more advantageous.
i always thought lightsabers might have a gyroscopic effect in the hilt and why jedi were the only ones to use light sabers (besides the jedi having the monopoly on kaber crystals) was that they subconsciously used the force to acquire mastery faster by sensing where the "blade" is at all times (i would thing normal people without lightsaber resistant clothing would be extremely hesitant on using the lightsaber)
Ive been wondering if it would be feasible in SWU to make a lightsaber with the ability to add, remove, and adjust parts to make different light sabers. Like if you were to carry the parts inside clothing, and be able to use the force to add them to their lightsaber. The idea being to go from a one bladed saber to a staff, to separate light sabers
It got that beskar spear glowing tho. Ahsokas didn't. Which means you can use it against beskar, if you're in a mandalorian grapple, just hold it against their armor and burn them
I've seen in the Expanded Universe/Legends books that lightsabers produce a strong gyroscopic effect, making them difficult to use for non Force users. Maybe that's what's happening when Mando says the Darksaber gets heavier each time he swings it?
that would make the effect even stronger for people with traditional sword training, while untrained people would be inclined to go with the flow of the lightsaber.
I’m not sure if it’s in all films apparently but in the 4th Star Wars (at least the one I’ve seen) when Obi Wan first gives Luke his light saber you can see that when he is waving it around there is a primary edge and not a circle. I just remember watching it after watching i think you and Shad talking about it and thought it was interesting
The Darksaber is the way it is in lore because it was made/forged by a Mandalorian, Tarre Vizsla, who likely based it on traditional Mandalorian bladed weapon designs rather than the typical Jedi designs. So in a way, the Darksaber is a Mandalorian Katana usually made entirely out of Beskar, but in this case, the blade is replaced with a lightsaber emitter made of Beskar hence the difference from typical Lightsabers, the Beskar interacts with the Kyber crystal within in ways untypical of a lightsaber.
It has a tsuba tho? , feloni gave Ahsoka “katana” style hilts his production are is Japanese based , his training scene in Ahsoka has bokkens and kendo style gear the dude seems to be into samurai and bases a lot of his stuff of that.
The whole Darksaber thing was just supposed to be a vibroblade, but George Lucas decided that it didn't fit with the lore, so they changed it last minute and changed it to a "Darksaber" with basically no lore around it. Later they threw in some stuff about Darth Maul "claiming it" in combat, then it got retconned a 3rd time to being a Mandalorian thing. So the reason it doesn't really work as a lightsaber, is that it was never meant to be a lightsaber, but due to multiple Disney retconning, here we are. As usual, Disney ruins everything.
I don't know about redconned as the saber has just switched owner over time. The saber was made by a Mandalorian Jedi which they explain in the Clone Wars series episode where it's first introduced I believe. Later Maul claimed the saber in combat when he defeated and killed the Mandalorian leader who was wielding it. I can't remember how Selene got her hands on it in the Rebels series but I remember that Bo-Katan received it from her and she handed it off to Moff Gideon so that he would spare her people (which he didn't). So the Darksabers path through the different Star Wars series isn't complicated and the lore, if a bit sparse, is there and at least it's enough to warrant the sabers existence. Weird however that Lucas wouldn't think that vibroblades fit with the lore. Though I guess those are canon now too thanks to the Mandalorian.
@@zwippie92 Virbroblades have been a part of the lore for a long time. I could be wrong, but I think that they've been around since at least the old West End RPG.
@@zwippie92 where things get fussy is that the dark saber seemed to have cult revolved around it. a mando jedi made it, then clan visla stole it and said I'm the real mando now (the previous 'fake' mandos didn't use it), then maul won it and said I'm mando now the surviving maul mandos then seem to spread the tale of how the blade determines the next mando Bo was given the blade and things when to shit, so the "legend" evolved, you have to 'win' the blade or else youre cursed this went on until Padro used a loophole to get rid of it, then it broke as for the blade being 'heavy', i chalk that to Padro fearing the blade and what it meant (according to the legend). the force seems to be a reflection and an amplifier, put good in get 20x good bak, put bad in get x20 bad back, Padro say it as a burden so he got x20 burded back (padme, bane and others have used sabers just fine, it was just a weapon to them)
the darksaber is a relic that is from a by gone era in star wars history, hundreds of thousands of years old. Made by the first and only mandalorian Jedi. everyone in the star wars universe is force sensitive to some degree it just depends upon if they have the training or natural aptitude to harness it. That being said. If you look at star wars lightsabers in Legends. Which need I remind you is not canon. We see designs like the proto saber, lightsabers that used cords and batteries instead of kyber crystals. In cannon we dont have an explanation for why the darksaber is different outside of the fact that its ancient. But seeing as ancient lightsabers in legends had very clear design differences and drawbacks that make modern lightsabers objectively superior. It is pretty safe to assume that ancient lightsabers in cannon such as the darksaber have drawbacks too as you noted. the reason why it gets heavier is because the darksaber itself is a force artifact just like a kyber crystal in a regular lightsaber. The difference being that the darksaber taps into said being emotions, thoughts, and actions which effects the weight. whereas with a normal lightsaber it is more easily weilded by a force user that the crystal has either been bled by or had bonded with. Why else do you think the Sith bleed their kyber crystals and Jedi go to Ilum to get their kyber crystals. Just a reminded this is not hate whatsoever. i just know alot about star wars being a lifelong fan and i dont like that this fandom is so toxic and gatekept.
One weapon I would request for you to test out given the franchise’s 30th anniversary is Fulgore from Killer Instinct and his Quad Blades. I’ve seen you guys test out Wolverine’s blades, but never something like Fulgore’s duel wielding gauntlet blades. It would even be neat to see if you guys can create a similar style helmet from an actual medieval knight helmet.
I do want to point out the OG lightsabers from Episode 4, 5 and 6, where all based off Kendo Sticks. Which are often used to train new recruits in the fuedal Japanese armies. It wasn't until Legends that other variations where brought in after George Lucas said that other variations existed. Which means all Lightsabers are based off the idea of a Katana, just they figured out the 360 cutting was better, and sadly we only see a Kedo style of Lightsaber, until the conception of the Darksaber, the Lightwhip, and the Lightclaymore(the type that Kylo Ren has in episode 7 on). This also can be confirmed by looking at the time before Lightsabers, when the Jedai(the precursors to both the Jedi and Sith) used Force Alchemy, later known as Sith Alchemy, to create physical swords, of all sorts, but when the Sith first created the Protosaber, there where shorter round sabers and single edged blade sabers. At the time of this part I'm barely into the video, but I wanted to make that very clear, that way no one can use the excuse of "but that's not what a lightsaber was originally." I will add more after I finish watching the video. Edit: like to say halfway in now. But I need to blast the lore reason behind the single edge design. It fits the Mandalorian life. Precision, strength, and skill is their three main objectives in combat. To be the strongest, most skilled fighter and show it, the Mandalorian Jedi who built the Darksaber purposefully used a single edge design that is only seen in some Protosabers as well. It was one of the Jedi Council of the time, biggest complaint about the Mandalorian Jedi as they felt he was being Prideful and according to them was a path to the darkside. Last edit: mostly fixing auto correct and my tired brain(it's 12:53am here and I've been awake since 8am yesterday) miss numbering episodes. P.S. outside of the lore reasons, many concepts and cannon ideas from Episode 1, 2 and 3, Clone Wars, ect. Became cannon as Fan Service. Many of the rule of two Sith that are cannon where originally Legends Characters, many of the planets where once only Legends cannon, heck even the Sidious cloning plot point of the horrible Episode 7, 8 and 9 where Legends Cannon.
Yep, Emperor Reborn, Luke's dark side brush and so on were in the Dark Horse Comic series I think. I never had the chance to read them, but those elements were mentioned in one of my favorite books, Vision of the Future, when Mara and Luke are discussing nature of the force and light/dark side stuff . (I LOVED The illustration of the or crushing facility and unable to hear the songbirds due to the noise. And how the more a person drew on the force for raw power the less able they were to hear inspiration and guidance from the force.) I liked the I, Jedi version of how lightsabers were made most.
Crappy design or not, It opens the lore for the creation of the best lightsaber ever by introducing Saber-resistant Beskar as part of the construction. If they want to continue to use it 2-handed like a Katana Instead of its namesake Sabre, the laser longsword cross-guard like Kylo made, was dumb. A massively trimmed-down version of the Inquisitor's knuckle bow, in Beskar like a 2-handed Swiss saber would be way better. It would be Even Better if they used them 1-handed and cast 1-piece Transitional Rapier/Spadroon/Beefy Smallsword Hilt/Guards from Beskar. I think a 1-piece oval cast Beskar Hilt shell with a shaped ricasso/ usable finger rings, Cross guard, with knuckle bow, Large Side rings extending off it double shell guards above the finger rings would be awesome.
Going off real world functionality, yes you are right.......but in the lore, the darksaber was created during the age of the old republic where they used "flat" plasma blades and considering the creator was the first/only mandalorian inducted into the jedi order he distinguished himself by completely modifying the design to "HIS" preferences. So basically it's an antique and extremely unique design, therefore if you're applying the lore to it, then it's unfair to compare to more "modern" lightsabers.
Oh. Weird. It Doesn't Make Me Think of a katana At All. Like ... Not Even a little Bit. It Makes Me Think of a Saber. A less curvey variety. Or maybe a Machete. Definitely Not a Katana. but You Have the handle in Your hands and I Can Understand Your Comparison There. I Don't Think It's a Good Point of Reference For Lightsabers though. I Could Use an empty coke bottle As a handle and the Lightsaber Would Still Handle (eh? eh?) more or less the Same. I guess I'm just Being nitpicky Because You Asked. but I Can See a small cavalry saber In the blade. I Can Imagine the Value of the Darksaber's velocity Into mass Design During "mounted" combat. I Can ... oh ... I Already Lost You Didn't I? Haha OK I Agree Though. The Darksaber Deserved a little more Thought than "This is gonna be so cool you guys! SO COOL! Hey, we got any more cocaine!?" In the Development Process. Even Wanting It To Be As Cool As It Could and Playing Devil's Advocate It's sort of stupid Thanks For the Vid.
The Darksaber is just a symbol for these reasons. Like a family katana in Japan in the modern days. And the design of the Darksaber is very....Mandalorian
1. most of your issues with the darksaber are just a skill issue. use it in one or two hands and don't choke up on the guard and it's fine, i have one from the clone wars design it's very blocky but I've never felt uncomfortable or awkward using it, even in duels against multiple people. I use a more german messer style of fighting when using it, never had a problem doing false edge cuts with it ever. Also how many lightsabers in canon actually have hand protection? other than Kylo Ren's, the one Ezra found in the sith temple, and Cal Kestis' in the new game. 2. the darksaber has been "used" effectively by non-force users who won it in combat or proved their martial prowess. Pre Visla, Bo Katan, Din Djarin, Sabine Wren, Moff Gideon all earned the saber. Paz Visla didn't. Idk why the saber itself has that kind of power but I wouldn't be surprised if Tar Visla (the lightsaber's creator) had a hand in it's behavior through the force. 3. The creator of the darksaber was the Mandalorian Tar Visla, it's not uncommon for the home culture of a jedi to influence their behavior or expression as a jedi. Gungi, a jedi wookie constructed his hilt from the wood of a tree only found on Kashyyk. So Tar Visla making a more sword like design for his lightsaber wouldn't be out of the question. 4. Star Wars is about space wizards fighting each other over how best to utilize the magical power that the conscious energy that makes the universe alive gives them through space geopolitics and plasma sword fighting with magic idk why you'd get so caught up on a sword you just don't know how to use. the inquisitor's lightsaber? that's a flawed design that the show it's introduced in takes advantage of, Rey's swiss army knife design? that's got flaws (the jedi temple guard one needs to be opened first before it's ignited before anyone says anything) but a lightsaber that's based off of a sword? you know that before even the protosaber jedi just used SWORDS that were imbued with the force? 5. lastly, the rapier was also a beast in the cut, there are records of it splitting skulls apart, if you wanted to emphasize the thrust more a smallsword would be the best example. sure, the rapier is better in the thrust but why limit yourself when the possibility is there?
Never liked the Darksaber. It just looked ugly as sin to me. Especially the blade and how part of it hangs off of the emitter. How? Why? Don’t know, it just looks stupid.
I will admit that I don't know all That much about Star Wars lore, but isn't the Dark Saber supposed to a unique one-off/transitional weapon between the battery-powered pseudo-sabers of the ancient pre-Republic era Jedi Lords and the more modern sabers of the Jedi Order? Wouldn't it make sense that it has more than a few flaws because of that? Just wondering...
im pretty sure since its "lightsaber energy", the entire blade can cut.. its just that with the shape of the blade it just feels better to cut with the "edge". i'd say that to support this theory is other media that has black core white core lightsaber crystals seem to be the same crystal in the darksaber, just not shaped as the darksaber. the darksaber's blade shape seems to be cosmetic only
Lightsabers were created first as a visual effect and explained through science fiction later. The real science behind a plasma blade the size of a sword - that can effortlessly cut through metal the way a lightsaber does - would make such a weapon so devastatingly powerful that it would kill the user before they could hit anybody with it. I have gotten THE WORST sunburn from TIG welding in short sleeves and that plasma arc is TINY! Plasma/laser cutters also require a jet of compressed gas to blow molten material out of the channel of the cut in order to _actually cut_ things. Otherwise they'd just burn/melt the material without creating a cut.
I could develop my own 'Head Canon' about the blade: It was made by the only known Mandalorian Jedi, and they are most used to fighting with physical weapons, like swords with actual sharp edged blades. I could see the Dark Saber intentionally being made like a physical blade, focusing its cutting power into the edge, making it much stronger than an 'average' Saber when cutting along that edge, but in exchange for making its 'sides' almost useless to cut with (but still good enough to block another saber and blaster shots). Also, something I just remembered: The Mandalorian managed to damage his leg on the flat of the 'blade' in one of those episodes of "Boba Fett" he hijacked, so there is damaging power going through the 'flat' sides.
