45 Years Later, Star Wars Just Made Lightsabers More Terrifying Than Ever
The nicest Star Wars show just got super dark.
Darth Vader’s almost casual severing of Luke Skywalker’s hand in The Empire Strikes Back has traumatized countless Star Wars fans across several generations. And part of the reason why that moment was so scary is the fact that it happened so quickly. Sure, before Empire, we’d seen Ben Kenobi cut off a thug’s arm in A New Hope — but the raw danger of lightsabers was made clear in that one moment that Vader quickly lobbed off Luke’s hand. And now, 45 years after that game-changing scene, Star Wars is once again reminding us that lightsabers are actually scary as hell.
In the penultimate episode of Skeleton Crew — Episode 7, “We’re Gonna Be in So Much Trouble” — the basic concept of a lightsaber has been made arguably more terrifying than it has in a very long time. Spoilers ahead.
The kids return to At Attin. But at what price?
After finally making it back to At Attin, Fern, KB, Wim, and Neel discover the truth: Their home planet is a secret mint for the Republic and the Onyx Cinder wasn’t actually a pirate ship, but rather, a stolen At Attin ship all along. But even after SM-33 bails the kids out, the treacherous pirate Jod manages to make his way to At Attin with the kids, and decapitates 33 with the lightsaber he picked up back in Episode 5. Whether or not Jod was a former Jedi drop-out, an Order 66 survivor, or a quasi-Sith is irrelevant at this point. What’s clear is that he knows how to use a lightsaber, and his casual slaying of the lovable droid is a quick reminder that the coolest, most magical Star Wars gizmo isn’t just an elegant weapon, but a straight-up murder machine.
Last year, when The Acolyte revealed Qimir’s ability to take out several Jedi at once, the stakes for that show were forever altered, and unlike some of the lightsaber combat in Ahsoka, duels between Jedi and quasi-Sith felt possibly fatal again. Skeleton Crew does something similar in this episode, but with one major difference: Jod wields a lightsaber with terrifying effect not because of how many people he takes out, but because just the suggestion that he might “carve up” the kids is utterly chilling.
Without showing Jod murder anyone with this lightsaber, just the presence of this weapon is nerve-wracking. Back in Episode 5, the show briefly fooled us into thinking that Wim was going to save the day with the saber, only to reveal he was holding it upside down. The message in that scene was clear: Lightsabers might be toys in our world, but in the Star Wars galaxy, lightsabers are serious business.
Before it debuted, and even after the first few episodes, many fans worried that Skeleton Crew was going to be very light-hearted, and essentially, a kids’ show. But showrunners and creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford did mention in more than one interview that “Jude’s character [Jod] could totally exist in Andor.” What this means is that the realism and danger of Andor doesn’t just go away because this is another Star Wars show with a different tone.
Jod (Jude Law) threatens EVERYONE with his lightsaber in the Skeleton Crew Episode 7 cliffhanger.
What Jod’s violent suggestions with the lightsaber accomplishes in this episode is a reminder that yes, this is a space fantasy, but the pretty laser swords aren’t just for show. And just like Anakin Skywalker wielded a good-guy-coded blue lightsaber against children in Revenge of the Sith, Jod threatening the Skeleton Crew gang feels similarly charged with immediate menace.
All of this leads to a terrific cliffhanger. As the kids are reunited with their parents and Jod seemingly gains access to the vault containing an endless supply of Old Republic credits, suddenly things get even darker than before. Just as Fern is about to explain to her mom what actually happened while they were gone, Jod pulls out this lightsaber. Now, he’s not just threatening the four kids, but all of their respective parents, too.
Again, this is gripping because the lightsaber seems genuinely frightening in this Star Wars series. Jod didn’t need to slice off anybody’s hand or stab a bunch of Jedi to make us worried. All he had to do was knock a droid’s head off and move the lightsaber around in a way that reminded us that he’s totally an unhinged maniac. Because that’s the real reason lightsabers are so interesting: it’s not so much the weapon itself, but the person igniting it.
