Editing 1433: Lightsaber

{{comic
| number    = 1433
| date      = October 13, 2014
| title     = Lightsaber
| image     = lightsaber.png
| titletext = A long time in the future, in a galaxy far, far, away, astronomers in the year 2008 sight an unusual gamma-ray burst originating from somewhere far across the universe.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic references a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDnoczxzQyg scene] from the third theatrically-released ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' movie, ''[[wikia:c:starwars:Return of the Jedi|Return of the Jedi]]'', wherein [[wikia:c:starwars:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] confronts his son, [[wikia:c:starwars:Luke skywalker|Luke Skywalker]], who had recently surrendered to [[wikia:c:starwars:Galactic Empire|Imperial]] soldiers. In the movie, Vader notes that Luke has constructed [[wikia:c:starwars:Luke Skywalker's lightsaber|a new lightsaber]] following the loss of his [[wikia:c:starwars:Luke skywalker#Lightsabers|original]] during their [[wikia:c:starwars:Duel on Cloud City|duel on Cloud City]] (Luke Skywalker's original lightsaber actually having been [[wikia:c:starwars:Anakin skywalker|Anakin Skywalker's]] second).

Lightsabers are often jokingly referred to as "laser swords" by fans (note that the official French-language translation of Star Wars actually calls them "laser sabers"), and this comic points out that a real laser would not have any way of stopping and would therefore continue forever, making this particular interpretation silly. (George Lucas cleverly failed to state what exactly a lightsaber's blade is made out of, but sourcebooks state that the blade is plasma contained in a magnetic field, which is scientifically implausible.) Once Darth Vader turns on the light saber, it goes offscreen and presumably continues in that direction forever, causing much mayhem as it blazes through the stars. Hull breaches are a popular trope in science-fiction, despite curiously being almost entirely absent from the Star Wars films.

The title text refers to {{w|GRB 080319B}}, an unusual gamma ray burst in 2008, the afterglow of which was briefly visible to the human eye. It implies that the source of this burst was a light saber in the Star Wars story, which took place "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" according to the {{w|Star Wars (film)|Star Wars}} {{w|Star Wars opening crawl|opening crawl}}.

Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader have had a similar conversation before in [[1397: Luke]]. In that version Luke wishes for Vader not to turn it on, as stated in the title text.

==Trivia==
*In the comic, Vader's subordinates exclaim they are suffering a hull breach, implying they are on a spaceship (a Star Destroyer) or space station (the second Death Star). In the original movie, the conversation actually took place on the surface of Endor.

==Transcript==
:[Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader are talking. Vader holds the handle of a powered-off lightsaber.]
:Vader: '''''I see you have constructed a new lightsaber.'''''
:[Vader turns it on. The beam of the lightsaber continues upward out of the frame.]
:Lightsaber: Snap-Hisss
:[Vader looks up toward where the beam is pointing.]
:[Vader looks back at Luke.]
:Vader: '''''Where does it end?'''''
:Luke: Doesn't.
:Intercom (out of view): ''Hull breach all along sector five!!''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Physics]]