Luke Skywalker Ignored a Crucial Aspect of Star Wars in A New Hope

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope introduced many of Star Wars‘ most iconic elements, such as the Force, blasters, starfighters, and of course, lightsabers. Early in the film, Obi-Wan Kenobi gives Luke Skywalker the blue lightsaber that Anakin Skywalker had once used, calling it “an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.” Luke was amazed by the lightsaber and immediately began swinging it around. He kept it at his side for the rest of the film as he helped thwart the Galactic Empire. Audiences first saw a lightsaber in combat at the Mos Eisley Cantina, when Obi-Wan cut off Pondo Babba’s arm. Later, on the Death Star, Obi-Wan engaged in a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader.

But fans noticed something peculiar about A New Hope that set it apart from the rest of the original Star Wars trilogy: Luke never actually used his lightsaber. He practiced with it onboard the Millennium Falcon. Still, while rescuing Princess Leia Organa from her captivity on the Death Star, he only used an E-11 blaster rifle that he took from a stormtrooper. Once he escaped from the Death Star, Luke did not do any fighting in person; the film’s climax was a space battle in which he was confined to his X-Wing. Luke’s lightsaber is one of the most important pieces of Star Wars lore, having been used by the main protagonists of all three trilogies, yet its role in the film that began the franchise was surprisingly small.

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Luke Trained With His Lightsaber Between Films

Luke did not fight with a lightsaber on-screen until Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. He used it to escape from the Wampa’s cave on Hoth, wielded it during his illusory battle with Vader in the Cave of Evil, and dueled Vader in Cloud City. During the last of these fights, Luke lost Anakin’s lightsaber — along with the hand that was holding it — and so needed to construct a new, green lightsaber before Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. All things considered, Luke barely used his father’s lightsaber in the films. However, he canonically had many off-screen adventures with it, as depicted in various novels and comic books that take place between films.

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Luke probably refrained from using his lightsaber in A New Hope because he lacked confidence. After all, his practice session did not go particularly well; he only blocked six out of the eight blaster bolts that the training drone fired at him, and as Han Solo pointed out, fighting real opponents would be “something else.” Trying to use a lightsaber against stormtroopers when he was so inexperienced would have been a major risk, and doing so against Vader would have been a death sentence. Luke probably had some experience with blasters from his adolescence on Tatooine, and even if he did not, they were far easier to use without training than a lightsaber.

Luke’s Lightsaber Was an Important Symbol in A New Hope

• The training drone that Luke used was known as a Marksman-H combat remote.

In the context of the original trilogy, it is not so strange that Luke did not use a lightsaber in A New Hope. He had to work his way to Jedi Knight status, and he gained more and more skills throughout his adventures through the galaxy. But when looking at the first film in a vacuum, the absence of Luke’s lightsaber from the latter half of A New Hope is an odd storytelling choice. Before Star Wars‘ unprecedented box office success, George Lucas had no idea if he would get a chance to create a sequel, let alone the entire saga he had planned, so he wrote the first film to work as a standalone narrative.

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If The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi did not exist, Luke’s lightsaber would be a bizarre loose end from A New Hope. He would obtain a special weapon from his mentor, slowly learn how to use it, and then do nothing significant with it. Yet Luke’s lightsaber still served a thematic purpose in A New Hope. At the start of the story, Luke is a farm boy who knows little about his family’s history and even less about the Force. Anakin’s lightsaber represented both the Jedi Order and the Skywalker bloodline. By accepting Obi-Wan’s gift, Luke symbolically embraced his destiny. Inheriting a lightsaber was the first step on his journey towards becoming a hero.

Star Wars

The original trilogy depicts the heroic development of Luke Skywalker as a Jedi and his fight against Palpatine’s Galactic Empire alongside his sister, Leia. The prequels tell the tragic backstory of their father, Anakin, who is corrupted by Palpatine and becomes Darth Vader.

Created by

George Lucas

Latest Film

Star Wars: Episode XI – The Rise of Skywalker

First Episode Air Date

November 12, 2019

Cast

Mark Hamill , Carrie Fisher , Harrison Ford , Hayden Christensen , Ewan McGregor , Natalie Portman , Ian McDiarmid , Daisy Ridley , Adam Driver , Rosario Dawson , Pedro Pascal

Where to Stream

Disney+

Comic

Star Wars: Revelations

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