Fyraltari watches The Clone Wars (2008) for the first time

[pendell]

Spoiler

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So what do these trandoshans do for a living? I doubt there's any money in hunting people for sport so how do they afford all the fuel and equipment they need?

The species you mention shows up in the Republic Commando video game as well. In that game they are mercenaries, more than willing to jack Republic ships and sell them to the highest bidder. I assume that's where the money of this particular bunch is coming from; that or some other pursuit equally unsavory.

I also wouldn't be too sure there wouldn't be a market for ... recreational pursuits. In the real world, fat people with no wilderness experience pay $$$$$$$ to go to Africa and 'hunt' lions. Who's to say there aren't people in the GFFA willing to pay top credit for a shot at more exotic game?

Respectfully but with plenty of euphemisms,

Brian P.

[Fyraltari]

Spoiler

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The species you mention shows up in the Republic Commando video game as well. In that game they are mercenaries, more than willing to jack Republic ships and sell them to the highest bidder. I assume that's where the money of this particular bunch is coming from; that or some other pursuit equally unsavory.

I also wouldn't be too sure there wouldn't be a market for ... recreational pursuits. In the real world, fat people with no wilderness experience pay $$$$$$$ to go to Africa and 'hunt' lions. Who's to say there aren't people in the GFFA willing to pay top credit for a shot at more exotic game?

Respectfully but with plenty of euphemisms,

Brian P.

Wait, why did you put my quote in a spoiler box?

Maybe this group is just a bunch of rich people and this is their idea of vacations. That would help explain how the younglings never noticed the floating base, maybe it only shows up a handful of weeks a year.

[Mechalich]

Maybe this group is just a bunch of rich people and this is their idea of vacations. That would help explain how the younglings never noticed the floating base, maybe it only shows up a handful of weeks a year.

At least some portion of the Transdoshan culture worships a deity called the Scorekeeper. Hunting and killing prey, the more dangerous the better, is functionally a divine commandment. Dar, in this episode, is actually trying to complete a rite of passage to adulthood by killing Ahsoka. As a result this is more like a religious retreat and other Transdoshans would absolutely pay the clan running the base for the privilege of using the hunting grounds, especially with a chance at a Jedi.

[pendell]

Wait, why did you put my quote in a spoiler box?

Because you put your initial "my thoughts" in a spoiler. I responded as best I could while trying to remove as many telltales as possible so I wouldn't need a spoiler box of my own.

Maybe this group is just a bunch of rich people and this is their idea of vacations. That would help explain how the younglings never noticed the floating base, maybe it only shows up a handful of weeks a year.

As good an explanation as any.

At least some portion of the Transdoshan culture worships a deity called the Scorekeeper. Hunting and killing prey, the more dangerous the better, is functionally a divine commandment. Dar, in this episode, is actually trying to complete a rite of passage to adulthood by killing Ahsoka. As a result this is more like a religious retreat and other Transdoshans would absolutely pay the clan running the base for the privilege of using the hunting grounds, especially with a chance at a Jedi.

This gives me an idea for a story; a 'hunting club' which advertises for voluntary 'quarry' to be hunted down and killed. If they survive, they get paid the equivalent of several years worth of ordinary labor; enough to start a business, pay off a mortgage, or send an offspring to college. Don't survive, and the question doesn't arise. Or perhaps a smaller consolation prize is paid to the survivor's family. All of this on the black market, of course, which the Republic would be determined to stamp out. Cue Jedi investigators hot on the trail.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Fyraltari]

At least some portion of the Transdoshan culture worships a deity called the Scorekeeper. Hunting and killing prey, the more dangerous the better, is functionally a divine commandment.

Yeah, in my opinion that's really lazy worldbuilding. Like "the Scorekeeper"? Come on.

Dar, in this episode, is actually trying to complete a rite of passage to adulthood by killing Ahsoka.

It seems impossible that everyone in this culture needs to kill a Jedi to be considered an adult and the way the dialog points out that Califa/Ahsoka would be his first Jedi kill I get the impression he's already killed before.

[Keltest]

Yeah, in my opinion that's really lazy worldbuilding. Like "the Scorekeeper"? Come on.



It seems impossible that everyone in this culture needs to kill a Jedi to be considered an adult and the way the dialog points out that Califa/Ahsoka would be his first Jedi kill I get the impression he's already killed before.

My understanding is that it just has to be a high profile hunt relative to the status of the hunter, and he's kind of a noble, so while a Jedi isnt the only viable target, its a really juicy one.

[Mechalich]

Yeah, in my opinion that's really lazy worldbuilding. Like "the Scorekeeper"? Come on.

The initial reference comes from Tales of the Bounty Hunters. High cheese was fairly common in the Bantam Era of the Legends EU. The idea was expanded upon at some length in SWTOR. The religion essentially organizes Trandoshan life into a giant contest, with the goal to obtain as many points as possible. The more points one had, the better the position acquired in the afterlife. This is certainly weird, but alien cultures should be weird.

'Scorekeeper' can be justified along the lines that it's a poor translation of what the goddess is actually called, but since the actual words would be some kind of unpronounceable reptilian growl, this is what gets used.

It seems impossible that everyone in this culture needs to kill a Jedi to be considered an adult and the way the dialog points out that Califa/Ahsoka would be his first Jedi kill I get the impression he's already killed before.

Dar was the son of an elite guild leader, which in the bizarrely gamified society of Trandoshans is a position of very high authority. So he needed a high profile target for his induction into the guild.

[Taevyr]

Yeah, you need to kill a worthy target if you want to get any Jagganath points: the more you have, the harder it gets to get more. Jedi are very worthy targets, apparently, but hardly the only ones.

Though the episode is definitely lacking, since most of the EU makes it clear that the challenge and the hunt itself is an important part: as said by others, this is essentially the equivalent of rich americans buying themselves/their children a kill. Wouldn't be that many points in it for any self-respecting hunter, unless they're literal novices.

[Fyraltari]

season 3, Episode 22, Wookiee Hunt

Spoiler: Recap

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Picking up immediately after where we left, Ahsoka evades a hunter in a scene reminiscent of that "hiding from the Nazguls" bit in the The Lord of the Rings movies. The trandoshan who was chasing her (and whose voice absolutely doesn't match his growls, it's hilarious) lost her scent despite being right ontop of her. The king calls off the hunt for the time being but he intends to get her eventually. Also, his hoverpod is painting in an angry face. She makes it back to the hide-out and gives the boys the bad news. They take it as badly as you expect. "We're going to die here, it's only a matter of time. -I say we go down with a fight! -That is suicide." Yes, Jinx, that's the idea. Ahsoka's idea is to attack the ship that brings new prisoners every few days (so, this is the trandoshans' main activity, not their vacations).

Later, Ahsoka and the other two jump on the ship as it arrives. It's only got a crew of two this time around, but I guess it makes sense that their operation is bit disturned by their boss mourning his son. One of them goes to confront the Jedi on the hull and gets socked by O-Mer and Jinx while Ahsoka uses the hatch he opened for her to get to the pilot. Yeah, these guys aren't the brightests, aren't they? At one point Jinx uses the Force to throw O-Mer at their ennemy. Yay, teamwork? The pilot does a Kill Bill on Ahsoka and surprises her with a shotgun. An actual shotgun, too, with faster-than-the-eye-can-see bullets. I feel like Jedi would have a much harder time if these weapons were more common.

Their fight damages the ship's controls and it starts convulsing and exploding. Sound slike a design flaw to me. They manage to throw the trandoshans overboard but Ahsoka doesn't want to abandon ship without saving the prisoners. So she hit one unlablled buttons among hundreds somehow knowing it'll drop them all. Good thing that's working. The Jedi land on the ground as the ship crashes. "Well, guess we won't be escaping on that ship." They find a surviving prisoner and the Force theme starts playing as Chewbacca is revealed.

1) CHEWIIIIE!
2) Called it:

It just dawned on me that it’s not a question of if Chewabacca is going to show up but when he inevitably will.

eleventh months ago? What the hell?
3) Hey, they let him keep his ammo bandolier. Nice, I guess?

the following morning, the trandoshans inspect the crash: two dead and the only prisoner escaped. The king isn't pleased. Hey Ahsoka understands Shryywookk. Convenient. Nobody knows Chewie was taken by he can build a transmitter to contact his homeworld. Jinx is being a contrarian during the entire conversation but every objection he raises is actually a good point. Tano and Chewie go search the wreck while the boys keep watch. Chewie was very literal when he said he was going to build a transmitter. He's not going to fix the ship's, he's taking bits of the ship apart. A hoverpod arrives and drops off a hunter who starts scoping the wreck. Random. O-Mer and Jinx stop him from sniping Ahsoka and Chewie overpowers him. Jink suggests they take him prisoner rather than kimm him and they take him to their base.

Chewie is having issues with his makeshift transmitter so the boys decide to implement another plan: using the prisoner to hijack a pod and fly to the fortress. Ahsoka can't let them do this alone so she agrees to help and guilt-trip Chewbacca into helping as well. The hunter refuses to co-operate and shrugs off Mind Tricks. Until Chewie socks him on the side of the head. That makes sense, I guess? Jinx makes him believed he's escaped so that he'd call a speeder to be picked up. I like that they couldn't just make him call a speeder, they had to justify it for him. They take over the hoverpod, pretty easily and, just as they leave, we see Chewbacca's trnasmitter finally getting a connection and sending out a recorded message.

When they arrive on the fortress, Chewbacca immediately chugs a guard over the safety rails (the one time somebody's got thos in this galaxy!) but the other sounds the alarm. Battle ensues and my, these reptiles are tougher than they look, they can take a thrown hoverpod to the face and puches from the Mighty Chewbacca himself. The king shoots O-Mer out of the sky and he crashes on the battlefield, forcing the others to jump to the ground. And stare up to the cannons of the ennemy's guns. And here comes the cvalry! In the form of a squad of Wookiees lead by a general (the one fro RotS, I'm sure), because of course they are, in the ship of Sugi, the bounty huntress from last season. Damn, is Kashyyyk so tight on money their army can't even afford their own ships?

The trandoshans are still surprisingly tough (one of them even overpowers Chewie) but the wookiees just start throwing them to their deaths some more. The general stomps on a hunter's face at one point. Brutal. Thr king retreats into his throne room and Ahsoka follows him, alone. Hey, there's a Mandalorian helmet from the KOTOR era in the throne room as trophy. Nice. The king gets the drop on Ahsoka, but chooses to attack her with a hatchet rather than his gun. At one point she tries to Force-slam him into a wall but he uses his claws to anchor himself to the ground. Neat trick. Ultimately she manages to throw him over a table and declares him beaten, because she feels like being dramatic I guess? He tries to grab his gun and she Force-pushes him so hard he crashes through the doors, against the railing and falls to his death. I guess that leaves the two idiots on the ground the trandoshans' only survivors. I wonder what the Wookiees'll do to them.

Cut to Coruscant... and Ahsoka and the boys are still grimy and dirty. Couldn't stop on Kashyyyk for a wash, a change of clothes, a good meal, a physical and a good night's rest on an actual bed? Really? Plo Koon is just glad "Little 'Soka" is fine but Anakin basically trips over himself apologizing for letting her get kidnapped. She reassures him there was nothing he could do, and since his training was what helped her stay alive and lead the others, he did in fact save her. They walk into the Temple as Yoda smiles knowingly. End of the season.

Spoiler: My thoughts

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Well this was a simple, nice enough arc. It allows Ahsoka to show how much she's grown as she slips into the leader role pretty seamlessly and does very well despite having no weapon or her usual allies to fall back to. It also has very good character work on Anakin as his protectiveness is presented sympathetically and his worries are of course relatable, but it's also foreshadowing of RotS since it shows that he's incapable of admitting that he can't protect his love ones 100% 24/7. Also I like the king's look, he seems to be some kind of albino with stripes painted on his scales, it really makes him stand out. Chewie wasn't really necessary to the episode (Ahsoka's already established to be good with ship machinery so she could have built that transmitter) but not a detriment either and it's nice to see him.

Next up: Well, this is it for season 3, so my thoughts on the season overall before moving on to Water War.

[Taevyr]

Concerning the shotgun/kinetic weaponry in general: "slugthrowers" are generally seen as archaic and complicated, as blaster fire canonically doesn't need to take the ballistics that impacts kinetic weaponry into account, since all a blaster does is "laser go pew" without any complications. The ammunition's also supposedly rarer/harder to produce than whatever powers blasters. There's one example (that I can think of) in SW lore where kinetic weapons were favored, however.

During the mandalorian wars, it didn't take long for the mandos to realize firing a blaster at a jedi was usually a pleasant diversion for them, as they hardly needed to put in any effort to reflect them back towards you. As a response, they soon decided to incorporate the use of slugthrowers against jedi, with those who could afford it always carrying one for that purpose.

Imagine a Jedi, utterly convinced he can block enemy fire the way they've always done for eons, putting his saber in a bullet's path and being rewarded with a face- or handful of hot, molten metal. Probably several times. While the other Jedi suffer the same thing.

It's really stupid that they're hardly ever used this way in canon, but I always liked that it's the mandalorians who actually thought of it in canon. Fits them perfectly.

[Keltest]

Concerning the shotgun/kinetic weaponry in general: "slugthrowers" are generally seen as archaic and complicated, as blaster fire canonically doesn't need to take the ballistics that impacts kinetic weaponry into account, since all a blaster does is "laser go pew" without any complications. The ammunition's also supposedly rarer/harder to produce than whatever powers blasters. There's one example (that I can think of) in SW lore where kinetic weapons were favored, however.

During the mandalorian wars, it didn't take long for the mandos to realize firing a blaster at a jedi was usually a pleasant diversion for them, as they hardly needed to put in any effort to reflect them back towards you. As a response, they soon decided to incorporate the use of slugthrowers against jedi, with those who could afford it always carrying one for that purpose.

Imagine a Jedi, utterly convinced he can block enemy fire the way they've always done for eons, putting his saber in a bullet's path and being rewarded with a face- or handful of hot, molten metal. Probably several times. While the other Jedi suffer the same thing.

It's really stupid that they're hardly ever used this way in canon, but I always liked that it's the mandalorians who actually thought of it in canon. Fits them perfectly.

Jedi are sufficiently rare that there isn't really a market for them. It would need to be a custom thing that only sees use by folks like General Grevious when he hunts down a jedi.

[Mechalich]

Concerning the shotgun/kinetic weaponry in general: "slugthrowers" are generally seen as archaic and complicated, as blaster fire canonically doesn't need to take the ballistics that impacts kinetic weaponry into account, since all a blaster does is "laser go pew" without any complications. The ammunition's also supposedly rarer/harder to produce than whatever powers blasters.

It's not that the ammunition is harder to produce, it's that its heavier, bulkier, and requires reloading more often. A modern assault rifle has a magazine with 30 rounds and weighs about half a kilo. A blaster power pack is good for at least 100 shots (sources differ somewhat) and weighs around 100 grams. That's a massive increase in efficacy in terms of fire rate and ammo capacity.

During the mandalorian wars, it didn't take long for the mandos to realize firing a blaster at a jedi was usually a pleasant diversion for them, as they hardly needed to put in any effort to reflect them back towards you. As a response, they soon decided to incorporate the use of slugthrowers against jedi, with those who could afford it always carrying one for that purpose.

Imagine a Jedi, utterly convinced he can block enemy fire the way they've always done for eons, putting his saber in a bullet's path and being rewarded with a face- or handful of hot, molten metal. Probably several times. While the other Jedi suffer the same thing.

It's really stupid that they're hardly ever used this way in canon, but I always liked that it's the mandalorians who actually thought of it in canon. Fits them perfectly.

Lightsabers can deflect bullets and other projectiles, though yes Jedi do have to be careful where the metal goes afterwards (or they just need to be wearing armor). If you've ever played the Jedi Knight games you've done just that against several Imperial-wielded projectile weapons as Kyle Katarn. Jedi can also Force push projectiles back at the shooter (though this works better with slow things like grenades and missiles than bullets). Lightsabers can also detect non-blaster forms of energy, like the 'maser' weaponry used by the Chiss in some Legends sources. Jedi are, however, vulnerable to area attacks whether energy or projectile in nature. Shotgun-style weapons existed in Star Wars for both projectile and energy technologies, and were called Scatterguns or Scatter Blasters respectively. There were plenty of other useful weapons for overcoming a lightsaber defense, like flamethrowers or sonic blasters, too.

Weapon variability in Star Wars is a funny, and it shifts a lot by production type. Video games tend to have all sorts of different weapons using different technologies - as early as the original Dark Forces Kyle Katarn was carrying around a good half-dozen different weapon types - while other sources are much more conservative. Animation particularly favors blasters, for reasons of both visibility and ratings.

[Peelee]

My apologies on the lateness of this one:

Next up: Wookie Hunt.

Wookiee. 2 E's.

[Fyraltari]

My apologies on the lateness of this ine:



Wookiee. 2 E's.

Ah, Sithspit.

[Peelee]

It's really stupid that they're hardly ever used this way in canon, but I always liked that it's the mandalorians who actually thought of it in canon. Fits them perfectly.

As others have said, the rarity of the Jedi for the rest of the galaxy is a big factor for this not being stupid, but another factor is that it's not an unstoppable weapon against the Jedi; if they have the precondition and reaction time to swing a lightsaber in front of a bullet, they almost certainly have time to get out of the bullet's way. Lightsaber deflection is their preferred defense, but it's not their only defense.

Ah, Sithspit.

Hey, you got it during the actual episode review!

Also, if nothing else, I'm pleased to have heightened awareness about it.

[dancrilis]

As others have said, the rarity of the Jedi for the rest of the galaxy is a big factor for this not being stupid, but another factor is that it's not an unstoppable weapon against the Jedi; if they have the precondition and reaction time to swing a lightsaber in front of a bullet, they almost certainly have time to get out of the bullet's way. Lightsaber deflection is their preferred defense, but it's not their only defense.

I think it also likely depends on if lightsabers are solid or not - and they seem to go back and fourth on that, so maybe it is a lightsaber setting that Jedi can choose to use or not.

[Mechalich]

I think it also likely depends on if lightsabers are solid or not - and they seem to go back and fourth on that, so maybe it is a lightsaber setting that Jedi can choose to use or not.

A lightsaber is a continual plasma stream, with particles held in place through the use of an extremely powerful energy field. 'Solid' isn't really a term that applies. For comparison, a high-powered water jet isn't solid, but it still possesses force an the ballistics of a bullet impacting such a stream are quite different from an equivalent still mass of liquid.

So a bullet that impacts a lightsaber blade will lose a huge proportion of its directional velocity and will deflect away at an angle. Now, because of the considerable physical mass of the slug it won't deflect directly backwards toward the shooter, and in fact will probably only shift 10-20 degrees. Such a shot could still very easily still hit the Jedi, especially if they aren't used to deflecting slugs, but it will do considerably less damage. This is akin to being hit by a ricochet, something that happens all the time in firefights, especially in enclosed spaces with lots of metal, but ricochets are far less dangerous than straight shots.

Truthfully, Jedi going into an actual combat zone should be wearing body armor because of the possibility of ricochets (blasters bounce off things too) but also explosions and shrapnel. Jedi in various Old Republic Eras did wear body armor in combat, and Obi-Wan wears it during the Clone Wars, but generally Star Wars is a franchise that eschews proper use of armor for distinctive character designs. Not just with Jedi, either. For example, the bounty hunter Sugi, who showed up in the most recent episode, wanders around combat zones in a tank top.

[dancrilis]

A lightsaber is a continual plasma stream, with particles held in place through the use of an extremely powerful energy field. 'Solid' isn't really a term that applies. For comparison, a high-powered water jet isn't solid, but it still possesses force an the ballistics of a bullet impacting such a stream are quite different from an equivalent still mass of liquid.

This would be fine if we didn't see things like Ahsoka's lightsaber acting solid in The Mandalorian, or people lodging them into rocks to catch themselves while falling in at least one of the new comics.

The density of lightsaber blades seems to be somewhat variable depending on situation.

[Keltest]

This would be fine if we didn't see things like Ahsoka's lightsaber acting solid in The Mandalorian, or people lodging them into rocks to catch themselves while falling in at least one of the new comics.

The density of lightsaber blades seems to be somewhat variable depending on situation.

When does it act solid in the Mandalorian?

[dancrilis]

When does it act solid in the Mandalorian?

In her fight with The Magistrate a number of times (notable it acted a lot less solid when she attacked the main character earlier).

[Keltest]

In her fight with The Magistrate a number of times (notable it acted a lot less solid when she attacked the main character earlier).

Thats not a function of the lightsaber, that's the Bescar that Mando's armor and the pike are made of.

[dancrilis]

Thats not a function of the lightsaber, that's the Bescar that Mando's armor and the pike are made of.

So beskar armour makes lightsabers not act as solid, but beskar weapons do make lightsabers act as solid - can you provide some sources on that other then it being an interpretation of the scenes in that episode?

Seperately in Star Wars: The High Republic a character is falling and lodges the blade into a rock to catch themselves and then just hangs there for a while.

[Keltest]

So beskar armour makes lightsabers not act as solid, but beskar weapons do make lightsabers act as solid - can you provide some sources on that other then it being an interpretation of the scenes in that episode?

Seperately in Star Wars: The High Republic a character is falling and lodges the blade into a rock to catch themselves and then just hangs there for a while.

I think youre just misinterpreting the fight with Mando. He's deflecting the blades off his armor, but he still has his body under there, and he's still subject to Newton's Laws.

Secondly, solid is a state of matter, the same as plasma. Nothing makes a lightsaber "go solid", it just eventually encounters resistance such that it cant pass through. If i shoot a hose at a steel plate, the water doesnt "become solid" when it bounces off, it just cant keep going the way its going. We see in The Phantom Menace that dense/thick/massive enough material can provide some resistance to lightsabers.

[dancrilis]

I think youre just misinterpreting the fight with Mando. He's deflecting the blades off his armor, but he still has his body under there, and he's still subject to Newton's Laws.

He didn't move (nor did she) as if she had hit him with solid blades that bounced off the armour - where against the spear they were fairly solid.

Secondly, solid is a state of matter, the same as plasma. Nothing makes a lightsaber "go solid", it just eventually encounters resistance such that it cant pass through. If i shoot a hose at a steel plate, the water doesnt "become solid" when it bounces off, it just cant keep going the way its going. We see in The Phantom Menace that dense/thick/massive enough material can provide some resistance to lightsabers.

Not sure your point here - if you shoot a hose at a steel plate for long enough it might eventually bore through but you will never be able to use the stream of water to hang hang off the hole you bore.

In The Phantom Menace they push the lightsaber in and turn it - I take this to be working like a plasma cutter but it is debatable.

[Peelee]

He didn't move (nor did she) as if she had hit him with solid blades that bounced off the armour - where against the spear they were fairly solid.

Can you clear something up for me? When have lightsabers ever acted like they were not weightless solid blades?

[dancrilis]

So beskar armour makes lightsabers not act as solid

Just rewatched this scene and I remembered it wrong - they do act fairly solid against the armour.

Can you clear something up for me? When have lightsabers ever acted like they were not weightless solid blades?

See:

During the mandalorian wars, it didn't take long for the mandos to realize firing a blaster at a jedi was usually a pleasant diversion for them, as they hardly needed to put in any effort to reflect them back towards you. As a response, they soon decided to incorporate the use of slugthrowers against jedi, with those who could afford it always carrying one for that purpose.

Imagine a Jedi, utterly convinced he can block enemy fire the way they've always done for eons, putting his saber in a bullet's path and being rewarded with a face- or handful of hot, molten metal. Probably several times. While the other Jedi suffer the same thing.

Seperately I am the one argueing that they can be solid at times, with others comparing them to a stream of water.

For an example of this here at about the 58th second the energy is prevented from continuing onward (in a manner similiar to a stream of water from a hose as others have indicated above).

Spoiler

Show

[Jasdoif]

Weapon variability in Star Wars is a funny, and it shifts a lot by production type. Video games tend to have all sorts of different weapons using different technologies - as early as the original Dark Forces Kyle Katarn was carrying around a good half-dozen different weapon types - while other sources are much more conservative.

I think it's that at the high level, Star Wars doesn't really care about the details of the setting's equipment (nor pretend to, unlike Star Trek), and thus the medium determines what it needs to provide. In the case of Dark Forces, a Doom-like released during Doom's heyday, it clearly wanted to evoke the numerous-weapons-with-multiple-ammo feel; thus Kyle carrying up to nine (I think?) types of weapons with power packs/energy cells/mortar rounds/thermal detonators/mines/plasma rounds/rockets to keep track of.

Meanwhile, in episodes of The Clone Wars; blaster bolt color is generally determined by which faction is firing them, even though this is ostensibly due to optimization by the manufacturer of the weapon and blasters sometimes change hands during the course of an episode. Because quickly showing who's where with an overhead shot is far more useful to the audience than in-universe technical details would be.

I think it also likely depends on if lightsabers are solid or not - and they seem to go back and fourth on that, so maybe it is a lightsaber setting that Jedi can choose to use or not.

I believe this depends on how strong the beam's containment field is; largely because lightsabers wouldn't resemble swords if the field wasn't a rigid extension of the hilt, and because I remember reading that the training lightsabers used by initiates have strengthened containment fields so a good hit leaves a welt instead of a bloody stump or corpse.

[Peelee]

I think it's that at the high level, Star Wars doesn't really care about the details of the setting's equipment (nor pretend to, unlike Star Trek)

By the time we had 50-foot Abraham Lincoln In Space, I think it was safe to abandon the idea that Star Trek particularly cared all that much about the details of the equipment.

And if anyone thinks they have any decent rebuttal to this, don't make me bring out Warp Drive.

[Jasdoif]

I think it's that at the high level, Star Wars doesn't really care about the details of the setting's equipment (nor pretend to, unlike Star Trek)

By the time we had 50-foot Abraham Lincoln In Space, I think it was safe to abandon the idea that Star Trek particularly cared all that much about the details of the equipment.

The amount of technobabble suggests attempting to maintain the illusion, though.

[Fyraltari]

By the time we had 50-foot Abraham Lincoln In Space

Where else would you put 50-foot Abraham Lincoln?