For Star Wars, it's never been hard to make a space wizard wielding a laser sword cool. Lightsabers have always been an easy and awesome concept that ignited fans' imaginations ever since Obi-Wan first activated his in the seedy Mos Eisley bar, and A New Hope's climax upped the ante by putting the old Jedi against the ominous Darth Vader in the first of many Star Wars sword fights.
And the ante has kept on getting upped ever since; the original trilogy continued to find ways to make the lightsaber duels that proved the franchise's signature duels increasingly elaborate. Since the end of that series, however, the trend seems to have grown towards making the lightsabers themselves ever fancier. With the latest sneak peek at The Rise of Skywalker it looks like the franchise is about to get it's most ridiculous weapon yet: the switchblade lightsaber.
The trend first started in the trailer for The Phantom Menace, the first return to the franchise after the original trilogy ended. The hotly anticipated film whet fans' palettes all the more when they got their first look at Darth Maul igniting his lightsaber... and then igniting the other end of it.
While the dual-lightsaber was alternately awesome or ludicrous depending on who you asked, there was no doubt that it was pretty impractical. dual-swords did not see common usage throughout most of human history. The ability to swing one blade becomes a lot more limited when the wielder needs to worry about the second impaling them. Luckily, the movie made it work by integrating it into Maul's acrobatic fighting style.
The similar marketing move of revealing Kylo Ren's lightsaber for the first time in the trailer for The Force Awakens felt a lot more practical, but somehow still a little silly. While a crossguard on a sword makes sense, which is why real swords often have them, the dramatic build of two tiny lightsabers popping out the handle feels like an anticlimax. The crossguard function ended up being merely incidental anyways and were later explained as merely exhaust-ports for a shoddily-built weapon.
And yet the switchblade lightsaber still feels more ridiculous. In the latest sneak peek of the next Star Wars film, the screen dramatically goes dark before Rey's face appears bathed in the red light of her twin blades. It is the same kind of dramatic reveal that Maul and Kylo's lightsabers received in previous trailers, but is immediately apparent as less practical or cool than either.
What would two blades right next to each other even do? If there is anything one lightsaber cannot cut through it's not like two would help, and with the blades directly parallel to each other there is no advantage for reach or the angles of attack. Yet, somehow, the weapon makes even less sense from there when Rey flips it out like a switchblade.
Completely unfolded, the switchblade lightsaber looks identical to Maul's dual-lightsaber, but the process of unfolding it is far more impractical. A full range of space is necessary in order for the second blade to swing out. Any allies around Rey or any enclosed space she would be in would be under threat merely from trying to use her weapon to its fullest extent, and even then it comes with all the same impracticalities as the regular dual-blade.
Of course, it's possible that Rey may not care about the safety of her allies or collateral damage any longer. In the trailer she wears the dark robes and wields the signature-red saber of the Sith. While it remains to be seen whether the footage is just of a Force vision or a dream or any other extenuating circumstance, regardless of context, the weapon feels ridiculous.
The honorable mention for the most ridiculous Star Wars weapon comes, however, from Star Wars Rebels. In another riff on the dual-blade concept, the Inquisitors introduced dual-bladed spinning lightsabers into Rebels. The handle is surrounded by a circular track the blades can revolve around quickly, and the addition of its new features almost seems like a razor blade company increasingly trying to top the competition.
Of course, even then the Inquisitors' sabers at least have practical usage. Their rapid revolutions make for an effective shield, and they're even shown to use the weapons as helicopter blades for short-range flight. The switchblade lightsaber just doesn't bring anything new to the table, and feels like a useless gimmick thrown in for flair and novelty.