Star Wars: The High Republic is Disney's new grand plan for the future of the franchise, telling stories in an unexplored era in Star Wars history, depicting the Jedi and the Republic at the height of their respective powers. Unfortunately, Disney has had to delay the release of High Republic materials, but they have been slowly letting some bread crumbs drop. The latest of these was a look at one of the design aspects unique to The High Republic, the lightsaber.
A lightsaber belonging to a new character, Jedi Master Stellan Gios was introduced recently on the official Star Wars website. Although the intention was to create a lightsaber that was evocative of Excalibur and traditional images of medieval knights, fans have made a different connection to a classic 80s cartoon, ThunderCats. Users on Reddit have pointed out that Master Gios' impressive lightsaber bears an uncanny resemblance to the Sword of Omens thanks to it's crossguard design.
The classic 80s' Saturday morning cartoon was about a race of cat-like aliens who abandoned their doomed homeworld and settled on a strange, magical planet called Third Earth. The surviving ThunderCats are led by Lion-O, who wields the mystical sword by birthright.
The Sword of Omens is an essential part of the lore, a highlight of the show's intro and featured in nearly every episode. The Sword of Omens is also psychically linked to every living ThunderCat. Lion-O is able to use The Sword of Omens to give him "sight beyond sight," allowing him to see if any of his people are in danger. Furthermore, he can send out a beacon that all ThunderCats can see and hear by yelling "ThunderCats, ho!"
Like a lightsaber, the Sword of Omens also has a disappearing blade. In the cartoon, the weapon starts off looking like a dagger. Only when Lion-O ritualistically shouts "Thunder! Thunder! ThunderCats, ho!" does the sword actually extend to its full length.
Fans have been having good-natured fun with the comparisons, and while they understand what Disney's intentions were, it has become impossible for some to separate the two. If this new type of lightsaber features heavily in The High Republic, get ready to see a lot more ThunderCats jokes.
Star Wars: Light of the Jedi will release on Jan. 5, 2021.