The Last Jedi’s most controversial line pays off the first draft of A New Hope

One of Luke Skywalker’s most controversial lines in Star Wars: The Last Jedi Actually serves as an homage to the earliest drafts of the original Star Warswho was later taken over A new hope. The Last Jedi Was a controversial Star Wars Movie for quite a few reasons. Of the ways it changed Luke’s character yet Return of the Jedi to the ways in which it diverges from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi Step on quite a few toes. Many viewers had problems with the movie, but one line in particular caused a lot of the issues.

After Rey Skywalker found Luke on AHC-TO The Last JediShe asked him to put together the resistance. Luke responded by saying “I go out with a laser sword and with my eyes down the entire first order?“Which caused a bit of an uproar. Many viewers thought it was odd that Luke would call lightsabers “laser swords,” given all the knowledge he has of the various lightsaber types and his experience using them. Although many thought the line was Disrespectful to one of the most iconic weapons in sci-fi history, it actually paid off a large portion of the early script for A new hope.

The term “laser sword” was used in the earliest drafts of A New Hope

In the early drafts for A new hopeThe iconic Jedi and Sith weapon is not called a lightsaber. In fact, George Lucas did not come up with the term lightsaber: it was Alan Dean Foster, the ghostwriter of the novelization of A new hope. Both Lucas and early versions of the script for A new hope Instead they were called laser swords, and Foster began using the term lightsaber to better explain how they worked. Luke’s use of the term “laser sword” in The Last Jedi is a tribute to the earliest origins of lightsabers, but it’s not the first – or last – time that term would be used.

Laser sword is becoming a more common term in Star Wars

Since The Last JediThe term “laser sword” has become increasingly common. Since The Last JediTwo other characters called a lightsaber a laser sword: Dean Dzarin in The Mandalorian And Hunter in Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Based on the fact that both Dean and Hunter are not very familiar with the Jedi or the Sith, “laser sword” seems to be some kind of slang term that the franchise has introduced. It would make sense that there would be slang about lightsabers as well, given their legendary status in the Jedi. Star WarsEspecially after Order 66.

The term “laser sword” is not only recently introduced to Star Wars Cannon, though. The first time anyone referred to a lightsaber as a laser sword on screen was when Anakin Skywalker first met Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Since The Phantom Menace Released in 1999, it predated Luke’s use of the “laser sword” by over a decade in both real life and the Star Wars Timeline. It also serves as further evidence that “laser sword” was a slang term used by people with little experience with the Jedi, as Anakin was still only a child at the time.

Although “laser sword” seemed like an ignorant term in The Last JediIt actually has some deep roots both inside and out Star Wars Canon. It’s also exactly the kind of deep-cut reference that should have served as a love letter to longtime fans, but it wasn’t received that way. In this way, Luke’s reference to laser swords works as an example of both the backlash The Last Jedi received and the ways it was misunderstood. A reference as deep as Luke’s “laser sword” line proves how much love Star Wars: The Last Jedi Had before Star Wars.