"What is it?" "Your father's lightsaber. This is a weapon of the Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times... before the Empire."

It's worth noting, here, that the line about killing comes from a character that misunderstands and hates the jedi.

Ima be honest, I would so steal all those lightsabers. Catch me hiding in the bushes till the battle is over

kreia: "A lightsaber. A jedi too, and a Sith weapon."

@thestupendouswave I’m going to have to disagree here. The only person to say to draw a lightsaber is means the Jedi is ready to kill is Mae. She’s been manipulated by Qimir for years. Even if he believes that, it’s a lie that the legacy of the darksiders has clearly perpetuated. The true statement is that if a lightsaber is drawn, death is not imminent but is possible though not desired. I agree with the statement that Jedi see lightsabers as swords that are shields and nothing in the show has contradicted that so far. The show has its flaws, but this isn’t one of them.

Clearly, everybody here forgot Mae was just trying to play mind games with the Jedi.

It’s like you two had the point cornered but it escaped you like a wascally wabbit

CONTEXT IS VERY IMPORTANT This isn't set in the clone wars or the new republic or the old republic. This is set in the high Republic. Jedi have been at peace for years and have grown complacent and overconfident in their ability to diffuse situations with the force and martial arts. Lots of jedi even stopped practicing lightsaber combat altogether because they thought it was unnecessary and too violent.

they don't understand the entire premise of Star Wars.

I think some people are taking the line to literal. Perhaps Mae has a distorted view of the Jedi and thinks or was taught this.

In the high republic the jedi are supposed to be true peacekeepers and withhold from drawing a lightsaber unless absolutely necessary. They are opposed to violence of all types and even have to use their blade to unlock the weapons system on their ships. It's simply a different philosophy for a much more peaceful time

Just because a Sith or Sith Acolyte says “A Jedi only does…” doesn’t mean they are speaking facts. The Sith are known for playing on a Jedi’s morality and that’s all that was needed for o me. Mae messing with Indara’s moral high ground in attempts to bring her low. For a Sith acolyte it’s not surprising to use any means necessary to unbalance your enemy. Also, Mae wasn’t a true Sith so she was likely just repeating whatever teachings she herself was taught. She was flowing on hatred so it didn’t matter whether she was speaking truth or not, slander can be just as affective for a desperate newb.

I never get in the First fight with Trinity she says that line "attacks me with all your strength", that's the opposite of Jedi philosophy. A much better line wouldve been "defend yourself with all of your strength". Jedi are all about defense always. Its the small stuff with the writing like that that drives me nuts.

The Acolyte suffers the same issue that many modern adaptations or treatments suffer: that its out to use an IP to tell a specific story instead of telling a story in service of that IP. In the case of The Acolyte, the story they wanted to tell was a deconstruction of roles, primarily roles such as "good guys," "authorities," and the patriarchy, handled with all the narrative grace of a toddler.

Perfectly said; "My lightsaber is only a weapon of death, rather than restraint and harmony...". Its just so against everything we know about lightsabers and the writers dont have a clue.

The Acolyte writers doesn't get Star Wars mythos as a whole. They just took the skin of Star Wars, and think they could get away with it, and fans wouldn't notice

It comes down the quote when obi wan said to anakin "only a sith works in absolutes." So having the mindset that a lightsaber is meant to kill sounds "working in absolutes."

Maybe they are emphasizing the difference in the Jedi of the High Republic and the Jedi of Prequel era and beyond. Maybe something happened that caused the Jedi to change their philosophy when it comes to the use of the saber.

Thank you for being honest and not blindly going along with Disney nonsense

Those were different times and the acolyte deals with that very well

The Jedi of the high republic are obviously being shown to be like the samurai that existed after the warring states period of japan. They didn’t draw their sword unless they intend to kill you. They follow the rules of ritualistic combat such as fairness, formal bowing, no dirty tricks. All the nonsense written in Hagakure. The samurai of the post warring states era were artists, politicians, poets, and lastly warriors. Though they trained a lot, a warrior is built through war, not playing in a dojo. They were nothing in comparison to the warring states period samurai who would kill you using whatever they could. The high republic Jedi are being depicted like this for a reason. We are watching the fall of a once great order of warriors. And who is their enemy? The Ninja. The Sith. The hidden. The deceptive. The rule breakers. As someone who has spent 40 years immersed in Japanese martial arts, all of this makes sense to me. Everything changes from one generation to the next. Even beliefs about samurai have changed wildly over the past 3 generations as we learned that the samurai that wrote the hagakure were not philosophically similar to the samurai of the sengoku period. All that “if I draw my blade you will die” stuff was created by fancy elite samurai from a time of peace in japan. That era gave rise to some amazing Shinobi though. Because the samurai were too focused on rules and honor, it made them easier to kill. I usually enjoy this channel, but I find your lack of historical insight disturbing. Jedi are based on samurai. The Jedi way, like the way of the samurai expressed in a Ryu changes over time like a river. Sometimes peaceful, sometimes turbulent, but always changing. I think in the future you will look back at this show and feel great dissatisfaction with your initial understanding of what was being shown.

not understanding that the blade isn’t special without a trained wielder is insane

I remember when episode 3 came out in theaters and my sister's friend was laughing how Star Wars has laser swords and people wave their hands to do magic in space. I feel that is the understanding Disney has about Star Wars.

I cant stand how Disney completely got rid of the yellow flashes for saber clashes (not sure if you talk about that in this)

“Throwing Windu out the window”😂😂yaw get me through my 12 hour shifts I swear

The Acolyte is misquoting an old Samuri saying, "Never Draw your sword unless your prepared to draw blood!" The idea being to impress upon the student never draw your weapon unless youe prepared to use it.

I'll be honest, I feel like comparing this era of Jedi to Obi-Wan's era is very shaky. Remember that this show takes place AFTER the events of the High Republic books, and so far the Jedi there still seem relatively quick to use their lightsabers. The philosophy of not wanting to kill anyone is still very much there, but it seems somehow the Jedi got more strict about this part of their code in this show, and then somehow seem to have lost sight of it entirely by the time of TPM. So I agree with that there are major inconsistencies here, but comparing these Jedi to Obi-Wan during his time as a Jedi Knight is a big leap. Considering Obi-Wan and his entire generation of Jedi are very different from Sol, Indara, and her group.

Yo i love this cat!! Salute to your channel my G!!!

The Acoylate gets everything wrong

The way of the jedi couldn't have changed over thousands of years.

Not to mention all the limbs that have been chopped off in Canon to diffuse a situation non-thethally. That line to me shows a lack on understanding of the universe they are contributing to.

Acolyte doesn't understand normal emotions.

My mind flashes to Obi-Wan in episode 2, cutting Zam Wessel non-lethally

When you look at it as the Jedi being an allegory to American law enforcement in The Acolyte, it makes sense. The lightsabers are pistols which have that very rule "Do not point the barrel at anything you're unwilling to destroy"

Guys, I get what you think you're saying, you're wrong. Indara says "A Jedi doesn't attack the unarmed." Horrible writing and not true, Proper remark would be "A Jedi does not attack. A Jedi defends." Mae says "the Jedi only pull their lightsabers when they're prepared to kill." and Indara does not put it away, she lowers it, while it is still lit. Good fight choreography. She didn't deny it, because words have power, not using them is a form of power, good fight choreography again. You seem to know a lot more about lightsaber etiquette than I do, but I only take the time to learn the etiquette I need to use so I appreciate that there. Much of what you've said I've heard here and there before, I remember few names because they're not English enough to make the dent they need to in my brain, considering the etiquette I need again. Thank you for the comic reference, that is one of my favorite exchanges between Anakin and Obi-Wan, mostly because of how it implies the tutelage of Yoda in Dooku through Qui-Gon. Acolyte SUCKS.

Stupendouswave, it's been a while my friend!

If there is one thing the acolyte does right its the sith guy and the lightsaber fights, don't forget maybe the older ways of the lightsaber philosophy is different to the philosophy of the prequels... i just mean it plays a 100 years before the prequels.

Excellent video!

Acolyte Jedi: I’m drawing my lightsaber to kill he’s too dangerous to be alive Canon Jedi: That is not the Jedi way he must live. A Jedi uses the force only to defend never for attack

to be fair how I personally look at it is different jedi out there have your own beliefs and do things in your own unique way and remember they all might be jedi but they are completely different people at the end

Guys, they also use their lightsabers for non lethal uses in the show as well, in the first episode or 2nd episode, Yord uses it as a light source, they don’t mean the literal only use is to kill, they mean in the context of the combat

I like that "Jedi sword should be used as a shield". Upholds the lore.

I remember reading "if a Jedi has a spare light saber, then thats two weapons too many a Jedi carries"

Great breakdown. I just chalked it up to these Jedi’s aren’t battle tester, high ego, and being afraid so they are quicker to grab their Lightsaber.

This is because the acolyte is written by woke individuals who want to portray the light saber as it last resort weapon rather than what a light saber is supposed to be a Jedi’s life as Obi-Wan said to Anakin

Saber chucks are insane 😂

These commentary videos are great! I really think Stupendous Wave should do them more often!

Great video on what a Jedi view a lightsaber.

17:57 "Because they're poorly written." The story is about how the stable and "good" period of the Jedi Order BEGAN TO FAIL AND FALL INTO A BETRAYAL OF THEIR TENETS and how individual people are far more nuanced and varied than the way that BOTH the Jedi and Sith have declared or perceive them to be. The fact that you think this is wrong or that your assessment is even remotely valid is a WILD display of both willful ignorance and uncharacteristic nonsense from this channel. What a load of bullcrap filled with completely subjective commentary presented as objective measure, non-valid "lore", and prioritization of personal preference over isolated performance and/or fiction. Never thought I'd hear so much blatant incorrectness from YOU. Holy crap.

Literally the first combat use of a lightsaber we see in the lore is Kenobi lopping off an arm.

This probably has no baring for the Jedi but an interesting point is that Lucas did base the Jedi on Samurai and not drawing your sword unless it’s to kill is actually a thing in samurai culture (I believe, anyone that is free to say I’m wrong if they know better)

What I’m wondering is why are there so many yellow lightsabers? They seem to be just as common as blue and green here but 80 years later you pretty much never see them

If a jedi lights up his ligh saber it means diplomacy has fail and needs yo gain control of the situation. Just lightning it up scares and tells people to chill out.

I thought the high republic looked at sabers as a piece of art so they did not want to use it for fighting. More so for displays which is why when they draw it, it’s business. This also takes place years before so couldn’t the way a saber is looked at, change? From artwork to the weapon of a Jedi?

Stupendous, thank you for answering my question/comment about Yoda’s shoto saber hilt because of his height.

Lightsabers according to George Lucas: an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. Lightsabers according to Disney: laser death swords.

Couldve gone my life without watching this show just like my friend 😂

- "Whip it out" "That's all I have..." -

“don’t forget what the sith are”

How can you say that any of your opponents are “unarmed” when they are constantly armed with the force lol

Just out of curiosity but could the reason this eras Jedi have that mind set be because they are still wary after their recent conflict with the Nihil I mean it's only been 100 hundreds unless I'm mistaken.

the color of the blade is symbolic like every other part the idea its never "drawn unless prepared to kill is too simplistic a view for what it stands for

You two expressed my inner feelings perfectly on the Acolyte.

Disney needs to finally understand that Dark Side does not mean Sith. A Sith follows the Sith Code and the Sith ideology. They are not good people! Stop trying to change what Sith are Disney.. "Empathy is a Jedi trait. Empathy leads to understanding. Understanding leads to compassion. Compassion leads to love. There is no place for love for a Sith. Only hate." ―A Sith master to his apprentice

I agree with you guys.

Continuity is for wimps. ~ George Lucas Get over yourselves.

It’s a civilized tool used as an extension of the jedis power

In SWTOR for example, you could try to avoid fights with jedi as a sith in cutscenes but jedi don't automatically go "oh ok ure free to go" xd

This is not the Jedi Way

Being a Jedi means master self control

And another thing they tried to ruin is the process of making a lightlsaber

There are no perfect Jedi! They make mistakes! The movies show this over and over again!

You guys cite examples of how lightsabers are viewed during the clone wars and after the fall of the Jedi order. When you read the High Republic novels, starting with "Light of the Jedi", they specifically note how lightsabers are strictly used as last resort. "The weapons sounded like nothing else in the galaxy. To Bell, it was the sound of skill, and training, and focus, and the choice of last resort, and the art of the Jedi. Lightsabers were designed to end conflicts. They were designed to injure no more than necessary, and in the horrible circumstance where death was the only possible outcome, they would kill quickly. No more damage would be done by a lightsaber than its wielder chose. There was no collateral damage with the lightsaber."

I've watched everything star wars pretty much but something told not to watch the acolyte and after your vids I'm glad I didn't

If Star wars was a religion, then the Disney version is the Jehovah's witness 😂.

A Jedi never casually ignites a lightsaber. To possess a lightsaber is to shoulder a responsibility that is both great and terrible.

Also when anakin was hesitant in killing dooku, another example of when it was not a given that he was going to kill him

Jedi: believe they're underneath The Force Sith: believe they're above The Force

Dunno, I think they all have a version of "live by the sword, die by the sword" - great vid, I am not up on the various stories and it was interesting.

I was also thinking the red lightsaber is a red flag because they're made by pouring all your nastiness into the crystal, so to be able to do that you must be very bad indeed, and have probably been trained by someone who has the nasty sith legacy of ambition and manipulation.

the show turned out so bad that the most optimistic channel calls them out

Straight up diss us in the first seconds saying, "Greetings Acolytes"

We can't forget most jedi we know are combat veterans they have a much different experience with their weapons then a generation not used to war but only to be used in self defense

Its not that serious

Considering this happened over 100 years before the prequels I can c why their views on the lightsaber is different

They don't understand the force what makes you think that they're going to understand a lightsaber

Darth Bane tricked Zana into using her lightsaber instead of her Sith ability. She figured that out and defeated him on their next encounter.

Could this lightsaber philosophy mismatch perhaps be because the one from the Old and New Republics was in response to an event between the High and Old Republics? Was it ever confirmed this philosophy predated the High Republic? I haven't watched the Acolyte yet but it would be pretty cool if the Acolyte covers this mismatch.

Ngl i absolutely hate see Mark Hamill/Luke in that bastardized form in the sequels.

When you have nothing left to complain about….

Dear Stupendous Wave, could you make an video explanation about how the jedi during the clone wars were more susceptible versus the old republic era? I thought the jedi were always on the defense because of the rule of two and not that the old republic (before Ep1) was the "golden era". Thx

My thoughts are things change over a hundred years.

I think Doku also cut anakins forearm as a lesson because at that point anakin was "proud" of his saber skills and it was to prove a point that he had more to learn and it pushed anakin to do so. Getting more powerful in the process

G'day all, just wanted to say that there could be blood from lightsaber cuts if they go through a large artery. Most cauterising of wounds involves pressing down with a hot object, to pretty much fry the top layer of flesh together. The pressure from an artery would easily blow through a deep wound, especially if the lightsaber cuts so quickly passing through a person, it might just as well burn people's' veins and arteries open.

The fights are one of the only things they got somewhat right in this series tho I still resent Disney for turning lightsabers into some kind of bat instead of a lightsaber that decapitates and cuts right through you without slowing down it’s just really annoying because they wanna keep it pg like in the Kenobi series when the Sabre seems to bounce off the storm troopers after cutting them I mean what is that

A little too specific in examining words, maybe? I assumed they meant in a confrontatio situation where an attacker was trying to injure / subdue / kill a Jedi, only light a saber when it seems you need to make/ kill an attacker / enemy....

2:51 agreeing to this, Ben when he protects Luke in the bar cuts off the arm and not kills a unarmed (pun intended) person. Which matches what he said. Also in episode one when obi and his master get spooked while waiting for the federation and the room starts to fill up with gas, they both draw thier lightsabers

I'm not defending the High Republic, but in the books, the idea of not drawing a saber on an unarmed person and until a life is at stake or prepared to kill, is a canon idea. It's canon because it's in the High Republic novels. They still use it as a tool, as a light, to get out of a locked room etc., but it's a moral principle of defending life

Have anyone notice that Disney thinks that the Force is an "invisible wall"? In OT and prequels we always see Jedi and Sith using the Force like pushing stuff or levitating things, while in Disney it's always used as an invisible wall that you can literally touch or something that paralyzes people... man, it's about time we delete all Disney's Star Wars, with some few exceptions

Another great example of how the Jedi should use their lightsaber is with Obi Wan on Mustafar. Even after Anakin slaughted a majority of the Order at the temple, killed younglings, and the unarmed separatist, Obi Wan still decided to use a non-lethal move on Anakin. Even though it was a forbidden move, Obi Wan had all the authority to kill Anakin, now being a Sith Lord and for what he had done at the temple, but again Kenobi showed restrain and ended the battle without taking Anakin's life, and leaving the fate of Anakin to the Force! I will always believe that Obi Wan is a perfect example of what a Jedi should be. His nickname is "The Negotiator", he would always try to find a diplomatic solution before all else, and the times we see him use his lightsaber he rarely takes a life. He is shown using non-lethal techniques all throughout Star Wars. Like you mentioned in the New Hope, Attack of the Clones, during the Clone Wars, and again on Mustafar! Even during the Kenobi series. He could have taken Darth's life again but listened to the Force and ended the battle!