This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. —Obi-Wan Kenobi

With a few days of rumination behind us, let’s talk about the new lightsaber shown in the Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens trailer.

A darkly cloaked figure, presumably Sith, wades through deep snow on an unknown ice planet. Then, with a crackle he activates his blade, which seems to glow with electricity or fire. Then, amongst the huge excitements bookending this scene, comes my favorite part of the trailer: a second switch activates a hilt to appear, creating a mini-saber crossguard to his blade.

Voila.

This has attracted a lot of criticism and mockery. Dorkly compiled a list of all the best Internet reactions to the new saber, which is humorous but undeniably condescending (Keyblade Lightsaber FTW). My newsfeed reels with people calling the lightsaber “stupid” and “ridiculous.” Even Stephen Colbert’s gotten involved in the controversy. But I’m ecstatic to see some innovation and imagination in Abrams’ new film. He’s going to rewrite the Expanded Universe, a universe I’m deeply embedded in and attached to. However, the casting, trailer, and especially this new saber at least provide me a new hope that everything will be alright. This saber’s badass. And like Dorkly said, “once we see this in action, tearing motherf***ers apart, NO ONE WILL BE LAUGHING.”

Here’s a brief history lesson on the lightsaber, as it was written in the EU (now “Legends”).

Lightsabers were preceded by the Rakatan “Forcesaber,” which used an energy-channeling hilt to literally project dark side Force energy into a blade. Then, a group called the Je’daii used advanced off-world technology to develop the “First Saber,” which is functionally the same as the modern lightsaber. The Je’daii went on to form the Jedi Order, who created an energy sword that worked with the help of a hip-mounted battery pack. The dark lords of the ancient Sith Empire (c. 6900 BBY) were the ones to revolutionize lightsaber construction by including a power cell within the hilt itself—the build was later adopted by the Jedi, and this is the standard form of lightsaber seen up to the Original Trilogy. (Source: Wookieepedia)

If we even guesstimate the lightsaber to be around 7000 years old, we’d be insane not to think it would experience some developments and experimentation in its design. Look at real-world weaponry and how far we’ve come in 7000 years! Of course, we don’t have the elegance and sophistication of lightsabers, but we’ve got a stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Now, on a related note, I want to point towards the lightsaber that belongs to the Inquisitor in DisneyXD’s new series, Star Wars Rebels. Abrams doesn’t have any involvement in the project, but there’s a strange similarity here, perhaps as a nugget of foreshadowing to the teaser trailer.

The Inquisitor’s blade (He’s voiced by Jason Isaacs)

The Inquisitor first appears using one side of his blade, but it’s covered with a humongous circular hilt. Then, with the same sort of shock and awe we saw with Darth Maul in SW:I, the Inquisitor projects the second side of his blade to make a double-bladed staff. But look at the guard on this thing! It looks to be insanely heavy and impractical, even more ludicrous than the Unknown Sith’s blade above. In recent Star Wars merchandise, there appears to be an emphasis on the defensive side of lightsaber combat. Let me show you.

Ahsoka Tano, one of the main characters of the Star Wars: Clone Wars TV revival (consequently, Anakin Skywalker’s padawan), used two blades in the Jar’Kai form, with reverse grips (pretty unorthodox for anyone, let alone a padawan learner).

The reverse grip is known as Shien

Tano’s second blade (yellow) is shorter than a traditional lightsaber and is known as a “shoto.” Shotos were also super popular with Maris Brood, from The Force Unleashed videogame.

Brood’s variation is called a lightsaber tonfa or “guard shoto,” which has a special 90-degree grip for extra defense prowess

Oh, and there are also a number of ridiculous modifications made to the standard form of lightsaber hilt. Dooku used a curved hilt, Tenel Ka Djo literally built hers out of a severed rancor horn, Darth Nihl built a lightsaber staff using an extremely elongated hilt, and Anakin Solo built a lightsaber from scratch using a Yuuzhan Vong Lambent crystal that allowed him to sense the Vong with the Force. Jedi are wily, pragmatic, and seriously adaptive.

And, in conclusion, here are a few more examples of unbelievably awesome lightsaber design showcased in the EU.

A lightsaber pike, or lightsaber lance, with a saber on one end and halberd blade on the other

A dual-phase lightsaber, the kind used by Darth Vader and Corran Horn, extends to almost double the length of a regular saber

Kit Fisto specially modified his lightsaber to work underwater

Saving the best for last, certain incredibly talented lightsaber wielders like the Dark Jedi Lumiya used lightwhips—a flexible energy whip

Oh, hang on a second, there’s one more I forgot to mention:

Forked lightsabers, AKA “crossguard sabers,” have a second, dagger-length blade projecting at a 45-degree angle. It doesn’t very much look like these Stormtroopers are laughing, does it?

That’s right, everyone. Crossguard sabers are an invention of the EU. Only one Jedi is known to have used one, Roblio Darté, a male Jedi master who fought as a general in the Clone Wars until he was killed by Darth Vader.

This is not a guy I’d want to mess with

There are a multitude of ridiculous and impractical lightsaber designs already in circulation, so there’s no need to gang up on the (not so) new one. Note that if Luke’s lightsaber had a crossguard or a hilt like the Inquisitor’s, he probably wouldn’t have lost his hand in Cloud City.

So, for the sake of all dominant hands out there, guard yourself before you solder yourself.