Not as clumsy or random as a blaster.
An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
Well what do you have to say about that
video games?
Wort wort wort.
Hello internet, welcome to game theory
where to answer all your questions one
more time the red in the logo is not a
reference to the Xbox red ring of death.
Why would I do that? As some sort of
weekly warning against the hubris of
game console manufacturers? As a loving
reminder of all those times you had to
cuddle your xbox 360 under a blanket in
a last-ditch effort to get it
to function? Nope it's just a reference to
my other channel film theory which has
red in that part of the logo.
Oh it makes so much sense now.
And lately on film theory I, like the
rest of the internet, have been covering
a lot of star wars which means my mind
has been swimming in Jedi battles and
galactic terrorism as of late. Which leads
us to today's episode because as I was
researching the physics of the
lightsaber,
I couldn't help but think about another
iconic weapon, one we all know and love
from gaming, the Halo energy sword, and
once I really started thinking about it
I couldn't shake how similar these two
weapons actually are.
I mean seriously these aren't just two
iconic laser sword weapons they're more
like brothers from different mothers but
as it is with all twin brothers now that
they've finally been reunited we're
gonna have to decide right here and
right now
which one would win in a fight. Right?
that's a thing that siblings do? I'm
an only child so I don't really know.
I'm assuming that's a thing though and
before we get too far I want to make it
absolutely clear that this theory is
exclusively focused on the weapons alone
not the characters who wield them. Were
we to open the door to that
well then we'd have to talk about
midi-chlorians and no one wants to talk
about midi-chlorians. Not even star wars
apparently, so in order to start
comparing the weapons and decide which
one would win in a fight we need to
understand how they would potentially
work in the real world. When it comes to
the energy sword, Halo has already done
most of the work for us.
According to the Halo encyclopedia, the
blades of the weapon are made of plasma
contained around the edge of the sword
by magnetic fields. Now we've talked
about plasma before on Film Theory since its the closest real-world basis for all of
Dragon Balls energy attacks, but just to
catch everyone plasma is the most
abundant form of matter
making up ninety nine percent of the
universe
but what is it? You know how when you heat up a solid it melts and becomes a liquid and
then you heat it up a bit more and it
becomes a gas. Well if you heat the gas
even more it becomes plasma. We're most
familiar with it in the form of
lightning, stars and fluorescent bulbs
but basically by heating the gas the
electrons in the atoms get so excited
that they break away.
This creates a soup of negatively
charged electrons floating around
alongside positively charged ions. The
Halo energy sword then at its most basic
level takes this soup and controls it
using magnets, shaping the superheated
gas around the blades of the weapon but
what's an energy sword without energy?
Well it's actually just a sword.
Yeah. And that's why batteries are
included. Haha, puberty.
And that's why batteries are
included in each new weapon, suck on
that Mattel,
the future is now. Changing a gas to a
plasma takes a lot of energy so the
battery enables this to happen by shooting
an electric current through the
gas allowing it to change its state
in much the same way that a plasma
cutter works and thus you have your
battery operated death sword. A pretty cool
thing to look forward to in the future
right?
Not really, plasma blades are something
being rolled out in medicine for things
like surgery as we speak
so this idea isn't so much science
fiction as it is just plain old science.
Explaining the lightsaber though is
actually a bit trickier since,
well, it's neither light nor saber. Let's
take it one at a time, light is made up
of particles known as photons,
they're constantly flying all over the
universe they have no mass and generally
don't react with one another.
That's why you can cross flashlight
beams with no difference in the light
that's being produced.
Sure I suppose you could shoot light
through a cloud of super cold rubidium
gas which gets the photons to act more
like molecules creating a new state of
matter called photonic molecules but
it's a fringe case that's still being
tested by science and seriously who do
we think we are? German experimental
physicist Gustav Ludwig Hertz come on,
we're not.
The other problem with lightsabers made
of light is that currently science has a
hard time telling photons when to stop
moving. So if a lightsaber were truly made
of light and without a mirror or something
at the end of the sword to stop the beam,
it would extend a much longer distance
than a few feet.
I guess in that case you wouldn't have
to compare sizes though.
And I see your sword is as big as mine.
And again, just like high-powered
flashlights or lasers, a lightsaber of
light would'nt actually clash with another
lightsaber they would just pass through
each other and you would shine it in
each other's eyes hoping to cause like
night blindness.
Pew, pew pew. Shine it in your eyes! Oh its so bright! Ow ow ow!
So anyway, it's not a lightsaber nor is it a laser saber,
then what is it? Well more likely than not
it's a plasma saber but again not a
saber either since a saber is a calvary
sword with a curved blade and one
cutting edge. Curve, nope.
Only one cutting edge? I dare you to
touch that thing
so more like a short sword. No that's not
right.
Plasma woo swoo sword. Plasma eppé?
Plasma rapier? Plasma katana.
You know there's really no sword like
equivalent to a lightsaber
honestly it's more like plasma
bludgeoning stick.
But why plasma well currently the same
system operating the energy sword makes
the most sense for the lightsaber. A
magnetic field shaping a super heated
tube of gas.
Midi-chlorians or no the behavior lines
up, in Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom
Menace qui-gon jinn uses his lightsaber
to melt through a blast door, meaning the
lightsaber is getting above 2500 degrees
Fahrenheit or thirteen seventy degrees
Celsius
now look at the temperature of plasma.
Even quote unquote cold plasma is
several thousand degrees celsius so it
would have no problem accomplishing this
task.
What about different colors of lightsaber? Well the different colors of gas
used to form the plasma could create the
rainbow of colours you see in
lightsabers, helium for Mace Windu to produce
his purple color, argon for Darth Maul
and his dark red sabre and CF4 Luke
Skywalker's heroic blue and because
plasma is an actual state of matter
unlike a blade of light here the Sabres
would clash.
Just like you see throughout the iconic
sword battles in the movies and games.
This idea is also supported by
theoretical physicist and all-around
scientific badass
Dr. Michio Kaku and if you needed any
further proof
although the movies don't ever mention
plasma the games do. To quote Star Wars:
The Old Republic the weapon consists of
a blade of pure plasma energy emitted
from the metal hilt and suspended in
a force contained field.
Boom! Decades of cannon for this
classic film series and yet it's the
games where we get the most information
about how these iconic weapons would
work.
Video games for the win, long story short
when you actually look at the science
the lightsaber and energy sword are one
in the same
so if they're basically the same device
which one would win?
Well as similar as the tech behind them
is these blades could'nt be designed
anymore differently
unless your name is either kylo Ren or
Darth Maul the lightsaber blade tends to
be a relatively thin and modest rod of
variable length while the energy sword is
actually two triangular blades with an
opening that runs down into the center
towards the quote unquote hilts.
So which design comes out on top? Because
lightsabers have a more basic and
variable design it opens up a lot of
different fighting styles and since the
blade is plasma all the weight is in the
hilt.
According to the now legendary article
called fightsaber from issue 62 of the Star
Wars insider and the jedi academy
training manual we know that there are
seven main styles of lightsaber combat.
Each style has its own emphasis on
specific tactics or defensive techniques but one commonality across nearly all of
them is an emphasis on amputation moves
strokes that will sever limbs, most
notable of these is the cho mai strike
which single-handedly resulted in so
many single hands in the Star Wars
universe.
Badum ching.
Even the Wampa, come on! The Wampa!
Poor thing. For the energy sword it's a
bit more complicated because there's so much less information on the way elites
actually use it to fight but we can put
together a good guess based on history
and its design.
Firstly let's look at the gap between
the two sides of the blade, the gap
always narrows almost to the point of
touching just before you get to the area
where your hand is, as if the opponent's blade is meant to slide right into that
slot and that's exactly right.
This split structure allows the fighter
to trap their opponents blade so the
elite can twist it either disarming the
enemy or leaving them open for the
killing blow.
It's an idea that's been proven
throughout history, most notably by the
parrying daggers from the late Middle
Ages and early Renaissance.
For instance take a look at this 16th
century German
trident dagger who's blade springs
open in to 3 precisely because trapping
the opponent's blade is such a good idea.
Like a Schick razor commercial, why have one
blade when you can have seven? No one
suspects the trident dagger or look at
the sword breakers which had small
teeth like a cone near the hilt where an
opponent's sword would slide in and get
stuck.
So it's an offensive weapon that also
has defensive properties but the other
benefit of the energy sword is that both
sides of the blades extend almost
completely around the wielders hand. Even extending down beyond the wrist into
sharpened points, in a battle with a
straight lightsaber used mostly for
disarming or should I say dis
handing the opponent this design detail
is a huge benefit to the energy sword. It
almost makes it seem like the energy
sword was designed specifically as a
counter to the cho mai strikes of the
lightsaber.
So when it comes strictly to design the win has to go to Halo.
So then that's it right? It would look
like the Halo energy sword is the winner
based on its design.
Well there's one big issue we haven't
explored yet. Better check your CNET
review score on that new plasma
sword my friends because just like most
other portable electronics in the end it
comes down to the battery life.
You heard that right! Break out the
charging stations for your beam swords
these things need some energy sources.
Deep in the extended universe floor it's
revealed that during the ancient history
of Star Wars, lightsabers had to be
powered through an extension cord that
was connected to a bulky battery pack
worn on the Jedi's belt.
These would go on to be known as protosabers and man, can you think about how lame
battles in the movies would be if they
were still using these guys? I mean just
cut the cord or force grab the battery
pack and all your opponent is left with
is a handle. Eventually the design
evolved into what we know today with the
power source moving into the hilt and
now you've got fights like duel of the
fates from Phantom Menace where Jedi are
fighting for what seems like several
hours at a time but even still Padawans
wanted that protosaber.
According to the jedi academy training
manual a member of luke skywalker's Jedi
Order actually went on to revive the
protosaber.
That's right it's the definition of the
Jedi hipster. Oh, ah the retro way was so
much better
let's bring this thing back even though
it's clearly inferior to what we
currently have. This could potentially
even show up in the new movies
this character was an order of Luke's
Jedi Order after all
wouldn't that be just, just so weird I
hope he also wears like, flannel robes and
thick rimmed glasses that don't actually
have a prescription in them maybe some
tight Jedi leggings leggings. Jeggings.
Anyway that said even the most poultry
battery life of a lightsaber would
trounce that of the energy sword which
lasts as all you Halo fans know ten
whopping swings before your left
weaponless holding the equivalent of a
weird alien shake weight. So that makes
it case closed then right? Despite
design superiority the lackluster energy
supply of the ironically named energy
sword losses to even the most low-tech
of protosabers.
But hold on to your rat's tail Qui-Gon
because after doing the research
ten swings may be more than enough time
for our elite to finish off a saber
wielding Rey. Remember our ground rule at
the beginning, that in this contest no
consideration will be given to any force powers
we're talking strictly design and
function of the blade and though a ten
swing battery might sound like it sucks,
in the real world without force powers
or respawning when two people fight each
other with swords the fight only ever
lasts a minute or two and most of that
time isn't spent swinging swords around
frantically it's been poking each other
at a distance.
Just think about fencing, you guys
clearly watch those right? I mean
they're pretty awesome so you should
especially during the Olympics they're
incredible.
Anyway let me tell you, in fencing
matches rarely if ever are you getting to
10 swings.
Contact is made within one or two jabs
usually, in fact most experts out there
today believe that most actual sword
fights never even get to the point where
someone would try to do a two-handed
swing because of how completly
dangerous it is to do. It leaves
you wide open.
Instead fights, if they did happen had
one or two clashes of Steel at most
before someone was on the ground
bleeding out
and in this situation under these rules
in the argument of light sabres vs
energy sword it's actually Halo that
comes out on top.
Yes the battery life might suck but
design superiority wins the day,
although let me be clear I love them
both. Don't pull a death battle and rain
down a lot of hate on me this is really
just meant to be a thought experiment
where I could teach you about plasma,
light energy and sword design. Not saying
that one is like, cooler than the other or
whatever I'm saying in the battle
between two fictional swords that are
basically the same but designed slightly
differently
this one functions slightly better than
this other one.
Ok I'm still gonna get a lot of hate for
this episode aren't I? But hey that's
just a theory
a game theory! Thanks for watching.
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You understand the concept great coolios.
Next theory is Undertale by the way,
spoiler alert.
