Ahsoka's Lightsaber Shadow

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FistoFan
Light doesn't have a shadow, correct? Then why is it that in the episode "Defenders of Peace", when Ahsoka cuts down those two droids, her lightsaber has a shadow?

THE JLRTENJAC
Easy, the animators didn't think of the fact that light wouldn't cast a shadow.

Ushgarak
Lightsabres DO cast shadows. Go watch the OT.

They are not actually made of light, you know. A light emitting object can cast a shadow.

MIŠT
Isnt the OT due to them using sticks that cast shadows by accident though? Animated objects have shadow options, don't they?

Ushgarak
Yes but thety kept it on purpose- it is used dramatically in some shots, was expressly not removed in the Special Editions, and was in TPM also.

Basically it has become canonical that lightsabres cast shadows.

FistoFan
Yes, light emitting OBJECTS can but it doesn't seem right that an object composed of light would cast a shadow.

General Kaliero
Seem right or not, Lightsabers have always canonically cast shadows. It's not a mistake on the part of the animators.

And again, a lightsaber blade is not composed of light. If you were to shine a flashlight on a lit glowstick, the stick would in fact cast a shadow. Shadows are simply the relative absence of light, and any object with mass is going to interrupt light from another source, whether it's glowing or not.

Ushgarak
Originally posted by FistoFan
Yes, light emitting OBJECTS can but it doesn't seem right that an object composed of light would cast a shadow.

As I made very clear in my post... lightsabres are not made of light.

FistoFan
Originally posted by Ushgarak
lightsabres are not made of light.
Then what are they made of? And if they're not made of light, then why are they called lightsabers?

Ushgarak
What kind of logic is that? Perhaps because they EMIT light? Or because it sounds cool?

If you think they are made of light, how do you think people become impaled upon them? How do you think they are opaque to blaster bolts (which, if sabres were made of light, woulld go straight through them).

What exactly do you mean by 'light' anyway? What kind of 'light' cuts through objects with no effort, though apparently without giving out any heat?

No-one knows what they are made of any more than anyone knows how an X-Wing works. It's just sci-fi stuff.

General Kaliero
Originally posted by FistoFan
Then what are they made of? And if they're not made of light, then why are they called lightsabers?
The blades are made of an unknown energy that has mass enough to cut through objects and deflect lasers and other sabers, and gives off light as a by-product. The term "lightsaber" is just an idiom to get a point across. Strictly speaking, they're not sabers either, which generally have curved blades with a single edge.

Captain REX
Plus, lasersword doesn't quite sound as elegant.

queeq
Yup

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