Much like any well-crafted sci-fi universe, Star Wars is packed with jargon. Of course, there’s the Force, the Jedi, and the Sith, but even life’s everyday elements have their own unique names. Currency is called credits, the common tongue is Basic, and coffee goes by “Caf.” Some of these terms have entered mainstream use—we can credit Star Wars with making “droid” a household word. Yet, even within the Star Wars galaxy, there remain terms that sound odd.
In the trailer for the upcoming Star Wars series Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord, one of these peculiar phrases is central to the title character. However, this seemingly out-of-place expression is actually as old as the Star Wars franchise itself. Watch the trailer below:
“Our target is a syndicate leader,” the trailer starts. “He has ties to multiple criminal groups. And he’s skilled… with a laser sword.”
Typically, a Star Wars character would use the term “lightsaber,” but “laser sword” is also fitting, particularly when characters aren’t well-versed in the nuances of the Jedi and Sith. For instance, in The Phantom Menace, Anakin refers to Qui-Gon Jinn’s weapon as a laser sword because he’s just a child, and his son Luke later uses the phrase in The Last Jedi as a dismissive term.
However, technically, laser swords (or “lazer swords,” as they were originally spelled) actually came before lightsabers. The term first appeared in an early draft of A New Hope, and though it was later changed to “lightsaber” to better suit the sci-fi aesthetic, “laser swords” would resurface in the prequel trilogy. While it may sound more unusual than “lightsaber,” it was a near thing—Obi-Wan could have been teaching Luke about laser sword training instead.
If this outdated term is only used by those unacquainted with the weapon, it reveals a great deal about the speaker. Given the Brazilian accent, the character is likely Brander Lawson, portrayed by recent Academy Award nominee Wagner Moura. Lawson is a detective during the Imperial Era but not an Inquisitor. Since Maul is a crime lord at this stage, his use of a lightsaber would come as a shock to anyone tracking him. Still, we know Inquisitors will appear eventually, so Brander will probably be corrected by someone well-versed in the weapon.
Though Maul was once a Sith apprentice, the trailer highlights his shift into Star Wars’ seedy criminal underbelly. The full series will likely maintain this tone, filled with—using a term from superhero lore—street-level conflicts. While “laser sword” might seem like a mistake, it actually hints at the type of characters Shadow Lord will introduce.