Darth Vader’s almost casual severing of Luke Skywalker’s hand in The Empire Strikes Back has traumatized countless Star Wars fans across several generations. And part of the reason why that moment was so scary is the fact that it happened so quickly. Sure, before Empire, we’d seen Ben Kenobi cut off a thug’s arm in A New Hope — but the raw danger of lightsabers was made clear in that one moment that Vader quickly lobbed off Luke’s hand. And now, 45 years after that game-changing scene, Star Wars is once again reminding us that lightsabers are actually scary as hell.
In the penultimate episode of Skeleton Crew — Episode 7, “We’re Gonna Be in So Much Trouble” — the basic concept of a lightsaber has been made arguably more terrifying than it has in a very long time. Spoilers ahead.
