"A more elegant weapon...."

[stillakid]

Old Ben Kenobi poo pooed Luke's suggestion about using blasters (laser guns) by saying that they are random and clunky. He finished the thought by describing the Jedi's use of the lightsaber as being an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

So, while watching the new Clone Wars series, it seems as if most battles the Jedi fight are in space and the primary weapon is the integrated blaster.

When exactly was this "more civilized age" that Old Ben was talking about when Jedi didn't use blasters?

[cookiemonster]

Ok most of the New Clone Wars I have watched have used the Lightsabers quite a bit, the blasters seem to come from either the Bad Guys or the Clone Troopers (who arent Jedi).

Also for the most part we havent really seen the Jedi's kick off yet, we have seen the Movie and Lightsabers were used in that a lot, the first Episode had Yoda defeating a whole lot of Battle Droids with a Lightsaber and the Force, the 2 Episode after that had Plo Koon fighting in space with his Lighsaber with back up from Clone Troopers, this 3 Episode last night had them in ships so they couldnt really use Lightsabers, so to say Jedi use blasters is just plain wrong, Old Ben didnt say Blasters werent used, just that the Lightsaber was a more elegant weapon, and it did come from a more civilized age "before the Empire, before the Dark Times".

[stillakid]

so to say Jedi use blasters is just plain wrong,

It is? Anakin et al seem to have nothing against using the ships blasters when engaging the enemy in a space battle.

[cookiemonster]

No Anakin uses starship weapons, not hand blasters, which is what Old Ben was refering to, obviously saying your father was one of the best pilots and a cunning warrior, means he more than likely used ship weapons in combat, but the Jedi didnt go round shooting people with blasters.

Also I cant see a Jedi leaning out their ship and fighting with a Lightsaber while piloting said ship, yes the Ships Weapons are used, but look at the ground combat, I have yet to see a Jedi use a Blaster, maybes they do in the EU PT, I dont know I havent read any of that, do the Jedi use Blasters after and during the 3 OT movies then yes they do, but you did reference the More Civilized Era and the Clone Wars.

[bigbarada]

Well, if Star Wars blasters are anything like real life guns, then the larger and more powerful they are, the more inaccurate and clumsy they tend to be.

There's a reason why sharpshooters and sport shooters use handheld shotguns, rifles and pistols and not vehicle-mounted 50 cal machine guns. So if Obi-Wan feels that handheld blasters are clumsy and random, then his opinion of starship weaponry would be ten times worse.

Personally, I think it was a mistake to put the Jedi inside fighter craft. It just doesn't jive with anything else they do in the movies or what they claim to stand for.

[cookiemonster]

I cant agree with you on that, because its like comparing a handgun to a US Warship main gun, you just cant.

The Ion Cannons on a Spaceship arent the same as a Blaster Pistol, for one you are using computers to fire the Ion Cannons on the Spaceship, a Blaster Pistol you are more at risk to miss with (hence the line they are more random), I suppose it has to do with human error.

[stillakid]

obviously saying your father was one of the best pilots and a cunning warrior, means he more than likely used ship weapons in combat, but the Jedi didnt go round shooting people with blasters.

.

No, that's not accurate at all. Old Ben says that Anakin was a great star pilot... and a cunning warrior.

The "star pilot" part does not "obviously" infer that Anakin was a fighter pilot. In fact, if anything, it likely infers that Anakin was a freighter pilot or something non-military. The phrase "cunning warrior" in our vernacular (and we can assume in Lucas's) refers to a hand-to-hand combat soldier, not a pilot or naval type.

It's this Clone Wars storyline that thrusts the majority of Jedi battles into the realm of space using flying machines and mounted blasters that seems to be in conflict with Old Ben's description of the Old Republic and the role of the Jedi in it.

I guess that the entire situation doesn't really make sense. The Jedi were modeled after our Earthly Samuari who enjoyed prominence in a time when firearms were not a part of battle. When the rifle came to be, the time of the Samuari was over.

So in the same way, to have Jedi running around on the ground with swords while their enemies have the advantage of blasters seems anachronistic. As we saw in AOTC and ROTS, the Jedi don't really have a chance when faced with blasters.

Then to put them into star fighters equipped with blasters really doesn't fit with the picture that Old Ben painted.

There is a disconnect here with what we were led to believe about the Jedi during the Clone Wars and what we're seeing in the movies and in the new TV show.

[cookiemonster]

I dont agree, see to me I have always thought when Old Ben states A Great Star Pilot and a Cunning Warrior, to me it sums up Starfighter Pilot, not Freighter Pilot - I suppose its how you look at it, or see it from a certain point of view, I see it as Jedis were fighting Battles in Space against the Bad Guys (Latter to find out these Bad Guys were droids, I always thought it was going to be Mandalorians, and Boba Fett was the last of them, wasnt I wrong on that, ).

But stating Jedi use blasters, they dont as far as I know, in respect to the Clone Wars, yes they use ship weapons, but thats not the same as using a blaster.

[bigbarada]

I think that's seriously too much of a stretch. It's more likely that Lucas just disregarded what had been previously established so he could go back to his formula of space battles.

[cookiemonster]

Well I think I am going to agree to disagree, I obviously cant get you to see it from the other side of the fence, and I see what you say but dont agree with either of you, so its easier to say agree to differ - after all theres only one person who knows for sure, and I wouldnt believe him even if he sided with me, because of the fact he has altered so much, I dont even think he knows now.