Star Wars Rebels Season Three (spoilers)

[Reverend]

Very solid character centric episode. Not only did it really gave Sabine a chance to shine, but some further growth for Kanan, Ezra and even Hera. Indeed, it may be the best episode to date at least in terms of character development. If I were the type so inclined as to make lists (I am not) then this episode would easily be right up there in the top 3. Maybe even #1.

Finally getting some blanks filled in on Sabine's background and why she left the academy. What weapons did she help develop I wonder? Just better versions of standard equipment or something much nastier? Also got a very brief mention of her first joining up with Hera & Kanan.

A surprising amount of lore in this one including some Jedi/Mandalorian history and some further details and elaboration on how Jedi connect and focus through their crystal and blade. The history of the darksaber and the first (note: "first" not "only") Mandalorian Jedi may just be the oldest event we've heard referenced. As per TCW, the saber was stolen from the temple "during the fall of the Old Republic" a thousand years ago, when the Sith took over the first time. That means that Jedi lived and died before those events. Maybe several centuries for all we know.

I particularly liked how they categorically stated something that I think Lucas himself mentioned around the time AotC came out. That the Mandalorian armor with the jetpack and all the crazy exotic weaponry was specifically developed to counter the abilities of the Jedi...for all the good it did them in the long run.

The fight scenes were of course great. Indeed probably the most swordplay we've seen in a single episode in quite a while (or ever!) I can't help but presume FPJ drew a lot from martial arts background in this one as he really sells the stern instructor role.
Also noticed something very interesting was going on with the music in these scenes. I kept hearing a rendition of the Yoda/force theme intermixed with what I'm assuming is Sabine's theme (does she have a theme of her own yet?) punctuated by some very martial sounding drums. Not sure if that last part has specifically associated with Mandalore in the past, but that appears to be the intent.

The Bendu cameo seemed a bit odd as there wasn't any follow up (yet!) Perhaps this will pay off later? I can see him getting annoyed by the noisy imbalanced humans always disturbing his slumber. So far we've only seen his benevolent side. If he's truly "the one in the middle"--akin to spirit of nature--then I think there's another less accommodating side we've yet to see.

Another odd little touch was Chopper purring. Has he done that before? For that matter have we ever seen him and Sabine interact with nobody else around before? I get the impression that he's a little bit less of an arsehole to her some some odd reason.

 

[Christopher]

This was impressive. I think it's unprecedented to have a Star Wars installment that's a pure character story with no bad guys or physical danger (aside from the danger of Sabine injuring herself in practice). It really shows how the series -- heck, maybe the franchise -- has matured, in that it would do something like this. I guess they could get away with it because there was still a lot of swordfighting, but it was more interesting to me to hear Kanan actually talk about how lightsabers work than to see people fighting with them. I'd never quite understood what Force sensitivity and lightsabers had to do with each other. The bit about how sabers channel the wielder's thought and energy through their Kyber crystals helped explain why they're the Jedi's preferred weapons.

Though I liked how Sabine made it her own, combining it with her Mandalorian tricks, even using the tether vambrace as her own equivalent of the standard Force saber retrieve move thingy (is there a name for that?). What puzzled me was the bit about her building weapons for the Empire. How old would she have been at the time? I thought she was something like 18-19 at the start of this series. So she would've had to be a child prodigy, building superadvanced weapons as a teenager. That seems like kind of an odd revelation. I mean, sure, she's always had a knack for explosives, but I always saw that as more of an IED-level sort of thing than revolutionary advances good enough for the Imperial military.

(By the way, speaking of lightsaber crystals, a question occurred to me when I rewatched the movies last week: When Luke built his new lightsaber before Return of the Jedi, where did he get the Kyber crystal for it? I imagine that story's probably been told in the "Legends" continuity, but is there a new-canon explanation too?)

 

[Samurai8472]

That the Mandalorian armor with the jetpack and all the crazy exotic weaponry was specifically developed to counter the abilities of the Jedi...for all the good it did them in the long run.

Mandalorian armory expert- We don't need protection around our necks.

 

[Booji]

New Rebels Recon...

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[Christopher]

I'm surprised to hear Filoni say they "shoot" (animate) before they record the voices. That's not how animation is traditionally done. What do you animate to before you have voice tracks? Or by "shoot," does he just mean assembling the animatic?

Speaking of animation, I really like that 2D shadow animation they did to illustrate the Darksaber backstory. Shades of Kung Fu Panda, with a touch of Moana. And very unusual for Star Wars.

 

[Ithekro]

The 2D animation reminds me of Anakin's vision quest near the end of the older Clone Wars cartoon (2003), that was all black drawing on something like a stone wall.

 

[Reverend]

This was impressive. I think it's unprecedented to have a Star Wars installment that's a pure character story with no bad guys or physical danger (aside from the danger of Sabine injuring herself in practice). I

IIRC the first episode in the younglings arc in TCW was pretty much this. Hondo and his pirates didn't show up until the second part of that arc. But yeah, in Rebels they would usually cut away to the villains for a scene or two and I'm really glad they didn't here.

(is there a name for that?).

"Force pull"

What puzzled me was the bit about her building weapons for the Empire. How old would she have been at the time? I thought she was something like 18-19 at the start of this series.

She's 19 now. She was about 16 when we first saw her in season 1. Which if you factor in her time as a bounty hunter with Ketsu and that she was in the academy for "years" means she started very young indeed.

It would make sense the the Empire would seek out exceptional students in order to take full advantage of their gifts and there may even be a direct connection here to the First Order and their methods of training children, which started with Hux's own father who was an Imperial Commandant.

So she would've had to be a child prodigy, building superadvanced weapons as a teenager. That seems like kind of an odd revelation. I mean, sure, she's always had a knack for explosives, but I always saw that as more of an IED-level sort of thing than revolutionary advances good enough for the Imperial military.

She is indeed a child prodigy. Hence the technical expertise, martial skills *and* her prolific artwork. Any one of those on it own is enough for someone to be considered "gifted". All of them at once and you're indeed into prodigy territory.

(By the way, speaking of lightsaber crystals, a question occurred to me when I rewatched the movies last week: When Luke built his new lightsaber before Return of the Jedi, where did he get the Kyber crystal for it? I imagine that story's probably been told in the "Legends" continuity, but is there a new-canon explanation too?)

In Legends he just finds an instruction manual in Ben's hut and cooks up his own artificial crystal in a little electric forge.
While Legends had it that any properly cut crystal would do, in canon only a kyber crystal will work and artificial kyber isn't a thing (Galen Erso even tried it: didn't work.) As for how Luke got the crystal in canon: that story has yet to be told.

There is a fan theory that it's Qui-Gon's old crystal that Kenobi kept hold of, but that's before we found out about the colours not being fixed so the fact that they're both green blades carries a lot less weight. It's possible he returns to Dagobah prior to RotJ and Yoda sends him on the Gathering. A planet so strong in the force, it'd stand to reason it'd have cave of kyber crystals.

Alternatively we know from the 'Heir to the Jedi' novel that Luke did get his hands on another lightsaber after ANH (though he managed to break it while attempting to dismantle it.) I don't recall if he still has it by the end of the book but it still presents the possibility that there are other sabers and their crystals out there.

Mandalorian armory expert- We don't need protection around our necks.

It's not like armor would stop a lightsaber anyway and the ability to turn one's neck unhindered is more important that having every last inch protected.

Why then wear armor at all if you're fighting Jedi I hear you ask? Well, mostly likely because this.

I'm surprised to hear Filoni say they "shoot" (animate) before they record the voices. That's not how animation is traditionally done. What do you animate to before you have voice tracks? Or by "shoot," does he just mean assembling the animatic?

Have a look at the unfinished Utapau/Bad Batch episodes to get an idea of what he means be "shoot". It's what the voice actors are usually performing to to help give them context. The next step after that is full animation IIRC which builds on the shot footage and draws more from the performances.

This is the method Lucas came up with and Lucas is used to thinking about things as a filmmaker. Oh and if you've never used a 3D animation program before, there is a thing called a virtual camera. It's basically the same principle as shooting live action in the sense that there are sets, a background, props and performers.

Speaking of animation, I really like that 2D shadow animation they did to illustrate the Darksaber backstory. Shades of Kung Fu Panda, with a touch of Moana. And very unusual for Star Wars.

It's almost as if they're not afraid to try new things, no?

 

[Christopher]

The 2D animation reminds me of Anakin's vision quest near the end of the older Clone Wars cartoon (2003), that was all black drawing on something like a stone wall.

I did think it had a Tartakovsky-esque quality, yes.

"Force pull"

You know, I was going to call it that, but I thought it didn't sound right.

She is indeed a child prodigy. Hence the technical expertise, martial skills *and* her prolific artwork. Any one of those on it own is enough for someone to be considered "gifted". All of them at once and you're indeed into prodigy territory.

Yeah, and that's what bugs me. There's a tendency for all the characters in an ensemble show to be the absolute best in the world at their particular talents, which can get a little exaggerated and implausible. And Sabine always came off to me as a street-level counterculture figure, a punk kid with a knack for grafitti and troublemaking. I liked her that way. Now they seem to be making her into this figure of destiny, a person who singlehandedly helped her whole world get conquered and is now destined to atone for it by singlehandedly uniting them and leading their fight for freedom. It's a pretty major redefinition.

Although, granted, there was that story about the farmboy from an obscure desert planet who turned out to be the secret son of the Jedi's destroyer and the person destined to bring down the Empire and restore the Jedi Knights. But we've already got a Luke parallel in Ezra.

Have a look at the unfinished Utapau/Bad Batch episodes to get an idea of what he means be "shoot". It's what the voice actors are usually performing to to help give them context.

Which is the animatic, as I said. That's what I thought.

Animating before recording is not unprecedented, of course; it's how things were done in the early days of sound animation. In the early Popeye cartoons, for instance, there's not really any lip sync, and you can kind of tell from the voice actors' performances that they're basically ad-libbing to the action (Popeye's voice artist Jack Mercer did some brilliantly funny ad-libs). I think shoot-record is also pretty standard in Japanese animation; they just animate flapping lips when the characters are supposed to be talking and don't worry about lip sync. There are a number of anime films/shows that I've watched in both Japanese and English, and the lip sync, ironically, is often better in the English version.

It's almost as if they're not afraid to try new things, no?

I wouldn't say that incorporating 2D animation into a 3D show is trying new things; it's more like keeping the old things from dying out completely. Which I appreciate, because I prefer 2D animation.

 

[Reverend]

Which is the animatic, as I said. That's what I thought.

I understand why you'd presume as much, but as I understand the process that's not actually an animatic. At least that's not how they see it. IIRC animatics come earlier in the process and in the form of more traditional 2D animation. Basically storyboard slideshows cut to stock sfx, temp dialogue and some very crude animation.
Just like a movie, that gives them the blueprint for how to shoot the scene. Also just like in live action it's only once they get things built and in front of the camera that the director starts to really hone in how how they want to shoot the scene.
Again, you generally have to have at least a little experience with 3D animation to really appreciate the distinction.

You know, I was going to call it that, but I thought it didn't sound right.

Well that's the video game (and I presume pen & paper RPG?) term for it anyway. I doubt you'll ever hear anyone in-universe calling it that.

Yeah, and that's what bugs me. There's a tendency for all the characters in an ensemble show to be the absolute best in the world at their particular talents, which can get a little exaggerated and implausible. And Sabine always came off to me as a street-level counterculture figure, a punk kid with a knack for grafitti and troublemaking. I liked her that way. Now they seem to be making her into this figure of destiny, a person who singlehandedly helped her whole world get conquered and is now destined to atone for it by singlehandedly uniting them and leading their fight for freedom. It's a pretty major redefinition.

Not really. Aside from Sabine, only Ezra could be described as a "prodigy" and that's more of a specific gift. A Mozart if you will, while Sabine is a bit more of a DaVinci.
Hera is a gifted pilot but she had to work at it for *years*. Indeed most of her skills were out of necessity as she grew up in a warzone, even though she's basically part of the aristocracy, such as it is on Ryloth.
Kanan was an average padawan so far as such things go and was far from his best when we first meet him. Really it's only been since he's lost his sight that he's truly connecting with the force and finding his inner balance and it's come at a high price. Zeb is a veteran soldier and former officer. Again, like Hera his skills were earned though long training, practice and sacrifice. Rex is a clone. 'Nuff said.

Although, granted, there was that story about the farmboy from an obscure desert planet who turned out to be the secret son of the Jedi's destroyer and the person destined to bring down the Empire and restore the Jedi Knights. But we've already got a Luke parallel in Ezra.

Ezra was an orphaned street kid who's parent were political dissidents. Sabine's mother may be a person of some standing, but it's hardly a secret or anything particularly special. Plus of course Sabine herself is a former Imperial cadet, bounty hunter and an exile from a clan that's pledged to a disgraced house that was shunned even before they allied with a former Sith Lord. I'm not seeing much of a Skywalker parallel with either of them.

I wouldn't say that incorporating 2D animation into a 3D show is trying new things; it's more like keeping the old things from dying out completely. Which I appreciate, because I prefer 2D animation.

Of course it's not unique in and of itself. I only meant *new for this show*.

 

[Christopher]

I understand why you'd presume as much, but as I understand the process that's not actually an animatic. At least that's not how they see it. IIRC animatics come earlier in the process and in the form of more traditional 2D animation. Basically storyboard slideshows cut to stock sfx, temp dialogue and some very crude animation.
Just like a movie, that gives them the blueprint for how to shoot the scene. Also just like in live action it's only once they get things built and in front of the camera that the director starts to really hone in how how they want to shoot the scene.
Again, you generally have to have at least a little experience with 3D animation to really appreciate the distinction.

I have seen plenty of 3D-animated mockups referred to as animatics. Or ones that combine 2D and 3D elements, like this one.

Still, I think I see what you're saying. The unfinished episodes that have been released are more first-stage CG animation, the stuff that would be refined later with more detailed character models, texturing, simulation, facial performance and lip sync based on the dialogue tracks, etc.

Not really. Aside from Sabine, only Ezra could be described as a "prodigy" and that's more of a specific gift. A Mozart if you will, while Sabine is a bit more of a DaVinci.

I'm not talking about this show specifically, I'm talking about the general pattern in shows like this to overpopulate their casts with uniquely special characters. And I'm not talking about prodigies specifically, I'm talking about all the ways in which characters can be uniquely exceptional, figures of destiny, etc. I'm talking about Sabine's elevated impact on Mandalore as a whole -- that it was her weapon innovations (as a teenager, yes) that helped the Empire conquer her people, and that Destiny has placed this one-of-a-kind, legendary lightsaber in her hands so that she can become the leader of her people. It's like TNG did with Worf -- he started out as just "a Klingon in Starfleet," but he ended up being at the center of all these profoundly important, high-level events in Klingon politics and the person responsible for putting two consecutive chancellors into power. Sabine can't just be a Mandalorian, she has to be the most important Mandalorian at this point in their history. Just as Zeb wasn't just any Lasat, he was a former member of the honor guard who was personally charged with the royal family's safety, and he turned out to be a key figure in an ancient prophecy about the rediscovery of the Lasat homeworld. It's the peril of fictional characters who are the featured members of their particular civilizations -- they tend to end up being the embodiments of their civilizations and at the heart of everything that happens to them. And it tends to strain credibility.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I'm going to re-post what I posted at IMDb, simply because I think it'll generate better conversation here:

It was much, much better than the last episode, which was more of a situation comedy with a short Thrawn bit tacted on at the end, which could have been tacted on to almost any episode, really.


I like that Kanan tried to train her properly, forcing her to comes to grips with herself and her abilities or lack thereof, though the whole thing with Hera suggesting to straight away just gives Sabine the darksaber, was such a waste of what the episode was trying to do; if she is to lead her people against the Empire, she should have had to build herself up from the ground, both emotionally and skill wise, but no, here Sabine-- take this thing and get instant gratification!

And what the hell exactly did Sabine do to vest Kanan? I don't get it. He's fought multiple Inquisitors who have not only better training than Sabine, they're job is to kill Jedi who can fight better than her. Sabine gets emotional nad she can deferat Kanan? Is this Disney fairy princess land? Or did Kanan do this on purpose to let her express herself and what she was holding back? 'cause it's not clear in the episode as is.
(by the way, where are the Inquisitors? We know there are more from their naming scheme; perhaps Sabine will face off against one as she becomes more in tune with the Force -- Kanan did say there would be challengers)

But over all the training was good, the music was good, the CGI was better (last episode, "Warhead", it looked cheaper than normal), and it sets up big things. But I already knew this was coming because I listened to some cast and crew interviews months ago. Still nice to see play out, since I ultimately don't know what will happen.


But what I want to know is what happened with Bendu. We know he is a Force-sensative being and he awakened when Sabine was near. What is Faloni trying to tell us? Sabine has the potential for the Force? Sabine is battling with herself, maybe bordering on the Dark side and Bendu knew something was amiss? Maybe she is already weilding some of it (possibly accounting for her jumping skills) and he's finally gotten his chance to talk to her. Did he even talk to her? Could that be why she was gone for so long, the two had a long ceonversation.

 

[Stephen!]

by the way, where are the Inquisitors?

Maybe the Empire doesn't consider it worth sending any more of them. Including the Ahsoka novel, five of them have now been killed.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Plese tell me there isn't a Rebels-canon book I have to read to keep up with the show.

 

[Tuskin38]

Plese tell me there isn't a Rebels-canon book I have to read to keep up with the show.

There are Tie-in books but they're not required reading (IMO).

The book Stephen mentioned came out after last season, but it doesn't affect the current season.

It just gives some info on what happened to Ahsoka after Order 66.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

"Trials of the Darksaber" was an outstanding episode and among my favorites of the series so far.

 

[Reverend]

I have seen plenty of 3D-animated mockups referred to as animatics. Or ones that combine 2D and 3D elements, like this one.

You're confusing form with function.
Traditionally an animantic is meant to serve as a guide for visual effects artist, typically in action scenes. It helps plan out in advance what kind of shots they'd need, how long a take needs to be, where the live-action plates need to line up etc. All that sort of thing.

The "story reels" are something else. They're the raw footage where the final decisions concerning shot composition, blocking, cuts and even scene editing are made. Hence why they talk about this being where the episode is "shot". It's where the director decides where to place the camera and what kind of lenses to use. Yes, I know they don't use physical camera, but they're simulating the effects of actual lenses and still use the same nomenclature. If you're interested, Filloni talks about it in some depth here.

After the story reels, then it goes to the team that does all the facial animation, including lip syncing and similar fine details. I think the final step as far as the visuals are concerned is lighting. So in a sense the process in almost the reverse order from what you do in live action where you'd dress and light your actors before filming them delivering dialogue. Here you film and edit them, add in the dialogue to match the shots, match the animation to the performance, then dress and light everything.

I like that Kanan tried to train her properly, forcing her to comes to grips with herself and her abilities or lack thereof, though the whole thing with Hera suggesting to straight away just gives Sabine the darksaber, was such a waste of what the episode was trying to do; if she is to lead her people against the Empire, she should have had to build herself up from the ground, both emotionally and skill wise, but no, here Sabine-- take this thing and get instant gratification!

I think you misunderstood the purpose of this episode. (see below)

And what the hell exactly did Sabine do to vest Kanan? I don't get it. He's fought multiple Inquisitors who have not only better training than Sabine, they're job is to kill Jedi who can fight better than her. Sabine gets emotional nad she can deferat Kanan? Is this Disney fairy princess land? Or did Kanan do this on purpose to let her express herself and what she was holding back? 'cause it's not clear in the episode as is.

Of course he was holding back, otherwise he'd have cut her in half in two seconds flat. This was not Kanan fighting for his life, this was Kanan instructing a student. As he said, she wasn't fighting him, she was fighting herself. All of this was about her facing her own demons. Learning how to wield a lightsaber was secondary.

 

[Ithekro]

I'm not talking about this show specifically, I'm talking about the general pattern in shows like this to overpopulate their casts with uniquely special characters. And I'm not talking about prodigies specifically, I'm talking about all the ways in which characters can be uniquely exceptional, figures of destiny, etc. I'm talking about Sabine's elevated impact on Mandalore as a whole -- that it was her weapon innovations (as a teenager, yes) that helped the Empire conquer her people, and that Destiny has placed this one-of-a-kind, legendary lightsaber in her hands so that she can become the leader of her people. It's like TNG did with Worf -- he started out as just "a Klingon in Starfleet," but he ended up being at the center of all these profoundly important, high-level events in Klingon politics and the person responsible for putting two consecutive chancellors into power. Sabine can't just be a Mandalorian, she has to be the most important Mandalorian at this point in their history. Just as Zeb wasn't just any Lasat, he was a former member of the honor guard who was personally charged with the royal family's safety, and he turned out to be a key figure in an ancient prophecy about the rediscovery of the Lasat homeworld. It's the peril of fictional characters who are the featured members of their particular civilizations -- they tend to end up being the embodiments of their civilizations and at the heart of everything that happens to them. And it tends to strain credibility.

Maybe its just what I've read over the years, but I find this to be fairly normal in fantasy settings and by extension space fantasy settings. Going back to Tolkien at the very least, were everyone in the party had a grand destiny or past by the end of the novels it seemed.


As for the training, Kanan is fighting her with one hand and sometimes not even using his lightsaber. It isn't like he is fighting her, he's training her and using it to get her to balance herself. Otherwise using a lightsaber is, as he said, dangerous to the user. It isn't like a non-force user can't use a lightsaber, just with the Force, the user is less likely to cut off their own limbs. There were several instances with the training sticks were I was thinking "You aren't thinking like this is a proxy lightsaber. You'd have lost your hand or cut off your neck doing that".

I am reminded on some of the old making of Star Wars type specials when they interview Georg Lucas and Mark Hamill on the subject of lightsabers. When doing stuff with a lightsaber, the instruction from Lucas was that the lightsaber was to seem heavy in the likes of Excalibur, and that you needed to hold it with two hands. For the most part they did in the OT, with Vader sometimes going one handed. When Luke tried that he'd get it knocked out of his hand (or his hand cut off). But in the PT, while the Jedi and Sith tended to go two handed, they could also use it one handed, and even use two swords at once. Kanan and Sabine's exchange about the darksaber's weight and how one's thoughts and emotions would be added to the bladed power (on some level) puts some of those old Lucas based ideas into perspective and on screen. Also adds to the kyber crystal lore that has been coming out these last few years. It also makes it make more sense that the Jedi and Sith would continue to use their ancient melee weapons in a galaxy that has moved on to ranged energy weapons. The blade is, on some level, part of them, and thus when connected to it allows them to be a capable threat to even a sniper firing at them from a mile away.

 

[Reverend]

It also makes it make more sense that the Jedi and Sith would continue to use their ancient melee weapons in a galaxy that has moved on to ranged energy weapons. The blade is, on some level, part of them, and thus when connected to it allows them to be a capable threat to even a sniper firing at them from a mile away.

I don't disagree with the overall sentiment, but I feel I ought to quibble over the role of the blaster in this.
Granted we know next to nothing about the galaxy when the Jedi were formed or when they began using lightsabers, but i feel like it's a safe bet that ranged energy weapons of some sort have probably been around at least as long, if not longer.
While of course the prime reason they favour the sabre has everything to do with the crystal and it's function as a means to focus, I would propose that at least for the Jedi it's also partly a philosophical issue. A projectile weapon is only good for one thing: shooting people, whereas a blade can protect and counter-attack. For the Sith I suspect it's partly a matter of displaying their power and preferring to be up close when they kill someone.

 

[Beagleman]

After rewatching it, I'm confident this is my favourite episode as of now, it just works on every level.

 

[Christopher]

Maybe its just what I've read over the years, but I find this to be fairly normal in fantasy settings and by extension space fantasy settings. Going back to Tolkien at the very least, were everyone in the party had a grand destiny or past by the end of the novels it seemed.

Yes, and that's why I'm tired of it. It gets contrived when everyone in the cast is either the best person in the world at a given task (like how every computer-hacker character in every show has to be a super-brilliant hacker who can break into government computers in five seconds, even if they're just the protagonist's high school pal or the IT guy at her office) or is a destined chosen one or is an immediate relative of the arch-nemesis or whatever. I wish there were more people on TV who were just ordinary people -- good enough to do the job, to be sure, but not the absolute best there ever was or the chosen one of destiny or whatever.

It isn't like a non-force user can't use a lightsaber, just with the Force, the user is less likely to cut off their own limbs.

From what Kanan and Sabine said here about the blade becoming attuned to her thoughts and energy, I got the impression that anyone who trained with a saber could connect with it in that way, whether or not they were Force-sensitive. After all, Force sensitivity is a function of midi-chlorian count, but Kanan seemed to be saying that the connection between saber and wielder is a function of its Kyber crystal. So in essence, the saber itself "uses the Force" so the wielder doesn't have to. Although I'm sure it works even better if both are Force-attuned.

I am reminded on some of the old making of Star Wars type specials when they interview Georg Lucas and Mark Hamill on the subject of lightsabers. When doing stuff with a lightsaber, the instruction from Lucas was that the lightsaber was to seem heavy in the likes of Excalibur, and that you needed to hold it with two hands. For the most part they did in the OT, with Vader sometimes going one handed.

The original props probably were a bit heavy, since they had those rotating Scotchlite blades to reflect the stage lights and the motors in the hilt to make them spin.