Rick And Morty Just Answered One Of Star Wars’ Most Burning Questions
This article is more than 2 years old
Ever wonder what happens if you drop a lightsaber with the blade pointing straight down? This age-old question has just been answered, not by Star Wars creator George Lucas or Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill, but by season six of the popular Adult Swim series Rick and Morty. The answer is that it cuts through the floor and keeps going and going and going as it barrels toward the center of the Earth – and a planetary crisis.
The controversial series Rick and Morty has made many Star Wars references in its time, but this one takes it to the next level. The plot of the season finale, titled “Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation” asks the question: If a lightsaber can cut through literally anything, what happens if it is dropped vertically? Would it just keep cutting through everything? Apparently, yes.
In the episode, mad scientist Rick gives Morty, his “number one number two,” a real, functioning lightsaber. It has all the bells and whistles that they have in the Star Wars films, and it looks just like Luke Skywalker’s. Morty is elated, especially when Rick shows him a cart full of fruit he can destroy with his new toy.
Rick and Morty even play with it together, with Rick pretending to be Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi and asking Morty to slash him before disappearing, leaving behind his clothes.
It’s all fun and games until Morty drops the lightsaber. It falls straight down, vertically, cutting through the floor. Then it just keeps going and going and going, which, as it turns out, is a pretty big deal. If Rick and Morty can’t find out how to stop the lightsaber before it hits Earth’s core, the entire planet will explode, à la Star Wars Death Star.
The episode, in typical Rick and Morty fashion, then takes one crazy turn after the next as the two attempt to stop the lightsaber’s descent. The president (voiced by Keith David) even gets involved. The lightsaber is stopped before it reaches the Earth’s core, but Morty isn’t the only Star Wars fan around.
Morty and the president are able to catch the lightsaber before it reaches the Earth’s core, but it turns out that the latter had been trying to take the prized weapon for himself. Just like a Star Wars villain, he steals the lightsaber and takes it to the oval office… only to drop it exactly vertically again.
Rick and Morty then morphs into what could almost be a real Star Wars movie, as robots fight robots in space and the heroes attempt to save the planet. Lightsabers abound, and it is up to Rick and Morty to join forces and save the day.
The episode then ends with a look forward to Rick and Morty season seven, which will see Rick hunting his nemesis and “Maybe trying to stay healthy while doing it.” Only time will tell if there will be more Star Wars references, but on a show well-known for its devotion to these epic films set in a galaxy far, far away, it would be no surprise if we see some more absurd lightsaber shenanigans in the future.