After the release of The Force Awakens, one of the biggest questions many viewers had was how Maz Kanata ended up in possession of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber. As fans of the initial trilogy are well aware, Luke’s first lightsaber was lost during a scene in The Empire Strikes Back when Darth Vader — his father — cuts off the hand that was holding it, causing both hand and weapon to fall out of sight.
Read More: May the Fourth Be With You on This Star Wars Day
Well, it turns out the original opening scene for The Force Awakens would have shed some light on this matter. In a special Star Wars Day interview with The Sun, Mark Hamill revealed that the film’s beginning sequence was changed. “One day I read the first 15 minutes of the film absolutely accurately,” he said. “I can tell you now that in the original opening shot of seven, the first thing that came into frame was a hand with a lightsaber, a severed hand that enters the atmosphere, and then the hand and bone burns away and goes sticking into the surface of Jakku. And this alien hand comes in, don’t know if it was Maz but it was an alien hand who takes the lightsaber [a]way, and then the movie proceeds as you see it.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race , Endorses Harris to Replace Him
- Why Biden Dropped Out
- The Chaos and Commotion of the RNC in Photos
- Why We All Have a Stake in Twisters’ Success
- 8 Eating Habits That Actually Improve Your Sleep
- Stop Feeling Bad About Sweating
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox
Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com