--- description: Stephen Colbert explains why the new "Star Wars" lightsaber is the best one yet. title: Watch Stephen Colbert Defend the New 'Star Wars' Lightsaber image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt992dd36a79e64e2d/69876bf50b72e3d6866dc45f/screen-shot-2014-12-02-at-1-36-48-pm.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Stephen Colbert Break Out a Whiteboard to Defend the New _Star Wars_ Lightsaber  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Dec 2, 2014 6:40 PM CUT   by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Dec 2, 2014 6:40 PM CUT Stephen Colbert has been a _Star Wars_ fan for two weeks longer than you have. When he was in the eighth grade, he explained on last night’s show, he won tickets from a local radio station to see the movie before it came out. And his original fandom qualified him to perform a scientific takedown of those who scorn the three-pronged lightsaber that debuted in last week’s [teaser trailer](http://time.com/3609579/star-wars-force-awakens-trailer/ "undefined") for _The Force Awakens_. Though some fans claim that the “lightsaber with too many sabers on it” puts he who wields it at risk for some serious hand burns, Colbert pulls out a whiteboard to demonstrate the genius of the new design. “It’s simple,” he scoffs. “You just need three focusing crystal activators to split the plasma into perpendicular blade energy channels.” And just like that, Stephen Colbert won _Star Wars_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3614258/stephen-colbert-star-wars-lightsabers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3614258/stephen-colbert-star-wars-lightsabers/"},"headline":"Watch Stephen Colbert Break Out a Whiteboard to Defend the New Star Wars Lightsaber","datePublished":"2014-12-02T18:40:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:14:57.059Z","description":"“It’s a ménage-a-saber”","url":"https://time.com/3614258/stephen-colbert-star-wars-lightsabers/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Star Wars topic","stephen colbert","star wars: the force awakens"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt992dd36a79e64e2d/69876bf50b72e3d6866dc45f/screen-shot-2014-12-02-at-1-36-48-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt992dd36a79e64e2d/69876bf50b72e3d6866dc45f/screen-shot-2014-12-02-at-1-36-48-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2014-12-02 at 1.36.48 PM","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3614258/stephen-colbert-star-wars-lightsabers/","name":"Watch Stephen Colbert Break Out a Whiteboard to Defend the New Star Wars Lightsaber"}}]}] ```