Original 'Star Wars' Fan Stephen Colbert Explains How the New Lightsaber Works

Stephen Colbert won’t let the dark side of Twitter destroy his Star Wars high. The Comedy Central host returned to the Colbert Report after Thanksgiving break and immediately launched into a defense of the new Force Awakens teaser trailer — specifically, the crossguard lightsaber wielded by a mystery villain. Internet critics have complained that the design, which features two crossbeams at the lightsaber’s hilt, would be impractical to use in an actual battle. To prove the new weapon’s merit, Colbert drew a diagram, and made it seem as simple as shooting womp rats in a T-16.

Colbert, who calls himself “the original Star Wars fan,” admitted that he has a very personal relationship with George Lucas’s universe. Breaking character for a moment on Monday, the comedian explained that as a child, he won two tickets to a preview screening of Star Wars in 1977. “On the way home, there was a full moon. I pretended it was the Death Star,” said Colbert. “But at school on Monday, I couldn’t explain how everything was different now because no one had seen it.” The world caught up to Colbert when the film opened, but he still considers himself two weeks ahead of the curve, which explains his deep Star Wars devotion. After all, who else but a true fan would endorse Darth Vader for president?