Super in-depth analysis of the HALO ENERGY SWORD
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- An extensive analysis by a historical swordsmanship enthusiast of the Halo Energy Sword as used by the Elites or Sangheili from the video game developed by Bungie Entertainment.
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Its not a sword, its a key. And when you stick it in someone, you unlock their death.
chadwizick memory is the key
chadwizick: I am stealing that line for a book.
It's already in a show.
Oh. :(
Yea it's the true key blade.
In an alternate galaxy:
Sangheli Shad: a super in depth analysis of the human steel sword.
I would want to see that
You see brothers, This ancient human weapon is impractical due to its lack of twin blades, thus leaving its victims dishonored and in pain, if it had two blades, both hearts could be stabbed, giving a quick death, and preserving the honor of both the wielder and the victim.
Wait what do you mean humans do not have two hearts?
Elite (just bc its easier to write) Shad: This thing its akward, well when you see it its clearly made for humans, not Elites.
It has some clear advantages but the material its too primitive, also it isnt as religious as, lets say the Light saber from Star Wars
I want to add something here, but this is too beautiful.
"What honourable Elite holds his blade outward towards his front? A true warrior faces his enemy with almost negligible forward guard, leaving his chest open for attack! We strike from a spinning round slash and wildly predictable hammer arm swipes. This is the only honourable to wield a blade, as you see this is my Subanese Lance infused with the light of our moon, it cuts through mongrel Brute hides, Human heretic scum and Parasite alike! For the glory of Sangheilious!"
“When it cuts someone it kills them instantly”
Emile: doubt
i remember that, Emile still had enough life in him to shoot the elite that stabbed him but then promptly died probably because he was stabbed right in the chest, although i have heard side stories from halo where Spartans would take chest fulls of energy weapons and get their chest melted and die hours later because their armor just preserves their life that much
@@Lickicker He stabbed the elite in the throat with his knife and dragged it down into the canyon below with him presumably dying from the fall, although the gut stab would have been lethal.
@@33link333 ... His body is by the MAC cannon...
Lars Papsø I’m pretty sure he was alive a bit after that because you find his body slouched against the railing
@@lilvampire7439 The stab was still lethal though so that doesn't really change anything
Emile got stabbed through the chest with one of the things, and he still had enough energy to take down the elite that stabbed him. What an absolute chad of a spartan.
Don't you mean "what an absolute SHAD of a Spartan" ;p
Emile is so chad he said no to death until he stabbed his attacker back. He was so focused on the kill, he wouldn’t accept death until he got it. I swear to go he’s the fucking devil.
@@MythicHuskii hey you just got gutted by an energy sword that instantly kills, you gonna die?
Emile: no... I dont think I will
He was my second favourite Spartan after Lockie his a fucking CHAD if anyone disagrees with me I shall call upon the powers of the Chad lords
All Spartans are kings.
While the energy sword is designed to look cool, a lot of the flaws of the design can be explained because the energy sword has immense cultural significance for the Sangehli.
And plus that it was made for Elites, not humans
@@frenchsoldier8485 Sangehli are "Elites"^^
@@Maxiiimoto I... know? I called them Elites because it's shorter
Not to mention, The forerunner weapon it is reversed engineered or inspired by was actually a sword/beam weapon combo. With the beam emerging from the tip
@@frenchsoldier8485 He explained that in the video.
It feels like the name "sword" might have been coined in-universe by the humans, since the Sangheili themselves just look like they're wielding it as a push dagger.
restlessfrager
If considering Sangheili morphology they would need a weapon that considered there double sets of pec muscles.
The human name for it is a energy sword I dont know what the sangheili calls it tho
@@Tony_Christmas. Literally what I said, yes.
@@restlessfrager well yes but actually yes
@Jacob Fenrir unless you're Noble 6 in which it doesn't work on him, he isn't Noble 5
I'm glad you talked about the aliens' anatomy. Many fantasy weapon analysts don't consider that and just assumes an average human uses it.
It looks much more like a dagger(punch-dagger) in size when it's in the alien's hand. that combined with it's one hit kill capability makes me think it's more of an assassination tool than something you'd use for dueling.
Rod Ray No, its more or less used by a Saber, Its used by high ranking officers in regular fights (and battles) for assassinations, they use it still but more commonly the Energy Gauntlet (a gauntlet, that when active, has 2 small energy blades come out.)
It’s kinda like a a combat knife and also is used by super soldiers, not average soldiers
Not really, Its more like a short sword when held by elites or spartans
Too bad he missed the size ratio of the sword to the alien, makes it about gladius sized for them. And the fact that they usually have a personal shield that's tower shield sized, which makes some complaints pointless. Why parry when you got shield? Instead counter attack while blocking. Also, if you're in formation with others with tower shields most of the swing range he says would be limited, would be limited anyway. If you looked at a Gladius, you'd know just how popular stabbing was with the thing.
3:36
That's because as far as I know the 10 hits thing isn't really canon, it's just there for balancing reasons and in the extended universe they last much longer
To be fair, the design of the Energy Sword is more religious than practical. I mean, it's shaped like the Covenant's symbol. Like others have pointed out, the Elites were extremely religious. Let me get you two quotes from a book 'Halo: The Flood' which is the novelization of Halo: Combat Evolved which proves how their technology is more dogma than science and practicality.
"So Keyes talked, and Silva listened, as the Captain reviewed what he had learned while in captivity. "The essence of the matter is that while the races which comprise the Covenant *seem* to possess a high level of technology, most if not all of it may have been looted from the beings they refer to as the 'Forerunners,' an ancient civilization which left artifacts on dozens of planets. . .In the long run, the fact that they are adaptive, rather than innovative, may prove to be their undoing." "
-Halo: The Flood page 147
" "Better than our own?" The Prophet inquired, his tone making it clear that he considered such a possibility extremely unlikely. "Mind your words, Officer 'Zamamee. The technology underlying the armor you wear came straight from the Forerunners. To say that it is in any way inferior verges on sacrilege." "
-Halo: The Flood page 100
So, with that being stated. The design of the weapons makes far more sense than it would for a more practical society, like Humans..Or even the Brutes for that matter. Religious dogma was beaten so hard into them, that they would prefer to die using a weapon that was 'holy' than being branded a heretic.
My two cents on the matter.
StrangeoneXD major props for quotes and cited sources. Waaaaaay too rare in internet discussions. Well done. 👍
@@kungfuskull Thanks!
In addition to that the arbiter in Halo Wars deflects bullets from an assault rifle, using the energy sword as an shield. Because of that I think that during an combat situation between two sword fighters, there would not be the possibility to actually catch a blade between the gap.
I was just about to say i think their swords are designed more out of religion than anything else, but then saw your comment. I really like the way you put actual info behind the idea, as someone else said that's pretty rare on internet discussions.
@@gravemindster7193 When does that ever happen?
You have to remember that the Energy Sword isn't a weapon of war, it's a weapon of fear, it isn't meant to be effective, hence why we see more Elites use Plasma Carbines more often than we do see those that use Energy Swords with confidence, which, of those, they are typically higher ranking Elites. The Energy Sword is intended to be a Symbol of Honor, and is intended to send a message of power to the enemy.
A message of fear ironically induced via ionic lobotomy
and on the note of a weapon of fear - don't most elites use the sword while cloaked, and sneak up to stab through the back, ie an assassination weapon not a combat weapon.
Considering how the sword is still used on the battlefield to great effect, it is a combat weapon. It feels more like a katana of IJN officers, but more practical in a sense that armour shielding actually allows to close into combat and use it.
@@pavelstaravoitau7106 it's only used in great effect due to superior armor shielding, it's still primarily a weapon of fear, a weapon of fear can be used as a great weapon of war when your species is so far forward technologically in comparison to your enemy, if humanity and the Sangheli were on the same technological, "plane" if you will, the Energy sword would have been much less effective
I know this thread is old, but it really depends on the elites rank. Normal elites wont have access to a sword, only ultras and higher ranks are able to use swords. Its not that they arent practical. But i do agree that its design is meant to induce fear in enemies.
I love the idea of elites (or a spartan and an elite) facing off and are aggressively trying to poke each other.
Already a video of a energy sword fight in the animated short movies Halo legends.
Pretty sure the sort of “ammo count” for energy swords is not actually in universe it’s just to make energy swords fair in game. I’ve read a lot of Halo books and no ones energy sword ever went out it’s just a sword but with a long lasting battery.
I look at it the other way. the "plasma pulse kill" he talks abut is a solid reason for a double blade, in order to create a complete circut to arc through the target.
Well that’s not how it works canonically. They only cut and burn. There’s nothing electrical about it’s effect on a target. Scientific or not, in Halo, they’re basically just alien lightsabers. And the double blade is just the way the Sangheli design their blades. Whether it’s more practical or cultural is not in my field expertise but that’s how it is and it looks cool and it works for Halo.
@@JurassicPhilosoraptor I completely agree with this man's conclusion, the energy sword has a far greater "battery charge" than in the games, it's 10 kill limit is for balancing, just look at the halo 2 energy sword and how overpowered it was with its unlimited charge
Could the covenant actually have some small energy pack attached to the back or fighting arm that has a cord to plug into the sword? Then when a human picks it up it only has whatever was left in the handle, because it detached from the tank.
@@Spartan-114 thank you for bringing up the Halo 2 swords that use way less power, and 1 that is literally infinite
If I remember right, the design is entirely aesthetic. The Elites are a very religious people, and a LOT of their things are designed with their religion in mind before practicality. The Energy sword works enough for them that any design that makes it harder to use is seen as part of the trial of using such a holy weapon. The energy sword was a weapon that you had to prove yourself time and time again on the field of battle to earn the right of using. Blue elites were forbidden from using them, red elites could *sometimes* earn one, and they didn't really become a common weapon until you hit the Gold and Silver elites, who're veterans who've fought on and burned hundreds of worlds in pursuit of the Great Journey.
Don't forget, most of blade is weight nNOTHING, or almost nothing so you can jugle with it as long as you want, or untill charges deplete, THAN it is USELESS, why noone ask a simple question, why someone will arm their troops with 10 uses blades ? No recharge, 10 discharges and than...what ? Same proble with all (low tier) alien wepaonry in halo, plasma pistol ? Powerfull in fullcharge, overheats after 10 shots or so, deplete battery...and thrown out in the field, alien plasma rifle, same but no charge shot, overheats even faster, you see problem here, NONE in right mind, wll make ONE USE WEAPON, unless its RPG or LAW, but, in halo, RPG's and FRC have magazines or rechargable batteries !!! WTF HALO ???!!!
олег бурдин In the lore, the plasma pistol and plasma rifle have a much longer charge (almost a day of nonstop combat). The reason they have so little charge in the game is because it’d be unfair to have basically limitless ammo while fighting against other players in multiplayer. I’m not sure if the same thing goes for the overheating of the weapons, or with the energy swords charge.
Yet for purely idustrial purposes, making one use gun (even if it can be used non-stop for day), still rifle life is longer in general 10000 shots, you can increase it by changing barrel + 5000 shots, with alien weaponry you can't do that, imagine you by ar-15 with 100...ok 500 capacity magazine (i am not tolking about drum mags bear with me), after you shot all 500, what next ? You throw it away, yet enemy goes trough 10-12-15 mags, and can still go-on. Mister you are F*CKED !!!
олег бурдин Their weapons are not one use only. They reload them with charging stations. Also the same logic applies to ballistic weapons too. When you run out of ammo... then what? Even worse is that you'll run out of ammo more quickly because you you only have about 300 or so shots on person. The enemy on the other hand can keep firing until the sun sets.
The Louster Just what I was gonna say.
One important thing to note:
Joe Staten had said that Halo’s plasma is not conventional plasma, but “something more ancient and arcane”
Solid light
Really, because it behaved a lot like real plasma in the fall of reach novel when it was used in ship combat?
@@SuperThest in the novel the planet lasts nothing. In Halo Reach it lasts around a month. Bungie ended up being inconsistent with their last Halo game and lessened the importance of that novel
James Ortiz considering it was based on forerunner design. It’s likely solid light
Forerunners seemed to use a lot of light weapon
@@Alex53Ace the
"Kills instantly"
EMILE: "I'm ready! How about you!?"
Almost…
The Halo Energy Sword has two blades so that it has a wide striking surface on the edge while also having good impale physics with two thin tips.
I see it as a very practical stabbing weapon like a Rapier.
It also has very long blades that protect the hand,it could be decent for dueling.
But it of course is a cultural and physiological weapon.
The striking surface would be just as wide if it was filled and tapered down to a single sharp point. It has two blades because it looks futuristic and cool.
@@CoconutMigrating it actually has two blades so that you are able to lock your opponent's blade in between them then twist it from there grasp
@@MrBeans0220 but there is no guard. It's far to difficult to stop a weapon that way with pure strength. In most cases it would pass through. If they added a guard over the hand then catching a sword would be possible.
@@gormleypeach5809 the blade tapers in close to the hand. Technically the energy would be thin enough to pass through that but that was the basic idea behind the design
Shad goes into extreme details of why it looks like that.
Bungie: "Nah we just think it looks cool"
"We needed cool alien shit that clashed with the more practical human stuff. I dunno."
Rule of cool was a thing.
It’s science fiction it’s not meant to be realistic why does he do these vids
brad yeager Because he wants to.
thesupersonicstig fair point
“Out of the darkness, these blades will light our way.”
Glory and honor guide our ascension!
Wort Wort Wort
I always just imagined that the Covenant were fiddling around with random pieces of Forerunner technology one day and said "yeah, that thing will do as a sword."
‘Hey, Chasomee, when you jam these wires together it kinda looks like a traditional Sangheili blade.”
“Prophet of Militancy, this is a sign of the gods! I shall wield this weapon into battle!”
Kinda even makes sense with the fact the swords originally contained sap. They find this strange handle that produces energy on both ends. Fiddle around a bit and boom sword.
Lmao who knows, maybe it was...
John Smith Yeah, I thought it was stated somewhere in Halo cannon that the covenant just found a bunch of Forerunner tech and re-purposed it.
That's actually the central premise...
“Kills instantly”
Laughs in Emile
Well, Spartans can't die, so that's not a fair comparison as Emile did not die, he just was missing in action!
*laughs in same time sword attack*
Hmm yeah probably because said person is a biologically augmented super solider 🤦 fucking duhhh......
@@DarkKatzy013 laughs in rtas
I think a big, sensible reason for why alot of the Sangheli/covenant weapons aren't 100% practical is because in the lore the sangheli went from tribes fighting with metal swords with roman style boats to thousands of years above modern human technology within a few years, with extensive religious indoctrination because they and the san shyum found Forerunner stuff.
They didn't smoothly develop their culture and technology at a similar and stable rate like we did so it will take them a long time after the halo games (2552) to adapt to their new tech stuff and make a rational culture. I think until after Halo 3 and the arbiter they were still living in a civilisation that heavily supressed rational thinking and individualism for the sangheli, because the San shyum (prophet long neck penis looking guys) were suppressing them and using them for labour and military manpower, (like the dark ages but for a whole species, and in space).
Adam de souza “long neck penis looking guys” 💀💀💀
*Sangheili, Shan Shyuum
That makes sense
@@apolloknight9521 Fun note, take a look at Arbiter's energy sword and compare it to energy swords the elites use in Halo 5- ONI had a hand in engineering Arbiter's sword, and you migth notice that a lot of the problems Shad mentioned have been fixed in there. Humans applied their knowledge of warfare to Ex-Covenant tech.
@@Warhamer116 Yeah, but the Prophet's Bane was an ancient sword that the Arbiter had modified by a Sangheili blacksmith. Maybe he took inspiration from humans when he went to have it redesigned, but I don't think ONI, or even any human for that matter, had a direct role in designing it.
I thought to myself, "How in-depth?"
Your video is 30 minutes in length. I cannot wait.
According to our station, all without exception.
On the blood of our fathers,
On the blood of our sons,
We swore to uphold the Covenant,
Even to our dying breath.
Vtel 'Zolam Uphold*
45bullshark Thank
I appreciate the Halo 2 speech
those who would break this oath are heretics, worthy of neither pity, nor mercy!
We will grind them into dust
Actually, yes, lightsabers *do* have limited energy. Sure, we never see them run out, but they do canonically have a battery pack that does have to be recharged; in fact, almost every lightsaber does have a charger port that Jedi of the Republic hung them on their belts by. Basically, when they're on the belt, they're hung up to recharge.
We do see them run out in Star Wars Battlefront 2
The battery pack died out after the last great sith invasion before KOTOR. They do still have batteries that need to he recharged or replaced but the technology advanced to not needing battery packs to be carried.
The lightsaber you are thinking about are extremely old before Star Wars technology with the lightsaber advanced.
@@itsyvonblitz6819 The protosabers had to be constantly attached to a bulky battery pack, which is probably what you're referring to.
That was the proto saber, not the lightsaber. Lightsabers don’t have to recharge because they don’t use a battery, they use kyber crystals, which contain the force within them
Me as a Halo fan as he explains how the sword works: "Yes... But no... But mainly yes"
The Sangheili didnt evolve the same way humans did. The technology of the Sangheili met an insane boost when they came into contact with the San' Shyum. Hence the reason of the weapon's design aint so much for practicality but for religous prestige.
Its the same way someone with intricate designs on their armor was not there for practicality but for showing off. The same applies to the weapon since only Infiltrators, Zealots, Ship Masters, Commanders and above were equipped and trained with them.
As for the protrusions on the back, Sangheili wrists are much smaller in comparison to the rest of their body so that they could have more manuverability.
The same goes for their dexterity and weight since their both insanely strong, and for their size, insanely dexterous.
Their fighting style was also much different since it was more for show and implications of strength which is why they held their weapons to the side rather than in front.
Edit: fixed the typos, thanks guys
@johan alejandro ok now say why you disagree
johan alejandro please explain why you disagree
haha im glad someone typed this out, i was thinking all of this from the get go, he still made a good video, but i think it should have been more phrased as like is it useful for elites, not humans.
johan alejandro
Quality thread
This explains a lot considering that most enemies who have an energy sword are zealots
*Spartans invading convenant ship*
Spartan :
Look ! An Elite !
Elite :
Oh im just a part time janitor here. Dont mind me. Doo dee doo doo
*pulls out key chain with energy sword and keys attached*
Spartan :
He's got a weapon !
Elite :
What ?!
This is the bathroom key !
This deserves more likes.
Wort wort
@@KittycatKye thank you :)
Ok elite preferred species
I want to give this a like, but it's currently at 117
If you watch how elites use the swords they're used on 2 ways. Wide Swings were rarely used to kill. The second and the way they killed their opponents was thrusting. We see very few deaths coming from slashes.
Another note: elites were extremely strong. The better ones match those tank punching Spartans.
Last note: the sword was religious. They're legitimate zealots.
On top of having a Zealot class too...
@@jadedsilverlining9427 It's the first (and maybe only?) class that has the sword.
@@L4sket That is not true. They may have been the enemy type that wielded one the most, but as the original Halo games moved along more and more "types" of Sangheili soldiers were depicted as carrying and using E-Swords, especially in Halo: Reach.
In Halo CE, we see Sangheili officers using Energy swords as well. In Halo 2, we see Special Operations Elites and Officers use them.
Theres also the elite stealth assassins (cant remember the actual name) that used energy swords instead of ranged weapons so they dont attract unwanted attention.
To explain the double blade and shape
If I remember correctly: It's a religious and culture thing for them
If not for the actual cutting and parrying in the game, I'd hypothesize that this "sword" is some sort of a highly lethal pulse "taser" using plasma as a conduit.
it does work like a taser in the sense that you have a few charges in it, when you're done it stops emitting the blade and you have to find another weapon
WARNING: HALO LORE FAN WHO HAS SPENT THE WHOLE VIDEO WRITING THIS:
1. Remember, heat wise, Sangheili always have armour at the very least, energy shields even, when using the weapon, radiant heat can be seen to be less of an issue if this is the case. UNSC armour is designed to be heat resistant as, well, the Covenant uses PLASMA weapons, so I dare say it would be a less critical issue for them to use it as well.
2. The Sword, in its operation of the sword is used as a blade, to cut, the plasma, if you note, has defined sharp portions in its in-game models, considering how extensively used Plasma is in the Covenant, such control over magnetic fields and as such plasma in order to create an almost solid blade with Plasma is possible.
As such the edge could be literally pretty much solid, while retaining the heat energy, so it would cut like a blade, as it would be a blade, while the plasma can be rather low temperature.
3. In its use in-canon its origin is ceremonial, the Covenant is obviously HIGHLY religious and traditional, the Sangheili are culturally traditional as well, if it works, and works with their sword techniques, they would accept it, no?
4. Remember, SANGHEILI HAVE SYMMETRICAL HANDS. (Ah, apologies, you mentioned the hand shape later.)
5. Sangheili used to use metal swords yes, but they were heated, and their shape is generally left ambiguous, to my knowledge.
6. There are also other shapes of sword, and of course, Energy Shields (Like, proper shields), for traditional use. The Variant in the game is the one mass produced by the San'Shyuum for Sangheili use.
7. Covenant technology is based on Forerunner Mining tech, I dare say they *could* use Plasma in the same way the Forerunner have Hard Light, (Look at point 2 latter portions).
8. Instant kills are easily explained as a Gameplay Mechanic, in canon lore, Sangheili often have long sword duels, with slices not killing, just weakening the opponent.
9. The Sword is often used against other Energy swords, so the bumps would provide the stop for the middle gap, as it's magnetic field would interfere with the other blades, no? Remember, Sangheili xenophobia and culture, as well as focus on Tradition, it could be a more extreme form of the German WW2 tech "Must defeat our own weapons first" syndrome.
10. AGAIN, Energy sword is a SWORD, not a PLASMA CANNON, as I said prior, game's functionality is gameplay focused, and is not how they are canonologically used and/or function.
11. BEARING ALL THIS IN MIND, Sangheili techniques are described as VERY AGGRESIVE, Defensive techniques are rather... abandoned, again, cultural in nature.
12. ENERGY DAGGERS BASED ON THE GAUNTLET ARE A THING, as a hold out weapon.
13. General issue with the whole video is TIS A SWORD, NOT A ONE SHOT KILL, GAMEPLAY MECHANICS OFTEN =/= CANON. (Insert Lore Fan rage about game issues)
TheConeezeanEmperor another thing:
It’s often used by spec. ops since it’s less noisy than a plasma rifle, and active camouflage used by the Sangheili can hide the blade easily.
Ehh, most high ranking Sangheili use them, usually as they are proficient with the blade, and as such demand one for use in combat. (Their personal one is either in their Keep or elsewhere). Again a cultural thing really, the sword is a status symbol, if one is skilled with the blade, one must be high up in one's Keep.
it does look like some super-complex arc welder where you already have some self contained plasma of different polarities that are just striving to flow from one side to another but are repelled by these magetic fields:
you distrupt one field and plasma pours out in a dispersive cloud causing severe burns, distrupt both fields and you get a stream of plasma flowing from one field to the other in an arc, like this the visible "blade" would visibly deform and eject plasma on any surface it touches (so no cool shots of the thing passing trough and poking on the other side of a victim) but it would make much more sense in its functionality.
A charge of the energy blade could be like a condenser, that before a cut the energy blade creates plasma with the sorrounding air until it reaches saturation and the energy blade doesn't recharge the resource before the charge doesn't reach a certain threshold, so you're assisted in partitioning the blade's energy which would result in multiple dead opponents and not a single pile of char along with the hazards of having a plasma arc in your immediate vicinance
So plasma is electrically charged gas. This electrical charge means that is requires a positive and a negative node. So if you picture the handle as a AA battery, you "broken circuit" theory would make sense. This would allow the electrically charged gas to flow from the top of the handle, through the top blade, through the unfortunate recipiant, the bottom blade, and then back into the bottom of the handle. This would still cause the plasma to discharge, and without this circuit I don't believe the weapon would be able to function as it does.
Coming from a college physics student, so take it as you will.
Actually I was thinking something similar, but you used for more edumecated words. (Yes I use Edumecated...)
So, as good as the comment is, it's not quite true - Plasma isn't 'electrically charged' gas, necessarily.
Plasmas are, molecularly, what happens when you get something into a state of really, really high ionization and is so hot it can't form molecular bonds. A real-world example of this involves a spectrograph of a distant star that may have been observed 'eating' a planet, in which Fe +25 was found in the spectra (for reference, Fe / Iron has 26 electrons in its base state - so, the iron was *so ionized,* it had exactly one electron to its name). Needless to say, plasmas that get sufficiently cooled - say, to being a gas - are *VERY* reactive, because once the energy that's keeping electrons away isn't present, _the plasma will want those electrons back._
A plasma with a net charge would be a *terrible* choice for a melee weapon. _Especially_ if the opposite side can also use it. Unlike a net-neutral plasma you would have to suppress electric discharges not just between the two clouds but also anything else in the vicinity, such as yourself. It also places a rather severe upper limit on the amount of energy you can store in the "blade" as it's basically a giant capacitor at that point, takes insane voltages to force more charge out of your power cell and in addition to thermal containment you have to compensate the Coulomb force between the plasma clouds.
Anything ionized is electrically charged by definition.
+Mr. Entropy The basic assumption for plasmas is that they are electrically neutral on the macroscopic scale. Mainly because we don't know any way of violating charge conservation in a significant manner. What separates a plasma from an ideal gas is that the individual microscopic particles carry a net charge.
You can also study charged plasmas of course, for example most electrical discharges will have a large excess of negative charge if they are driven by the far more mobile electrons. These tend to be incredibly unstable though as the Coulomb force will either attract them to a nearby opposite charge or rapidly disperse the cloud.
"When it cuts someone it kills them insta-"
Emile: Well yes but actually no
Spartan IIIs are modified against dying of shock, albeit at the cost of remembering to treat their wounds due to not feeling the pain.
Not trying to be pedantic, just wanted to be helpful.
@@Xaxp I'm not sure if we're talking on the same level. According to this video, Emile getting an Energy sword through his chest would result in the blood in his body immediately vaporizing at such a speed that the explosion following it would've burst most vital organs in him. Yeah, no amount of training is going to keep you focused when your chest is filled with plasma burning at a few thousand degrees let alone the fact that almost all of your major organs are now shredded.
@@Ka_llisto emile fighting back is all raw hatred :)
@@shard20001 Breaking News: Man Literally Too Angry to Die
@@Ka_llisto Adrenaline? Maybe? Idk
There have been certain accounts where the "energy sword" was actually made out of a metal like material in the animated movie "halo legends"
there are sangheli blaades that are made of more conventional metals that the energy sword is apparently based on
@@captainbloodloss1 which is in fact canon!
In Halo 5 they actually showed some more primitive versions of the energy sword. Personally I would believe that those versions are good examples of how the weapon has evolved over time in the elites culture
Trommari My thoughts exactly. I did actually love the way they looked
the supposed first bat'leth also looked a lot cooler and better.
Halo legends had steel variants.
The steel variants were used for battle and I believe the evolution of the energy sword is more ceremonial and not exactly intended to be used for every day combat.
Arch Ratliff IV until you play LASO H2A or, my favorite/ most hated (ironically abreveated) what I call LESLASOS H2A or, Literally Every Skull Legendary All Skulls On Solo Halo 2 Anniversary AKA don't pull the trigger, don't throw nades, give up before you start mode. I got to the second mission, ish in about 5 hours, ish (actually 8 hours of nyan cat memes for extra brain melting) we need someone to *accept the challenge* and complete LESLASOS H2A
Shad Fact: Shad once killed a tyrant king by kicking him in the corbels so hard, his castle collapsed in. This is not a euphemism.
Shad Fact: Shad destroys entire army armed with energy swords by scrming his battlecry 9:07
Is it just me or should touch to kill energy based weapons all be polearms or better yet whips.
It collapsed because it didn't have... Matriculations!
...but doesnt that mean shad dies in the collapse as well, since corbells (should) tend to be an interrior feature?
+Bob Jones I showed your comment to my brother and he said ‘well, it might be easier to run power through it but it’s so fucking kinky.’
In halo games and even when they were used in movies, when a person is struck instead of impaled the unfortunate victum is sent flying, while the larger tougher characters are staggered. Reinforcing that its a magnetic field that lets out a huge burst of plasma apon striking an enemy because a huge amount of energy is needed for a powerful burst and the kenetic energy transferred apon contact would send most flying due to physics.
Daedalus. For the sake of playing devils advocate,for the run of the mill person, yes. But for Spartans and elites who are not only larger but also a good deal heavier and stronger, at worst they would be staggered. But grunts, marines, and jackals they will be of course sent flying as well. However, the force exerted would be sent forward, not around the immediate area. Since the burst of plasma would be sent toward the unfortunate victim, not the wielder. The burst would be sent from the handle, towards the point of the sword and into the victim. That's for the run of the mill swipe. Which is point towards the enemy and slicing up. The point would cut through but not impale. The thrust would impale but the burst would fry their innards but not send them flying since the surge would hold them there along with the weight of the victims gear. The typical sangheli swordsman would stab and lift up, gravity, weight, and the amount of force would override the forward force. When struck the victim is sent 5 feet in the other direction. That's with armor. For sangheli and Spartans they are a good deal heavier so they won't be sent back apon striking. This goes for the brutes and even larger hunters as well. Staggered at worst if it worked that way.
Mario Badia even book show inconsistancies where a person is impaled but when hung off the blade in the typical sangheli shenanigans they are not sliced through due to weight and gravity. So while slicing would do so apparently staving won't. It still would cauterize the wound and burn around the impact site, scorching the innards. But if the sangheli were to pull up rather than thrust and lift up like they do then it would indeed slice and send flying, rather than impale and scorch. Provided the energy to create the plasma is not used first. Because that is what causes them to go flying.
Daedalus this is indeed so, but the average sangheli in battle armor is about 1000 pounds, the average Spartan is about 4 tons as stated by halsey. Half from the implants, the other half from their mjolnir armor. They are also 5 to 10x faster in their reaction timing. So what i said above still holds some weight. The average human or grunt would still be going back as well. But due to weight and or strength, the Spartan or sangheli would be able to override the recoil even if its just barely to stop themselves from going flying as well. In the halo legends movie. Chief fights the sargent with an energy sword. When they clashed they stoped the recoil but only barely. At one point in the fight chief could not stop the recoil and did a movement where he spun and planted his leg down on the ground canceling any further kickback. And most fights went with front leg forward and backleg dug into the ground to prevent recoil and sliding. So even though their body didn't go flying, their arms still went back. This worked in their favor as chief did a follow up swing to increase striking power.
Daedalus Newton's Laws get weird when there are mass differences. Sangeli are much larger and much heavier than a normal human so recoil wouldn't apply to them the same way as a human or human sized target. The Spartans being modified humans with bleeding edge technology exo-suits have a different weight as well. So rag dolling wouldn't be as extreme for Chief or Arby as they would be for a normal UNSC Space Marine.
kai magnus especially in halo: reach the movie spartan sam got picked up like a doll with all of his gear by your general issue and everbodies favorite elite.
We Grunty Bois like this. We'll be expecting a look at the Gravity Hammer any time soon
Logic, functionality of design, and reality has no place when discussing the Majesty that is the halo energy sword. Also another great video Shad. Keep em coming.
Xi Yu Hua There is good logic and functionality because of the total physiology of the Sangheili. Due to their taller stance and even their religious statures, they have a very specific mindset to it. Also, the whole “ten kill” thing is just a game balancing thing, and not accurate within the lore.
Halo designer 1: Let's give this alien race an energy sword.
Halo Designer 2: Like a lightsaber?
Halo designer 1: No, it's going to have two blades.
Halo designer 2: like Darth Maul's?
Halo designer 1: No, the blades are going to point straight forward.
Halo designer 2: like a tuning fork?
Halo designer 1:...Yes. Like a tuning fork.
Energy Fork!
i died
Well atleast Bungie made a damn good lookin' species to wield it
Until 343 fucked it up
@@spartanwar1185 Then they unfucked it with h2a and halo wars 2.
The swords of Ripa'moramee had a hand guard tho
pacster :v true they did and the prophets bane in halo 5
Erick Quiroz so did the Prophet’s Bane and the Infected Swords
Same with Arby in Halo 5
Proctor Argus yeah that’s the prophets bane it’s arbys sword
And also th distance between the 2 blades were huge as well
Shadiversity: refers to plasma as a liquid
Me: *INTERNAL ELDRITCH SCREAMS*
I cannot imagine how many Elites died by accidentally touching the blade.
angryjams I think it would hurt their hand only unless they accidentally stab their own torso
Elite Cop :
Freeze ! Drop your weapon !
Elite :
*drops energy sword*
Ahhhh my foot !
@@neonshark6972 It would simply turn off, and Sanghelli (Elite) hands are better suited for the handle
@@SuperPaez when you kill them in game, the blade remains active sooo...
Elites are highly resistant to plasma damage and they are usually shielded so not many would die by accidentally touching the blade.
I'm just here waiting for you to get back on the "Best weapons to use against mythical creatures" or "Best weapons for Mythical creatures" series
Great video as always Shad!!
Or fortifications for both subjects would be cool. What kind of fortification would centaurs use? What designs would help vs giants, etc.?
Militant Bystander but thinking about how to fight monsters is cool.
Militant Bystander It’s a popular series on his channel. It’s for fun and for “what if” scenarios. It’s fun and enjoyable to see fantasy creatures/races in a more realistic light. We just want to have some fun. Besides, this video is about energy swords defying several scientific facts that are wielded by aliens with 2 thumbs. That doesn’t sound like the real world either. It’s enjoyable and entertaining, no need to be rude about it.
Sorry I’m just grumpy as I wanted to see Shad do realistic stuff. My bad I apologise!
Must be hard trying to find ideas for so many videos,
I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe that Sangheli wrist work different due to the thumbs. Human wrists cannot rotate upwards because that is where the thumb is; perhaps with Sangheli, their wrists cannot move in a downwards swing due to having a thumb joint located there. That would effect the articulation of the sangheli significantly, and prevent them from using a sword made in the style that humans do AKA sangheli would have to fight more like Wolverine with his claws.
Also, Sangheli are significantly larger than humans, so the blade lengths are comparably shorter, giving them better control, and perhaps allowing for the gap between to be used as a sword breaker (not to mention that it is plasma, so non energy weapons would defenaty break, and the plasma/energy feild is wider in the centre space and might actually be able to disrupt the energy field of the enemy's blade and temporarily disable the weapon),
On top of all else, I'm certain that the energy sword design pre-dates sangheli energy weapons, and would have been originally designed as metal weapons.
- just a few thoughts as a fan of halo, game theory, and yourself
In Halo Legends: The Duel. You can see that some Sangheli use metal "energy swords" (just an actual metal version of an energy sword)
@@TmanTheTdog that's not necessary part of lore considering the female didn't seem to have mandibles and also had hair in the episode
@@richardhusband9265 Wasn't the humanoid Sanghili Vald's (Arbiter) wife?
@@richardhusband9265 Can you verify that the female Sangheili depicted in *The Duel* did, in fact, have hair? It could just as easily be stated that it was some type of headdress and that the animation (which was already fuzzy and blurry, albeit intentionally) is what made it look like mammalian hair. Moreover, female Sangheili seemingly lacking mandibles could be justified as sexual dimorphism within the species.
I'm not stating that I actually think that female Sangheili do look fairly human. I also know that *The Duel* in particular has been confirmed by 343i to not be canon. I'm just trying to show that the short doesn't have to be non-canon due to the things you mentioned.
also if it was opposing magnetic fields on the two blades when another energy sword came between them the swords would rip each other apart losing a charge for both parties but saving youre life the more experienced duelist could force a draw very useful for a ceremonial weapon as it is highly likely with sanghelli extreme honor and warrior culture even a ceremonial duel could only end as a draw or with death anything else would be to shameful
15:00
I thought i should mention that in your refutation of the idea that the energy sword is meant to catch other weapons, you are using the Halo 4 energy sword to do so. The original energy sword from halo 2 not only has thinner prongs on each end, but also has a more solid guard in the middle of the slits that would protect your hand from an oncoming weapon
Big question Shad: Would you ever discuss on the armor of the elites? I like to see your thoughts on how the covenant's armament is when analysed. :)
GumgumDookuin Halo Reach-ODST: A little fancy but workable.
4/5: Wut
the great part of theelites armors is made of energy, I think, the plate is more decorative than protection.
VANLER DEARNOOB Not sure, but possibly. Even once their shields are disabled it still takes some effort to put them down (game and lore-wise).
Most Halo 4 elite armor is questionable. Why would they leave their arms unarmored?
The books tell us the energy armor is almost perfect, you need a lot of fire power for break it, the plate is just a dead weight.
I'm not an expert of halo but i believe that the canon difficulty is the hard one, and the elites are half inmortal, they swallow bullets as they were cookies.
I typically really like your breakdowns. This one however I think you missed the mark. I am not trying to say whether or not it is feasible as I dont have expertise in that, however a lot of the points you base some of your thought process on are a little off. The biggest point (in my opinion) was the fact that the energy sword came into existence after the creation of deadly projectile weapons (guns) and thus was used in situations where it in of itself was a disadvantage. It wasnt created to be used for dueling purposes (though it was used in this way by Sangheili (sp)) it was to be used for mid to close range engagements as a quick execution tool against enemies with equipment like energy shields and massive pieces of armor. Although in the games it was not used in conjunction with firearms in the lore it is very often that a warrior would carry a firearm in one hand and have his sword in the other.
The second issue is your over reliance on the game mechanics as your basis for your theories, rather than lore examples. While yes the games essentially birthed this weapon they do not aptly showcase the logic behind it (mostly because games try to be balanced and thus limit things that the lore does not). Things like the instant death to a single touch is more of a game mechanic than a proposed function of the weapon (though I do really like your theory on the magnetic field and the rapid expansion of heat). There are many cases of energy swords being used to cut through armor plating, bulkheads, vehicles, and the crazy resilient materials the forerunners constructed with. So the organic sensor theory doesnt pan out. Again using the game's mechanic of not consuming energy when you hit a wall is a poor way to go at it.
Overall if the games were the only thing to base the weapon off of you would have my full support. There are, however many other mediums with which to pull basis from that are more "credible" than a video game mechanic built to "balance" competition.
Overall neat discussion though keep up the good work
Also used as a stealth weapon with active camo or whatever the elites called it.
Definitely agree with you on that,. Also he spent 5+ minutes mentioning the 10 hit limit, which is 100% a balancing mechanic (and is not even in Halo 2 so we know for a fact it's not a cannon trait of the Energy Sword) and it shouldn't really have been the basis for any design theories.
he also missed the very clear change in design between the elites subspecies (why bungie's elites look different from 343's), this almost entirely negates his argument against sword catching (in bungie's favor). how ever he also doesn't look at the flood, and how the sword affects them (instant disintegration as well as destruction of the bio mass preventing recycling of it). he also ignored that due to reality being full of resistance, the greater the length of the blade the exponential increase to power usage. and then on top of that he ignored the traditional metal sword that the sangheili used in days past (halo legends). and it's design.
but i will admit there were quite a few logical and well grounded arguments present and he makes cool content, also would be cool if he made a brute shot video. (love that gun). i also BUNGIE follows what is known as the rule of "cool" if looks cool acts cool sounds cool, but it doesn't fit the lore 100%, that doesn't matter hence some weirder design choices.
@@floranslinger5094 Haven't played Halo in a while. How has their design changed?
@@flamespear86 I can't seem to upload images into TH-cam comments but if you Google halo 2 or halo 5 energy sword you will see what I'm talking about
"Is this even a sword?"
I mean...I don't know?...Can we just call it a "Alien stick that emits stuff that kills things" as a more accurate...Actually that is a bit long...You know I think I figured out why it is called a sword now.
You have to remember that the Sangheili are 7.5 tto 8.5 feet tall on average, of course it looks overly large to us.
I think he meant the name is long, not the sword. The sword is actually rather short.
+Resistant396
Confirmed, I was talking about the name I tried to give.
Nobody knows it's actually a barbeque fork for flipping and serving porkchops. "It grills as it cuts."
Skypeon isn’t there an Indian sword thing that has the basic profile of the energy sword? I know scholagladiatoria showed it on his channel once.
I’d really love to see an analysis of the Breath of the Wild “One-hit obliterator”. Maybe less on the function of the ‘glass canon’ and more on the actual design of the shape of it?
I would love to see people explode on contact in game, that would make the energy sword even more awesome
That would have been really awesome, also would increase the game MPAA rating before the game was popular; less sales and the franchise may not have lasted.
Glen Yardley All main entries to the series before Halo 5 were rated M.
Right, that was stupid of me; I forgot that there are no R rated games. *facepalm*
Those poor, poor animators...
The flood combat forms do and they take less energy to kill as well.
The shape of the energy sword is based off the non-energy based swords the Elites used before the covenant.
They had hand guards and even some energy swords had the guards. The Arbiter from Halo Wars and Halo 5 has hand guards on their respective swords. I guess they removed them as from then on the covenant fought other species who were technologically inferior.
Also the main shape was based on a gun made from the Forunners. It was just the handle where the actual rest of the gun was formed by light. The gap was the area where the beams formed. The elites tried to reconstruct it but it led to a sword as the gap was present in both energy and physical swords.
This can be seen in Halo Legends where Forunner Kill Teams are sent to control the out break.
Edit: Grammar
Bump
Bump?
Bump
Yeah the arbiter in halo two I think had a tailor made energy seord
Bump
So having the blade above the handle is always the most logical design for a humanoid species, but I can see the handle having a fairly severe curve, pointing the blade forward by about 30 degrees. For us humans a sword with an off-centered blade would be very unwieldy, but for a species with two opposable thumbs like that it probably wouldn’t be an issue.
Them having two thumbs would help them keep a grip on such a weapon, but I'm not sure how much that would help if the balance of the weapon is the problem.
Gormathius Nightstrider I can use an energy sword in real life better just as good as any sword and I’m pretty darn good with both. I have a replica in my room and it ain’t a problem for me cause I hold it the same as an elite with no issues
@@MasterHall117 how did you practise
Aaron Ginn I am a really huge fan of halo so I did what’s called a pro gamer move: studied Frye movements the elites did, read the comics did my research on how the weapon was used in lore and took the one I have hanging up and practiced with it....
@@MasterHall117 yea but do you think you could take on someone who uses a sword irl? Surely we would of used these swords if there better
Plasma doesn't necessarily have to be ultra hot, some lights, and say a plasma TV, use plasma and they don't explode and melt.
TVs don't have enough energy to cut you either. If they did they would.
Oh wow, Shad calling out Star wars and other movies with plot holes left to be explained by the fans. Man, my respect for you grows each time I listen to you.
50 shapes of breaking your wrist.
Or vapourising it. Or blowing your arm off with a plasma discharge. Or slicing the trooper next to you in half as you flail the thing around like a bug net.
Although the Sangheili have heat resistant armour with energy shielding.
I mean it was designed by a species with symmetrical hands. I imagine our swords would be uncomfortable for them too.
That’s because it wasn’t meant for your wrist.
Been a Halo fan since the first game came out and I'll admit, this was still quite interesting. There were a lot of things that I had not considered about the energy sword. I especially love the idea of the "closed circuit" thing, even if it may not be what the creators originally intended.
I've read this from a book, but the reason a lightsaber has seemingly limitless energy is because the tip of the handle has an emitter that have a positive charge with a negative right next to it. The energy comes out the positive releases the energy then at a certain distance, bends back to the negative, and recharges the "batteries."
sorry. terrible English
I didn’t notice much wrong about your English- I completely understood what you said. Don’t worry about it
The 10 charges in halo games is just there for gameplay reasons energy swords. For example if you are fighting the flood you get much more charges.
NaitNait because it takes less heat to cut the rotten, decayed flesh?
@@austinhinton3944 its not rotten or decayed
celuler22 Actually, if you read the Lore, you would know that the Flood will take dead corpses as well, and take little care in keeping up their host bodies. Thus they tend to decay from rot and wear-and-tare. This is even reflected in the original game, where you can clearly see but if skin missing and even protruding ribs!
@@austinhinton3944 Just after the first fight in Floodgate you see a marine get swarmed by infection forms. Within 3 seconds he's broken his own neck and turned the yellowish brown of the flood, every cell in his body replaced with the flood super cell. They aren't decaying.
But for whatever reason these combat forms are really easy to dismember with a single punch or shotgun blast, unlike their pure form counterparts.
Actually as the Lore states that it rapidly degrades and uses the biomass, as well as that they have much higher decomposition rates, look it up on the wiki
If the handle on yours wasn’t flat it would be more comfortable
I have an energy sword replica with a rounded handle, and it's a bit uncomfortable just because of that gap between the middle finger and ring finger
@@caleb-mk5tk yeah because it's designed by a species with 3 giant fingers. Not to mention, the classic design has a much more rounded grip that avoided this problem
@@endmybuffering Two giant fingers and two thumbs really
@@endmybuffering yep that’s the thing about most of the plasma wepons in halo is that they were not designed for human use
When it comes to weird looking sci fi weapons, its still a more interesting weapon than the ridiculous looking batleth from star trek.
The Batleth is closer to a sword pole type weapon. Basically think something closer to Darth Maul's light saber staff thing. Also the batleth is designed with Klingon's in mind because they have two hearts basically. If you hit them in the chest with a normal blade they'd be hurt, but the other "heart" would just take over and they'd keep fighting. (8 chambered heart)
And yet Worf got beat up all the time and was paralyzed by a crate falling on him at a bad angle. Klingons don’t seem that tough to me.
th-cam.com/video/HoOfjGqo5EY/w-d-xo.html usually what kills us kills them ...
Klingons have two of every organ and are humanoid, so I think the Batleth is the Klingon's version of a defensive weapon think shield or if we put the Klingons in midevil combat lines I could see the Klingons having two lines the first line of warriors holding the Batleth then behind them would be a line of klingons hold what looks like the dagger but longer and two handed or even them being in teams of two
I'd like to know what Shad thinks of the batleths in Star Trek Discovery. I was overjoyed at how much more sensible and sword-like that new design is, lol. At least by comparison, lol.
www.startrek.com/uploads/assets/db_articles/79ed6b9ba33da4a95d1444821725335748ade662.jpg
I think you should do an analysis on the ancient sangheli swords that you discover in the Halo 5 mission Swords of Sanghelios, the ones you see in the Halo 2 Anniversary terminals, and the prophet’s bane that the Arbiter is seen with in Halo 5! They are really weird and I’d love to see an analysis on those as well.
Also, one thing I do want to mention for the whole blade sliding down the middle thing is that, the Sangheli are very different from us in terms of how they value their own lives. Yes, they do want to stay alive, but a lot of what they do is driven by the quest of honor. Putting themselves in harms way in the quest of a higher step in the great journey is kinda their thing. Thel Vadame or the Arbiter before he learned of the Great Journey’s falsehood actually attended multiple of his missions on the ground. And he was a supreme commander. So obviously, the elites are not so worried about death and they probably wouldn’t put much of a safety precaution on the main tools of honor given to one of their kind.
the closed circuit idea seems the most likely, perhaps that's also why the gap is so small, a side strike with enough force would cause the flaired bits in the center to touch breifly, triggering the plasma flow.
Newton's Laws of Motion. Makes sense.
Also if you look at the plasma rifle and plasma pistol they both have a similar design to the energy sword, being centered around the fist and projecting upper and lower portions that nearly but not quite meet at the end. Just before they fire beams of energy (presumably plasma) arc between these two points creating the projectile that is then somehow accelerated toward the target. There's no traditional barrel on these weapons, just the energized reaction between the upper and lower portions. It stands to reason that since the energy sword, plamsa rifle, and plasma pistol are all similar in design that mechanically they'd be similar too. So I'd say the closed circuit idea is a pretty safe bet, as it's kind of what I'm imagining happens when the trigger is pulled on the rifle or pistol allowing the energy to flow between the two points to create their respective projectiles
When it hits they spark, could be
Why is everyone so fucking stupid.......... Shad why don’t you make a nuke sword that kills everyone in one hit Shad. Why don’t we all just sit down on our planet eArth for a small moment because some of you guys and quite clearly on different planets
+militant bystander I’ll have you know I’m a proud Martian.
I mean, not that Elites care too much about functionality. They are usually very over the top when it comes to showing off their superiority. I recall a cruiser taking unnecessary hits to show off to a frigate, Elites having flashy war cries or flexing in the heat of battle. Not saying this justifies much, just maybe explains it.
I was just guna say this. The elites are so damn extra. Even their armour is all about aesthetics over functionality. The higher class they are normally the more over the top the armour like the honour guard guys or the ones that essentially have a triceratops frill. Their whole aesthetic is all about show, symbolism of rank and lineage. Is it practical? nah, will they look cool killing things? Hell yea, that's their jam
@@MrFlyingSquirl
Well also the armour is design to resist plasma than physical projectiles as well as thier over-reliance on energy shields to do all the practical work.
WARNING: HALO LORE FAN WHO HAS SPENT THE WHOLE VIDEO WRITING THIS:
1. Remember, heat wise, Sangheili always have armour at the very least, energy shields even, when using the weapon, radiant heat can be seen to be less of an issue if this is the case. UNSC armour is designed to be heat resistant as, well, the Covenant uses PLASMA weapons, so I dare say it would be a less critical issue for them to use it as well.
2. The Sword, in its operation of the sword is used as a blade, to cut, the plasma, if you note, has defined sharp portions in its in-game models, considering how extensively used Plasma is in the Covenant, such control over magnetic fields and as such plasma in order to create an almost solid blade with Plasma is possible.
As such the edge could be literally pretty much solid, while retaining the heat energy, so it would cut like a blade, as it would be a blade, while the plasma can be rather low temperature.
3. In its use in-canon its origin is ceremonial, the Covenant is obviously HIGHLY religious and traditional, the Sangheili are culturally traditional as well, if it works, and works with their sword techniques, they would accept it, no?
4. Remember, SANGHEILI HAVE SYMMETRICAL HANDS. (Ah, apologies, you mentioned the hand shape later.)
5. Sangheili used to use metal swords yes, but they were heated, and their shape is generally left ambiguous, to my knowledge.
6. There are also other shapes of sword, and of course, Energy Shields (Like, proper shields), for traditional use. The Variant in the game is the one mass produced by the San'Shyuum for Sangheili use.
7. Covenant technology is based on Forerunner Mining tech, I dare say they *could* use Plasma in the same way the Forerunner have Hard Light, (Look at point 2 latter portions).
8. Instant kills are easily explained as a Gameplay Mechanic, in canon lore, Sangheili often have long sword duels, with slices not killing, just weakening the opponent.
9. The Sword is often used against other Energy swords, so the bumps would provide the stop for the middle gap, as it's magnetic field would interfere with the other blades, no? Remember, Sangheili xenophobia and culture, as well as focus on Tradition, it could be a more extreme form of the German WW2 tech "Must defeat our own weapons first" syndrome.
10. AGAIN, Energy sword is a SWORD, not a PLASMA CANNON, as I said prior, game's functionality is gameplay focused, and is not how they are canonologically used and/or function.
11. BEARING ALL THIS IN MIND, Sangheili techniques are described as VERY AGGRESIVE, Defensive techniques are rather... abandoned, again, cultural in nature.
12. ENERGY DAGGERS BASED ON THE GAUNTLET ARE A THING, as a hold out weapon.
13. General issue with the whole video is TIS A SWORD, NOT A ONE SHOT KILL, GAMEPLAY MECHANICS OFTEN =/= CANON. (Insert Lore Fan rage about game issues)
well I think that the opposing energy fields would prevent the blades from being able to slide down the blade more like they would strike perhaps bounce or just strike and get stuck in place making so it a fight so see who tires or lack of skill with then blades crossing many times in a fight
Regarding number 5, we actually see an example of an ancient sword design the Sangheili used in H5 in the form of the Curve Blade. It even fits relatively well with what shad would consider a more practical verson of the weapon.
The curve blade was a hunting weapon, if you would read the novels the actual combat sword of the time was not only heated, but larger, yet the shape is left ambiguous. The Energy Sword's lineage is actually more so from that rather than the curve blade, and was invented shortly before the formation of the covenant through reverse engineering of Forerunner technology on Sangheilios, which happened in the latter portions of the war due to desperation.
I'm just glad someone pointed out the fact that Energy Daggers are a thing as seen in Halo:Reach the elites are seen will single blade energy daggers
Another point to add is the energy sword actually has a infinite source of energy. It doesn't have "only 10 kills" as that was a game mechanic, in the actual lore the energy sword can be used for pretty much infinitely. Halo 2 is the only game where you can actually pick up the sword and see it's infinite source of energy.
I love how, the entire video, whenever Shad tries to grab onto the handle, he kind of subtlely messes around with it trying to get a comfortable grip
In ancient ancient history, the sanghili used to make these swords out of metal, which doubles down on the limitations you brought up, as well as reducing the number of advantages this design COULD have. This further supports that this design would have NEVER caught on over time had the sanghili been a real historical race.
The metal "curve blades" have only one blade, which is also inline with the hilt, so they actually don't have the same faults as the "Type-1 Energy Sword"
I think it also is due to the fact these are based off an ornamental blade used is rituals. I could be remembering it wrong however.
+420 Steps From Hell No such thing as a planar magnetic field, the field lines have to close _somewhere_ and if you have the tech to form a plasma wedge you can make a triangular double-edge.
i feel like this design is for suited for sanghili if they're into finger fencing but want the blade to be more similar in shape to their fingers
They didn't create their advance tech tho, it's all scavenged forerunner tech.
Poor MatPat, his theories about weapons tend to be picked apart by you Shad. Lol
Robert Keele I think Matt Easton did a lightsaber video that says that the writers in Star Wars Rebels says that lightsabers have a slight stick when in contact. This could be because the magnetic fields combine to stick them together and the same thing could happen with the Type-1 ESword. I know it is a weak defense but I don't think Shad considered that energy weapon's magnetic field could combine and slightly stick together.
Still, I don't think the opposing blade has a high chance of entering that tiny gap, and the magnetic field should be pretty strong to keep the opposing blade from passing through, because the opposing blade will probably be moving very fast; a slight stick won't be enough.
Honestly, he should get in contact with Shad or other historical weapon enthusiasts for consulting and research.
funder fair enough
nilok7 they do know each other its just they haven't done a collab recently
Andhika Soehalim have they collabed before?
Hey Shad,
With the energy sword it's like with the staff weapons from Stargate. They are weapons of Terror. They are meant to intimidate your enemy. The Elites have enough weapons that are far more effective in terms of killing. Both, the staff weapons from Stargate, as well as the Energy swords from Halo are weapons capable of reliably killing your opponent. But the thing is that they are mainly just capable of. It's not their main purpose as they are meant to make the enemy shit their pants when they see someone with such a weapon coming at them. According to my information, even the elites themselves consider it impractical. If they want to kill someone they could always use one of their high power energy weapons on rifle/pistol basis.
Regardless of that. Great job on the video. It was really fun to watch and I liked it. Keep up your great work. 👍🏼
Liking cuz you mentioned stargate.
@@epauletshark3793 I see you too are a man of culture
@@epauletshark3793 Doing the same here.
I feel like both the bits sticking out from the both by the wrists and the preference of a forward-pointing blade instead of a rapier-style one could be explained by a difference in the wrists of the Sangheili compared to humans. If their wrists have a more limited range of mobility, in that they don't really bend up or down and have to use their forearms for those movements, they'd never hit the bits sticking out from back out and those would then serve as a bit of a guard for the wrist. It would also explain the preference of this design over that of a saber, since they wouldn't be able to hook in or effectively angle it forward like a human could do with a rapier
So in Halo Reach Bungie did show that the elites were capable of making energy swords come to a single point, look up the “Energy Dagger”.
NachosUnlimited That’s just a dagger. This is more of a close circuit Plasma Weapon.
In lore, the ancient Sangheli used metal versions of these swords, some of which had only one blade. The presumption is that this is largely a ceremonial design, and also that the Sangheli favored an almost beastial style of fighting with large slashing motions and brutal thrusts.
One should also remember that Sangheli are larger and stronger than the average human.
Brutalyte616 Yeah, they are between like 7-8 feet tall aren't they?
Reptrilian (ayyydylaooo) yeah and even taller if they stood up straight instead of being hunched back
In my mind the blade is forward because it is a dueling weapon, like with a fencing epee, so the extra reach is more important than a traditional blade shape. It requires a blade out each side for an energy balance. The force of pumping plasma into the target would break the magnetic field, so the second blade is an energy reserve so that the striking blade doesn't explode, and the blades can't be connected because that would break the magnetic field. That's just my thoughts though
also has to do with the electrical current, maybe theres a limit to haw long u can create a field which interacts with other matter with said powe supply, air conductivity or something. u can create a shorter version one blade though which would look like a mace
Rewatching this. The swords constantly have a pulse of energy between the blades. Im assuming that energy is the magnetic field expelling excess energy. Also in H1 to H3, The gap is bigger so you can catch it. Another thing with the old Halo swords is that they actually do have a guard of energy above the fist. Prophets Bane from H5 has a guard aswell.
I believe the reason behind the Energy Sword having two blades that are so close to one another is because the Sangheili have two hearts placed close together. So, the Energy Sword's overall design would let one Sangheili stab the other through both hearts at once. I don't believe that's ever been stated in Halo lore, but that reasoning seems plausible enough to me.
This is possible, since the Energy Sword design is supposedly based off of the design of their earlier, regular metal, weapons. And Energy Swords are considered mostly ceremonial.
A single, wider blade could cut into both hearts though, and would likely penetrate better. Stabbing a two-pronged implement into someone is twice as hard as stabbing a 1-pointed implement into the same body.
The 10 hit thing is a in game thing mostly, I say mostly because the weapon does have a limit where it wont be able to cut anymore without a recharge but that limit is somewhat random but its much greater than 10, their is actually a clip in Halo legend's of an Elite using an energy sword hit cuts through a tank and well over 30 guys before it gives out, so yeah the 10 hit's thing is in universe only.
That 10 hit thing is for multiplayer blance.
That 10 hit thing was first introduced in halo 3. Halo 2 didn't have that and you can't use it in halo 1. it was added for gamw blance
This was a pretty in-depth and well thought out analysis of the HALO energy sword. I liked that you tried to give it the benefit of the doubt as much as you could. I especially liked that you postulated that the "magnetic field" (or whatever force field it is made of) could be the part that is doing the cutting. However, I still think that plasma is not the answer (even if the lore says that it is), because plasma just doesn't work that way (you alluded to this a bit when you stated that the force fields holding the plasma would also have to contain the massive heat it gave off). Here's a potential solution: why not just say that the weapon uses some kind of force field and leave it at that?
The instant kill function could simply be a "flaring" effect of the force field, or maybe it is just because the sword cuts through the opponent so thoroughly (and cutting through solid material requires the field to be stronger thus necessitating more energy). It also seems like the weapon has a "lock-on" feature, which would further corroborate this theory (the on-board targeting computer can identify when the sword is striking a legitimate target and not just a wall, for example). As for friend-or-foe recognition, the Covenant fight each other almost as often as they fight others and would not want such a limitation on their weapons.
Anyway, my two cents (or maybe 8 cents). Great video, keep it up.
Nym Alous My primary thought throughout the vid was that I remember the guys using these as very religious, worshipping the guys that made the Halo Rings. Due to this I just kept thinking they used these cause some ancient alien nerd had a few of these laying around and they found the nerds stash first lol
It’s important to remember that the sanghili sword is an honor weapon, not a combat tool. Like an officer’s saber- it’s meant to show off rank, not as a strict means of killing people. I imagine they see more use at executions then on battlefields.
I think it could also be a factor of who or what they mostly fought against, which would be other species or the same species, using projectile base weaponry. It's not often that the energy sword is depicted being used against another person wielding one. It could be a mix of both, a killing tool and honor weapon, because the users will have a grace period where they can charge their opponents and charge through them without taking return fire from their shielding breaks. Another point would be that its mostly seen being used in close quarters or on a ship where you would be able to get a jump on the person your trying to kill.
Its like asking why would a sword be used on the modern battlefield when you are likely to just get shredded by bullets, take the threat of bullets away for a long enough time to infiltrate enemy ranks and you could hack your way through.
Nym Alous
I've thought about this a lot, and this world actually has another answer. It could be hard light. That is photons that are slowed down to the point that they're acting as a solid. In modern science we call it solid light. Some reputable universities even say we've already produced solid light already, so not only is it theoretically feasible, but it's possible we've already started on the technology to make it.
I'm unclear why you and saying that "Plasma doesn't work like that": Plasma absolutely can be shaped by and contained by magnetic fields. Also, the whole "instant kill" thing is a mistake: it kills instantly in the games, but that's just an abstraction for the sake of gameplay, canonically that's not necessarily the case. Same for the lock on functionality and FoF stuff: That's just stuff that exists for the sake of gameplay.
Currently rewatching the video and just remembered that the Sangheili hand is just the human hand and index finger mirrored on the other side. But Kudos for Shadiversity for pointing out that their weapons are protruding from both sides of the hand, never thought of it that way. Also I am reminded of the North Indian Katar in terms of handle design and overall wielding behavior.
This analysis is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Kudos and well done! Halo is my favorite series. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into such a thorough examination of one of the coolest weapons of all time!
The Energy Sword is an ornamental weapon. I wouldn't say it's usage was rare, but it wasn't common either. The only time an Elite would be faced with an opponent with a weapon capable of standing up to the Energy Sword, would be a fight with another Elite or a being with a stolen Energy Sword. If it was the later, than the design flaws would become an advantage because a non Elite would have difficulties compensating for them. If it were the former, then it would be a duel; and duels do not follow the standards for conventional fighting, so a perfect weapon wouldn't be necessary if both combatants have the same weapon.
The only elites allowed to use swords had to earn the right to. i believe it was either being born into it. Or to have to go through difficult trials.
The energy sword is designed the way it is because a normal human sword would get in the way of their head
the gravity hammer comes out on top of the energy sword about 7 times out of 10 in my experience playing griffball since halo 3
Actually light sabers do have an energy source. It is some kind of science fiction battery. I have no idea how to replace, charge, or how long the battery is suppose to last. We never see light saber battery replacement in the movies. We do see, however, in extended lore that the batteries used to be too large to comfortably fit in the hilt, so they attached the batteries to their belts and ran a cable to the hilt of the...sword like thing.
Whole idea is, RECHARGEABLE tibanna gas battery, power up, CYBER or (KYBER ?) crystal with constant low power charge, rest is focuse lenses, magnetic traps and other high-tech fingy-magicy, but in base THIS IS IT nothing else
I don't know how regular people charge it, but Jedi charge their lightsabers by meditating.
In kotor canon its a battery but Disney garbage canon its just the 1 crystal doing everything.
I believe Michio Kaku speculated that a carbon nanotube based battery could work
TheLastAcademy
The only real difference i can find is that the crystals seem to have their own energy.. But Even the old canon still states that the crystals have a powerful force connection, and a vital part of forming energy blade.
Though i feel like it could easily be retconned or rewritten, since the current canon does not give that much of detailed description on how they work.
7:11
In the words of our hero Han Solo: that's not how the Force works!
The energy comes from a kyber crystal that gets activated by other mechanics in the hilt and that energy gets focussed in the focus crystal up front where some sort of stabalizers keep the heat inside the blade part. And the lightsaber has a battary, that needs recharging but most of the energy of that battary only comes out when at the activation to kickstart the power of the kyber crystal
Some notes:
Sangheli have two hearts and plasma the plasma is contained in a magnetic field. Magnets have two poles. Those two things were my reasoning for the double blades.
Additionally, I think the insta-kill ability of the weapon seems to be more a game mechanic. There are instances of people surviving energy sword stab wounds, at least for a little while, in the books.
Ultimately, I figured the plasma was used for the sword in order to get an edge far finer and a blade far lighter than is possible with metal.
Not just in the books. Emile's run entirely through by an energy sword in a Reach cutscene, and even if the 'super heated plasma' remains inside him for half a second, he still survives long enough to swing around and draw his kukri. I really think Shad was overdoing how hot the blades would be. This is the Forerunners we're talking about. They've had eons to bend physics.
Ah, yes I forgot about that. See, the main difference I see between the energy sword and a light saber is that the energy sword does not have the capacity to cut/burn through anything. I always thought of it as a blade of plasma thusly being quite hot and also having an edge so fine that it is a perfect cutting device.
The arguments regarding light saber energy output, to the best of my recollection, are derived from the energy required to cut through things like thick steel as light sabers are depicted doing.
T-1 Energy Swords never are shown doing anything like that. The closest they've ever come is a cutscene from Halo Wars in which the Arbiter Rippa Moramee lunged and missed Sergeant Forge and his blade plunged into the side of an armored vehicle. But he got stuck and had to let go of the weapon. Theoretically shutting it off would work too. But the point is that I don't think a plasma sword in Halo has nearly the same level of heat or energy transmission that a light saber theoretically does so I don't think that a close comparison holds up.
That is basically everything I wanted to say about the Halo sword when I saw MatPat's video. Though I reference pistol grips on modern fencing blades. The grip really functions for thrusting ability and keeping the point on your opponent.
You might find this interesting, Shad. In the last decade, multiple physics experiments have proven that magnetic fields can control the transfer of heat and sound!
Learning this really energized my sci-fi imagination. Potentially, the advanced alien tech in that sword could be halting the flow of heat from the plasma, until contact is made with the target. Even then, the mag field could be directing the heat away from the wielder!
+Christopher Baters got any links? I mean dragging a plasma cloud including its heat- and sound-carrying capability around in a magnetic field is nothing special and magnetic confinement is a thing, but controlling heat _radiation_ or the interface with the ambient air sounds like it should require some incredibly inefficient higher-order processes.
I mean we can bend light rays around objects in a lab and "teleport" information in a straight line in a near-perfect vacuum but that doesn't mean we're any closer to cloaking fields or interstellat video chat.
Photoloss news.osu.edu/landmark-study-proves-that-magnets-can-control-heat-and-sound/
I read about it in a Gizmodo article years ago. My simple understanding is "phonons" are fundamental particles that carry heat and sound. They were predicted by quantum theory and only recently proven in experiments. The linked article talks about slowing the transfer of heat thru a material by 12%.
So in standard sci-fi fashion, that means an advanced race can slow it 100% lol.
I know there's so much more depth to this, but I think it's fun to imagine.
+Christopher Baters: Ah okay, so the good news: the science is sound. The bad news: it's nowhere near as exciting as sci-fi might make it sound. Basically a "phonon" is when you describe the vibration of atoms via the math behind quantum mechanics, so as both a wave and a particle. Both heat transfer and sound can be describes as vibrations on the atomic level so that's where the headline ends, and magnets in this case also serve to bump around the atoms.
The caveat, and a massive dampener on any superheated boombox plasma sword idea, is that you need a very dense, highly ordered medium for this description to be useful. In a gas like air or Jedi-safe plasma individual atoms/ions move long distances and bump into each other a lot rather than vibrating in sync next to one another. You could still try and write this down as phonons but it would be a mess of many different frequencies, like trying to mimic the sound of ocean waves by playing a guitar.
Ultimately, even if you constructed a "phonon blade" that works in a vacuum it would still be in contact with the surrounding air when you try and use it in combat. If the heat exchange does not completely wreck your coherence (most quantum physics experiments are performed in a high vacuum for this reason) you will end up with something that's not quite solid and _maybe_ conducts heat a little better than metal or plasma.
The kinds of sci-fi contexts where I could see things handwaved with phonons are "telepathic" control and material reshaping (basically metalbending from Avatar:TLAB), inorganic lifeforms and consciousness ("golems", "living metal"), "touch of death" disintegration weapons and boring gap-filling stuff like heat management on spaceships.
In Halo's Lore, The Energy Sword Can, Go On, For A Long Time, Even More Than, The Whole Ten Kills.
the handle feels much better when it is rounded with a comfortable grip hahaha
They made a replica toy version and it feels a bit better than it looks like it would.
Also, many argue that all the weight is all in the handle because the blade is energy and weighs almost nothing. Supposedly
Lightsabers are powered by batteries. Albeit extremely efficient and long lasting batteries. They are called diatium power cells. If used properly a lightsabers battery should last longer than the lifespan of its owner. They can be recharged, but we never see that because it is assumed that it would be boring to see.
The power generation capacity of star wars is absolutely insane. They have shields that can maintain strength after suffering dozens of hits from strikes each as powerful as several dozen nuclear warheads.
I Second What Dillon James Lock said. Besides the long durability of the battery itself, there's also the fact that a Jedi will only switch their lightsaber on when it's made clear that a fight is innevitable and will keep it activated for the least amount of time necessary, which also extends the duration of the battery's charge. Unlike the Sith, the Jedi aren't adept of switching their lightsabers on as a threat and neither "coolness"/power demonstrations (including tantrums, yes I'm talking to you, Kylo Ren).
The lightsaber "blade" dosen't just stop, it lopes back and the energy gose into the batery so it recharges a potion of the energy used
Yeah but if you wanna see the earlier version. That have them in books and what nots. You had to carry around a backpack size battery just to use the lightsaber for a few minutes. 😂
In the book version of episode 1 obi wan gets scolded for shorting out the battery in the swamps requiring it to be recharged
Love the video but I feel there's one big oversight and one small one.
1. The big oversight is that the Sangheili's body structure is different from a human's shoulders up. Their head protrudes out more and they are typically a lot more hunched over. Therefore, it makes more sense their blades protrude outwards rather than upwards because human designed swords would run a greater risk of slicing their own face.
2. The minor oversight is the protrusions at the back of the blade wouldn't be as much of a problem for Sangheili because their wrists are longer and thinner than humans.
Wish I could post photo for reference :/
Mario Badia Well he's human. Didn't expect every aspect to be right. I'm not even sure if the limited charges is canon or not to be honest. Ten strikes doesn't seem worth it unless they can be recharged. It does make sense that there are SOME energy limitations to an energy weapon.... maybe not only 10 kills
Mario Badia but you can't have that in a game.
Exodus 2017 Right I think that's where the confusion is coming in. The difference between what the weapons can do "in canon" and the gameplay mechanics meant to balance the weapons in multiplayer.
Anthony Garcia well to be fair I think for that he would need to dig a little deep to find that info.
Nothing beats high class internet entertainment than a scientific explanation how a fictional weapon may work in real life. Good job
I have to point out that usually you see energy crackling between the two blades
You mean plasma crackling. Lightning is made of plasma. Energy is a property of matter. You can't see properties of matter, you see matter that has those properties. "Pure energy" would be invisible, but also impossible.
all comments: Religious and for show
Me: I want one anyway
Or those who just want to see a video.
Ive been waiting for this video since forever.
What's interesting and semi realistic I think is how quickly the blade exhausts and eventually semi explodes after it's used for too long and most of the time when you hit someone in the game it feels more blunt than sharp and you can see a Serge of energy everytime you hit someone.
Fuck YEAH this what I didnt know I was waiting for!
Amazing! What other fictional weapons do you fancy on reviewing??
next up, "yo-yo" weapons, featured since NES star tropics, the adventures of rygar (ps1, had previous versions)
movies, the flying guillitine, and a imo poorly done testing on mythbusters
with bonus analysis of "fishing rod" weapons like ledgend of the skyfish, (and others i cant recall names of, or funtion similarly like the hook-shot from LoZ)
It’s possible that they have the forward blade shape because of their two thumbs (in a different way than was mentioned). If you try to rotate your wrist, you can move your hand much further in the direction away from your thumb than towards it. This might mean that the halo aliens can’t effectively point a sword in line with their arm without having it protrude from the knuckles
the shielding of chiefs armor (as well as of course the elites) could be protecting them from the radiant heat from the sword (maybe why human marines cannot be given the sword, nor can you pick it up in halo3 odst)
the two blades may just be a result of how it is projected. It might not be possible to project a single blade...
The shape is a result of an older Sangheili weapon called the heat blade. It's basically a metal version of the energy sword that gets heated to the point that it glows.
Also, elites and spartans now use an energy shield, so i'm sure they can withstand the radiated heat but NOT the touch
Maybe thats one of the main reasons why it is used. To penetrate shields
Also note that since the covenant are exposed to radiation and plasma for so long that they have developed a slight immunity.
@@reyzephlyn105 so you can just develop an immunity to heat? They are immune to all plasma weapons and plasma guns too?
@@leomadero562 Dude I'm not the one who wrote Halo's lore. Chill
7:11 the fun thing is that prototype lightsabers had giant batteries with them
Thank you for reading my mind, I was waiting to see this after the lightsaber episode :3
The 10 kill aspect of the energy sword is a game mechanic and not part of the lore.
Well I does run out of energy though in the lore
@@wailingnormal8, sometimes. The first game didn't have any timers on it whatsoever. But then, the Warthogs were basically indestructible, too. So, balance and realism don't always match up in games.
@@Charistoph I'm aware of that I'm not really defining it as much as I'm looking at it from a lore perspective.
@@Charistoph the novels and legends touch on it a bit
@@Charistoph the first game we couldn't use it though, so it was a gameplay choice at that point.
If you were to connect the blades you’d have very annoyed religious sanghele (elites)
*Sangheili
If you had a single bladed energy sword you'd have Lucas Arts / Disney lawyer's coming at you like a pair of hunters.
@@MrVexedviper nah. you really cant claim copyright on that. if it were called a lightsaber, sure.
@@naverilllang Lucas Arts and Disney would probably try anyway because they like money.
Or they'd just buy the halo IP and turn it into a massive fucking joke. (More so than the studio that currently owns it.)
The elites in Reach had an Assassins Creed-esque hidden energy dagger that held the same shape as the sword but the gap was closed.
I believe that it has two blades to represent magnetic polls positive and negative so that the field can work properly to protect the user