Ok, this is admittedly silly, but it’s just too funny to not link it.

The three-bladed lightsaber that appears in the teaser trailer for ‘Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens’ has proven to be an incredibly controversial topic on Twitter, with people arguing ad nauseam over the feasibility of such an exotic design.

Thankfully, the other day Stephen Colbert took it upon himself to settle the discussion once and for all:

[The little beams] don’t start where the little metal hilt ends, OK? They’re attached to the other beam inside. The metal hilts are just casings around the little beams to protect your hand. Even if someone slices through the metal they’re gonna hit the beam right there. Any Padawan knows that! That’s science!

Well played, Mr. Colbert. Well played.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, the YouTube video that was embedded in the original version of this post has since been removed due to a copyright claim. Follow the title link to watch it on Comedy Central’s official website (Flash-based, alas).