The lightsaber of a Jedi is the most powerful combat weapon in the Star Wars universe. It is so potent that a single Jedi, armed just with his lightsaber, could easily dispatch a full regiment of stormtroopers.

With a Force-infused plasma blade and the balance and weight of simply its hilt, a wielder may slice through practically anything like butter, even armor, skin, and bone.

Cal’s sword was as lethal as it should have been in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, but it didn’t perform like a lightsaber when battling humanoids. Even though he could easily sever an R2 droid in half, striking a stormtrooper or an unarmored adversary resulted in merely a shallow burn scar. It’s still entertaining, but the mechanics are quite noncanonical.

However, this could change for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Over the weekend, IGN published an explanation of Survivor’s battle positions (below). Cal lops off a Stormtrooper’s arm in a skirmish around the four-minute mark.

More limbs can be seen scattered about the fight arena if you look closely. As a result, it appears that dismemberment is a possibility in the forthcoming game.

In 2020, Respawn stated that Fallen Order did not contain dismemberment, despite the fact that it was present in the previous incarnation, Star Wars Jedi: The Force Unleashed, because Disney and Lucasfilm stated that “no limb severing.”

So developers chose the far less horrific scorch marks on the arm (or leg) that appear to knock them out? Killing them? Who can say? The adjustment apparently made the title more Disney-friendly, but it didn’t make much sense from a lore standpoint because lightsabers are constructed the way they are for a reason.

Jedi fighters were only authorized to kill in self-defense and when there were no other options, according to the canonical Jedi Code. Because the lightsaber cauterizes as it cuts through flesh, dismemberment was the other option.

As a result, a Jedi could remove combatants from the fray without killing them by removing a limb if he so desired — a gory but effective method. This strategy was originally seen in 1977 in Star Wars Episode 4, when Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi severed pig-nosed Dr. Evazan’s arm in order to avoid murdering him in a Tatooine cantina bar fight.

Whatever the rationale, it appears like dismemberment is making a comeback in Survivor. Further observation of the fighting indicates that the devs employed it sparingly, which is a positive thing. There is probably a line they should not cross. But, it’s unclear why the sudden change of heart.

The mechanic was discovered by Kotaku, who approached EA and Respawn for comment, but all the developers had to say was, “The footage is what it is.” It’s difficult to know what they intend by such a vague statement, but I see it as their attempt to avoid drawing too much attention to the mechanic before the game’s release.

It’s possible that the House of Mouse hasn’t approved or is unaware of the feature’s reintroduction, and the developers hope the light dismemberment passes under the radar of Disney censors.

Nevertheless, now that review copies have been distributed and the media has taken note, the Magic Kingdom might still instruct Respawn to remove the mechanic, potentially causing a delay or a big day-one patch.

According to the previews, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor appears to be an enhancement on an already excellent game. On April 28, it will be available on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Windows. Then we’ll see if dismemberment survived.