This article contains mild spoilers for The Acolyte episode 1.It’s time for the internet to accept the truth: there’s always been fire in space when it comes to Star Wars. Lucasfilm’s latest Star Wars Disney+ TV show, The Acolyte, has ignited a firestorm of debate over one particular scene – in which Amandla Stenberg’s Mae deals with a fire in space. Mae is a Meknek by trade, working with a delightful droid named Pip, and she knows just how to deal with the problem.

But should it be a problem at all? Fire can’t actually burn in space, because it requires oxygen. What’s more, free from the limitations of gravity, flames should behave in strange – and quite beautiful – ways. The Acolyte ignores all this, and viewers have poured scorn on that scene. But, in truth, it’s a fine Star Wars tradition.

George Lucas, after all, never considered Star Wars to be science-fiction; he insisted it was science-fantasy, which is why there are sounds in space. In fact, it’s why George Lucas named Jedi weapons lightsabers rather than laser-swords; as his friend Alan Dean Foster explained, Lucas was worried using a scientifically accurate name would mean people tried to figure out how they worked, rather than just suspending their disbelief and enjoying the show. In that light, here are five major occasions fire was seen in space on Star Wars.

5

The Attack On The First Death Star

Star Wars

It’s so easy to miss the fact the Death Star battle breaks all the laws of physics – simply because there are flames in space. The script is quite blatant, describing the effect of Rebel shots destroying gun emplacements and radars:

“A shot hurls from Luke’s guns. Laserbolts streak toward the onrushing Death Star surface. Several small radar emplacements erupt in flame. Laserfire erupts from a protruding tower on the surface.”

Both TIE Fighters and X-wings explode in fireballs – an effect Lucas copied from World War II movies and their dogfights, not caring whether the explosions were scientifically accurate. At one point, there are literal flames on the outside of Luke’s ship, and Luke sends R2-D2 to put out the fire. The Acolyte even implicitly references this, revealing Mae is doing an Astromech’s job when she spacewalks to deal with the fire.

4

The Crash Of The Executor

Return of the Jedi

The Second Death Star has a fiery demise as well – but the most noticeable flames in space can be seen when the Executor is under heavy fire. Darth Vader’s Super Star Destroyer is the most formidable ship in the entire Imperial fleet, but the Rebel Alliance decide to weaponize it against the Death Star. They manage to take out the bridge, and the Super Star Destroyer crashes on to the Death Star’s surface, doing enormous damage.

Return of the Jedi isn’t exactly subtle about the flames lapping across the surface of the Executor. Making matters worse, when the bridge is destroyed, the explosion doesn’t show any sign of vacuum effect. Again, Lucas was not concerned about real-life physics; the “Rule of Cool” came first, and he just wanted it all to look spectacular.

3

The Destruction Of The Droid Command Center

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

Lucas didn’t bother with science by the time of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, either. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace opens with a scene that deliberately parallels the destruction of the first Death Star, with the Trade Federation droid command ship exploding as Anakin Skywalker flies away triumphantly. This explosion takes a little longer, and there are several occasions where spouts of flame are exposed to the vacuum of space… and are entirely unaffected by it.

Again, this is science-fiction – not science-fantasy. That was George Lucas’ excuse to do whatever he wanted, so long as he thought it looked cool. That wasn’t a mistake in 1999, and it isn’t a mistake today.

2

The Battle of Coruscant

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

The Battle of Coruscant is generally seen as one of the best moments in Star Wars history. It’s a spectacular opening to the third prequel movie, with Anakin and Obi-Wan flying straight into a maelstrom on a desperate mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine. It also completely ignores the laws of physics; there ae countless fireballs, and flames can be seen licking across the hulls of capital ships as they take fire. What’s more, the whole thing is clearly taking place outside Coruscant’s atmosphere, so there’s really no excuse for this… except for the “Rule of Cool.”

1

Every Single Starfighter & Capital Ship Exploding

It doesn’t matter where you look in Star Wars, you’ll see fire in space. Every single explosion behaves as it would in an atmosphere, not in a vacuum. Flames can be seen flickering across the surfaces of doomed starfighters and capital ships in everything from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to Star Wars: The Clone Wars. What’s more, Star Wars isn’t unique in this respect; almost all science-fiction films and TV shows follow George Lucas’ lead here, ignoring the laws of physics in favor of the “Rule of Cool.”

This isn’t a problem. Filmmakers like George Lucas expect viewers to be able to suspend their disbelief and simply enjoy the spectacle. The real question, then, is why those viewers who are criticizing The Acolyte are suddenly unable to suspend their disbelief in this one specific case. The most likely reason is that the problem is not aired in good faith; that they don’t want to suspend their disbelief, but have instead prejudged the latest Star Wars TV show and want to find it lacking. It’s ironic that there is a serious point behind this debate.

The Acolyte episodes 1 and 2 are airing now on Disney+.