For many, this scene from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back is one of the best in cinema history.
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Consider this your spoiler alert for a 46-year-old film.
In the clip, Darth Vader slices off the hand of Luke Skywalker, along with his lightsaber. After the protagonist screams in pain, the Sith Lord then reveals his connection to the film's hero.
"I am your father," the villain reveals.
Skywalker's lightsaber, along with the character's severed hand, recently went up for auction, and the final selling price for the movie prop is staggering, to say the least. We have the details below.
The "Star Wars" Prop Broke a Record
In a press release dated July 15, Heritage Auctions announced that it had sold the famous lightsaber for $3.75 million. The auction house said it had established a new world record for a screen-used prop from the Star Wars franchise.
As reported by PEOPLE, this beat the record held by Propstore in September of last year. A lightsaber used by Darth Vader in both The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi sold for $3,654,000.
"This is one of the most important surviving Star Wars artifacts in existence," said Joe Maddalena, the executive vice president at Heritage Auctions.
He added, "Collectors understood that they were bidding on much more than a prop. They were competing for a genuine piece of modern mythology."
Who Had the Lightsaber Before?
The lightsaber was built from a modified camera flash. Makeup artist Stuart Freeborn fashioned the severed hand attached to it. It was created from a cast of the hand of Mark Hamill, who played Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise. It is believed the prop descended directly from Freeborn.
The buyer, who is obviously extremely wealthy, was not identified in the press release.
