...Wait the future Avan taught him enough rudimentary melee combat that he does feel confident enough to zip in there and grab the handle. He's only done that with a stick, not a real weapon, but he can do it!

"You've been directing this whole time and you can't even chop a log yourself?! Even I can chop wood; my old man had me at it until I thought my arms'd drop off every winter!"

He hated every minute of it, obviously.