That Big Lightsaber Moment in THE ACOLYTE Season Finale Sparks Discussion on STAR WARS Canon
The Acolyte series finale featured a lightsaber moment that we’ve never seen brought to life before, and as you might imagine, it has fans on the internet debating Star Wars canon.
If you haven’t watched the finale yet, and you care about spoilers, you might want to skip this.
In the episode, we see Osha fall to the dark side after learning the truth about the Jedi killing her mother after her former Master Sol admitted his wrongs, but he also tried to explain that he felt it was the right thing to do.
In a moment of emotional desperation, right before Sol tries to tell her he loves her, Osha Force chokes him to death. As she does this, the kyber crystal in the lightsaber he is holding flickers red.
This didn't look entirely intentional, as she was feeling a lot of heavy emotion. After she murdered Sol, Qimir went to comfort her, and Osha lashed out with the lightsaber.
After the blade extended it changed from blue to red as she watched in shock. This is known as bleeding a kyber crystal, which is when a Force user channels negative, dark emotions into a crystal to corrupt it, which is what turns the lightsaber red.
The first thing that popped into my mind as I watched this is why didn’t Anakin’s blade turn red when he when full on Sith mode!? He willfully turned to the dark side, slaughtered a bunch of young padawans and all through the fight with Obi-Wan, his lightsaber stayed blue.
So, I don’t quite understand how Osha’s changed while she was in a dark state of emotional confusion. I don’t understand that, but it was visually cool.
This is the first time the process has been shown in live-action, and Star Wars fans are discussing how it fits into Star Wars canon.
One fan says: "I'm glad they did it but wish it was more like how they did it in Jedi Survivor.” This is in reference to a moment when Dagan Gera intentionally bled his kyber crystal as Cal Kestis watched.
Another said: "I like how it was shown in two different ways. One where it was a very deliberate action and one where the dark side became so strong that it just sort of happened.”
This fan pointed out what I initially thought: "Personally prefer it being more intentional – Anakin's blade stayed blue all through Mustafar.”
Another take is: "I liked both. I thought it was fitting there were still flashes of blue in the saber blade for a few seconds. Resembled her hesitation in the moment of if she would truly fall.”
What did you all think of this bleeding kyber crystal moment? Does anyone have any theories, thoughts, or explanations?