The Acolyte Makes Disney Star Wars Concept Official Canon

If you watched The Acolyte finale, then you saw the scene where Osha picked up Sol’s broken lightsaber and ignited it.

You may have wondered why the blue blade slowly began to turn red. That was a result of Osha bleeding the lightsaber’s kyber crystal.

Bleeding involves a dark sider—Sith or otherwise—taking the kyber crystal from a Jedi lightsaber and pouring all of their dark thoughts into it.

If they bombard the crystal with enough fear, hatred, and anger, it will turn blood red. Hence, the term bleeding.

As Osha stood seething with rage at Sol, all of her anger washed over the exposed crystal in Sol’s saber, turning it crimson. This of course, caused a controversy with the galaxy-brained fans who immediately wanted to know why Anakin Skywalker‘s laser sword didn’t change colors in Revenge of the Sith.

Uh, because bleeding lightsaber crystals wasn’t invented until 2016—a decade after the movie?

No, but seriously, The Acolyte went out of its way to show that Sol’s saber broke, exposing the crystal within to Osha’s rage. When Anakin turned to the dark side and started slashing younglings like prices during a Presidents Day sale at your local auto dealer, he didn’t have direct access to his kyber crystal.

That’s why Anakin doesn’t get a red saber until he purposely bleeds a lightsaber crystal in Darth Vader #5, September 6, 2017.

At this point you’re probably thinking, “Bleeding sounds metal as H-E-double hockey sticks, why would you hate that?”

And honestly, you’re right. Bleeding lightsaber crystals is pretty dope. The problem for me comes from the overall nature of kyber crystals in canon.

They’re sentient.

Having a living rock that bonds with its user through the force is a very Harry Potter-ish concept. I like the idea of a Jedi picking a crystal that matches their favorite color and then building a saber around it. Having the crystals call to their padawans is a little too “The wand picks the Wizard,” for me.

Even the bleeding of lightsaber crystals goes a little too far. I personally prefer the synthetic red crystals from Legends. I like the idea that the Sith create synthetic gems to mock the Jedi and their natural kyber crystals. It goes along with the dark side being an unnatural perversion of the force.

Still, I’d be lying if I said that seeing Osha bleeding a lightsaber crystal in real time didn’t make for a stunning visual. And while the previous handful of bleedings that were performed prior to The Acolyte described the act as more of a deliberate process, the show went with what looked cool. Ultimately that is the most Star Wars thing a Star Wars show could do.