The Acolyte season 1 finale closed this chapter of Mae and Osha’s life, but it also showed the creation of a Sith lightsaber for the first time in live-action. The Acolyte episode 8 gave audiences plenty of reveals and revelations, especially about how the Sith are really connected to the broader story of The Acolyte. The episode also sees Osha truly embrace all of her pent-up emotions, leading her to the dark side.

The summit of The Acolyte season 1 led all the main characters back to Mae and Osha’s home planet Brendok, where they all had to confront their past in some way. Between the epic lightsaber duel between Master Sol and Manny Jacinto’s Sith Lord Qimir and Osha finally learning about how her mother died, The Acolyte’s finale followed through on many of its promises but also left clues about where The Acolyte will go next if given a season 2. One of the best and most unexpected moments came from Osha and her former Master.

Osha’s Lightsaber Turns Blood-Red In Her Hands

This Happens As She Kills Master Sol

Image via Disney+

After learning that Sol was the one who killed Mae and Osha’s mother, Sol begins to choke, and at first, it’s unclear who is Force-choking the Jedi. When it’s revealed to be Osha, the camera cuts to Sol’s lightsaber in Osha’s hand and its kyber crystal can be seen changing from blue to red in her hand. As Osha continues to choke and eventually kill her former master, she leans more into her emotions of hurt and anger, making the crystal change color even faster.

When Qimir places his hand on Osha’s shoulder, she ignites the saber and the blade can be seen changing from blue to blood-red in her hand. While this is far from the first time audiences have seen a red lightsaber in live-action, it is the first time that a lightsaber has changed color in the moment. When Osha’s lightsaber blade changes to the color red, she is “bleeding” the kyber crystal and changing the color permanently from blue to red.

How A Sith “Bleeds” Their Lightsaber Red

This Has Never Been Seen in Live-Action Before

Image via Disney+

While kyber crystals for Jedi can be in a variety of colors including blue, green, yellow, and purple, it’s known that a Sith’s lightsaber is always red. However, red kyber crystals cannot be found naturally, but instead must be formed by the Sith in a process called bleeding. Because kyber is considered to be alive due to its strong connection to the Force, a Sith, or any dark side user, would have to pour all of their emotions, including hate and pain, into the crystal. This causes it to literally bleed and forge a Sith lightsaber.

When a kyber crystal bleeds and takes on its crimson color, it has essentially been tortured into a weapon used by the dark side. This torture and pressure can sometimes cause the kyber crystal to crack, occasionally causing the lightsaber blade to be unstable. It’s also worth noting that bleeding a kyber crystal cannot be reversed; however, it can be purified. This has been seen with Ahsoka Tano’s white lightsaber blades, as she had purified two red kyber crystals to earn their unique color.

Where We’ve Seen Kyber Crystals “Bled” Before

The Acolyte Isn’t The First Time This Has Been Seen in Canon

While Osha bleeding her kyber crystal in The Acolyte episode 8 was the first time this process was seen in live-action, it’s been seen before in Star Wars canon. Bleeding kyber crystals were first seen in Charles Soule’s Darth Vader comicseries in 2017. Soon after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious tasked Darth Vader with killing a Jedi and taking his kyber crystal to form his own Sith saber. After killing Jedi Master Kirak Infil’a, Vader bled the green kyber, marking the first time this was seen in canon.

The process of bleeding a kyber crystal was also seen in Charles Soule’s The Rise of Kylo Ren comics, where Ben Solo turns his own blue kyber into his red one that was seen throughout the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Soule’s other comic, Star Wars#35, also showed that Luke Skywalker learned about this process while searching for kyber on Christophsis. Most recently, Jedi: Survivor saw Jedi Dagan Gera bleed his own lightsaber from Respawn.

Osha seemingly didn’t mean to bleed her kyber crystal, but it did come after much emotional turmoil, and her finally leaning into those feelings she fought so hard to control. While Osha’s future will likely lead her to the dark side and life as a Sith apprentice, it will be interesting if she keeps Sol’s lightsaber as her own moving forward. There are still a ton of questions about the future of The Acolyte and its characters, but for now, audiences should be excited to see such a rare feat onscreen.

The Acolyte episode 8 is now streaming on Disney+.