Warning: Spoilers follow for Episode 8 of The Acolyte.
The final episode of The Acolyte featured a huge lightsaber moment that fans can't believe they got to witness in live-action.
Episode 8 of The Acolyte brought all the major players together for a big Brendok showdown, but not everyone made it out alive. That's because Sol openly confessed to killing the twins' mother, which led Osha to Force-choke her former master to death while also taking over his lightsaber and corrupting it with her anger.
The Kyber Crystal in Sol's lightsaber cracked and slowly turned from blue to red, which caused a "bleed" of the two colors when Osha ignited the blade. It's the first time the process known as "bleeding" has happened in live-action, and it was deeply satisfying for Star Wars fans to see. Many shared their reactions on X/Twitter.
This was AMAZING. #TheAcolyte pic.twitter.com/UmrNOnxxQI
— Star Wars Stuff (@starwarstufff) July 17, 2024
Absolutely shocked from our first live-action Kyber Crystal bleeding scene from #TheAcolyte
So well done for the story and visually. Probably now one of my top favorite lightsaber scenes across all of the live Star Wars shows. pic.twitter.com/YyTSonhNe2
— MarthsBars (@MarthsBars) July 17, 2024
Osha bleeding the kyber crystal inside Sol’s lightsaber and the saber’s colour slowly changing from blue to red upon using it were 2 of my favourite scenes from the season finale. #acolyte pic.twitter.com/UTniF35aWB
— Mohit Sasidharan (@mohitsasidharan) July 17, 2024
#theacolyte spoilers
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osha bleeding the kyber crystal in sol's lightsaber is by far one of the coolest moments in star wars pic.twitter.com/MMpGp5sZZs— sarah *ੈ✩‧₊˚ acolyte era (@bridgersbae) July 17, 2024
Jaw is on the FLOOR bc I was NOT expecting to witness bleeding a lightsaber in this show
— Cassidy 🌻 (@ohhellosunny) July 17, 2024
can’t form coherent thoughts about the acolyte because i’m still stuck on how sick the lightsaber bleeding was
— 🗡️ (@princekirionas) July 17, 2024
#Acolyte Spoilers
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LIVE ACTION LIGHTSABER BLEEDING pic.twitter.com/SCn1Injz4l— Silver9K (@Silver9000X) July 17, 2024
It was also a big talking point on Reddit, where one person wrote: "Didn't expect to see a kyber crystal bleed red, wow." Someone replied: "This was the best part of the episode. Seeing the crystal bleed happening real-time gave me goosebumps." A third person concurred with the comments, writing: "Truly an epic moment!"
What Is Lightsaber Bleeding?
Lightsabers hold a laser and a kyber crystal. The crystal focuses and intensifies the beam into a solid form. The Kyber crystal is attuned to the Force, so only those who are Force-sensitive locate the rare crystals. Their colors can change to crimson if the Force user channels rage, hate, and pain into it, as it corrupts them.
The Acolyte finale dropped some surprises and answered a few questions while raising more for a potential second season. IGN's review of Episode 8 said the show "ended its season with some great action and a compelling depiction of a flawed Jedi Knight, but left too many questions unanswered to be a satisfying conclusion."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.