‘The Acolyte’ finale twist created a major prequel trilogy plot hole that makes us question Anakin Skywalker’s turn to the dark side

In the wake of The Acolyte, Star Wars fans have some serious reckoning to do. The controversial series, like most recent entries, has torn the fandom asunder. For every fan who hated the fledgling series, there was another who loved it, and despite the ceaseless venom slung its way, The Acolyte continues to land in the top ten on streaming charts.

As it should, for as divisive as the show has been, director Leslye Headland delivered what she promised. The series is a sort of love letter to Star Wars and is packed with so much fan service, it will probably take us years to sift through it all. But for every Easter egg the staff slipped into the series, they tweaked the lore enough for fans to cry out over canon-breaking shenanigans. One such “unforgivable sin” comes from the first onscreen depiction of a weeping Kyber Crystal, and the transformation from Jedi weapon to a Sith tool.

Why do Kyber Crystals turn red?

Red lightsabers are one of the staples of villainy in the galaxy far, far away, but fans of the live-action films might not know exactly how the blades get their iconic hue. The blade component of any saber is made up of a Kyber Crystal, a tiny sentient stone that’s naturally attuned to the light side of the Force. While Jedi undergo a strenuous trial to find and claim their crystals, Sith can only corrupt one that is already bonded to a Jedi.

By infusing it with their hate, pain, and anger, a Sith can corrupt the crystal, bending it to their will. The “bleeding” of a crystal can have serious consequences for the stone. They can shatter or fracture becoming unpredictable, like Kylo Ren’s, or outright refuse to turn and break instead. Some are even powerful enough to outright resist the change, or hold onto enough of the light side that they can be purified by powerful Jedi like Ahsoka Tano.

While it might sound strange, the crystals (unless synthetically made) are sentient to some extent. This might help explain the difference between Osha and Anakin’s dark side encounters. Osha managed to change the crystal quite quickly, which could have several explanations. Perhaps seeing Osha betray and kill her former master, the saber’s wielder, was enough to break it. Maybe its role in slaughtering her family pushed it to succumb to the bleeding. Or maybe, her grasp on the dark side was too much for the crystal to bear.

Either way, the quick change immediately raised fans’ hackles. After all, if a single brutal murder could change this stone, why didn’t Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber change? Surely there was no way that Osha felt more rage in that moment than Anakin did while full sail slaughtering the Jedi Order. Per usual, it seems like fans are just underestimating Anakin’s full-blown psychosis.

Why didn’t Anakin’s lightsaber change colors?

The answer is fairly simple. Osha gave into her anger and rage, pushing it into the crystal – even if it was involuntary. Anakin, despite slaughtering countless people, never believed he was in the wrong. Even as he choked the life out of his pregnant wife, he still couldn’t see how the dark side – and Palpatine – had twisted his mind. Had Obi-Wan failed to disarm his former apprentice as he lay screaming in the fire of Mustafar, we might have seen the transformation. But unfortunately for movie lovers, Vader’s first saber hasn’t been shown on the screen.

Vader eventually bleeds multiple crystals in the comics, but even as a Sith Lord he struggles more than Osha. The glimpses we see of the process from the Dark Horse Darth Vader series showed that, even as a fully-fledged Sith Lord, deep inside of him, Anakin still felt the tug of the light side of the Force.

If that doesn’t satisfy your curiosity, there is one concrete reason why Anakin’s saber never switched to that daunting Sith red. Star Wars canon is as necessary to fans as the Force is to Jedi. Anakin’s iconic blue saber was necessary for continuity with the original trilogy, no more, no less.