Summary
A new video explains how the visual effects team behindThe Acolytecreated the finale’s most visually stunning moment: when Osha Aniseya bled Sol’s lightsaber. During thefinale ofThe Acolyte, Osha took Sol’s lightsaber and killed him with the Force. That then causedSol’s lightsaber to turn from blue to redin a process known as lightsaber bleeding. That moment allowedThe Acolyteto revealwhat the inside of a lightsaber looks like, and it also opened the door to create a truly stunning visual effect for the first live-action appearance of lightsaber bleeding.
The video, which was shared byStar Wars, shows how Industrial Light & Magic, a visual effects company with a long history in the franchise, brought lightsaber bleeding into live-action. Two high-level visual effects supervisors for ILM, Charmaine Chan and Julian Foddy, talked about the creative choices they made while depicting Osha bleeding Sol’s kyber crystal.
As they mentioned in the video, Chan and Foddy both wanted to illustrate that lightsaber bleeding is a process quite like having actual blood drip through the kyber crystal. They were able to very effectively convey that, as it was quite clear inThe Acolytethat Osha’s rage was dripping into the crystal. Chan and Foddy, along with the rest of ILM, did a great job of making lightsaber bleeding a dramatic moment, and their work was worthy of being the first live-action appearance of the concept.
Why The Acolyte’s Lightsabers Are So Thick & What It Means For Star Wars Canon
Star Wars audiences quickly noticed that the lightsabers in The Acolyte are thicker than usual, but the show has a good reason for this major change.
This Is The First Time We’ve Seen A Lightsaber Bleeding In Live-Action
The concept of lightsaber bleeding has been a fairly well-established part ofStar Warscanon for years, butThe Acolytewas the first to show it in live-action.Lightsaber bleeding made its first appearance in the comicStar Wars: Darth Vader (2017), and it has since become quite popular. It also appeared inThe Rise of Kylo Ren, another comic, and it was even shown in animation in the video gameStar Wars Jedi: Survivor. While lightsaber bleeding has a fairly significant history in canon,The Acolytestill had some room to get creative in its depiction of the event.
The Acolytewas the first live-action appearance of lightsaber bleeding, but it was also a bit of a retcon.Jedi: Survivorestablished that a lightsaber’s blade simply switches from its previous color to red after bleeding, yetThe Acolyteshowed that Sol’s blade was gradually overtaken by the red coloring. That was a fairly minor retcon - it didn’t even make it onto the list ofThe Acolyte’s biggest changes to canon- and it also allowed the show to make lightsaber bleeding even more of a spectacle.
It was almost certainly for the best that lightsaber bleeding’s first live-action appearance changed fromJedi: Survivor. Both instances of bleeding were great and visually stunning moments, butThe Acolyte’s had a bit more significance to its plot and characters. Chan and Foddy’s visual effects, and their decision to introduce a minor retcon, made Osha’s fall to the dark side even more climactic and tragic. It really emphasized the violent nature of a person falling to the dark side, and it was far and away one ofThe Acolyte’s coolest moments.
The Acolyte
Cast
The Acolyte is a television series set in the Star Wars universe at the end of the High Republic Era, where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence. This sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes - all leading to darkness erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bring about the end of the High Republic.
