Following The Acolyte and the finale’s epic kyber crystal scene, some might be wondering if Darth Vader’s red lightsaber could have been turned back to blue after Anakin Skywalker was redeemed back to the light. As seen in Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker successfully helped his father return to the light, becoming a Jedi once more as he defeated Emperor Palpatine to save his son. As such, one has to wonder if Anakin’s restoration could have turned his lightsaber blue.
Thanks to The Acolyte, kyber bleeding has finally made its on-screen debut for the first time in Star Wars. By pouring all of one’s hate, pain, and suffering into their kyber, the living crystal effectively bleeds (accounting for the Sith’s traditional red coloring). This is shown when Osha embraces the dark side while killing her former master, causing his blue-bladed lightsaber to turn red in The Acolyte’s finale, signifying her new path. Keeping that in mind, reversing the kyber corruption is canonically possible and could have happened with Darth Vader’s lightsaber. However, it’s more complex than the crystal simply reverting to its original color.
How Kyber Crystals Are Purified After They’ve Been Turned Red
Reversing The Bleeding Process Using The Light Side of the Force
Beyond the screen, corrupting kyber and making it bleed through the dark side has notably been featured in the canon Star Wars comics, particularly with both Darth Vader and Kylo Ren at the beginnings of their respective dark side journeys. The kyber Vader bled came from one of the first Jedi Masters he killed in the wake of Order 66, a harrowing experience and Sith trial resulting in dark visions as Vader truly committed himself to the dark side. Likewise, Kylo Ren corrupted his own blue kyber from his time as Ben Solo, having killed his fellow Jedi and the previous leader of the Knight of Ren.
That said, corrupted kyber can be healed by Jedi skilled in the rare techniques needed to reverse the process. This was first revealed through Ahsoka Tano and her appearance in Star Wars Rebels. Seen wielding two white-bladed lightsabers just as Ahsoka does in her live-action series, it was eventually made canon that the kyber Ahsoka used came from a fallen Imperial Inquisitor. Having claimed her enemy’s corrupted kyber, Ahsoka purified the crystals using the light side of the Force, healing them as they turned from red to white.
Could Luke Have Purified His Father’s Lightsaber?
Yes, But It Wouldn’t Have Been Blue Again
Remarkably, Luke Skywalker could have certainly healed his father’s lightsaber following Darth Vader’s redemption. After all, he was taught the rare techniques by surviving members of the Fallanassi in between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. However, the process is far more time-consuming, requiring more focus and intention than the more emotionally-charged act of kyber bleeding. Likewise, healing Vader’s lightsaber crystal would likely have purified it to white, rather than green (the original color when it still belonged to the Jedi Vader killed).
As seen in Star Wars #43 by Charles Soule, Steven Cummings, and Jethro Morales, Luke was shown how to heal a piece of corrupted red Sith kyber. An intensely spiritual and personal process, the young Jedi had to bond with the spirit of a red kyber crystal’s previous Sith owner, working to heal all the hate and darkness they’d poured into it in the ancient past. As such, Luke could have certainly done the same with his father’s kyber following Palpatine’s defeat, had there been enough time to do so.
Luke Had Bigger Priorities Than Darth Vader’s Lightsaber
Like Getting His Father Off The Second Death Star
With the second Death Star minutes away from exploding in Return of the Jedi, Luke had much bigger priorities. Chief among them was sharing in his father’s last moments before getting Anakin’s body aboard a shuttle. As such, Vader’s lightsaber was left unpurified while also being lost in the battle station’s destruction, though the cult known as the Acolytes of the Beyond came to revere it as an object of worship, especially after they had seemingly recovered it in the aftermath. Regardless, it would have been extremely poetic had Luke managed to recover and purify his father’s lightsaber before wielding it as his own in the Star Wars canon.