Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Acolyte Episode 5.
The Big Picture
The Acolyte
‘s latest episode has the Aniseya sisters switching places, creating new narrative possibilities and testing Jedi beliefs.
Questions remain about Sol’s secret and Qimir’s possible role in the events on Brendok.
The Acolyte
‘s final episodes will no doubt bring changes and deepen character relationships.
The Acolyte is quickly becoming one of the most interesting Star Wars shows to date with the level of twists it’s been unveiling. From its very first episode, the Disney+ series stunned viewers with the reveal that its story wouldn’t just follow the Sith acolyte Mae Aniseya (Amandla Stenberg) but her twin sister Osha as well. It also introduced a new sect of Force users who challenged the Jedi Order’s beliefs, and even recently dared to end on a cliffhanger (but one that actually worked in the long run.) The series’ latest episode, “Night,” features another big twist that could have major ramifications for the rest of the series.
In the closing moments of “Night,” Osha confronts Mae, intending to bring her to justice for killing a number of Jedi masters. Mae instead knocks Osha out, then takes her place and heads back to Coruscant with Sol (Lee Jung-jae). Meanwhile, Mae’s companion Qimir (Manny Jacinto) — revealed to be her mysterious Sith master — encounters an unconscious Osha in the forest. Both sisters have essentially switched places from where they started, which opens up a whole wealth of narrative possibilities. It could also provide the answer to some of the lingering questions that still remain.
The Acolyte
The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.
Release Date June 4, 2024
Main Genre Sci-Fi
Seasons 1
Studio Disney+
Franchise Star Wars
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Mae and Osha Could Have Their Beliefs Challenged in ‘The Acolyte’
The biggest point of friction between the Aniseya sisters is their beliefs. Osha, seeking a life outside the coven of Force witches where she and Mae had been raised, eventually joined the Jedi Order when Sol and other Jedi Masters came to her homeworld of Brendok. Mae, on the other hand, distrusted the Jedi and went to extreme measures to keep Osha from leaving. By “extreme,” she locked her own sister in a room and lit it on fire, an action that wound up separating the two and possibly causing the death of their family.
Both Mae and Osha believed that the other was dead until Mae reappeared to seek vengeance on the Jedi who had met their coven; now that both sisters have swapped places, this is a chance to see their beliefs in the Jedi challenged. Mae could see that the Jedi, while not perfect, aren’t as malicious as she believed them to be. Osha might learn something that could shake her own steadfast belief system — especially if it’s from Qimir, who stands in opposition to everything the Jedi Order represents.
‘The Acolyte’ Still Has Some Questions Left To Answer
Image via Disney+
The Acolyte’s plot has been driven by Mae’s quest to kill the four Jedi who were stationed on Brendok. Although she was successful in dispatching Jedi Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Master Torbin (Dean Charles Chapman), Qimir beat her to the Wookiee, Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo). Only Sol remains, but “Night” adds an extra wrinkle to the narrative that’s begging to be resolved in the remaining episodes.
Before Osha encounters Mae, Sol appears to be struggling with telling her something. It’s hinted that he might be carrying a terrible secret about what happened on Brendok, and this is backed up by the fact that Torbin willingly swallowed a poison that Mae prepared for him. Further complicating matters is Qimir. The Sith Lord is sporting several burns on his arms, hinting that he was present at Brendok during the fire — but what was he doing there, and how did Mae encounter him? Mae and Osha could have an easier time getting answers to those questions, especially as Sol seems unaware of the switch and Qimir is seeking any advantage he can to destroy the Jedi.
‘The Acolyte’s Cast Hints That the Final Three Episodes Will Change Everything
The cast of The Acolyte recently sat down with Entertainment Weekly to discuss the events of “Night,” while hinting that the final three episodes are a pivotal journey for Mae and Osha. According to Stenberg, “The power dynamics and structures that we’ve seen so far have now kind of been invested, which sets up both of the characters to go on a completely different journey. Everything that they both have believed to be true has been challenged in some way. And so now the question is: What do they do with that information?” Jacinto also teased a meatier role for Qimir going forward, especially when it comes to Osha, who “is going to want to hear some of the things that the Stranger has to say.”
Series creator Leslye Headland also brought up another intriguing comparison, saying that Sol and Osha’s relationship runs parallel to Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker’s dynamic in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. “Our story is the father-daughter dynamic with Sol and Osha, and that’s a very different dynamic than father-son. So you’re going to see us explore that and get into that relationship even more deeply than the first half of the season, which focused more on sister-sister.” With Sol still holding onto a terrible secret and displaying an un-Jedi-like amount of rage after Qimir killed both Jecki (Dafne Keen) and Yord (Charlie Barnett), he might share more than a few things in common with Anakin Skywalker.
The Acolyte took a slow burn approach in its first half, and it paid off with an episode that shook up the entire structure of the show. Now the stage is set for questions to be answered, secrets to be revealed, and the possibility of whether the story could continue into a second season.
New episodes of The Acolyte premiere Tuesdays on Disney+.
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