Editor’s Note: The following accommodates spoilers for The Acolyte season finale.

The Acolyte is lastly full, and with it come the solutions to a lot of our questions. The new sequence broke new floor in Star Wars with the story of (twins?) Mae and Osha Aniseya (each Amandla Stenberg) and flipped the tables on what the viewers thought was going to occur time and time once more, a advantage of sequence creator Leslye Headland. The first season finale additionally offers followers a lot to consider, leaving the door open for additional seasons and teasing a better connection to the bigger Star Wars universe. Let’s dive into it.

The Acolyte

The Acolyte is a thriller-thriller that can take viewers right into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and techniques and rising darkish-facet powers within the remaining days of the High Republic period. A former Padawan reunites along with her Jedi Master to research a sequence of crimes, however the forces they confront are extra 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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The Truth Comes Out About Master Sol’s Dark Deeds

One of the highlights of The Acolyte Season 1 is Lee Jung-jae‘s powerhouse efficiency as Master Sol. We meet him as a heat Jedi Master who may be very keen on his previous Padawan, Osha, and the present one, Jecki Lon (Dafne Keen). All that heat hides a darkish secret, nevertheless, and the previous rapidly catches as much as him, and all is revealed when he takes Mae again to Brendok. Osha and Qimir (Manny Jacinto) — aka the Stranger — rapidly observe.

Sol fights Qimir and Osha fights Mae in two separate quarters, however finally reunite the place, sixteen years prior, tragedy struck all of the twins and the Jedi. Sol confesses to having killed Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and additionally explains that Mae and Osha aren’t truly twins, however quite the identical individual, whom Aniseya created by manipulating the Force due to the vergence on Brendok. It’s not clear how the twins will be the identical individual, and even Sol can not seem to perceive. For the opposite three individuals current, what issues is that he pays for his crimes, and Osha, in a match of Sith-like anger, Force-chokes him, revealing her immense energy within the Force.

As Osha does it, the kyber crystal in Sol’s lightsaber turns purple in her hand, revealing how the Sith get their purple-bladed lightsabers. It’s a course of referred to as “bleeding,” which consists of killing a Jedi with out a weapon, stealing their kyber crystal, and pouring Dark Side vitality onto it, turning the blade purple. She then commits to turning into Qimir’s acolyte on the situation that he erases Mae’s reminiscence of all the pieces that occurred to guard her. It all feels proper for the reason that Jedi would not ever permit Osha to easily reveal what occurred and let her go. Not with all her energy and all the pieces she is aware of.

On Coruscant, Vernestra Faces a Political Threat within the Senate

The political implications of the Brendok incident are one thing that has plagued Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) for a very long time. She first mentions this in The Acolyte sequence premiere and then once more in Episode 4. This time, she has a gathering with Senator Rayencourt (David Harewood), and he comes out in opposition to the Jedi Order’s huge and unchecked energy, even proposing an impartial assessment of the Order by the Senate.

According to Rayencourt, the issue with the Jedi is that, as an alternative of mastering their feelings, they bury them, and that’s doubtlessly harmful for the protection and stability of the Republic. All it takes is one Jedi snapping, and, with their energy over the Force, all the pieces is misplaced. The senator is true, in fact, and that is what finally occurs when Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) falls to the Dark Side in Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. What Rayencourt does not think about is that the Senate might turn into simply as corrupt because the Jedi Order, and that it is these two components collectively that finally result in the autumn of the Republic. But that is not for one more century. He positively is aware of greater than he lets on, although, and it would not be stunning if he seems to have some Dark Side connections himself in future seasons.

As for Vernestra, she solves all the pieces by doing what the Jedi do finest: masking issues up. She blames the entire Brendok factor on Sol, whom she calls “a rogue Jedi.” As she studies all that at a Senate listening to, flashbacks present that she truly is sorry for this and gave Sol a correct Jedi funeral. Vernestra started as a younger Jedi Knight filled with potential within the High Republic tales, however, after a lifetime of trauma and heartbreak, has turn into simply one other gear on the Order’s engine, dropping observe of what it actually means to be a Jedi: guarding peace and justice within the galaxy. In the final scene, she meets Master Yoda (Frank Oz), hinting that, by the point of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, he’s conscious of the reality of all the pieces, as anticipated. Or at the least as a lot as Vernestra tells him.

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“Have You Ever Heard the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis, the Wise?”

As Qimir and Osha depart their ocean planet headed for Brendok, a darkish sillhouette gazes upon them from a cave. An alien of the Muun species, Darth Plagueis himself. He is understood for being Darth Sidious’ (Ian McDiarmid) former grasp, and the Sith who found the key to manipulating the midichlorians to create life, as Sidious tells Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. His temporary look confirms him as a part of the brand new Star Wars canon, but additionally raises many questions.

The Sith are recognized to observe the Rule of Two, a regulation in line with which there might solely be two Sith at any given time: a grasp to carry energy, and an apprentice to crave it. But this rule has been damaged many occasions earlier than, because the Sith will not be massive on following guidelines and are recognized for backstabbing each other, masters and apprentices alike. As it stands by the top of The Acolyte Season 1, there are three Sith, then. Darth Plagueis himself is alive and conscious of what’s taking place, and Qimir lastly will get an apprentice of his personal when Osha pledges to coach with him.

This will inevitably result in a confrontation between them, though what form that can take is at present unknown. According to the Star Wars timeline, Darth Plagueis ought to both be on the finish of his personal apprenticeship or have simply ascended to the rank of grasp and be searching for an apprentice. It’s doable that Qimir is his apprentice at this level and is making an attempt to get an acolyte as a way to finally flip the tables on Plagueis. This is simply one of many many potentialities for the way forward for the sequence.

Will There Be a Second Season of ‘The Acolyte’?

Season 2 of The Acolyte hasn’t been confirmed but, though Leslye Headland has talked about her plans for the way forward for the sequence. Nothing is ideal, however the brand new sequence takes a daring stand concerning how Star Wars sees itself and the myths it has created round itself. It’s a refreshing stance, though it is actually not for everybody. It was positively conceived with extra seasons in thoughts, too, given what number of questions had been raised within the finale.

First, Darth Plagueis being revealed lastly traces a direct parallel between The Acolyte and the Skywalker Saga. Brendok being a vergence on the Force and being the place the Aniseya twins had been created paves the trail for Plagueis finally studying and perfecting the trail to creating life, and that is what Darth Sidious will use to lure Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side a century later. Qimir does not appear that on this proper now, however Plagueis can positively cross paths with a younger politician from Naboo with the potential and ambition required to be a Sith.

As for the Jedi, Vernestra confirms that Qimir was her apprentice as soon as, earlier than turning to the Dark Side. The scar on his again was most likely attributable to her lightwhip in a confrontation between them. How Qimir fell from grace is bound to be an fascinating story, particularly since Vernestra has at all times been a really by-the-e-book form of Jedi. But this and different questions should await Season 2 of The Acolyte, which we sincerely hope to see quickly. Until then, might the Force be with us all.

The first season of The Acolyte is accessible to stream on Disney+ within the U.S.