For a show that attracts as much divisive attention as The Acolyte has, you would expect that the show had something remarkable about it. Some massively controversial moment, some adventurous plotline, something that would cause so much attention. You’d think it is at least particularly good or bad. With the finale, I can safely say that The Acolyte is…just a show. Some good, some bad, but the full package reveals it as a show that, without the Star Wars brand, would not have nearly the ferocity being lobbied back and forth between its supporters and detractors.
What’s disappointing is that this show could have been better than that, but with the finale has settled into mediocrity.
If I had to summarize my main issue with The Acolyte this weeks, it is the same issue I had last week, and expected to be present this week. Simply, there was too much ground to cover, too many unanswered questions, and too many of the questions had disappointing answers. What was good up to this point remained good, while the less-than-good remained so.
The good remained with Sol and Qimir, who solidified themselves as the best characters of The Acolyte. Sol, especially, completed a heartbreaking character arc that ended with his death at Osha’s hands. I’m still not sure whether that was a good idea or not, as I can see plenty of directions for his character to go that are more interesting than death, but I still think it works as is. Sol died as he lived, as a complicated, well-meaning man haunted by mistakes and his inadequacies as a Jedi.
You can easily argue that while Sol was a very good man, he was definitely not a good Jedi. He was a passionate person who let his emotions, positive or negative, drive his ever decision. The funny part is that it is this very trait that makes him a better person than most of the Jedi. He truly cares and wants to do right by people.
Compare that to Vernestra throughout this episode, who is so focused on protecting herself and the political status of the Jedi that she uses Sol’s death to falsely paint Sol as a rogue murderer, destroying his legacy.
Sol’s capacity to care would have made him a terrific Master to more than one Padawan, but it’s this capacity to care that served as a reason why he never got a chance, and why the Jedi as an institution were doomed to fail. It is this rigid, stubborn refusal to acknowledge and healthily deal with emotion that eventually brings about their downfall.
He serves as a terrific flip of the coin from Qimir, who also has a deep need to nurture an apprentice and pass his teachings on to the next generation. Qimir is almost like the dark reflection of Sol, a version of this man where he falls to the Dark Side in his youth, perhaps in the wake of the guilt from what happens on Brendok.
Qimir also has an excellent episode where he continued to excel as this charismatic figure playing the conflict between Osha, Mae, and Sol perfectly to his advantage. Between the writing and Manny Jacinto’s performance, Qimir is so believable as someone who can easily convince someone that he is vulnerable to them while also knowing exactly how to control them.
There is also confirmation that Vernestra was Qimir’s former master, the one that gave him the scars on his back, and I like how this confirmation further builds upon the hypocrisy of the Jedi and Qimir’s complicated history which led him down his current path. He has seen the worst of the Jedi, and he is proof how the worst of the Jedi create the very evil they claim to prevent.
There is a reality out there where The Acolyte is a show centered around Sol and Qimir, and their rivalry plays out in the conflict over control of Osha and Mae. In that reality, their duel in this finale is not just excellent because the actual fighting, which completely ruled, but also as a thematic endpoint right before Osha sides with Qimir.
(Though I will say that the surprising Darth Plagueis cameo creates implications that may ruin much of what made Qimir a good character, depending on the connection there.)
And make no mistake the fight itself was fantastic, continuing The Acolyte’s pattern of incorporating hand-to-hand combat into the well-choreographed lightsaber clashes. I would love to see Star Wars take a cue from the lightsaber duels in this show moving forward.
Unfortunately, as has consistently been the case throughout the season, everything else fell short of this standard, with Osha and Mae continuing to disappoint as main characters. Their plotline is where The Acolyte feels rushed and without satisfying answers or motivations for their actions.
I think the biggest offender in this episode is Osha’s very sudden turn to the Dark Side. Yes, she has increasingly flirted with turning throughout the season, but when we last saw her, she was still vocally firm in her commitment to rejecting Qimir, and had not yet earnestly considered anything else. Absolutely nothing we see between that point and her murdering Sol should have been enough to drive her that far.
I’m not denying that learning the truth about Sol murdering Aniseya is a breaking point of a kind, but it should have been a breaking point in her love for Sol, not one that pushed her to murder and eagerly embracing the Dark Side.
Osha has consistently been presented as a person of empathy and love, with genuine admiration for the Jedi. Even as a child, she developed this sense of inner goodness despite being raised by a Force cult that taps into the Dark Side. Throughout this show, her main goals have been to first clear her name, and secondly to find her sister. Her loyalty and love for Sol was unquestioned.
This is a significant reason why Sol’s death feels like a waste to me. Having Osha do it is such a leap, as if we missed multiple episodes of character development. This moment could/should have been a moment where Sol loses the love and trust of the person he most wants it from, while Osha loses the moral compass she followed since the day she lost her family on Brendok.
I like this moment a bit more from Mae’s perspective. Her final task as Qimir’s apprentice was to kill a Jedi without a weapon, and she very much fulfills this task by manipulating the situation so that Sol accidentally confesses to the murder of Aniseya in front of Osha.
The problem here is that Mae had seemingly rejected this path half a season ago. Even in this episode, she is just continuing her intended goal of trying to run away from this entire situation so she can survive. She was deathly afraid of Qimir and knew he wanted her dead. For her to go out of her way to side with him, help him take down Sol, and then go along with a plan of putting her sister, the most important person in her life, in the same position she so firmly rejected, is so far from Mae’s intentions at the start of this episode that I wonder if The Acolyte even remembered what she did this season.
Mae’s overall fate here also seems really unnecessary and poorly thought out. Why would either twin be okay with Qimir erasing her memory and leaving her in the hands of the Jedi when they are still deep in the raw emotions of finding out their long-lost sister is alive? I’m sorry, it’s nonsense. Neither Mae or Osha should be okay with any part of this plan.
With proper pacing, this episode could have ended with the twins undergoing a more natural role reversal from the beginning of the season. Osha is disillusioned by Sol’s confession and goes to be Qimir’s apprentice while Mae is caught by the Jedi and forced to go with them, putting her in a position to redeem herself. Even the wardrobe choices reflect this reversal, with Osha in black while Mae wears white.
Instead the went with this weird, collaborative effort to have Mae help Qimir convince Osha, where Osha jumps too far to the Dark Side while Mae seemingly reverses the past 4 episodes of development before being turned into a blank slate with a memory wipe. Imagine instead if Osha decides to go with Qimir, and Mae is the one siding with Sol to convince her away from that path? It’s far more interesting.
Add on top of that how The Acolyte didn’t do much to answer further what exactly Osha and Mae are, or how placing this episode at the witch fortress on Brendok led to no new information about said witches, their intentions, the still uncertain fate of Koril, etc., and the whole season feels incomplete regarding information the entire season seemed to be leading up to.
In the end, The Acolyte was a show with interesting highs and disappointing lows that evened out into something very middle of the road. It’s not the worst show in the world, but neither is it a particularly compelling entry into the larger Star Wars franchise.
There are parts that I think fans will remember fondly for years to come. Sol will probably remain an understated fan favorite forever, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see media centered around him moving forward. Qimir has a chance to be an excellent villain, or maybe even redemption story. Senator Warlin Door (points if you know that one) gave possibly the definitive “read the Jedi for filth” scene in Star Wars history.
Is this enough to save it from the bad? Opinions will vary, but the boring answer, in the end, is that The Acolyte was just an average show, and one people will probably forget.
Images Via Disney +
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